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

6 months to
20 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 7 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -3 +4 +8
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 736 1,033 569
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 14.59% 15.13% 14.91%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 17.24% 18.41% 15.82%
Number of salaries quoted 551 348 411
10th Percentile £26,500 £31,250 £25,750
25th Percentile £32,500 £34,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £48,000 £50,000 £48,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% +4.17% +1.05%
75th Percentile £53,000 £60,000 £66,035
90th Percentile £65,000 £72,500 £75,000
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 4,269 5,612 3,596
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 84.62% 82.20% 94.23%
Number of salaries quoted 2,453 2,768 2,710
10th Percentile £27,000 £32,500 £31,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -5.45% +4.76%
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% - -1.64%

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 20 November 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 20 November 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 -4 291 £45,000 -14.29% 341
Cheshire -9 160 £53,000 +32.50% 101
Merseyside +5 132 £48,720 +49.91% 70
Lancashire -10 113 £45,249 -9.44% 180
Cumbria +1 38 £45,000 -0.84% 15
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 36 (4.89%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.13%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.95%) WordPress
4 5 (0.68%) Confluence
5 4 (0.54%) Camunda
6 3 (0.41%) nginx
7 2 (0.27%) Apache
7 2 (0.27%) Apache Solr
7 2 (0.27%) FactoryTalk
7 2 (0.27%) IIS
7 2 (0.27%) WinCC
8 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
8 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.14%) SAS
Applications
1 50 (6.79%) Microsoft Excel
2 49 (6.66%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (0.82%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.27%) Revit
4 2 (0.27%) Trello
5 1 (0.14%) CANalyzer
5 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.14%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 8 (1.09%) SAP Business One
1 8 (1.09%) Unit4 Business World
2 7 (0.95%) SAP WM
3 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle Assets
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle General Ledger
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle Receivables
4 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.14%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.14%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.14%) Primavera
4 1 (0.14%) Sage 200
4 1 (0.14%) Sage CRM
4 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
4 1 (0.14%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
4 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.14%) Shopify
4 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 113 (15.35%) Azure
2 88 (11.96%) AWS
3 71 (9.65%) Microsoft 365
4 44 (5.98%) Entra ID
5 43 (5.84%) GCP
6 41 (5.57%) Power Platform
7 28 (3.80%) SaaS
8 18 (2.45%) Serverless
9 12 (1.63%) AWS Lambda
9 12 (1.63%) OneDrive
10 10 (1.36%) Dynamics 365
10 10 (1.36%) Power Automate
11 8 (1.09%) Microsoft Purview
12 7 (0.95%) Cloud Computing
12 7 (0.95%) GitHub
12 7 (0.95%) Microsoft Copilot
13 6 (0.82%) Adobe Analytics
13 6 (0.82%) Figma
14 5 (0.68%) Azure DevOps
14 5 (0.68%) iPaaS
Communications & Networking
1 32 (4.35%) Firewall
2 15 (2.04%) DHCP
2 15 (2.04%) DNS
3 13 (1.77%) TCP/IP
4 12 (1.63%) Broadband
4 12 (1.63%) VoIP
4 12 (1.63%) WAN
5 10 (1.36%) LAN
6 9 (1.22%) VPN
7 8 (1.09%) Telepresence
7 8 (1.09%) Unified Communications
7 8 (1.09%) WebEx
8 7 (0.95%) Wi-Fi
8 7 (0.95%) Wireless
9 4 (0.54%) Ethernet
9 4 (0.54%) Internet
10 3 (0.41%) ATM
10 3 (0.41%) Network Security
10 3 (0.41%) SSH
10 3 (0.41%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (5.03%) Power BI
2 26 (3.53%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.04%) NoSQL
3 15 (2.04%) Tableau
4 12 (1.63%) MySQL
5 11 (1.49%) MongoDB
5 11 (1.49%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.09%) Crystal Reports
6 8 (1.09%) Data Warehouse
6 8 (1.09%) DynamoDB
7 7 (0.95%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 6 (0.82%) Amazon Redshift
8 6 (0.82%) Looker
8 6 (0.82%) Oracle Reports
8 6 (0.82%) Relational Database
9 5 (0.68%) Big Data
10 4 (0.54%) Azure SQL Database
10 4 (0.54%) BigQuery
11 3 (0.41%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.41%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 23 (3.13%) Git
2 11 (1.49%) JIRA
3 10 (1.36%) GitLab
4 7 (0.95%) Jenkins
5 5 (0.68%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.68%) SonarQube
5 5 (0.68%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.54%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.14%) CANoe
7 1 (0.14%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.14%) Mocha
7 1 (0.14%) NUnit
7 1 (0.14%) Sinon.JS
General
1 334 (45.38%) Social Skills
2 192 (26.09%) Analytical Skills
3 153 (20.79%) Finance
4 49 (6.66%) Automotive
5 43 (5.84%) Legal
6 36 (4.89%) Manufacturing
6 36 (4.89%) Organisational Skills
7 23 (3.13%) Retail
8 22 (2.99%) Banking
8 22 (2.99%) Games
8 22 (2.99%) Public Sector
9 20 (2.72%) Law
10 19 (2.58%) Pharmaceutical
10 19 (2.58%) Presentation Skills
11 18 (2.45%) Electronics
11 18 (2.45%) Marketing
12 17 (2.31%) Telecoms
13 16 (2.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 14 (1.90%) Influencing Skills
15 11 (1.49%) Police
Job Titles
1 101 (13.72%) Analyst
2 75 (10.19%) Senior
3 61 (8.29%) IT Support
4 59 (8.02%) Developer
5 50 (6.79%) Support Engineer
6 47 (6.39%) Lead
7 29 (3.94%) Support Analyst
8 25 (3.40%) Architect
8 25 (3.40%) Business Analyst
8 25 (3.40%) Team Leader
9 24 (3.26%) Trainee
10 21 (2.85%) Senior Developer
10 21 (2.85%) Solutions Architect
10 21 (2.85%) Technical Engineer
10 21 (2.85%) Technical Support
10 21 (2.85%) Technical Support Engineer
11 19 (2.58%) Consultant
11 19 (2.58%) Systems Engineer
11 19 (2.58%) Systems Support
12 18 (2.45%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (4.08%) React
2 19 (2.58%) HTML
3 15 (2.04%) .NET
4 14 (1.90%) RESTful
5 13 (1.77%) CSS
5 13 (1.77%) Node.js
6 10 (1.36%) REST
6 10 (1.36%) Spring
7 9 (1.22%) Hibernate
7 9 (1.22%) Spring Boot
8 8 (1.09%) .NET Core
8 8 (1.09%) Oracle Fusion
8 8 (1.09%) Vue
9 7 (0.95%) Laravel
10 6 (0.82%) Amazon Corretto
10 6 (0.82%) AngularJS
10 6 (0.82%) RabbitMQ
11 5 (0.68%) .NET Framework
11 5 (0.68%) Entity Framework
11 5 (0.68%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 177 (24.05%) Driving Licence
2 48 (6.52%) Onboarding
3 36 (4.89%) Self-Motivation
4 24 (3.26%) EPoS
5 18 (2.45%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (2.45%) Management Information System
6 17 (2.31%) Cloud Native
7 13 (1.77%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (1.77%) Enterprise Software
8 10 (1.36%) Product Ownership
9 9 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
9 9 (1.22%) e-Learning
9 9 (1.22%) Video Conferencing
10 8 (1.09%) Virtual Team
11 7 (0.95%) CCTV
11 7 (0.95%) IoT
11 7 (0.95%) Life Science
11 7 (0.95%) NHS
11 7 (0.95%) SCADA
12 6 (0.82%) Home Automation
Operating Systems
1 81 (11.01%) Windows
2 31 (4.21%) Windows Server
3 24 (3.26%) Linux
4 10 (1.36%) Windows 10
5 4 (0.54%) Android
5 4 (0.54%) Unix
5 4 (0.54%) Windows 7
5 4 (0.54%) Windows 8
6 3 (0.41%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.27%) CentOS
8 1 (0.14%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2008
8 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 128 (17.39%) Continuous Improvement
2 109 (14.81%) Agile
3 102 (13.86%) Decision-Making
4 86 (11.68%) Customer Service
5 68 (9.24%) Project Management
6 62 (8.42%) Mentoring
7 57 (7.74%) DevOps
8 55 (7.47%) CRM
9 53 (7.20%) Analytics
10 50 (6.79%) ITIL
11 48 (6.52%) AI
12 46 (6.25%) Business Strategy
12 46 (6.25%) CI/CD
12 46 (6.25%) Stakeholder Management
13 45 (6.11%) Business Intelligence
13 45 (6.11%) Cybersecurity
14 41 (5.57%) Change Management
14 41 (5.57%) ERP
14 41 (5.57%) Process Improvement
14 41 (5.57%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 92 (12.50%) SQL
2 40 (5.43%) Python
3 27 (3.67%) Java
3 27 (3.67%) JavaScript
4 20 (2.72%) TypeScript
5 17 (2.31%) C#
6 13 (1.77%) PowerShell
7 12 (1.63%) PHP
8 7 (0.95%) MATLAB
9 5 (0.68%) Bash
9 5 (0.68%) Elixir
9 5 (0.68%) Go
9 5 (0.68%) Ruby
10 4 (0.54%) C
10 4 (0.54%) C++
10 4 (0.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 4 (0.54%) VBA
11 3 (0.41%) Ladder Logic
11 3 (0.41%) R
12 2 (0.27%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 162 (22.01%) Degree
2 29 (3.94%) BPSS Clearance
3 27 (3.67%) Master's Degree
4 25 (3.40%) DBS Check
5 19 (2.58%) Security Cleared
6 18 (2.45%) Computer Science Degree
7 15 (2.04%) SC Cleared
8 11 (1.49%) Azure Certification
9 10 (1.36%) PMI Certification
10 9 (1.22%) PMP
11 8 (1.09%) A+ Certification
11 8 (1.09%) HNC
11 8 (1.09%) Microsoft Certification
12 7 (0.95%) ACCA
12 7 (0.95%) CIMA
12 7 (0.95%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 7 (0.95%) NVQ Level 4
12 7 (0.95%) TOGAF Certification
13 6 (0.82%) CCNA
13 6 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (4.08%) GDPR
2 26 (3.53%) QA
3 20 (2.72%) Data Quality
4 13 (1.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 11 (1.49%) SLA
6 8 (1.09%) Accessibility
7 6 (0.82%) California Consumer Privacy Act
7 6 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials
7 6 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (0.82%) PMO
8 5 (0.68%) GLBA
9 2 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.27%) COBIT
9 2 (0.27%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.27%) ITGC
10 1 (0.14%) AUTOSAR
10 1 (0.14%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.14%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
System Software
1 59 (8.02%) Active Directory
2 43 (5.84%) Docker
3 23 (3.13%) Hyper-V
4 8 (1.09%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.41%) VMware Workstation
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.14%) Dovecot
7 1 (0.14%) Firmware
7 1 (0.14%) HDFS
7 1 (0.14%) Postfix
Systems Management
1 42 (5.71%) BMC PATROL
2 34 (4.62%) Kubernetes
3 28 (3.80%) Microsoft Intune
4 19 (2.58%) Terraform
5 8 (1.09%) Cisco CUCM
6 5 (0.68%) Grafana
6 5 (0.68%) Prometheus
6 5 (0.68%) SCCM
7 4 (0.54%) Ansible
7 4 (0.54%) Autotask
7 4 (0.54%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.41%) cPanel
8 3 (0.41%) FortiGate
8 3 (0.41%) Plesk
9 2 (0.27%) AssetCenter
9 2 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.14%) AWS Copilot
10 1 (0.14%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.14%) Puppet
10 1 (0.14%) Rancher
Vendors
1 136 (18.48%) Microsoft
2 27 (3.67%) SAP
3 25 (3.40%) ServiceNow
4 24 (3.26%) Workday
5 23 (3.13%) Cisco
6 22 (2.99%) Google
6 22 (2.99%) Oracle
7 13 (1.77%) VMware
8 10 (1.36%) Siemens
9 9 (1.22%) BT
10 8 (1.09%) ESET
11 7 (0.95%) HubSpot
12 6 (0.82%) Adobe
12 6 (0.82%) iManage
12 6 (0.82%) Qualtrics
13 5 (0.68%) Facebook
13 5 (0.68%) Fortinet
13 5 (0.68%) Salesforce
13 5 (0.68%) SnapLogic
13 5 (0.68%) Ubiquiti