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 11 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 7 5
Rank change year-on-year -4 -2 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 942 1,007 1,078
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.50% 19.48% 13.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.35% 21.78% 17.77%
Number of salaries quoted 702 493 434
10th Percentile £26,561 £26,250 £27,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £47,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +5.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £57,500 £60,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £78,500
England median annual salary £47,022 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.49% -14.29% -4.55%

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 9,104 4,623 6,068
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.50% 89.44% 77.55%
Number of salaries quoted 6,889 2,220 3,557
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,612 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -0.99% -8.18%
75th Percentile £75,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -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 11 September 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 11 September 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 -7 522 £48,350 +7.44% 265
Merseyside -6 151 £42,500 -19.81% 45
Cheshire -9 149 £42,500 -15.00% 96
Lancashire 0 79 £42,500 +6.25% 88
Cumbria -5 33 £32,500 -9.35% 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 79 (8.39%) SharePoint
2 52 (5.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.17%) IIS
4 5 (0.53%) Apache Spark
5 3 (0.32%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.21%) Apache
6 2 (0.21%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.21%) CMS
6 2 (0.21%) Exchange Server 2013
6 2 (0.21%) nginx
7 1 (0.11%) Confluence
7 1 (0.11%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.11%) Sitecore CMS
7 1 (0.11%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.11%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.11%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.11%) WordPress
Applications
1 52 (5.52%) Microsoft Office
2 51 (5.41%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.59%) MS Visio
4 6 (0.64%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.53%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.21%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.21%) Windchill
7 1 (0.11%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.11%) Revit
7 1 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 16 (1.70%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 8 (0.85%) SAP ERP
4 5 (0.53%) Magento
5 4 (0.42%) NEC Housing
5 4 (0.42%) NetSuite
5 4 (0.42%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.32%) Dynamics AX
6 3 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
6 3 (0.32%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
7 2 (0.21%) Remedy ITSM
8 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.11%) Odoo
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Cash Management
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
8 1 (0.11%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 195 (20.70%) Azure
2 157 (16.67%) Microsoft 365
3 112 (11.89%) AWS
4 109 (11.57%) Power Platform
5 48 (5.10%) PowerApps
6 40 (4.25%) GCP
7 39 (4.14%) SaaS
8 35 (3.72%) Entra ID
9 33 (3.50%) Power Automate
10 32 (3.40%) GitHub
11 30 (3.18%) Azure DevOps
11 30 (3.18%) Microsoft Copilot
11 30 (3.18%) OneDrive
12 27 (2.87%) Dynamics 365
13 19 (2.02%) Microsoft Purview
13 19 (2.02%) Serverless
14 12 (1.27%) Boomi
14 12 (1.27%) Google Analytics
15 11 (1.17%) Azure Data Factory
15 11 (1.17%) Copilot Studio
Communications & Networking
1 61 (6.48%) DNS
2 56 (5.94%) Firewall
3 55 (5.84%) DHCP
4 42 (4.46%) VPN
5 40 (4.25%) TCP/IP
6 31 (3.29%) Wireless
7 27 (2.87%) VLAN
8 25 (2.65%) VoIP
9 23 (2.44%) Wi-Fi
10 20 (2.12%) Network Security
11 17 (1.80%) LAN
12 14 (1.49%) WAN
13 12 (1.27%) Broadband
14 10 (1.06%) Unified Communications
15 8 (0.85%) SD-WAN
16 7 (0.74%) BGP
16 7 (0.74%) OSPF
16 7 (0.74%) Structured Cabling
17 6 (0.64%) SAN
17 6 (0.64%) SNMP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (7.43%) Power BI
2 54 (5.73%) SQL Server
3 28 (2.97%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 24 (2.55%) MySQL
5 20 (2.12%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.17%) BigQuery
6 11 (1.17%) NoSQL
7 10 (1.06%) Big Data
7 10 (1.06%) Looker
8 9 (0.96%) Power Query
8 9 (0.96%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 8 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
9 8 (0.85%) MongoDB
9 8 (0.85%) PostgreSQL
9 8 (0.85%) Redis
10 7 (0.74%) Electronic Patient Records
11 5 (0.53%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.53%) MariaDB
11 5 (0.53%) Relational Database
11 5 (0.53%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 40 (4.25%) Git
2 33 (3.50%) JIRA
3 11 (1.17%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.74%) Bitbucket
4 7 (0.74%) GitLab
5 6 (0.64%) Cypress.io
6 5 (0.53%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.42%) Robot Framework
8 3 (0.32%) Claude Code
8 3 (0.32%) Visual Studio Code
9 2 (0.21%) Selenium
9 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.11%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.11%) gulp
10 1 (0.11%) Maven
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.11%) Rational Rhapsody
10 1 (0.11%) Vagrant
10 1 (0.11%) webpack
General
1 396 (42.04%) Social Skills
2 292 (31.00%) Analytical Skills
3 145 (15.39%) Finance
4 83 (8.81%) Law
5 71 (7.54%) Manufacturing
6 68 (7.22%) Organisational Skills
7 64 (6.79%) Legal
8 46 (4.88%) Retail
9 40 (4.25%) Telecoms
10 36 (3.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 36 (3.82%) Marketing
11 25 (2.65%) Public Sector
12 20 (2.12%) Military
13 17 (1.80%) Aerospace
14 14 (1.49%) Banking
15 12 (1.27%) Billing
15 12 (1.27%) Electronics
16 11 (1.17%) Documentation Skills
17 10 (1.06%) Games
17 10 (1.06%) German Language
Job Titles
1 130 (13.80%) Analyst
2 129 (13.69%) Senior
3 121 (12.85%) Developer
4 62 (6.58%) IT Support
5 53 (5.63%) Support Engineer
6 48 (5.10%) Lead
7 45 (4.78%) Senior Developer
8 43 (4.56%) Software Engineer
9 42 (4.46%) Consultant
10 40 (4.25%) Support Analyst
11 37 (3.93%) Support Technician
12 35 (3.72%) Administrator
13 27 (2.87%) IT Engineer
13 27 (2.87%) IT Technician
13 27 (2.87%) Junior
14 24 (2.55%) Applications Support
14 24 (2.55%) IT Support Engineer
15 23 (2.44%) IT Support Technician
16 21 (2.23%) Technical Analyst
16 21 (2.23%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (5.52%) .NET
2 45 (4.78%) HTML
2 45 (4.78%) React
3 39 (4.14%) REST
4 25 (2.65%) Terraform
5 24 (2.55%) Middleware
6 23 (2.44%) AngularJS
6 23 (2.44%) CSS
6 23 (2.44%) Spring
7 21 (2.23%) Spring Boot
7 21 (2.23%) Vue
8 19 (2.02%) XML
9 17 (1.80%) SOAP
10 16 (1.70%) EDI
11 15 (1.59%) JSON
11 15 (1.59%) Node.js
12 11 (1.17%) Next.js
12 11 (1.17%) Web Services
13 10 (1.06%) Kafka
13 10 (1.06%) Laravel
Miscellaneous
1 66 (7.01%) Driving Licence
2 57 (6.05%) Onboarding
3 41 (4.35%) Self-Motivation
4 36 (3.82%) Cloud Native
5 35 (3.72%) Product Ownership
6 29 (3.08%) Management Information System
7 20 (2.12%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 19 (2.02%) Distributed Systems
9 15 (1.59%) NHS
9 15 (1.59%) Security Posture
10 14 (1.49%) IoT
10 14 (1.49%) Replication
11 13 (1.38%) Mobile App
12 11 (1.17%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (1.17%) Low-Code
13 9 (0.96%) CCTV
13 9 (0.96%) Data Centre
13 9 (0.96%) Enterprise Cloud
13 9 (0.96%) FMCG
14 8 (0.85%) Cyberattack
Operating Systems
1 134 (14.23%) Windows
2 63 (6.69%) Windows Server
3 38 (4.03%) Linux
4 24 (2.55%) Windows 10
5 20 (2.12%) Apple iOS
6 9 (0.96%) Android
6 9 (0.96%) Mac OS
7 8 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.64%) Unix
8 6 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.21%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.21%) Solaris
10 1 (0.11%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.11%) VME
10 1 (0.11%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 267 (28.34%) Continuous Improvement
2 199 (21.13%) Customer Service
3 132 (14.01%) AI
3 132 (14.01%) Mentoring
4 123 (13.06%) Agile
4 123 (13.06%) Stakeholder Management
5 110 (11.68%) Decision-Making
6 103 (10.93%) CI/CD
7 98 (10.40%) CRM
8 90 (9.55%) Software Engineering
9 88 (9.34%) DevOps
10 85 (9.02%) ERP
11 84 (8.92%) Analytics
11 84 (8.92%) Roadmaps
12 78 (8.28%) Collaborative Working
13 74 (7.86%) Project Delivery
14 73 (7.75%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 64 (6.79%) User Experience
16 63 (6.69%) Business Intelligence
17 59 (6.26%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 178 (18.90%) SQL
2 117 (12.42%) Python
3 68 (7.22%) JavaScript
4 66 (7.01%) C#
5 53 (5.63%) Java
6 41 (4.35%) PowerShell
7 26 (2.76%) TypeScript
8 20 (2.12%) PHP
9 19 (2.02%) Bash
10 17 (1.80%) C++
11 13 (1.38%) Shell Script
12 11 (1.17%) T-SQL
13 9 (0.96%) C
14 8 (0.85%) Ruby
15 7 (0.74%) Go
16 6 (0.64%) R
17 5 (0.53%) Apex Code
17 5 (0.53%) Bicep
17 5 (0.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
18 3 (0.32%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 126 (13.38%) Degree
2 53 (5.63%) Security Cleared
3 31 (3.29%) SC Cleared
4 28 (2.97%) HNC
5 23 (2.44%) DBS Check
5 23 (2.44%) Microsoft Certification
6 21 (2.23%) DV Cleared
7 16 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
8 14 (1.49%) BPSS Clearance
8 14 (1.49%) Cisco Certification
9 13 (1.38%) CCNP
10 12 (1.27%) Azure Certification
11 11 (1.17%) HND
12 8 (0.85%) ITIL Certification
12 8 (0.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 8 (0.85%) Master's Degree
13 7 (0.74%) Postgraduate
14 6 (0.64%) ACCA
14 6 (0.64%) PMI Certification
15 5 (0.53%) CCNA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 50 (5.31%) Data Quality
2 40 (4.25%) Accessibility
2 40 (4.25%) QA
3 35 (3.72%) GDPR
4 18 (1.91%) SLA
5 12 (1.27%) TickIT
6 10 (1.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (0.96%) NIST
8 4 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 14443
8 4 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 7816
9 3 (0.32%) PMO
10 2 (0.21%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.21%) NEBOSH
10 2 (0.21%) WCAG
11 1 (0.11%) DICOM
11 1 (0.11%) GMP
11 1 (0.11%) GxP
11 1 (0.11%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.11%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 100 (10.62%) Active Directory
2 47 (4.99%) Docker
3 32 (3.40%) VMware Infrastructure
4 20 (2.12%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.74%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.32%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 37 (3.93%) Kubernetes
2 29 (3.08%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (1.38%) Grafana
4 11 (1.17%) FortiGate
4 11 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
5 10 (1.06%) Prometheus
6 9 (0.96%) Ansible
7 4 (0.42%) Argo
7 4 (0.42%) Microsoft Clustering
8 2 (0.21%) Nagios
8 2 (0.21%) Nessus
8 2 (0.21%) Podman
9 1 (0.11%) Autotask
9 1 (0.11%) Istio
9 1 (0.11%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 1 (0.11%) Packer
9 1 (0.11%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
9 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 315 (33.44%) Microsoft
2 44 (4.67%) VMware
3 35 (3.72%) SAP
4 29 (3.08%) Google
5 18 (1.91%) Sage
5 18 (1.91%) YouTube
6 17 (1.80%) Cisco
6 17 (1.80%) ServiceNow
7 15 (1.59%) Salesforce
8 14 (1.49%) Oracle
9 13 (1.38%) iManage
10 12 (1.27%) Aruba
11 10 (1.06%) Adobe
11 10 (1.06%) Civica
12 9 (0.96%) HubSpot
13 8 (0.85%) Aderant
13 8 (0.85%) Juniper
13 8 (0.85%) OpenAI
13 8 (0.85%) Tanium
14 7 (0.74%) Sophos