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 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 16 7 8
Rank change year-on-year -9 +1 +14
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 715 890 551
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 12.89% 14.83% 15.13%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.96% 17.24% 16.05%
Number of salaries quoted 532 423 385
10th Percentile £27,637 £30,750 £26,000
25th Percentile £32,500 £35,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,000 £49,965 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -3.93% +5.19% +0.26%
75th Percentile £53,000 £60,000 £64,000
90th Percentile £64,401 £77,500 £72,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

All Process and 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 4,779 5,163 3,433
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 86.19% 86.04% 94.29%
Number of salaries quoted 2,365 2,670 2,602
10th Percentile £27,750 £32,099 £31,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,369 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.67% -6.60% +2.33%
75th Percentile £65,000 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £78,750 £83,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 December 2025.

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 December 2025. 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 -15 273 £42,750 -14.50% 265
Cheshire -11 156 £53,000 +32.50% 94
Merseyside +2 135 £48,720 +49.91% 58
Lancashire -5 100 £47,500 -9.52% 151
Cumbria +4 49 £45,000 +8.43% 14
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 38 (5.31%) SharePoint
2 21 (2.94%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.98%) WordPress
4 4 (0.56%) Camunda
4 4 (0.56%) Confluence
5 2 (0.28%) Apache Solr
5 2 (0.28%) FactoryTalk
5 2 (0.28%) nginx
5 2 (0.28%) WinCC
6 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
6 1 (0.14%) Apache
6 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.14%) IIS
Applications
1 45 (6.29%) Microsoft Office
2 42 (5.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.28%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.28%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.28%) Revit
4 2 (0.28%) Simulink
4 2 (0.28%) Trello
5 1 (0.14%) CANalyzer
5 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 8 (1.12%) SAP Business One
2 7 (0.98%) SAP WM
3 6 (0.84%) Unit4 Business World
4 2 (0.28%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Assets
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle General Ledger
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.14%) Primavera
5 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.14%) Shopify
5 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 114 (15.94%) Azure
2 78 (10.91%) AWS
3 74 (10.35%) Microsoft 365
4 48 (6.71%) Entra ID
5 43 (6.01%) Power Platform
6 40 (5.59%) GCP
7 30 (4.20%) SaaS
8 15 (2.10%) Serverless
9 13 (1.82%) OneDrive
10 11 (1.54%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.40%) Microsoft Purview
12 8 (1.12%) AWS Lambda
12 8 (1.12%) Microsoft Copilot
13 7 (0.98%) Cloud Computing
13 7 (0.98%) Dynamics 365
14 6 (0.84%) Adobe Analytics
14 6 (0.84%) Azure Monitor
14 6 (0.84%) Figma
14 6 (0.84%) PaaS
14 6 (0.84%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 30 (4.20%) Firewall
2 16 (2.24%) DNS
3 15 (2.10%) DHCP
4 12 (1.68%) VoIP
5 11 (1.54%) TCP/IP
6 10 (1.40%) Unified Communications
6 10 (1.40%) WAN
7 9 (1.26%) Wireless
8 8 (1.12%) LAN
8 8 (1.12%) Telepresence
8 8 (1.12%) VPN
8 8 (1.12%) WebEx
8 8 (1.12%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (0.84%) Broadband
10 5 (0.70%) Ethernet
10 5 (0.70%) Structured Cabling
11 4 (0.56%) Internet
12 3 (0.42%) ATM
12 3 (0.42%) SSH
12 3 (0.42%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (5.17%) Power BI
2 24 (3.36%) SQL Server
3 14 (1.96%) Tableau
4 13 (1.82%) NoSQL
5 10 (1.40%) MongoDB
6 9 (1.26%) MySQL
7 8 (1.12%) Crystal Reports
7 8 (1.12%) PostgreSQL
8 7 (0.98%) Data Warehouse
8 7 (0.98%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 6 (0.84%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.84%) Oracle Reports
10 5 (0.70%) DynamoDB
11 4 (0.56%) Azure SQL Database
11 4 (0.56%) Big Data
11 4 (0.56%) BigQuery
11 4 (0.56%) Elasticsearch
11 4 (0.56%) Looker
11 4 (0.56%) Relational Database
12 2 (0.28%) Data Mart
Development Applications
1 19 (2.66%) Git
2 10 (1.40%) GitLab
3 7 (0.98%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.98%) JIRA
4 6 (0.84%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.70%) SonarQube
5 5 (0.70%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.56%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.14%) CANoe
7 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 316 (44.20%) Social Skills
2 175 (24.48%) Analytical Skills
3 143 (20.00%) Finance
4 50 (6.99%) Automotive
5 41 (5.73%) Legal
6 33 (4.62%) Organisational Skills
7 26 (3.64%) Public Sector
8 25 (3.50%) Manufacturing
8 25 (3.50%) Retail
9 20 (2.80%) Electronics
10 19 (2.66%) Law
10 19 (2.66%) Presentation Skills
11 17 (2.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 17 (2.38%) Telecoms
12 15 (2.10%) Banking
13 14 (1.96%) Advertising
13 14 (1.96%) Marketing
14 13 (1.82%) Pharmaceutical
15 12 (1.68%) Influencing Skills
16 11 (1.54%) Police
Job Titles
1 88 (12.31%) Analyst
2 69 (9.65%) Senior
3 63 (8.81%) IT Support
4 52 (7.27%) Support Engineer
5 51 (7.13%) Lead
6 45 (6.29%) Developer
7 28 (3.92%) Business Analyst
8 25 (3.50%) Architect
8 25 (3.50%) Systems Engineer
8 25 (3.50%) Team Leader
9 24 (3.36%) Trainee
10 22 (3.08%) Support Analyst
11 21 (2.94%) Solutions Architect
12 20 (2.80%) Trainee Analyst
12 20 (2.80%) Trainee Business Analyst
13 19 (2.66%) Support Team Leader
13 19 (2.66%) Systems Support
13 19 (2.66%) Technical Engineer
13 19 (2.66%) Technical Support
13 19 (2.66%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (3.36%) React
2 16 (2.24%) HTML
3 12 (1.68%) .NET
4 11 (1.54%) CSS
4 11 (1.54%) RESTful
5 10 (1.40%) Spring
6 9 (1.26%) Hibernate
6 9 (1.26%) Node.js
6 9 (1.26%) REST
6 9 (1.26%) Spring Boot
7 8 (1.12%) Oracle Fusion
8 7 (0.98%) Vue
9 6 (0.84%) AngularJS
9 6 (0.84%) Laravel
10 5 (0.70%) .NET Core
10 5 (0.70%) Django
10 5 (0.70%) JSON
10 5 (0.70%) RabbitMQ
10 5 (0.70%) Software Packaging
10 5 (0.70%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 182 (25.45%) Driving Licence
2 52 (7.27%) Onboarding
3 33 (4.62%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (2.80%) EPoS
5 19 (2.66%) Analytical Mindset
6 16 (2.24%) Cloud Native
6 16 (2.24%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (2.24%) Management Information System
7 14 (1.96%) Distributed Systems
8 11 (1.54%) CCTV
8 11 (1.54%) Video Conferencing
9 9 (1.26%) IoT
9 9 (1.26%) Product Ownership
10 8 (1.12%) Data Protection Act
10 8 (1.12%) Virtual Team
11 7 (0.98%) NHS
11 7 (0.98%) SCADA
12 6 (0.84%) e-Learning
12 6 (0.84%) Home Automation
12 6 (0.84%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 82 (11.47%) Windows
2 29 (4.06%) Windows Server
3 21 (2.94%) Linux
4 10 (1.40%) Windows 10
5 5 (0.70%) Android
6 4 (0.56%) Windows 7
6 4 (0.56%) Windows 8
7 3 (0.42%) Mac OS
7 3 (0.42%) Unix
8 2 (0.28%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.28%) CentOS
9 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.14%) Solaris
9 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
9 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (17.34%) Continuous Improvement
2 102 (14.27%) Agile
3 98 (13.71%) Decision-Making
4 82 (11.47%) Customer Service
5 71 (9.93%) Project Management
6 70 (9.79%) Mentoring
7 52 (7.27%) DevOps
8 50 (6.99%) ITIL
8 50 (6.99%) Stakeholder Management
9 48 (6.71%) Cybersecurity
10 47 (6.57%) Analytics
11 46 (6.43%) CRM
12 44 (6.15%) AI
13 42 (5.87%) Business Intelligence
13 42 (5.87%) Business Strategy
13 42 (5.87%) Service Delivery
14 41 (5.73%) Change Management
14 41 (5.73%) CI/CD
15 40 (5.59%) Coaching
16 39 (5.45%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 80 (11.19%) SQL
2 39 (5.45%) Python
3 24 (3.36%) Java
4 21 (2.94%) JavaScript
5 13 (1.82%) PowerShell
5 13 (1.82%) TypeScript
6 12 (1.68%) C#
7 10 (1.40%) PHP
8 9 (1.26%) MATLAB
9 6 (0.84%) Bash
9 6 (0.84%) Go
10 5 (0.70%) Elixir
10 5 (0.70%) Ruby
11 4 (0.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 3 (0.42%) C
12 3 (0.42%) Kotlin
12 3 (0.42%) Ladder Logic
13 2 (0.28%) Bicep
13 2 (0.28%) C++
13 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 150 (20.98%) Degree
2 32 (4.48%) BPSS Clearance
3 27 (3.78%) DBS Check
4 26 (3.64%) Master's Degree
5 19 (2.66%) Security Cleared
6 15 (2.10%) SC Cleared
7 11 (1.54%) Computer Science Degree
8 10 (1.40%) Azure Certification
8 10 (1.40%) PMI Certification
9 9 (1.26%) PMP
10 8 (1.12%) A+ Certification
10 8 (1.12%) HNC
11 7 (0.98%) ACCA
11 7 (0.98%) CIMA
11 7 (0.98%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 7 (0.98%) NVQ Level 4
12 6 (0.84%) Microsoft Certification
13 5 (0.70%) CIPD
14 4 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
14 4 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.92%) QA
2 24 (3.36%) GDPR
3 20 (2.80%) Data Quality
4 12 (1.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (1.26%) SLA
6 8 (1.12%) Accessibility
7 7 (0.98%) Cyber Essentials
8 6 (0.84%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 5 (0.70%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 5 (0.70%) GLBA
9 5 (0.70%) PMO
10 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.28%) COBIT
10 2 (0.28%) Disclosure Scotland
10 2 (0.28%) ITGC
11 1 (0.14%) AUTOSAR
11 1 (0.14%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 14001
11 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 65 (9.09%) Active Directory
2 34 (4.76%) Docker
3 23 (3.22%) Hyper-V
4 7 (0.98%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.42%) VMware Workstation
6 2 (0.28%) Firmware
6 2 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.28%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.14%) Dovecot
7 1 (0.14%) HDFS
7 1 (0.14%) Postfix
Systems Management
1 42 (5.87%) BMC PATROL
2 30 (4.20%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (3.78%) Kubernetes
4 21 (2.94%) Terraform
5 8 (1.12%) Cisco CUCM
6 7 (0.98%) Ansible
6 7 (0.98%) SCCM
7 6 (0.84%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.70%) Grafana
8 5 (0.70%) Prometheus
9 4 (0.56%) Autotask
10 3 (0.42%) cPanel
10 3 (0.42%) Plesk
11 2 (0.28%) AssetCenter
11 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
12 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.14%) Nagios
12 1 (0.14%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.14%) Puppet
12 1 (0.14%) Rancher
Vendors
1 134 (18.74%) Microsoft
2 24 (3.36%) ServiceNow
2 24 (3.36%) Workday
3 23 (3.22%) SAP
4 21 (2.94%) Oracle
5 18 (2.52%) Cisco
6 15 (2.10%) Google
7 13 (1.82%) VMware
8 10 (1.40%) Siemens
9 7 (0.98%) ESET
9 7 (0.98%) HubSpot
10 6 (0.84%) Adobe
10 6 (0.84%) iManage
10 6 (0.84%) Qualtrics
11 5 (0.70%) BiZZdesign
11 5 (0.70%) Facebook
11 5 (0.70%) SnapLogic
12 4 (0.56%) EXASOL
12 4 (0.56%) New Relic
12 4 (0.56%) Splunk