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 23 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -7 0 +13
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 737 995 1,484
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.73% 20.98% 13.26%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.61% 22.28% 16.88%
Number of salaries quoted 591 498 898
10th Percentile £26,500 £25,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,563
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £46,250 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.70% +2.78% -5.26%
75th Percentile £61,250 £63,063 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £76,625
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £49,302
% change year-on-year -5.00% +1.42% -10.36%

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 7,668 4,465 8,793
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 70.01% 94.16% 78.57%
Number of salaries quoted 5,889 2,060 6,631
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £27,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.77% +4.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £73,750 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,850 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -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 23 June 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 23 June 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 -13 394 £50,000 - 190
Merseyside -6 118 £42,500 +6.25% 21
Cheshire -11 114 £41,000 +9.33% 62
Lancashire +3 72 £40,750 +19.48% 62
Cumbria -6 34 £32,500 +0.62% 15
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 63 (8.55%) SharePoint
2 53 (7.19%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.95%) IIS
4 6 (0.81%) Confluence
5 4 (0.54%) Moodle
5 4 (0.54%) Totara
6 3 (0.41%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.27%) Apache
7 2 (0.27%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.27%) nginx
7 2 (0.27%) WordPress
8 1 (0.14%) CMS
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.14%) Umbraco
Applications
1 45 (6.11%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.53%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.22%) MS Visio
4 5 (0.68%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.27%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.27%) Windchill
6 1 (0.14%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.14%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 24 (3.26%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.76%) SAP ERP
3 7 (0.95%) Magento
4 6 (0.81%) Workday HCM
5 5 (0.68%) Dynamics CRM
6 4 (0.54%) Dynamics AX
6 4 (0.54%) SAP PP
6 4 (0.54%) Shopify
7 2 (0.27%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.14%) Odoo
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
8 1 (0.14%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 167 (22.66%) Azure
2 152 (20.62%) Microsoft 365
3 86 (11.67%) AWS
4 82 (11.13%) Power Platform
5 33 (4.48%) PowerApps
6 28 (3.80%) Dynamics 365
7 27 (3.66%) Power Automate
8 26 (3.53%) Azure DevOps
8 26 (3.53%) GCP
8 26 (3.53%) GitHub
9 25 (3.39%) Entra ID
9 25 (3.39%) SaaS
10 19 (2.58%) Microsoft Copilot
11 18 (2.44%) OneDrive
12 17 (2.31%) Microsoft Purview
13 15 (2.04%) Serverless
14 12 (1.63%) Boomi
15 8 (1.09%) Azure Logic Apps
15 8 (1.09%) Copilot Studio
15 8 (1.09%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 72 (9.77%) Firewall
2 48 (6.51%) DNS
3 44 (5.97%) DHCP
4 37 (5.02%) VLAN
5 35 (4.75%) VPN
6 33 (4.48%) Wi-Fi
7 32 (4.34%) TCP/IP
8 24 (3.26%) VoIP
9 20 (2.71%) Wireless
10 17 (2.31%) Network Security
11 15 (2.04%) WAN
12 14 (1.90%) Structured Cabling
13 13 (1.76%) LAN
14 10 (1.36%) Broadband
14 10 (1.36%) SD-WAN
15 6 (0.81%) IP Telephony
15 6 (0.81%) SAN
15 6 (0.81%) Unified Communications
15 6 (0.81%) Wireshark
16 4 (0.54%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 54 (7.33%) Power BI
2 33 (4.48%) SQL Server
3 31 (4.21%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 14 (1.90%) Data Warehouse
5 12 (1.63%) PostgreSQL
6 11 (1.49%) MySQL
7 10 (1.36%) NoSQL
8 9 (1.22%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 8 (1.09%) Big Data
10 5 (0.68%) MongoDB
10 5 (0.68%) Power Query
10 5 (0.68%) Tableau
11 4 (0.54%) Elasticsearch
11 4 (0.54%) Looker
11 4 (0.54%) Redis
12 3 (0.41%) Amazon RDS
12 3 (0.41%) Neo4j
12 3 (0.41%) PowerPivot
12 3 (0.41%) SAP HANA
12 3 (0.41%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 31 (4.21%) Git
2 26 (3.53%) JIRA
3 7 (0.95%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.81%) GitLab
5 5 (0.68%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.41%) Claude Code
6 3 (0.41%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.41%) Cypress.io
6 3 (0.41%) Robot Framework
7 2 (0.27%) Rational DOORS
7 2 (0.27%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.14%) Gemini Tracker
8 1 (0.14%) gulp
8 1 (0.14%) LabVIEW
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.14%) Rational Rhapsody
8 1 (0.14%) webpack
General
1 290 (39.35%) Social Skills
2 206 (27.95%) Analytical Skills
3 113 (15.33%) Finance
4 64 (8.68%) Manufacturing
5 59 (8.01%) Organisational Skills
6 50 (6.78%) Law
7 37 (5.02%) Retail
8 35 (4.75%) Legal
9 33 (4.48%) Marketing
10 30 (4.07%) Public Sector
11 18 (2.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 15 (2.04%) Banking
13 14 (1.90%) Documentation Skills
14 13 (1.76%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.36%) Games
16 9 (1.22%) Investment Banking
17 8 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
18 7 (0.95%) Portuguese Language
18 7 (0.95%) Presentation Skills
18 7 (0.95%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 94 (12.75%) Senior
2 93 (12.62%) Developer
3 84 (11.40%) Analyst
4 81 (10.99%) IT Support
5 75 (10.18%) Support Engineer
6 50 (6.78%) IT Engineer
7 48 (6.51%) IT Support Engineer
8 41 (5.56%) Consultant
8 41 (5.56%) Lead
9 36 (4.88%) Support Technician
10 35 (4.75%) Software Engineer
11 33 (4.48%) Senior Developer
12 21 (2.85%) Business Analyst
13 19 (2.58%) Administrator
14 18 (2.44%) IT Support Technician
14 18 (2.44%) IT Technician
15 17 (2.31%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 16 (2.17%) 1st Line Support
16 16 (2.17%) Technical Analyst
17 15 (2.04%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (5.70%) .NET
2 40 (5.43%) React
3 36 (4.88%) HTML
4 34 (4.61%) REST
5 24 (3.26%) Spring
5 24 (3.26%) Spring Boot
6 22 (2.99%) AngularJS
6 22 (2.99%) CSS
6 22 (2.99%) EDI
7 20 (2.71%) Vue
8 19 (2.58%) Middleware
9 16 (2.17%) SOAP
10 14 (1.90%) XML
11 13 (1.76%) JSON
11 13 (1.76%) Node.js
12 11 (1.49%) Next.js
13 10 (1.36%) React Native
13 10 (1.36%) RESTful
13 10 (1.36%) Web Services
14 9 (1.22%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 70 (9.50%) Driving Licence
2 50 (6.78%) Onboarding
3 34 (4.61%) Product Ownership
4 33 (4.48%) Cloud Native
5 24 (3.26%) Data Centre
6 21 (2.85%) Self-Motivation
7 20 (2.71%) Distributed Systems
8 17 (2.31%) Mobile App
9 14 (1.90%) CCTV
10 12 (1.63%) Analytical Mindset
11 10 (1.36%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 10 (1.36%) Management Information System
12 9 (1.22%) Enterprise Cloud
12 9 (1.22%) Security Posture
12 9 (1.22%) Social Media
13 8 (1.09%) AI Agents
14 7 (0.95%) Low-Code
15 6 (0.81%) FMCG
15 6 (0.81%) Hybrid Cloud
15 6 (0.81%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 131 (17.77%) Windows
2 63 (8.55%) Windows Server
3 47 (6.38%) Windows 10
4 24 (3.26%) Apple iOS
5 22 (2.99%) Linux
6 18 (2.44%) Android
7 7 (0.95%) Windows 7
7 7 (0.95%) Windows 8
7 7 (0.95%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.81%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.68%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.41%) Unix
11 2 (0.27%) Solaris
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.14%) VME
12 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 172 (23.34%) Continuous Improvement
2 162 (21.98%) Customer Service
3 112 (15.20%) Mentoring
4 85 (11.53%) Agile
5 84 (11.40%) Stakeholder Management
6 83 (11.26%) AI
6 83 (11.26%) Decision-Making
7 78 (10.58%) CI/CD
8 75 (10.18%) Roadmaps
9 69 (9.36%) CRM
10 66 (8.96%) Analytics
10 66 (8.96%) DevOps
11 62 (8.41%) Software Engineering
12 59 (8.01%) ERP
13 58 (7.87%) User Experience
14 55 (7.46%) Collaborative Working
15 50 (6.78%) Test Automation
16 45 (6.11%) Business Intelligence
17 42 (5.70%) Process Improvement
17 42 (5.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 124 (16.82%) SQL
2 92 (12.48%) Python
3 51 (6.92%) C#
4 48 (6.51%) JavaScript
5 40 (5.43%) Java
6 22 (2.99%) PowerShell
7 16 (2.17%) TypeScript
8 14 (1.90%) Bash
9 12 (1.63%) C++
9 12 (1.63%) PHP
10 10 (1.36%) T-SQL
11 8 (1.09%) Kotlin
11 8 (1.09%) Ruby
12 6 (0.81%) R
13 5 (0.68%) Bicep
13 5 (0.68%) C
13 5 (0.68%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 5 (0.68%) Shell Script
14 4 (0.54%) Apex Code
15 3 (0.41%) Scala
Qualifications
1 85 (11.53%) Degree
2 37 (5.02%) Security Cleared
3 23 (3.12%) SC Cleared
4 20 (2.71%) DBS Check
4 20 (2.71%) Microsoft Certification
5 15 (2.04%) BPSS Clearance
6 14 (1.90%) Computer Science Degree
7 12 (1.63%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (1.63%) HNC
8 10 (1.36%) DV Cleared
9 8 (1.09%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.09%) CCNP
10 7 (0.95%) CCNA
10 7 (0.95%) MCSA
11 6 (0.81%) Postgraduate
12 5 (0.68%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (0.68%) Master's Degree
12 5 (0.68%) Network+ Certification
13 4 (0.54%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.54%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (5.43%) Data Quality
2 28 (3.80%) QA
3 27 (3.66%) SLA
4 24 (3.26%) GDPR
5 22 (2.99%) Accessibility
6 14 (1.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 12 (1.63%) TickIT
8 8 (1.09%) ISO 9001
9 7 (0.95%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 14443
10 4 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 7816
11 3 (0.41%) NIST
12 2 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.27%) WCAG
13 1 (0.14%) DICOM
13 1 (0.14%) IFRS
13 1 (0.14%) IFRS 9
13 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
13 1 (0.14%) PMO
13 1 (0.14%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 94 (12.75%) Active Directory
2 32 (4.34%) VMware Infrastructure
3 31 (4.21%) Docker
4 20 (2.71%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.95%) VMware Workstation
6 4 (0.54%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.41%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.27%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 30 (4.07%) Kubernetes
2 29 (3.93%) Microsoft Intune
3 25 (3.39%) Terraform
4 17 (2.31%) SCCM
5 11 (1.49%) Ansible
6 10 (1.36%) Grafana
6 10 (1.36%) Prometheus
7 9 (1.22%) FortiGate
8 8 (1.09%) Autotask
9 4 (0.54%) Argo
9 4 (0.54%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.27%) Nagios
11 2 (0.27%) Podman
11 2 (0.27%) Single Sign-On
12 1 (0.14%) Istio
12 1 (0.14%) linkerd
12 1 (0.14%) Rancher
12 1 (0.14%) SCVMM
12 1 (0.14%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 255 (34.60%) Microsoft
2 36 (4.88%) VMware
3 30 (4.07%) SAP
4 16 (2.17%) Google
5 11 (1.49%) Cisco
5 11 (1.49%) HubSpot
6 10 (1.36%) Aruba
6 10 (1.36%) iManage
7 9 (1.22%) Adobe
7 9 (1.22%) Oracle
7 9 (1.22%) Salesforce
7 9 (1.22%) ServiceNow
7 9 (1.22%) SonicWALL
7 9 (1.22%) Sophos
8 8 (1.09%) Meraki
9 7 (0.95%) Apple
9 7 (0.95%) ESET
10 6 (0.81%) Intapp
10 6 (0.81%) Juniper
10 6 (0.81%) Workday