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

6 months to
24 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 7 8
Rank change year-on-year -17 +1 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 665 723 1,219
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.60% 17.64% 13.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.91% 18.59% 16.13%
Number of salaries quoted 499 547 885
10th Percentile £27,250 £27,397 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,000 £35,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £48,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.46% +6.67% -5.26%
75th Percentile £57,500 £65,000 £61,250
90th Percentile £70,000 £79,250 £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 7,466 3,889 7,558
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 74.07% 94.90% 82.43%
Number of salaries quoted 4,397 2,169 6,018
10th Percentile £29,450 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £53,250 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.41% +6.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £71,250 £66,000
90th Percentile £87,500 £83,750 £80,000
England median annual salary £58,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -3.33% +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 24 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 24 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 -23 308 £50,000 -1.96% 162
Merseyside -1 119 £36,250 +11.54% 29
Cheshire -18 103 £42,500 +13.33% 54
Lancashire -3 78 £36,500 -25.51% 82
Cumbria +5 54 £42,500 +8.28% 9
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 (7.22%) SharePoint
2 39 (5.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.20%) Confluence
4 4 (0.60%) Moodle
4 4 (0.60%) Totara
5 3 (0.45%) WordPress
6 2 (0.30%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.30%) ArcGIS
6 2 (0.30%) CMS
7 1 (0.15%) Umbraco
Applications
1 43 (6.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 28 (4.21%) 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 (3.01%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.50%) SAP ERP
3 7 (1.05%) 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
8 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle Assets
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle General Ledger
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle Receivables
8 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 152 (22.86%) Azure
2 128 (19.25%) Microsoft 365
3 67 (10.08%) Power Platform
4 61 (9.17%) AWS
5 43 (6.47%) Entra ID
6 30 (4.51%) GCP
7 26 (3.91%) SaaS
8 24 (3.61%) Dynamics 365
8 24 (3.61%) GitHub
9 19 (2.86%) Azure DevOps
10 17 (2.56%) Power Automate
11 16 (2.41%) Microsoft Purview
12 15 (2.26%) PowerApps
13 14 (2.11%) Serverless
14 11 (1.65%) Azure Monitor
14 11 (1.65%) Boomi
15 10 (1.50%) OneDrive
16 9 (1.35%) Google Workspace
17 8 (1.20%) Azure Sentinel
17 8 (1.20%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 60 (9.02%) Firewall
2 38 (5.71%) DNS
3 36 (5.41%) DHCP
4 30 (4.51%) VLAN
5 29 (4.36%) VPN
6 25 (3.76%) Wi-Fi
7 22 (3.31%) TCP/IP
7 22 (3.31%) Wireless
8 20 (3.01%) VoIP
8 20 (3.01%) WAN
9 14 (2.11%) Unified Communications
10 13 (1.95%) LAN
10 13 (1.95%) Structured Cabling
11 11 (1.65%) Broadband
11 11 (1.65%) SD-WAN
12 10 (1.50%) Telepresence
12 10 (1.50%) WebEx
13 8 (1.20%) Network Security
14 6 (0.90%) IP Telephony
15 5 (0.75%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (7.52%) Power BI
2 26 (3.91%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 16 (2.41%) SQL Server
4 12 (1.80%) NoSQL
5 10 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.35%) MongoDB
7 8 (1.20%) MySQL
8 7 (1.05%) 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%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.30%) Power Query
11 2 (0.30%) SAP HANA
11 2 (0.30%) Tableau
12 1 (0.15%) DB2
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 28 (4.21%) Git
2 25 (3.76%) JIRA
3 7 (1.05%) 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
1 312 (46.92%) Social Skills
2 174 (26.17%) Analytical Skills
3 121 (18.20%) Finance
4 59 (8.87%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.77%) Manufacturing
6 35 (5.26%) Retail
7 33 (4.96%) Public Sector
8 28 (4.21%) Marketing
9 25 (3.76%) Automotive
9 25 (3.76%) Legal
10 24 (3.61%) Law
11 20 (3.01%) Telecoms
12 19 (2.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 15 (2.26%) Presentation Skills
14 14 (2.11%) Advertising
15 13 (1.95%) Banking
16 10 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
16 10 (1.50%) Electronics
16 10 (1.50%) French Language
17 9 (1.35%) Games
Job Titles
1 85 (12.78%) Analyst
1 85 (12.78%) Support Engineer
2 80 (12.03%) IT Support
3 75 (11.28%) Senior
4 54 (8.12%) Developer
5 46 (6.92%) IT Engineer
6 44 (6.62%) IT Support Engineer
7 36 (5.41%) Support Technician
8 34 (5.11%) Lead
9 32 (4.81%) Business Analyst
10 30 (4.51%) Consultant
11 23 (3.46%) Senior Developer
12 21 (3.16%) Architect
13 20 (3.01%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 20 (3.01%) Technical Engineer
13 20 (3.01%) Technical Support
13 20 (3.01%) Technical Support Engineer
14 19 (2.86%) 2nd Line Support
14 19 (2.86%) IT Support Technician
14 19 (2.86%) IT Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.91%) React
2 24 (3.61%) .NET
2 24 (3.61%) HTML
3 21 (3.16%) REST
4 19 (2.86%) EDI
4 19 (2.86%) Spring
4 19 (2.86%) Spring Boot
5 16 (2.41%) CSS
6 13 (1.95%) AngularJS
6 13 (1.95%) XML
7 12 (1.80%) SOAP
8 11 (1.65%) JSON
8 11 (1.65%) Middleware
8 11 (1.65%) RESTful
8 11 (1.65%) Vue
9 9 (1.35%) SAP Fiori
10 8 (1.20%) Node.js
11 7 (1.05%) OAuth
11 7 (1.05%) OAuth2
12 6 (0.90%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 89 (13.38%) Driving Licence
2 52 (7.82%) Onboarding
3 25 (3.76%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (3.16%) Analytical Mindset
5 16 (2.41%) CCTV
5 16 (2.41%) Distributed Systems
6 15 (2.26%) Data Centre
7 13 (1.95%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (1.95%) EPoS
7 13 (1.95%) Product Ownership
8 12 (1.80%) Cloud Native
8 12 (1.80%) Management Information System
9 11 (1.65%) Social Media
10 9 (1.35%) CMDB
11 8 (1.20%) Enterprise Cloud
11 8 (1.20%) Renewable Energy
12 7 (1.05%) FMCG
12 7 (1.05%) Security Posture
13 6 (0.90%) Hybrid Cloud
13 6 (0.90%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 120 (18.05%) Windows
2 53 (7.97%) Windows Server
3 33 (4.96%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.31%) Apple iOS
5 20 (3.01%) Linux
6 14 (2.11%) Android
7 9 (1.35%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.35%) Windows 8
8 8 (1.20%) Windows Server 2016
9 7 (1.05%) 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
1 138 (20.75%) Customer Service
2 114 (17.14%) Continuous Improvement
3 90 (13.53%) Mentoring
4 87 (13.08%) Decision-Making
5 79 (11.88%) Stakeholder Management
6 70 (10.53%) Agile
7 65 (9.77%) AI
8 55 (8.27%) Project Management
9 52 (7.82%) CI/CD
9 52 (7.82%) DevOps
10 50 (7.52%) Collaborative Working
11 47 (7.07%) Cybersecurity
12 46 (6.92%) CRM
13 45 (6.77%) Roadmaps
14 44 (6.62%) Business Intelligence
14 44 (6.62%) ERP
15 43 (6.47%) Coaching
16 41 (6.17%) Analytics
16 41 (6.17%) User Experience
17 40 (6.02%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 84 (12.63%) SQL
2 48 (7.22%) Python
3 31 (4.66%) JavaScript
4 28 (4.21%) C#
5 27 (4.06%) Java
6 14 (2.11%) PowerShell
7 10 (1.50%) TypeScript
8 9 (1.35%) Kotlin
9 7 (1.05%) Bash
10 6 (0.90%) PHP
11 5 (0.75%) Bicep
11 5 (0.75%) C++
12 4 (0.60%) C
12 4 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 3 (0.45%) Go
13 3 (0.45%) MATLAB
13 3 (0.45%) Swift
13 3 (0.45%) T-SQL
14 2 (0.30%) Shell Script
14 2 (0.30%) VBA
Qualifications
1 88 (13.23%) Degree
2 27 (4.06%) DBS Check
3 21 (3.16%) BPSS Clearance
4 14 (2.11%) Security Cleared
5 12 (1.80%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (1.50%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.20%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.20%) HNC
7 8 (1.20%) Network+ Certification
8 7 (1.05%) Azure Certification
9 6 (0.90%) CCNA
9 6 (0.90%) CompTIA Security+
9 6 (0.90%) SC Cleared
10 5 (0.75%) Master's Degree
11 4 (0.60%) HND
11 4 (0.60%) ITIL Certification
11 4 (0.60%) MCSA
12 3 (0.45%) CCNP
12 3 (0.45%) PMI Certification
12 3 (0.45%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.96%) QA
2 25 (3.76%) SLA
3 23 (3.46%) Data Quality
4 20 (3.01%) GDPR
5 12 (1.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (1.65%) TickIT
7 9 (1.35%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.20%) ISO 9001
9 4 (0.60%) 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 90 (13.53%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.76%) Hyper-V
3 23 (3.46%) Docker
4 21 (3.16%) VMware Infrastructure
5 9 (1.35%) VMware Workstation
6 4 (0.60%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.30%) Firmware
7 2 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 33 (4.96%) Microsoft Intune
2 31 (4.66%) Terraform
3 22 (3.31%) Kubernetes
4 21 (3.16%) SCCM
5 20 (3.01%) BMC PATROL
6 12 (1.80%) Ansible
7 10 (1.50%) Autotask
7 10 (1.50%) Cisco CUCM
7 10 (1.50%) 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%) Podman
10 3 (0.45%) Rancher
11 2 (0.30%) cPanel
11 2 (0.30%) Plesk
12 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
12 1 (0.15%) Nagios
12 1 (0.15%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 207 (31.13%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.46%) SAP
2 23 (3.46%) VMware
3 18 (2.71%) Google
3 18 (2.71%) Oracle
4 16 (2.41%) Cisco
5 12 (1.80%) ServiceNow
5 12 (1.80%) Workday
6 11 (1.65%) Apple
7 9 (1.35%) ESET
8 8 (1.20%) New Relic
8 8 (1.20%) Splunk
9 7 (1.05%) Aruba
9 7 (1.05%) iManage
9 7 (1.05%) Meraki
10 6 (0.90%) Siemens
11 5 (0.75%) Adobe
11 5 (0.75%) BiZZdesign
12 4 (0.60%) Arista
12 4 (0.60%) HubSpot