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

6 months to
14 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 7 5
Rank change year-on-year -5 -2 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 938 990 1,058
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.46% 19.27% 13.66%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.32% 21.56% 17.61%
Number of salaries quoted 697 480 419
10th Percentile £26,537 £26,250 £26,950
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £47,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% +5.56% -5.26%
75th Percentile £60,000 £57,500 £61,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £67,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £47,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.44% -14.29% -4.55%

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 9,092 4,592 6,009
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.35% 89.37% 77.58%
Number of salaries quoted 6,870 2,188 3,505
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,587 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -0.99% -8.18%
75th Percentile £75,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £79,035
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -7.93%

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 14 September 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 14 September 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 -7 519 £47,500 +6.74% 564
Merseyside -4 150 £42,500 -19.81% 68
Cheshire -10 147 £42,500 -19.05% 128
Lancashire +1 79 £42,500 +6.25% 105
Cumbria -4 34 £32,500 -9.35% 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 80 (8.53%) SharePoint
2 54 (5.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.17%) IIS
4 5 (0.53%) Apache Spark
5 3 (0.32%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.21%) Apache
6 2 (0.21%) CMS
6 2 (0.21%) Exchange Server 2013
6 2 (0.21%) nginx
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.11%) ArcGIS
7 1 (0.11%) Confluence
7 1 (0.11%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.11%) Sitecore CMS
7 1 (0.11%) Umbraco
7 1 (0.11%) WebLogic
7 1 (0.11%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.11%) WordPress
Applications
1 53 (5.65%) Microsoft Office
2 50 (5.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.71%) MS Visio
4 6 (0.64%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.53%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.21%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.21%) Windchill
7 1 (0.11%) Acrobat
7 1 (0.11%) Revit
7 1 (0.11%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 16 (1.71%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.07%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.75%) SAP ERP
4 4 (0.43%) Magento
4 4 (0.43%) NEC Housing
4 4 (0.43%) NetSuite
4 4 (0.43%) SAP PP
5 3 (0.32%) Dynamics AX
5 3 (0.32%) Oracle EBS
5 3 (0.32%) Payment Gateway
5 3 (0.32%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.21%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 2 (0.21%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
7 1 (0.11%) Odoo
7 1 (0.11%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.11%) SAP ECC
Cloud Services
1 192 (20.47%) Azure
2 158 (16.84%) Microsoft 365
3 109 (11.62%) AWS
4 106 (11.30%) Power Platform
5 47 (5.01%) PowerApps
6 39 (4.16%) SaaS
7 38 (4.05%) GCP
8 37 (3.94%) Entra ID
9 33 (3.52%) Power Automate
10 32 (3.41%) GitHub
11 31 (3.30%) Microsoft Copilot
12 30 (3.20%) Azure DevOps
12 30 (3.20%) OneDrive
13 26 (2.77%) Dynamics 365
14 20 (2.13%) Microsoft Purview
15 19 (2.03%) Serverless
16 12 (1.28%) Boomi
17 11 (1.17%) Copilot Studio
17 11 (1.17%) Google Analytics
18 10 (1.07%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 62 (6.61%) DNS
2 56 (5.97%) DHCP
2 56 (5.97%) Firewall
3 42 (4.48%) VPN
4 40 (4.26%) TCP/IP
5 31 (3.30%) Wireless
6 28 (2.99%) VLAN
7 25 (2.67%) VoIP
8 23 (2.45%) Wi-Fi
9 21 (2.24%) Network Security
10 18 (1.92%) LAN
11 14 (1.49%) WAN
12 12 (1.28%) Broadband
13 11 (1.17%) Unified Communications
14 8 (0.85%) SD-WAN
15 7 (0.75%) BGP
15 7 (0.75%) OSPF
15 7 (0.75%) Structured Cabling
16 6 (0.64%) SAN
16 6 (0.64%) SNMP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 67 (7.14%) Power BI
2 53 (5.65%) SQL Server
3 27 (2.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 24 (2.56%) MySQL
5 21 (2.24%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.17%) BigQuery
6 11 (1.17%) NoSQL
7 10 (1.07%) Big Data
8 9 (0.96%) Looker
8 9 (0.96%) Power Query
9 8 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
9 8 (0.85%) MongoDB
9 8 (0.85%) PostgreSQL
9 8 (0.85%) Redis
9 8 (0.85%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 7 (0.75%) Electronic Patient Records
11 5 (0.53%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.53%) MariaDB
11 5 (0.53%) Relational Database
11 5 (0.53%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 39 (4.16%) Git
2 33 (3.52%) JIRA
3 11 (1.17%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.75%) Bitbucket
4 7 (0.75%) GitLab
5 6 (0.64%) Cypress.io
6 5 (0.53%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.43%) Robot Framework
8 3 (0.32%) Claude Code
8 3 (0.32%) Visual Studio Code
9 2 (0.21%) Selenium
9 2 (0.21%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
10 1 (0.11%) gulp
10 1 (0.11%) Maven
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.11%) Rational DOORS
10 1 (0.11%) Rational Rhapsody
10 1 (0.11%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.11%) webpack
General
1 395 (42.11%) Social Skills
2 290 (30.92%) Analytical Skills
3 145 (15.46%) Finance
4 83 (8.85%) Law
5 70 (7.46%) Manufacturing
6 69 (7.36%) Organisational Skills
7 64 (6.82%) Legal
8 46 (4.90%) Retail
9 41 (4.37%) Telecoms
10 36 (3.84%) Marketing
11 35 (3.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 25 (2.67%) Public Sector
13 20 (2.13%) Military
14 17 (1.81%) Aerospace
15 14 (1.49%) Banking
16 12 (1.28%) Billing
16 12 (1.28%) Documentation Skills
16 12 (1.28%) Electronics
17 10 (1.07%) Automotive
17 10 (1.07%) German Language
Job Titles
1 130 (13.86%) Analyst
2 129 (13.75%) Senior
3 118 (12.58%) Developer
4 62 (6.61%) IT Support
5 54 (5.76%) Support Engineer
6 47 (5.01%) Lead
7 44 (4.69%) Senior Developer
8 42 (4.48%) Consultant
8 42 (4.48%) Software Engineer
8 42 (4.48%) Support Analyst
9 36 (3.84%) Support Technician
10 35 (3.73%) Administrator
11 28 (2.99%) IT Engineer
12 27 (2.88%) IT Technician
12 27 (2.88%) Junior
13 25 (2.67%) Applications Support
14 24 (2.56%) IT Support Engineer
15 22 (2.35%) Data Engineer
15 22 (2.35%) IT Support Technician
16 21 (2.24%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (5.44%) .NET
2 45 (4.80%) HTML
2 45 (4.80%) React
3 39 (4.16%) REST
4 25 (2.67%) Terraform
5 24 (2.56%) Middleware
6 23 (2.45%) AngularJS
6 23 (2.45%) CSS
7 21 (2.24%) Spring
8 20 (2.13%) Vue
8 20 (2.13%) XML
9 19 (2.03%) Spring Boot
10 17 (1.81%) SOAP
11 16 (1.71%) EDI
12 15 (1.60%) JSON
13 13 (1.39%) Node.js
14 12 (1.28%) Web Services
15 11 (1.17%) Next.js
16 10 (1.07%) Laravel
16 10 (1.07%) React Native
Miscellaneous
1 67 (7.14%) Driving Licence
2 59 (6.29%) Onboarding
3 40 (4.26%) Self-Motivation
4 36 (3.84%) Cloud Native
4 36 (3.84%) Product Ownership
5 27 (2.88%) Management Information System
6 20 (2.13%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 18 (1.92%) Distributed Systems
8 15 (1.60%) NHS
8 15 (1.60%) Security Posture
9 14 (1.49%) IoT
9 14 (1.49%) Replication
10 12 (1.28%) Enterprise Software
10 12 (1.28%) Mobile App
11 11 (1.17%) Low-Code
12 10 (1.07%) FMCG
13 9 (0.96%) CCTV
13 9 (0.96%) Data Centre
13 9 (0.96%) Enterprise Cloud
14 8 (0.85%) Cyberattack
Operating Systems
1 135 (14.39%) Windows
2 63 (6.72%) Windows Server
3 38 (4.05%) Linux
4 24 (2.56%) Windows 10
5 19 (2.03%) Apple iOS
6 9 (0.96%) Android
6 9 (0.96%) Mac OS
7 8 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.64%) Unix
8 6 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.21%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.21%) Solaris
10 1 (0.11%) Embedded Linux
10 1 (0.11%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.11%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 265 (28.25%) Continuous Improvement
2 199 (21.22%) Customer Service
3 133 (14.18%) AI
4 132 (14.07%) Mentoring
5 125 (13.33%) Agile
6 120 (12.79%) Stakeholder Management
7 105 (11.19%) Decision-Making
8 101 (10.77%) CI/CD
9 96 (10.23%) CRM
10 89 (9.49%) Software Engineering
11 87 (9.28%) DevOps
12 84 (8.96%) ERP
13 82 (8.74%) Analytics
14 81 (8.64%) Roadmaps
15 77 (8.21%) Collaborative Working
16 75 (8.00%) Project Delivery
17 74 (7.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 63 (6.72%) User Experience
19 60 (6.40%) Business Intelligence
19 60 (6.40%) Cybersecurity
Programming Languages
1 177 (18.87%) SQL
2 118 (12.58%) Python
3 68 (7.25%) JavaScript
4 65 (6.93%) C#
5 51 (5.44%) Java
6 42 (4.48%) PowerShell
7 26 (2.77%) TypeScript
8 20 (2.13%) PHP
9 19 (2.03%) Bash
10 17 (1.81%) C++
11 13 (1.39%) Shell Script
12 11 (1.17%) T-SQL
13 9 (0.96%) C
14 8 (0.85%) Ruby
15 7 (0.75%) Go
16 6 (0.64%) Data Analysis Expressions
16 6 (0.64%) R
17 5 (0.53%) Apex Code
17 5 (0.53%) Bicep
18 4 (0.43%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 125 (13.33%) Degree
2 55 (5.86%) Security Cleared
3 32 (3.41%) SC Cleared
4 27 (2.88%) HNC
5 24 (2.56%) DBS Check
6 23 (2.45%) Microsoft Certification
7 21 (2.24%) DV Cleared
8 16 (1.71%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.60%) Cisco Certification
10 14 (1.49%) BPSS Clearance
10 14 (1.49%) CCNP
11 12 (1.28%) Azure Certification
12 11 (1.17%) HND
13 9 (0.96%) Master's Degree
14 8 (0.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 7 (0.75%) ITIL Certification
15 7 (0.75%) Postgraduate
16 6 (0.64%) ACCA
16 6 (0.64%) PMI Certification
17 5 (0.53%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (5.22%) Data Quality
2 42 (4.48%) Accessibility
3 39 (4.16%) QA
4 34 (3.62%) GDPR
5 16 (1.71%) SLA
6 12 (1.28%) TickIT
7 11 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 9 (0.96%) NIST
9 4 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 14443
9 4 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 7816
10 3 (0.32%) PMO
11 2 (0.21%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.21%) NEBOSH
11 2 (0.21%) WCAG
12 1 (0.11%) GMP
12 1 (0.11%) GxP
12 1 (0.11%) IFRS
12 1 (0.11%) IFRS 9
12 1 (0.11%) ISO 9001
System Software
1 100 (10.66%) Active Directory
2 46 (4.90%) Docker
3 32 (3.41%) VMware Infrastructure
4 20 (2.13%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.75%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (0.43%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.32%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 36 (3.84%) Kubernetes
2 31 (3.30%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (1.39%) Grafana
4 11 (1.17%) FortiGate
4 11 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
5 10 (1.07%) Prometheus
6 9 (0.96%) Ansible
7 4 (0.43%) Argo
7 4 (0.43%) Microsoft Clustering
8 2 (0.21%) Nagios
8 2 (0.21%) Nessus
8 2 (0.21%) Podman
9 1 (0.11%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.11%) linkerd
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 1 (0.11%) Packer
9 1 (0.11%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.11%) SCCM
9 1 (0.11%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.11%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 315 (33.58%) Microsoft
2 44 (4.69%) VMware
3 35 (3.73%) SAP
4 28 (2.99%) Google
5 18 (1.92%) Cisco
5 18 (1.92%) Sage
5 18 (1.92%) YouTube
6 17 (1.81%) ServiceNow
7 15 (1.60%) Salesforce
8 14 (1.49%) Oracle
9 13 (1.39%) Aruba
9 13 (1.39%) iManage
10 10 (1.07%) Civica
11 9 (0.96%) Adobe
11 9 (0.96%) HubSpot
11 9 (0.96%) Juniper
12 8 (0.85%) Aderant
12 8 (0.85%) OpenAI
12 8 (0.85%) Tanium
13 7 (0.75%) SonicWALL