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 1 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 6 8
Rank change year-on-year -13 +2 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 709 821 795
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 10.29% 16.81% 12.94%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.99% 18.20% 15.02%
Number of salaries quoted 543 417 598
10th Percentile £26,750 £31,250 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,500 £31,438
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £53,000 £62,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £63,750 £77,500 £77,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -9.74%

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 5,458 4,510 5,294
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 79.19% 92.32% 86.17%
Number of salaries quoted 2,765 2,192 4,309
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 £81,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £61,425 £57,500
% change year-on-year -10.46% +6.83% -8.00%

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 1 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 1 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 -17 286 £45,000 -10.00% 204
Cheshire -10 135 £48,979 +22.45% 76
Merseyside +4 128 £48,000 +47.69% 25
Lancashire -7 110 £42,000 -20.00% 93
Cumbria +8 48 £45,000 +11.11% 14
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 37 (5.22%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.54%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.99%) WordPress
4 6 (0.85%) Confluence
5 3 (0.42%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.28%) Apache Solr
6 2 (0.28%) FactoryTalk
6 2 (0.28%) nginx
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
7 1 (0.14%) Moodle
7 1 (0.14%) Totara
Applications
1 34 (4.80%) Microsoft Excel
2 28 (3.95%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.71%) 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 (1.13%) SAP Business One
2 6 (0.85%) 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
1 133 (18.76%) Azure
2 96 (13.54%) Microsoft 365
3 76 (10.72%) AWS
4 52 (7.33%) Entra ID
5 45 (6.35%) Power Platform
6 38 (5.36%) GCP
7 33 (4.65%) SaaS
8 15 (2.12%) OneDrive
9 13 (1.83%) Serverless
10 12 (1.69%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.41%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.27%) Cloud Computing
12 9 (1.27%) Microsoft Purview
13 8 (1.13%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.13%) PaaS
14 7 (0.99%) Adobe Analytics
14 7 (0.99%) Dynamics 365
14 7 (0.99%) Figma
14 7 (0.99%) IaaS
14 7 (0.99%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 45 (6.35%) Firewall
2 31 (4.37%) DNS
3 29 (4.09%) DHCP
4 21 (2.96%) VPN
5 20 (2.82%) VLAN
6 18 (2.54%) Wi-Fi
7 17 (2.40%) TCP/IP
8 16 (2.26%) Unified Communications
8 16 (2.26%) VoIP
9 14 (1.97%) Telepresence
9 14 (1.97%) WebEx
10 12 (1.69%) WAN
11 11 (1.55%) Wireless
12 8 (1.13%) Broadband
12 8 (1.13%) Structured Cabling
13 7 (0.99%) Ethernet
13 7 (0.99%) LAN
14 6 (0.85%) SD-WAN
15 4 (0.56%) NGFW
15 4 (0.56%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (4.94%) Power BI
2 18 (2.54%) SQL Server
3 16 (2.26%) NoSQL
4 12 (1.69%) Tableau
5 10 (1.41%) MongoDB
5 10 (1.41%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.27%) MySQL
7 8 (1.13%) Crystal Reports
7 8 (1.13%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 6 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
8 6 (0.85%) Elasticsearch
9 5 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (0.71%) Big Data
9 5 (0.71%) Data Warehouse
9 5 (0.71%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.56%) BigQuery
10 4 (0.56%) DynamoDB
10 4 (0.56%) Looker
11 3 (0.42%) Hadoop
12 2 (0.28%) Data Mart
Development Applications
1 25 (3.53%) Git
2 8 (1.13%) GitLab
2 8 (1.13%) JIRA
3 3 (0.42%) Bitbucket
4 2 (0.28%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 1 (0.14%) LabVIEW
5 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 303 (42.74%) Social Skills
2 173 (24.40%) Analytical Skills
3 143 (20.17%) Finance
4 45 (6.35%) Automotive
4 45 (6.35%) Organisational Skills
5 28 (3.95%) Legal
6 25 (3.53%) Telecoms
7 24 (3.39%) Public Sector
8 23 (3.24%) Retail
9 22 (3.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 20 (2.82%) Presentation Skills
11 18 (2.54%) Electronics
11 18 (2.54%) Manufacturing
12 17 (2.40%) Banking
13 14 (1.97%) Law
13 14 (1.97%) Marketing
14 13 (1.83%) Pharmaceutical
15 12 (1.69%) Advertising
16 10 (1.41%) Documentation Skills
16 10 (1.41%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 90 (12.69%) Analyst
2 84 (11.85%) IT Support
3 76 (10.72%) Support Engineer
4 62 (8.74%) Senior
5 36 (5.08%) IT Engineer
5 36 (5.08%) IT Support Engineer
6 35 (4.94%) Lead
7 33 (4.65%) Business Analyst
7 33 (4.65%) Developer
8 30 (4.23%) Trainee
9 26 (3.67%) Trainee Analyst
9 26 (3.67%) Trainee Business Analyst
10 24 (3.39%) Architect
11 23 (3.24%) Support Technician
12 21 (2.96%) Technical Engineer
12 21 (2.96%) Technical Support
12 21 (2.96%) Technical Support Engineer
13 20 (2.82%) Solutions Architect
14 18 (2.54%) Consultant
14 18 (2.54%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.10%) React
2 18 (2.54%) HTML
3 14 (1.97%) .NET
4 13 (1.83%) CSS
5 12 (1.69%) Spring
6 11 (1.55%) RESTful
6 11 (1.55%) Spring Boot
7 9 (1.27%) Node.js
7 9 (1.27%) Vue
8 8 (1.13%) Hibernate
9 7 (0.99%) Laravel
10 6 (0.85%) Django
10 6 (0.85%) FastAPI
10 6 (0.85%) REST
11 5 (0.71%) AngularJS
11 5 (0.71%) Celery
11 5 (0.71%) EDI
11 5 (0.71%) Flask
12 4 (0.56%) JSON
12 4 (0.56%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 197 (27.79%) Driving Licence
2 50 (7.05%) Onboarding
3 32 (4.51%) Self-Motivation
4 25 (3.53%) Analytical Mindset
5 23 (3.24%) EPoS
6 19 (2.68%) Enterprise Software
7 17 (2.40%) Cloud Native
8 15 (2.12%) CCTV
9 14 (1.97%) Distributed Systems
10 12 (1.69%) Data Centre
11 11 (1.55%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.13%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.13%) Video Conferencing
13 7 (0.99%) Management Information System
13 7 (0.99%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.85%) Greenfield Project
14 6 (0.85%) Home Automation
14 6 (0.85%) IoT
14 6 (0.85%) Life Science
15 5 (0.71%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 103 (14.53%) Windows
2 38 (5.36%) Windows Server
3 24 (3.39%) Linux
4 22 (3.10%) Windows 10
5 13 (1.83%) Android
6 12 (1.69%) Apple iOS
7 7 (0.99%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.85%) Windows 7
8 6 (0.85%) Windows 8
9 5 (0.71%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.28%) CentOS
11 2 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.28%) Unix
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (13.12%) Continuous Improvement
2 91 (12.83%) Agile
2 91 (12.83%) Customer Service
3 90 (12.69%) Decision-Making
4 82 (11.57%) Mentoring
5 66 (9.31%) AI
5 66 (9.31%) Project Management
6 59 (8.32%) Stakeholder Management
7 58 (8.18%) Cybersecurity
8 54 (7.62%) Coaching
9 47 (6.63%) Analytics
10 45 (6.35%) CI/CD
11 43 (6.06%) DevOps
12 39 (5.50%) Business Intelligence
12 39 (5.50%) Collaborative Culture
12 39 (5.50%) ITIL
13 38 (5.36%) CRM
13 38 (5.36%) Service Delivery
14 37 (5.22%) Change Management
14 37 (5.22%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 70 (9.87%) SQL
2 52 (7.33%) Python
3 22 (3.10%) Java
4 21 (2.96%) JavaScript
5 11 (1.55%) C#
5 11 (1.55%) PHP
6 10 (1.41%) PowerShell
6 10 (1.41%) TypeScript
7 6 (0.85%) Kotlin
7 6 (0.85%) MATLAB
8 5 (0.71%) Bash
9 4 (0.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.56%) Go
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%) C++
Qualifications
1 131 (18.48%) Degree
2 32 (4.51%) DBS Check
3 23 (3.24%) BPSS Clearance
4 17 (2.40%) Master's Degree
5 16 (2.26%) Security Cleared
6 11 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
6 11 (1.55%) SC Cleared
7 9 (1.27%) Azure Certification
8 8 (1.13%) A+ Certification
8 8 (1.13%) HNC
9 7 (0.99%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (0.99%) NVQ Level 4
10 6 (0.85%) ACCA
10 6 (0.85%) CIMA
10 6 (0.85%) Microsoft Certification
11 5 (0.71%) HND
12 4 (0.56%) CompTIA Security+
12 4 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.42%) CCNA
13 3 (0.42%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (3.53%) QA
2 17 (2.40%) Data Quality
2 17 (2.40%) GDPR
3 13 (1.83%) Cyber Essentials
4 12 (1.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.13%) Accessibility
6 6 (0.85%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 6 (0.85%) SLA
7 5 (0.71%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 5 (0.71%) GLBA
8 4 (0.56%) ISO 9001
8 4 (0.56%) PMO
9 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.28%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
System Software
1 76 (10.72%) Active Directory
2 27 (3.81%) Docker
3 20 (2.82%) Hyper-V
4 7 (0.99%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.71%) 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 (5.92%) BMC PATROL
2 39 (5.50%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (3.81%) Terraform
4 24 (3.39%) Kubernetes
5 14 (1.97%) Cisco CUCM
6 12 (1.69%) Ansible
6 12 (1.69%) SCCM
7 10 (1.41%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.85%) Autotask
9 3 (0.42%) cPanel
9 3 (0.42%) Plesk
9 3 (0.42%) Rancher
10 2 (0.28%) AssetCenter
10 2 (0.28%) Grafana
10 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
10 2 (0.28%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.14%) Argo
11 1 (0.14%) AWS Copilot
11 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.14%) Podman
Vendors
1 143 (20.17%) Microsoft
2 24 (3.39%) Oracle
3 19 (2.68%) Cisco
4 18 (2.54%) SAP
5 15 (2.12%) Workday
6 13 (1.83%) Google
6 13 (1.83%) VMware
7 11 (1.55%) Siemens
8 10 (1.41%) HubSpot
8 10 (1.41%) ServiceNow
9 8 (1.13%) New Relic
9 8 (1.13%) Splunk
10 7 (0.99%) Adobe
10 7 (0.99%) Qualtrics
11 6 (0.85%) Apple
11 6 (0.85%) BiZZdesign
11 6 (0.85%) ESET
11 6 (0.85%) iManage
12 5 (0.71%) Facebook
12 5 (0.71%) SnapLogic