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

6 months to
1 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 8 8
Rank change year-on-year -15 0 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 657 716 1,237
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.35% 17.17% 13.37%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.60% 18.06% 16.23%
Number of salaries quoted 495 545 895
10th Percentile £27,250 £27,346 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,000 £35,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £49,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.27% +8.89% -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £65,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £70,000 £78,250 £78,100
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 7,639 3,965 7,620
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 73.78% 95.11% 82.34%
Number of salaries quoted 4,520 2,158 6,062
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £39,500 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £53,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% +6.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £70,000 £65,603
90th Percentile £88,148 £83,750 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +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 1 May 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 May 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 -24 305 £50,000 -3.85% 177
Merseyside 0 117 £38,250 +17.69% 38
Cheshire -18 106 £42,500 +16.44% 62
Lancashire -5 76 £36,500 -23.96% 74
Cumbria +4 50 £42,500 +8.28% 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 49 (7.46%) SharePoint
2 40 (6.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.22%) Confluence
4 4 (0.61%) Moodle
4 4 (0.61%) Totara
5 3 (0.46%) WordPress
6 2 (0.30%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.30%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.30%) CMS
7 1 (0.15%) Umbraco
Applications
1 39 (5.94%) Microsoft Excel
2 26 (3.96%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (0.91%) MS Visio
4 3 (0.46%) Simulink
4 3 (0.46%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.15%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 24 (3.65%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (1.83%) SAP ERP
3 7 (1.07%) Magento
4 6 (0.91%) Workday HCM
5 4 (0.61%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (0.61%) SAP PP
5 4 (0.61%) Shopify
6 3 (0.46%) Dynamics AX
7 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 145 (22.07%) Azure
2 128 (19.48%) Microsoft 365
3 66 (10.05%) Power Platform
4 60 (9.13%) AWS
5 40 (6.09%) Entra ID
6 27 (4.11%) GCP
6 27 (4.11%) SaaS
7 26 (3.96%) Dynamics 365
8 25 (3.81%) GitHub
9 19 (2.89%) Azure DevOps
9 19 (2.89%) Power Automate
10 17 (2.59%) Microsoft Purview
10 17 (2.59%) PowerApps
11 13 (1.98%) Serverless
12 12 (1.83%) Boomi
13 10 (1.52%) Azure Monitor
13 10 (1.52%) OneDrive
14 9 (1.37%) Microsoft Copilot
15 8 (1.22%) Azure Sentinel
15 8 (1.22%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 59 (8.98%) Firewall
2 37 (5.63%) DNS
3 35 (5.33%) DHCP
4 30 (4.57%) VLAN
5 29 (4.41%) VPN
6 25 (3.81%) Wi-Fi
7 22 (3.35%) Wireless
8 21 (3.20%) TCP/IP
9 19 (2.89%) VoIP
9 19 (2.89%) WAN
10 13 (1.98%) LAN
11 12 (1.83%) Broadband
11 12 (1.83%) Structured Cabling
11 12 (1.83%) Unified Communications
12 10 (1.52%) SD-WAN
13 8 (1.22%) Network Security
13 8 (1.22%) Telepresence
13 8 (1.22%) WebEx
14 6 (0.91%) IP Telephony
15 5 (0.76%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (7.15%) Power BI
2 25 (3.81%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 14 (2.13%) SQL Server
4 11 (1.67%) NoSQL
5 9 (1.37%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.22%) MongoDB
6 8 (1.22%) MySQL
7 5 (0.76%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.61%) DynamoDB
8 4 (0.61%) Looker
9 3 (0.46%) Azure SQL Database
9 3 (0.46%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (0.46%) Relational Database
9 3 (0.46%) SAP HANA
10 2 (0.30%) Big Data
10 2 (0.30%) Hadoop
10 2 (0.30%) Power Query
11 1 (0.15%) Amazon RDS
11 1 (0.15%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
11 1 (0.15%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (4.26%) Git
2 26 (3.96%) JIRA
3 8 (1.22%) GitLab
4 7 (1.07%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.46%) 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
1 298 (45.36%) Social Skills
2 174 (26.48%) Analytical Skills
3 111 (16.89%) Finance
4 57 (8.68%) Organisational Skills
5 49 (7.46%) Manufacturing
6 34 (5.18%) Retail
7 31 (4.72%) Marketing
8 29 (4.41%) Public Sector
9 28 (4.26%) Law
10 25 (3.81%) Automotive
11 24 (3.65%) Legal
12 21 (3.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 17 (2.59%) Telecoms
14 14 (2.13%) Advertising
15 13 (1.98%) Banking
16 10 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
17 9 (1.37%) French Language
17 9 (1.37%) Games
17 9 (1.37%) Presentation Skills
18 8 (1.22%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 84 (12.79%) Analyst
2 82 (12.48%) Support Engineer
3 80 (12.18%) IT Support
4 77 (11.72%) Senior
5 55 (8.37%) Developer
6 48 (7.31%) IT Engineer
7 46 (7.00%) IT Support Engineer
8 35 (5.33%) Support Technician
9 31 (4.72%) Consultant
9 31 (4.72%) Lead
10 29 (4.41%) Business Analyst
11 25 (3.81%) Senior Developer
12 20 (3.04%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 18 (2.74%) 2nd Line Support
13 18 (2.74%) Architect
13 18 (2.74%) IT Support Technician
13 18 (2.74%) Software Engineer
13 18 (2.74%) Technical Engineer
13 18 (2.74%) Technical Support
13 18 (2.74%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (4.11%) React
2 24 (3.65%) .NET
2 24 (3.65%) REST
3 23 (3.50%) HTML
4 21 (3.20%) EDI
5 20 (3.04%) Spring
5 20 (3.04%) Spring Boot
6 15 (2.28%) CSS
7 14 (2.13%) AngularJS
7 14 (2.13%) XML
8 13 (1.98%) SOAP
9 12 (1.83%) JSON
9 12 (1.83%) Middleware
10 11 (1.67%) SAP Fiori
10 11 (1.67%) Vue
11 10 (1.52%) RESTful
12 9 (1.37%) Node.js
13 7 (1.07%) OAuth
13 7 (1.07%) OAuth2
13 7 (1.07%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 85 (12.94%) Driving Licence
2 51 (7.76%) Onboarding
3 22 (3.35%) Self-Motivation
4 17 (2.59%) Analytical Mindset
5 16 (2.44%) CCTV
6 15 (2.28%) Data Centre
6 15 (2.28%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (1.98%) Enterprise Software
8 12 (1.83%) Cloud Native
9 11 (1.67%) EPoS
9 11 (1.67%) Product Ownership
9 11 (1.67%) Social Media
10 10 (1.52%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.37%) CMDB
11 9 (1.37%) Enterprise Cloud
12 8 (1.22%) FMCG
13 7 (1.07%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (1.07%) Security Posture
14 6 (0.91%) Hybrid Cloud
14 6 (0.91%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 118 (17.96%) Windows
2 52 (7.91%) Windows Server
3 33 (5.02%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.35%) Apple iOS
5 19 (2.89%) Linux
6 14 (2.13%) Android
7 8 (1.22%) Windows 7
7 8 (1.22%) Windows 8
7 8 (1.22%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (1.07%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.76%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (0.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.61%) Unix
11 3 (0.46%) Solaris
12 1 (0.15%) CentOS
12 1 (0.15%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.15%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (21.31%) Customer Service
2 113 (17.20%) Continuous Improvement
3 91 (13.85%) Mentoring
4 79 (12.02%) Stakeholder Management
5 77 (11.72%) Decision-Making
6 72 (10.96%) Agile
7 62 (9.44%) AI
8 51 (7.76%) CI/CD
8 51 (7.76%) DevOps
9 49 (7.46%) Collaborative Working
10 47 (7.15%) CRM
10 47 (7.15%) ERP
11 46 (7.00%) Project Management
11 46 (7.00%) Roadmaps
12 45 (6.85%) User Experience
13 42 (6.39%) Coaching
13 42 (6.39%) Cybersecurity
14 41 (6.24%) Software Engineering
15 39 (5.94%) Business Intelligence
16 38 (5.78%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 82 (12.48%) SQL
2 48 (7.31%) Python
3 31 (4.72%) JavaScript
4 30 (4.57%) C#
5 29 (4.41%) Java
6 14 (2.13%) PowerShell
7 10 (1.52%) TypeScript
8 9 (1.37%) Kotlin
9 8 (1.22%) Bash
10 6 (0.91%) C++
10 6 (0.91%) PHP
11 4 (0.61%) Bicep
11 4 (0.61%) C
11 4 (0.61%) T-SQL
12 3 (0.46%) Go
12 3 (0.46%) MATLAB
12 3 (0.46%) Swift
13 2 (0.30%) Scala
13 2 (0.30%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.30%) VBA
Qualifications
1 79 (12.02%) Degree
2 25 (3.81%) DBS Check
3 20 (3.04%) BPSS Clearance
4 16 (2.44%) Security Cleared
5 12 (1.83%) Microsoft Certification
6 9 (1.37%) HNC
7 8 (1.22%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.22%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.22%) Network+ Certification
7 8 (1.22%) SC Cleared
8 6 (0.91%) CCNA
9 5 (0.76%) Azure Certification
9 5 (0.76%) CompTIA Security+
9 5 (0.76%) DV Cleared
10 4 (0.61%) HND
10 4 (0.61%) ITIL Certification
10 4 (0.61%) MCSA
11 3 (0.46%) CCNP
11 3 (0.46%) PMI Certification
11 3 (0.46%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (5.18%) QA
2 26 (3.96%) SLA
3 22 (3.35%) Data Quality
4 19 (2.89%) GDPR
5 12 (1.83%) TickIT
6 11 (1.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.37%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.22%) ISO 9001
9 5 (0.76%) Accessibility
10 2 (0.30%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.15%) DICOM
11 1 (0.15%) GMP
11 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 14443
11 1 (0.15%) ISO/IEC 7816
11 1 (0.15%) NEBOSH
System Software
1 91 (13.85%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.65%) Hyper-V
3 22 (3.35%) Docker
4 19 (2.89%) VMware Infrastructure
5 8 (1.22%) VMware Workstation
6 4 (0.61%) Virtual Desktop
7 3 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.30%) Firmware
9 1 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 33 (5.02%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (4.72%) Terraform
3 21 (3.20%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.04%) BMC PATROL
4 20 (3.04%) SCCM
5 12 (1.83%) Ansible
6 10 (1.52%) Single Sign-On
7 9 (1.37%) Autotask
8 8 (1.22%) Cisco CUCM
9 5 (0.76%) FortiGate
10 4 (0.61%) Grafana
10 4 (0.61%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.61%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.46%) Podman
11 3 (0.46%) Rancher
12 2 (0.30%) cPanel
12 2 (0.30%) Plesk
13 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
13 1 (0.15%) Nagios
13 1 (0.15%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 209 (31.81%) Microsoft
2 26 (3.96%) SAP
3 21 (3.20%) VMware
4 17 (2.59%) Google
5 15 (2.28%) Oracle
6 14 (2.13%) Cisco
7 11 (1.67%) Apple
7 11 (1.67%) ServiceNow
7 11 (1.67%) Workday
8 9 (1.37%) iManage
9 8 (1.22%) ESET
9 8 (1.22%) Meraki
9 8 (1.22%) New Relic
9 8 (1.22%) Splunk
10 7 (1.07%) Aruba
11 5 (0.76%) Aderant
11 5 (0.76%) Adobe
11 5 (0.76%) BiZZdesign
11 5 (0.76%) Intapp
11 5 (0.76%) Siemens