Problem-Solving Job Trends in the North West

Problem Solving
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 8 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 6 9
Rank change year-on-year -13 +3 +16
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 714 821 854
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 10.05% 17.18% 12.95%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.78% 18.52% 15.08%
Number of salaries quoted 548 425 645
10th Percentile £26,750 £31,250 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £46,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +5.26% -5.00%
75th Percentile £53,000 £64,010 £62,500
90th Percentile £63,750 £79,500 £74,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -10.71%

All Process & Methodology Skills
North West

Problem-Solving falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 5,586 4,432 5,665
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 78.66% 92.74% 85.91%
Number of salaries quoted 2,858 2,183 4,631
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £28,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -8.90%
75th Percentile £65,640 £67,500 £66,778
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £61,967 £55,000
% change year-on-year -11.24% +12.67% -12.00%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the North West

Problem-Solving
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the North West over the 6 months to 8 February 2026.

Salary histogram for Problem-Solving in the North West

Problem-Solving
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the North West region over the 6 months to 8 February 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester -15 289 £45,000 -10.00% 232
Cheshire -10 135 £48,979 +22.45% 77
Merseyside +2 130 £48,000 +47.69% 26
Lancashire -9 109 £40,000 -23.81% 83
Cumbria +8 49 £45,000 +11.11% 17
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 39 (5.46%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.98%) WordPress
4 6 (0.84%) Confluence
5 3 (0.42%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.28%) Apache Solr
6 2 (0.28%) FactoryTalk
6 2 (0.28%) Moodle
6 2 (0.28%) nginx
6 2 (0.28%) Totara
6 2 (0.28%) WinCC
7 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.14%) Apache
7 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.14%) CMS
Applications
1 36 (5.04%) Microsoft Excel
2 29 (4.06%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (0.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.42%) Simulink
5 2 (0.28%) AutoCAD
5 2 (0.28%) Revit
6 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (1.12%) SAP Business One
2 6 (0.84%) Workday HCM
3 4 (0.56%) SAP S/4HANA
4 2 (0.28%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Assets
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
4 2 (0.28%) Shopify
5 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.14%) Magento
5 1 (0.14%) Primavera
5 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 132 (18.49%) Azure
2 97 (13.59%) Microsoft 365
3 74 (10.36%) AWS
4 52 (7.28%) Entra ID
5 46 (6.44%) Power Platform
6 37 (5.18%) GCP
7 34 (4.76%) SaaS
8 15 (2.10%) OneDrive
9 13 (1.82%) Serverless
10 12 (1.68%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.40%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.26%) Cloud Computing
12 9 (1.26%) Microsoft Purview
13 8 (1.12%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.12%) PaaS
14 7 (0.98%) Adobe Analytics
14 7 (0.98%) Dynamics 365
14 7 (0.98%) Figma
14 7 (0.98%) Google Workspace
14 7 (0.98%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 44 (6.16%) Firewall
2 31 (4.34%) DNS
3 29 (4.06%) DHCP
4 21 (2.94%) VPN
5 20 (2.80%) VLAN
5 20 (2.80%) Wi-Fi
6 16 (2.24%) TCP/IP
6 16 (2.24%) Unified Communications
6 16 (2.24%) VoIP
7 14 (1.96%) Telepresence
7 14 (1.96%) WebEx
8 13 (1.82%) WAN
9 11 (1.54%) Wireless
10 10 (1.40%) Structured Cabling
11 8 (1.12%) Broadband
12 7 (0.98%) Ethernet
12 7 (0.98%) LAN
12 7 (0.98%) SD-WAN
13 4 (0.56%) NGFW
13 4 (0.56%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 36 (5.04%) Power BI
2 18 (2.52%) SQL Server
3 14 (1.96%) NoSQL
4 12 (1.68%) Tableau
5 9 (1.26%) MongoDB
5 9 (1.26%) MySQL
5 9 (1.26%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.12%) Crystal Reports
6 8 (1.12%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 6 (0.84%) Amazon Redshift
7 6 (0.84%) Elasticsearch
8 5 (0.70%) Azure SQL Database
8 5 (0.70%) Big Data
8 5 (0.70%) Data Warehouse
8 5 (0.70%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.56%) BigQuery
9 4 (0.56%) DynamoDB
9 4 (0.56%) Looker
10 3 (0.42%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.28%) Data Mart
Development Applications
1 25 (3.50%) Git
2 8 (1.12%) JIRA
3 7 (0.98%) GitLab
4 3 (0.42%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.14%) LabVIEW
5 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 306 (42.86%) Social Skills
2 177 (24.79%) Analytical Skills
3 144 (20.17%) Finance
4 49 (6.86%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.30%) Automotive
6 28 (3.92%) Legal
7 26 (3.64%) Public Sector
8 25 (3.50%) Telecoms
9 23 (3.22%) Retail
10 22 (3.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 22 (3.08%) Presentation Skills
11 18 (2.52%) Electronics
12 17 (2.38%) Banking
12 17 (2.38%) Manufacturing
13 15 (2.10%) Law
14 13 (1.82%) Marketing
14 13 (1.82%) Pharmaceutical
15 12 (1.68%) Advertising
16 11 (1.54%) Influencing Skills
17 10 (1.40%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 91 (12.75%) Analyst
2 86 (12.04%) IT Support
3 78 (10.92%) Support Engineer
4 63 (8.82%) Senior
5 38 (5.32%) IT Engineer
5 38 (5.32%) IT Support Engineer
6 34 (4.76%) Business Analyst
6 34 (4.76%) Lead
7 33 (4.62%) Developer
8 30 (4.20%) Trainee
9 26 (3.64%) Trainee Analyst
9 26 (3.64%) Trainee Business Analyst
10 24 (3.36%) Architect
11 23 (3.22%) Support Technician
12 21 (2.94%) Technical Engineer
12 21 (2.94%) Technical Support
12 21 (2.94%) Technical Support Engineer
13 20 (2.80%) Solutions Architect
14 19 (2.66%) Consultant
15 18 (2.52%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.94%) React
2 18 (2.52%) HTML
3 14 (1.96%) .NET
4 13 (1.82%) CSS
5 12 (1.68%) Spring
6 11 (1.54%) Spring Boot
7 10 (1.40%) RESTful
8 9 (1.26%) Node.js
9 8 (1.12%) Hibernate
9 8 (1.12%) Vue
10 7 (0.98%) Laravel
11 6 (0.84%) REST
12 5 (0.70%) AngularJS
12 5 (0.70%) Django
12 5 (0.70%) EDI
12 5 (0.70%) FastAPI
13 4 (0.56%) Celery
13 4 (0.56%) Flask
13 4 (0.56%) PySpark
13 4 (0.56%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 198 (27.73%) Driving Licence
2 50 (7.00%) Onboarding
3 31 (4.34%) Self-Motivation
4 25 (3.50%) Analytical Mindset
4 25 (3.50%) EPoS
5 19 (2.66%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (2.24%) Cloud Native
7 15 (2.10%) CCTV
8 14 (1.96%) Distributed Systems
9 13 (1.82%) Data Centre
10 11 (1.54%) Product Ownership
11 8 (1.12%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.12%) Video Conferencing
12 7 (0.98%) Management Information System
12 7 (0.98%) Virtual Team
13 6 (0.84%) Greenfield Project
13 6 (0.84%) Home Automation
13 6 (0.84%) IoT
13 6 (0.84%) Life Science
14 5 (0.70%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 102 (14.29%) Windows
2 39 (5.46%) Windows Server
3 23 (3.22%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.08%) Linux
5 13 (1.82%) Android
6 12 (1.68%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.98%) Mac OS
7 7 (0.98%) Windows 7
7 7 (0.98%) Windows 8
8 5 (0.70%) Windows Server 2016
9 4 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
10 2 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.28%) Unix
11 1 (0.14%) CentOS
11 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
11 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (13.31%) Continuous Improvement
2 94 (13.17%) Customer Service
3 92 (12.89%) Decision-Making
4 91 (12.75%) Agile
5 85 (11.90%) Mentoring
6 67 (9.38%) AI
7 66 (9.24%) Project Management
8 63 (8.82%) Stakeholder Management
9 58 (8.12%) Cybersecurity
10 55 (7.70%) Coaching
11 47 (6.58%) Analytics
12 43 (6.02%) CI/CD
13 40 (5.60%) Business Intelligence
13 40 (5.60%) DevOps
14 39 (5.46%) ITIL
15 38 (5.32%) Collaborative Culture
15 38 (5.32%) Service Delivery
16 37 (5.18%) Change Management
16 37 (5.18%) CRM
16 37 (5.18%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 69 (9.66%) SQL
2 50 (7.00%) Python
3 22 (3.08%) Java
4 21 (2.94%) JavaScript
5 12 (1.68%) C#
6 11 (1.54%) PHP
7 10 (1.40%) PowerShell
7 10 (1.40%) TypeScript
8 6 (0.84%) Kotlin
9 4 (0.56%) Bash
9 4 (0.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.56%) Go
9 4 (0.56%) MATLAB
9 4 (0.56%) Scala
10 3 (0.42%) Ladder Logic
11 2 (0.28%) Bicep
11 2 (0.28%) C
11 2 (0.28%) R
11 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 129 (18.07%) Degree
2 32 (4.48%) DBS Check
3 21 (2.94%) BPSS Clearance
4 17 (2.38%) Master's Degree
5 15 (2.10%) Security Cleared
6 11 (1.54%) SC Cleared
7 10 (1.40%) Computer Science Degree
8 9 (1.26%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.12%) A+ Certification
9 8 (1.12%) HNC
10 7 (0.98%) Network+ Certification
10 7 (0.98%) NVQ Level 4
11 6 (0.84%) Microsoft Certification
12 5 (0.70%) ACCA
12 5 (0.70%) CIMA
12 5 (0.70%) HND
13 4 (0.56%) CompTIA Security+
13 4 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
14 3 (0.42%) Cisco Certification
14 3 (0.42%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.64%) QA
2 17 (2.38%) GDPR
3 16 (2.24%) Data Quality
4 14 (1.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 13 (1.82%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (1.12%) Accessibility
7 6 (0.84%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (0.84%) ISO 9001
7 6 (0.84%) SLA
8 5 (0.70%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 5 (0.70%) GLBA
9 3 (0.42%) PMO
10 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
10 2 (0.28%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 14001
11 1 (0.14%) NIST
System Software
1 76 (10.64%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.50%) Docker
3 21 (2.94%) Hyper-V
4 8 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
5 6 (0.84%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.42%) Firmware
6 3 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.14%) HDFS
Systems Management
1 42 (5.88%) BMC PATROL
2 39 (5.46%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.64%) Terraform
4 22 (3.08%) Kubernetes
5 14 (1.96%) Cisco CUCM
6 13 (1.82%) SCCM
7 11 (1.54%) Ansible
8 10 (1.40%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (0.98%) Autotask
10 3 (0.42%) cPanel
10 3 (0.42%) Plesk
10 3 (0.42%) Rancher
11 2 (0.28%) AssetCenter
11 2 (0.28%) Grafana
11 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.28%) Prometheus
12 1 (0.14%) Argo
12 1 (0.14%) AWS Copilot
12 1 (0.14%) Nagios
12 1 (0.14%) Podman
Vendors
1 146 (20.45%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.22%) Oracle
3 19 (2.66%) Cisco
4 18 (2.52%) SAP
5 15 (2.10%) Workday
6 14 (1.96%) Google
7 13 (1.82%) VMware
8 11 (1.54%) Siemens
9 10 (1.40%) HubSpot
9 10 (1.40%) ServiceNow
10 8 (1.12%) New Relic
10 8 (1.12%) Splunk
11 7 (0.98%) Adobe
11 7 (0.98%) ESET
11 7 (0.98%) Qualtrics
12 6 (0.84%) Apple
12 6 (0.84%) BiZZdesign
12 6 (0.84%) iManage
13 5 (0.70%) Facebook
13 5 (0.70%) SnapLogic