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 22 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 7 8
Rank change year-on-year -15 +1 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 670 726 1,212
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.71% 17.74% 13.30%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.04% 18.69% 16.12%
Number of salaries quoted 502 548 885
10th Percentile £27,250 £27,423 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,000 £35,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £47,842 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.16% +6.31% -5.26%
75th Percentile £57,500 £65,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £70,000 £79,125 £77,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% +5.00% -9.09%

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 7,413 3,885 7,517
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 74.21% 94.92% 82.47%
Number of salaries quoted 4,348 2,168 5,997
10th Percentile £29,463 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £53,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -0.94% +6.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £71,250 £66,000
90th Percentile £86,765 £83,750 £80,000
England median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -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 22 April 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 22 April 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 -23 310 £50,000 -4.31% 193
Merseyside -1 116 £35,000 +7.69% 37
Cheshire -19 107 £45,000 +21.62% 63
Lancashire -4 79 £36,500 -23.96% 79
Cumbria +4 55 £43,750 +11.46% 11
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 48 (7.16%) SharePoint
2 39 (5.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.34%) Confluence
4 4 (0.60%) Moodle
4 4 (0.60%) Totara
4 4 (0.60%) WordPress
5 2 (0.30%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.30%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.30%) CMS
6 1 (0.15%) Umbraco
Applications
1 42 (6.27%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (4.03%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (0.75%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.45%) Simulink
4 3 (0.45%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.15%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.15%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.15%) Revit
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 20 (2.99%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.49%) SAP ERP
3 7 (1.04%) Magento
4 6 (0.90%) Workday HCM
5 4 (0.60%) Shopify
6 3 (0.45%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.45%) SAP PP
7 2 (0.30%) Dynamics AX
7 2 (0.30%) Oracle Assets
7 2 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
7 2 (0.30%) Oracle Payables
7 2 (0.30%) Oracle Receivables
7 2 (0.30%) SAP Business One
8 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 155 (23.13%) Azure
2 127 (18.96%) Microsoft 365
3 69 (10.30%) Power Platform
4 65 (9.70%) AWS
5 43 (6.42%) Entra ID
6 34 (5.07%) GCP
7 27 (4.03%) SaaS
8 24 (3.58%) GitHub
9 23 (3.43%) Dynamics 365
10 19 (2.84%) Azure DevOps
10 19 (2.84%) Power Automate
11 17 (2.54%) PowerApps
12 16 (2.39%) Microsoft Purview
13 15 (2.24%) Serverless
14 11 (1.64%) Azure Monitor
14 11 (1.64%) Boomi
15 10 (1.49%) OneDrive
16 9 (1.34%) Google Workspace
16 9 (1.34%) Microsoft Copilot
17 8 (1.19%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 60 (8.96%) Firewall
2 38 (5.67%) DNS
3 36 (5.37%) DHCP
4 30 (4.48%) VLAN
5 29 (4.33%) VPN
6 25 (3.73%) Wi-Fi
7 22 (3.28%) TCP/IP
7 22 (3.28%) Wireless
8 20 (2.99%) VoIP
8 20 (2.99%) WAN
9 14 (2.09%) Unified Communications
10 13 (1.94%) LAN
10 13 (1.94%) Structured Cabling
11 11 (1.64%) SD-WAN
12 10 (1.49%) Broadband
12 10 (1.49%) Telepresence
12 10 (1.49%) WebEx
13 8 (1.19%) Network Security
14 6 (0.90%) IP Telephony
15 5 (0.75%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (7.76%) Power BI
2 26 (3.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 17 (2.54%) SQL Server
4 13 (1.94%) NoSQL
5 11 (1.64%) PostgreSQL
6 10 (1.49%) MongoDB
7 8 (1.19%) MySQL
8 7 (1.04%) Azure SQL Database
9 4 (0.60%) DynamoDB
9 4 (0.60%) Looker
9 4 (0.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.45%) Elasticsearch
10 3 (0.45%) Relational Database
11 2 (0.30%) Big Data
11 2 (0.30%) Crystal Reports
11 2 (0.30%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.30%) Power Query
11 2 (0.30%) SAP HANA
11 2 (0.30%) Tableau
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 29 (4.33%) Git
2 26 (3.88%) JIRA
3 7 (1.04%) GitLab
4 6 (0.90%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.45%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.15%) gulp
6 1 (0.15%) LabVIEW
6 1 (0.15%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.15%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.15%) webpack
General
1 315 (47.01%) Social Skills
2 178 (26.57%) Analytical Skills
3 125 (18.66%) Finance
4 59 (8.81%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.72%) Manufacturing
6 35 (5.22%) Retail
7 33 (4.93%) Public Sector
8 28 (4.18%) Marketing
9 25 (3.73%) Automotive
9 25 (3.73%) Legal
10 24 (3.58%) Law
11 19 (2.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 19 (2.84%) Telecoms
12 15 (2.24%) Presentation Skills
13 14 (2.09%) Advertising
14 13 (1.94%) Banking
15 11 (1.64%) Documentation Skills
15 11 (1.64%) Electronics
16 10 (1.49%) French Language
17 9 (1.34%) Games
Job Titles
1 85 (12.69%) Support Engineer
2 84 (12.54%) Analyst
3 80 (11.94%) IT Support
3 80 (11.94%) Senior
4 54 (8.06%) Developer
5 46 (6.87%) IT Engineer
6 44 (6.57%) IT Support Engineer
7 36 (5.37%) Support Technician
8 35 (5.22%) Lead
9 32 (4.78%) Business Analyst
10 30 (4.48%) Consultant
11 24 (3.58%) Senior Developer
12 23 (3.43%) Architect
13 20 (2.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 20 (2.99%) Solutions Architect
13 20 (2.99%) Technical Engineer
13 20 (2.99%) Technical Support
13 20 (2.99%) Technical Support Engineer
14 19 (2.84%) 2nd Line Support
14 19 (2.84%) IT Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (4.03%) React
2 24 (3.58%) .NET
2 24 (3.58%) HTML
3 19 (2.84%) EDI
3 19 (2.84%) REST
3 19 (2.84%) Spring
3 19 (2.84%) Spring Boot
4 16 (2.39%) CSS
5 15 (2.24%) XML
6 13 (1.94%) JSON
7 12 (1.79%) RESTful
7 12 (1.79%) Vue
8 11 (1.64%) AngularJS
8 11 (1.64%) Middleware
8 11 (1.64%) SOAP
9 9 (1.34%) SAP Fiori
10 8 (1.19%) Node.js
11 7 (1.04%) OAuth
11 7 (1.04%) OAuth2
12 6 (0.90%) ARM Templates
Miscellaneous
1 89 (13.28%) Driving Licence
2 50 (7.46%) Onboarding
3 26 (3.88%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (3.13%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.69%) Distributed Systems
6 17 (2.54%) CCTV
7 15 (2.24%) Data Centre
8 13 (1.94%) Enterprise Software
8 13 (1.94%) EPoS
8 13 (1.94%) Product Ownership
9 12 (1.79%) Cloud Native
9 12 (1.79%) Management Information System
10 11 (1.64%) Social Media
11 9 (1.34%) CMDB
12 8 (1.19%) Enterprise Cloud
12 8 (1.19%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (1.04%) FMCG
13 7 (1.04%) Security Posture
13 7 (1.04%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.90%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 121 (18.06%) Windows
2 54 (8.06%) Windows Server
3 32 (4.78%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.28%) Apple iOS
5 21 (3.13%) Linux
6 13 (1.94%) Android
7 9 (1.34%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.34%) Windows 8
8 8 (1.19%) Windows Server 2016
9 7 (1.04%) Mac OS
10 5 (0.75%) Windows Server 2019
11 4 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 4 (0.60%) Unix
12 3 (0.45%) Solaris
13 1 (0.15%) CentOS
13 1 (0.15%) CoreOS
13 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
13 1 (0.15%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (20.45%) Customer Service
2 115 (17.16%) Continuous Improvement
3 91 (13.58%) Mentoring
4 89 (13.28%) Decision-Making
5 81 (12.09%) Stakeholder Management
6 73 (10.90%) Agile
7 68 (10.15%) AI
8 56 (8.36%) Project Management
9 54 (8.06%) CI/CD
9 54 (8.06%) DevOps
10 51 (7.61%) Collaborative Working
11 48 (7.16%) Cybersecurity
12 47 (7.01%) Roadmaps
13 46 (6.87%) Business Intelligence
13 46 (6.87%) Coaching
14 45 (6.72%) CRM
14 45 (6.72%) ERP
15 43 (6.42%) Analytics
15 43 (6.42%) User Experience
16 41 (6.12%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 85 (12.69%) SQL
2 49 (7.31%) Python
3 31 (4.63%) JavaScript
4 27 (4.03%) C#
4 27 (4.03%) Java
5 14 (2.09%) PowerShell
6 10 (1.49%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.34%) Kotlin
8 7 (1.04%) Bash
8 7 (1.04%) PHP
9 5 (0.75%) Bicep
9 5 (0.75%) C++
10 4 (0.60%) C
10 4 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 3 (0.45%) Go
11 3 (0.45%) MATLAB
11 3 (0.45%) Swift
11 3 (0.45%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.30%) Ladder Logic
12 2 (0.30%) VBA
Qualifications
1 92 (13.73%) Degree
2 27 (4.03%) DBS Check
3 22 (3.28%) BPSS Clearance
4 14 (2.09%) Security Cleared
5 12 (1.79%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.64%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.19%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.19%) HNC
7 8 (1.19%) Network+ Certification
8 7 (1.04%) Azure Certification
8 7 (1.04%) Master's Degree
9 6 (0.90%) CCNA
9 6 (0.90%) CompTIA Security+
9 6 (0.90%) SC Cleared
10 4 (0.60%) HND
10 4 (0.60%) ITIL Certification
10 4 (0.60%) MCSA
11 3 (0.45%) CCNP
11 3 (0.45%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.45%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.93%) QA
2 25 (3.73%) SLA
3 23 (3.43%) Data Quality
4 20 (2.99%) GDPR
5 12 (1.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (1.64%) TickIT
7 9 (1.34%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.19%) ISO 9001
9 5 (0.75%) Accessibility
10 2 (0.30%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.30%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) DICOM
11 1 (0.15%) GMP
11 1 (0.15%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.15%) PMO
System Software
1 89 (13.28%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.73%) Docker
2 25 (3.73%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.13%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (1.34%) VMware Workstation
5 4 (0.60%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.30%) Firmware
6 2 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 33 (4.93%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (4.63%) Terraform
3 24 (3.58%) Kubernetes
4 21 (3.13%) SCCM
5 20 (2.99%) BMC PATROL
6 12 (1.79%) Ansible
7 10 (1.49%) Autotask
7 10 (1.49%) Cisco CUCM
7 10 (1.49%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.75%) FortiGate
9 4 (0.60%) Grafana
9 4 (0.60%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.60%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.45%) cPanel
10 3 (0.45%) Plesk
10 3 (0.45%) Podman
10 3 (0.45%) Rancher
11 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.15%) Nagios
11 1 (0.15%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 207 (30.90%) Microsoft
2 25 (3.73%) SAP
3 23 (3.43%) VMware
4 19 (2.84%) Oracle
5 18 (2.69%) Google
6 16 (2.39%) Cisco
7 12 (1.79%) Workday
8 11 (1.64%) Apple
8 11 (1.64%) ServiceNow
9 9 (1.34%) ESET
10 8 (1.19%) New Relic
10 8 (1.19%) Splunk
11 7 (1.04%) Aruba
11 7 (1.04%) iManage
11 7 (1.04%) Meraki
12 6 (0.90%) Adobe
12 6 (0.90%) Siemens
13 5 (0.75%) BiZZdesign
14 4 (0.60%) Arista
14 4 (0.60%) HubSpot