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

6 months to
9 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -17 +4 +16
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 676 769 1,047
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 8.47% 19.27% 13.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.09% 20.33% 15.62%
Number of salaries quoted 515 500 767
10th Percentile £27,250 £30,225 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,188 £33,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +5.26% -
75th Percentile £53,000 £65,894 £61,250
90th Percentile £66,006 £81,250 £73,150
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -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 6,098 3,783 6,705
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 76.39% 94.79% 85.09%
Number of salaries quoted 3,317 2,123 5,435
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,748 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £54,793 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.75% +9.59% -9.09%
75th Percentile £68,666 £68,750 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 9 March 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 9 March 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 -20 293 £47,500 -13.64% 194
Merseyside 0 119 £37,500 +15.38% 32
Cheshire -9 118 £48,000 +12.94% 82
Lancashire -10 100 £36,500 -30.48% 80
Cumbria +6 45 £45,000 +11.11% 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 48 (7.10%) SharePoint
2 29 (4.29%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.63%) Confluence
4 4 (0.59%) Moodle
4 4 (0.59%) Totara
4 4 (0.59%) WordPress
5 2 (0.30%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) Anypoint
6 1 (0.15%) Apache Solr
6 1 (0.15%) CMS
Applications
1 39 (5.77%) Microsoft Excel
2 23 (3.40%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.44%) Simulink
4 2 (0.30%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.30%) Revit
5 1 (0.15%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.15%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (1.48%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.89%) Workday HCM
3 5 (0.74%) SAP ERP
3 5 (0.74%) Shopify
4 4 (0.59%) SAP Business One
5 2 (0.30%) Magento
5 2 (0.30%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.30%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.30%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.30%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.15%) Primavera
6 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 137 (20.27%) Azure
2 119 (17.60%) Microsoft 365
3 63 (9.32%) AWS
4 51 (7.54%) Entra ID
5 46 (6.80%) Power Platform
6 33 (4.88%) GCP
7 31 (4.59%) SaaS
8 15 (2.22%) Microsoft Purview
9 13 (1.92%) Serverless
10 12 (1.78%) OneDrive
11 11 (1.63%) Google Workspace
11 11 (1.63%) Power Automate
12 10 (1.48%) Azure Monitor
13 9 (1.33%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (1.33%) Microsoft Copilot
14 8 (1.18%) PaaS
14 8 (1.18%) PowerApps
15 7 (1.04%) Adobe Analytics
15 7 (1.04%) Dynamics 365
15 7 (1.04%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 51 (7.54%) Firewall
2 34 (5.03%) DNS
3 32 (4.73%) DHCP
4 25 (3.70%) VLAN
5 22 (3.25%) VPN
5 22 (3.25%) Wi-Fi
6 20 (2.96%) VoIP
7 19 (2.81%) WAN
8 18 (2.66%) TCP/IP
9 16 (2.37%) Unified Communications
10 14 (2.07%) Telepresence
10 14 (2.07%) WebEx
11 13 (1.92%) Wireless
12 12 (1.78%) Structured Cabling
13 11 (1.63%) Broadband
13 11 (1.63%) SD-WAN
14 9 (1.33%) LAN
15 5 (0.74%) Ethernet
16 4 (0.59%) VXLAN
16 4 (0.59%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (4.73%) Power BI
2 18 (2.66%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.22%) NoSQL
4 11 (1.63%) PostgreSQL
5 10 (1.48%) MongoDB
5 10 (1.48%) Tableau
6 9 (1.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 7 (1.04%) MySQL
8 5 (0.74%) Azure SQL Database
8 5 (0.74%) Elasticsearch
8 5 (0.74%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.59%) Amazon Redshift
9 4 (0.59%) Crystal Reports
9 4 (0.59%) DynamoDB
10 3 (0.44%) Data Warehouse
11 2 (0.30%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.30%) Big Data
11 2 (0.30%) BigQuery
11 2 (0.30%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.30%) Looker
Development Applications
1 23 (3.40%) Git
2 14 (2.07%) JIRA
3 7 (1.04%) GitLab
4 3 (0.44%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.15%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.15%) LabVIEW
5 1 (0.15%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
General
1 293 (43.34%) Social Skills
2 163 (24.11%) Analytical Skills
3 141 (20.86%) Finance
4 59 (8.73%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.66%) Automotive
6 32 (4.73%) Manufacturing
7 28 (4.14%) Public Sector
8 27 (3.99%) Legal
9 23 (3.40%) Retail
10 22 (3.25%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 22 (3.25%) Presentation Skills
10 22 (3.25%) Telecoms
11 16 (2.37%) Banking
11 16 (2.37%) Electronics
12 13 (1.92%) Marketing
13 12 (1.78%) Law
14 11 (1.63%) Advertising
14 11 (1.63%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.63%) Influencing Skills
15 9 (1.33%) Games
Job Titles
1 92 (13.61%) Analyst
2 90 (13.31%) Support Engineer
3 87 (12.87%) IT Support
4 68 (10.06%) Senior
5 48 (7.10%) IT Engineer
5 48 (7.10%) IT Support Engineer
6 36 (5.33%) Lead
7 34 (5.03%) Business Analyst
8 32 (4.73%) Developer
9 27 (3.99%) Support Technician
10 24 (3.55%) Trainee
10 24 (3.55%) Trainee Analyst
10 24 (3.55%) Trainee Business Analyst
11 22 (3.25%) Architect
11 22 (3.25%) Consultant
12 20 (2.96%) Solutions Architect
13 18 (2.66%) 1st Line Support
14 17 (2.51%) Data Analyst
14 17 (2.51%) Technical Engineer
14 17 (2.51%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (2.96%) React
2 14 (2.07%) .NET
3 13 (1.92%) HTML
4 12 (1.78%) CSS
4 12 (1.78%) RESTful
4 12 (1.78%) Spring
4 12 (1.78%) Spring Boot
5 10 (1.48%) Vue
6 8 (1.18%) Node.js
7 7 (1.04%) Hibernate
8 6 (0.89%) Django
8 6 (0.89%) EDI
8 6 (0.89%) FastAPI
9 5 (0.74%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.74%) Celery
9 5 (0.74%) Flask
9 5 (0.74%) Laravel
10 4 (0.59%) OAuth
10 4 (0.59%) OAuth2
10 4 (0.59%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 149 (22.04%) Driving Licence
2 51 (7.54%) Onboarding
3 24 (3.55%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (3.11%) EPoS
5 20 (2.96%) Analytical Mindset
6 17 (2.51%) Enterprise Software
7 16 (2.37%) CCTV
7 16 (2.37%) Data Centre
8 14 (2.07%) Distributed Systems
9 12 (1.78%) Product Ownership
10 11 (1.63%) Social Media
11 10 (1.48%) Cloud Native
12 9 (1.33%) CMDB
13 8 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
13 8 (1.18%) Management Information System
13 8 (1.18%) Renewable Energy
14 7 (1.04%) Virtual Team
15 6 (0.89%) Greenfield Project
15 6 (0.89%) Mobile App
15 6 (0.89%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 120 (17.75%) Windows
2 49 (7.25%) Windows Server
3 31 (4.59%) Windows 10
4 21 (3.11%) Linux
5 16 (2.37%) Android
6 15 (2.22%) Apple iOS
7 11 (1.63%) Windows 7
7 11 (1.63%) Windows 8
8 10 (1.48%) Mac OS
9 7 (1.04%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.30%) Unix
12 1 (0.15%) CentOS
12 1 (0.15%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.15%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 112 (16.57%) Customer Service
2 104 (15.38%) Continuous Improvement
3 90 (13.31%) Decision-Making
4 85 (12.57%) Agile
5 81 (11.98%) Mentoring
6 75 (11.09%) Stakeholder Management
7 66 (9.76%) AI
8 62 (9.17%) Project Management
9 55 (8.14%) Cybersecurity
10 49 (7.25%) Coaching
11 45 (6.66%) CI/CD
11 45 (6.66%) ITIL
12 41 (6.07%) Analytics
13 40 (5.92%) Service Delivery
14 38 (5.62%) DevOps
14 38 (5.62%) User Experience
15 37 (5.47%) Business Intelligence
16 36 (5.33%) Change Management
16 36 (5.33%) Collaborative Culture
17 35 (5.18%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 59 (8.73%) SQL
2 45 (6.66%) Python
3 22 (3.25%) Java
4 19 (2.81%) JavaScript
5 14 (2.07%) C#
6 10 (1.48%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.33%) PowerShell
8 8 (1.18%) Kotlin
8 8 (1.18%) PHP
9 4 (0.59%) Bash
9 4 (0.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.59%) MATLAB
10 3 (0.44%) Go
10 3 (0.44%) Ladder Logic
11 2 (0.30%) Bicep
11 2 (0.30%) C
11 2 (0.30%) R
11 2 (0.30%) Scala
11 2 (0.30%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.30%) Swift
Qualifications
1 118 (17.46%) Degree
2 34 (5.03%) DBS Check
3 24 (3.55%) BPSS Clearance
4 16 (2.37%) Security Cleared
5 13 (1.92%) HNC
5 13 (1.92%) Master's Degree
6 11 (1.63%) Microsoft Certification
7 9 (1.33%) Computer Science Degree
7 9 (1.33%) SC Cleared
8 8 (1.18%) Azure Certification
8 8 (1.18%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (1.04%) NVQ Level 4
10 6 (0.89%) CompTIA Security+
11 5 (0.74%) CCNA
11 5 (0.74%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (0.74%) HND
12 4 (0.59%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.44%) ACCA
13 3 (0.44%) DV Cleared
13 3 (0.44%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.85%) QA
2 19 (2.81%) GDPR
3 16 (2.37%) SLA
4 15 (2.22%) Data Quality
5 14 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 11 (1.63%) Cyber Essentials
7 8 (1.18%) Accessibility
7 8 (1.18%) ISO 9001
8 3 (0.44%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 3 (0.44%) GLBA
9 2 (0.30%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 2 (0.30%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.30%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.15%) NIST
10 1 (0.15%) PMO
System Software
1 82 (12.13%) Active Directory
2 22 (3.25%) Docker
2 22 (3.25%) Hyper-V
3 14 (2.07%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.48%) VMware Workstation
5 3 (0.44%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.30%) Firmware
7 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 42 (6.21%) BMC PATROL
2 37 (5.47%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.85%) Terraform
4 22 (3.25%) Kubernetes
4 22 (3.25%) SCCM
5 14 (2.07%) Cisco CUCM
6 11 (1.63%) Autotask
7 10 (1.48%) Ansible
7 10 (1.48%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.59%) Jamf Pro
9 3 (0.44%) cPanel
9 3 (0.44%) FortiGate
9 3 (0.44%) Plesk
9 3 (0.44%) Rancher
10 2 (0.30%) Grafana
10 2 (0.30%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.15%) Argo
11 1 (0.15%) AWS Copilot
11 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.15%) Podman
Vendors
1 162 (23.96%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.40%) Oracle
3 20 (2.96%) SAP
4 19 (2.81%) Cisco
5 17 (2.51%) VMware
6 15 (2.22%) Google
6 15 (2.22%) Workday
7 11 (1.63%) ESET
8 9 (1.33%) Apple
9 8 (1.18%) HubSpot
9 8 (1.18%) New Relic
9 8 (1.18%) ServiceNow
9 8 (1.18%) Siemens
9 8 (1.18%) Splunk
10 7 (1.04%) Adobe
10 7 (1.04%) Qualtrics
11 6 (0.89%) BiZZdesign
12 5 (0.74%) Epicor
12 5 (0.74%) iManage
12 5 (0.74%) Meraki