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 15 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 7 7
Rank change year-on-year -7 0 +13
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 710 998 1,484
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 6.58% 21.20% 13.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.48% 22.37% 16.99%
Number of salaries quoted 562 497 902
10th Percentile £26,500 £25,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £46,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.23% +3.33% -5.26%
75th Percentile £61,250 £63,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £77,375
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £49,669
% change year-on-year -5.00% +0.67% -9.69%

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 7,489 4,461 8,737
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 69.36% 94.77% 78.81%
Number of salaries quoted 5,732 2,030 6,597
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £27,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,250 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% +4.50% -9.09%
75th Percentile £73,750 £70,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £84,250 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -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 15 June 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 15 June 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 -14 378 £50,000 - 198
Merseyside -6 117 £42,500 +6.25% 20
Cheshire -12 108 £41,000 +9.33% 62
Lancashire +5 70 £40,000 +15.94% 69
Cumbria -10 32 £32,500 -0.31% 18
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 62 (8.73%) SharePoint
2 48 (6.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.85%) Confluence
4 4 (0.56%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.56%) IIS
4 4 (0.56%) Moodle
4 4 (0.56%) Totara
5 2 (0.28%) Apache
5 2 (0.28%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.28%) nginx
5 2 (0.28%) WordPress
6 1 (0.14%) CMS
6 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Umbraco
Applications
1 44 (6.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (3.52%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.27%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.56%) Spreadsheet
5 2 (0.28%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.14%) Acrobat
6 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.14%) Simulink
6 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 23 (3.24%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (1.83%) SAP ERP
3 7 (0.99%) Magento
4 6 (0.85%) Workday HCM
5 5 (0.70%) Dynamics CRM
6 4 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
6 4 (0.56%) SAP PP
6 4 (0.56%) Shopify
7 2 (0.28%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.14%) Odoo
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle EBS
8 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 164 (23.10%) Azure
2 144 (20.28%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (11.41%) AWS
4 80 (11.27%) Power Platform
5 30 (4.23%) PowerApps
6 28 (3.94%) Dynamics 365
7 27 (3.80%) Entra ID
8 26 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
8 26 (3.66%) GitHub
8 26 (3.66%) SaaS
9 24 (3.38%) GCP
9 24 (3.38%) Power Automate
10 19 (2.68%) Microsoft Purview
11 16 (2.25%) Microsoft Copilot
11 16 (2.25%) OneDrive
12 15 (2.11%) Serverless
13 12 (1.69%) Boomi
14 8 (1.13%) Azure Logic Apps
14 8 (1.13%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (0.99%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 64 (9.01%) Firewall
2 40 (5.63%) DNS
3 37 (5.21%) DHCP
4 34 (4.79%) VLAN
5 31 (4.37%) VPN
6 29 (4.08%) Wi-Fi
7 25 (3.52%) TCP/IP
8 24 (3.38%) VoIP
9 20 (2.82%) Wireless
10 15 (2.11%) Network Security
10 15 (2.11%) WAN
11 13 (1.83%) LAN
12 12 (1.69%) Structured Cabling
13 10 (1.41%) Broadband
13 10 (1.41%) SD-WAN
14 9 (1.27%) Unified Communications
15 6 (0.85%) IP Telephony
15 6 (0.85%) SAN
15 6 (0.85%) Wireshark
16 4 (0.56%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 53 (7.46%) Power BI
2 31 (4.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 28 (3.94%) SQL Server
4 12 (1.69%) Data Warehouse
5 10 (1.41%) MySQL
5 10 (1.41%) NoSQL
6 9 (1.27%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 8 (1.13%) Big Data
7 8 (1.13%) PostgreSQL
8 5 (0.70%) Power Query
8 5 (0.70%) Tableau
9 4 (0.56%) Looker
9 4 (0.56%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
10 3 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (0.42%) Elasticsearch
10 3 (0.42%) OLAP
10 3 (0.42%) PowerPivot
10 3 (0.42%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.42%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 30 (4.23%) Git
2 26 (3.66%) JIRA
3 7 (0.99%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.85%) GitLab
5 5 (0.70%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.28%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.28%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.28%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.28%) Rational DOORS
6 2 (0.28%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.28%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.14%) Gemini Tracker
7 1 (0.14%) gulp
7 1 (0.14%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.14%) Rational Rhapsody
7 1 (0.14%) webpack
General
1 287 (40.42%) Social Skills
2 203 (28.59%) Analytical Skills
3 116 (16.34%) Finance
4 62 (8.73%) Manufacturing
5 56 (7.89%) Organisational Skills
6 48 (6.76%) Law
7 36 (5.07%) Retail
8 35 (4.93%) Legal
9 32 (4.51%) Marketing
10 29 (4.08%) Public Sector
11 19 (2.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (2.25%) Telecoms
13 15 (2.11%) Banking
14 12 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
15 10 (1.41%) Games
15 10 (1.41%) Investment Banking
16 9 (1.27%) French Language
17 8 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
18 7 (0.99%) Italian Language
18 7 (0.99%) Portuguese Language
Job Titles
1 91 (12.82%) Senior
2 85 (11.97%) Developer
3 84 (11.83%) Analyst
4 78 (10.99%) IT Support
5 75 (10.56%) Support Engineer
6 50 (7.04%) IT Engineer
7 48 (6.76%) IT Support Engineer
8 41 (5.77%) Consultant
9 36 (5.07%) Lead
10 34 (4.79%) Support Technician
11 33 (4.65%) Software Engineer
12 31 (4.37%) Senior Developer
13 24 (3.38%) Business Analyst
14 18 (2.54%) Administrator
15 17 (2.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 16 (2.25%) IT Support Technician
16 16 (2.25%) IT Technician
16 16 (2.25%) Technical Analyst
17 15 (2.11%) 1st Line Support
18 14 (1.97%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (5.49%) .NET
2 35 (4.93%) React
3 33 (4.65%) REST
4 32 (4.51%) HTML
5 23 (3.24%) Spring
5 23 (3.24%) Spring Boot
6 22 (3.10%) EDI
7 21 (2.96%) CSS
8 20 (2.82%) AngularJS
9 17 (2.39%) Middleware
9 17 (2.39%) Vue
10 16 (2.25%) SOAP
11 14 (1.97%) XML
12 13 (1.83%) JSON
13 12 (1.69%) Node.js
14 10 (1.41%) RESTful
15 9 (1.27%) SAP Fiori
15 9 (1.27%) Web Services
16 8 (1.13%) React Native
16 8 (1.13%) Ruby on Rails
Miscellaneous
1 65 (9.15%) Driving Licence
2 49 (6.90%) Onboarding
3 33 (4.65%) Product Ownership
4 30 (4.23%) Cloud Native
5 23 (3.24%) Data Centre
6 19 (2.68%) Distributed Systems
6 19 (2.68%) Self-Motivation
7 15 (2.11%) Mobile App
8 13 (1.83%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.69%) CCTV
10 10 (1.41%) Management Information System
11 9 (1.27%) Enterprise Cloud
11 9 (1.27%) Social Media
12 8 (1.13%) Security Posture
13 7 (0.99%) AI Agents
13 7 (0.99%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 7 (0.99%) Low-Code
14 6 (0.85%) CMDB
14 6 (0.85%) FMCG
14 6 (0.85%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 121 (17.04%) Windows
2 57 (8.03%) Windows Server
3 43 (6.06%) Windows 10
4 23 (3.24%) Apple iOS
5 20 (2.82%) Linux
6 16 (2.25%) Android
7 7 (0.99%) Windows 7
7 7 (0.99%) Windows 8
7 7 (0.99%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.85%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.70%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.42%) Unix
11 2 (0.28%) Solaris
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.14%) VME
12 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 162 (22.82%) Continuous Improvement
2 154 (21.69%) Customer Service
3 107 (15.07%) Mentoring
4 86 (12.11%) Stakeholder Management
5 82 (11.55%) Agile
6 81 (11.41%) Decision-Making
7 80 (11.27%) AI
8 74 (10.42%) CI/CD
9 69 (9.72%) Roadmaps
10 68 (9.58%) CRM
11 65 (9.15%) DevOps
12 60 (8.45%) Analytics
13 58 (8.17%) Software Engineering
14 57 (8.03%) User Experience
15 56 (7.89%) ERP
16 51 (7.18%) Collaborative Working
17 48 (6.76%) Test Automation
18 44 (6.20%) Business Intelligence
18 44 (6.20%) Project Management
19 40 (5.63%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 113 (15.92%) SQL
2 88 (12.39%) Python
3 48 (6.76%) C#
4 43 (6.06%) JavaScript
5 39 (5.49%) Java
6 19 (2.68%) PowerShell
7 13 (1.83%) Bash
8 12 (1.69%) C++
9 11 (1.55%) TypeScript
10 10 (1.41%) PHP
11 9 (1.27%) T-SQL
12 8 (1.13%) Kotlin
12 8 (1.13%) Ruby
13 5 (0.70%) Bicep
13 5 (0.70%) C
13 5 (0.70%) R
14 4 (0.56%) Apex Code
14 4 (0.56%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 4 (0.56%) Scala
14 4 (0.56%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 80 (11.27%) Degree
2 35 (4.93%) Security Cleared
3 23 (3.24%) SC Cleared
4 20 (2.82%) DBS Check
5 17 (2.39%) Microsoft Certification
6 15 (2.11%) BPSS Clearance
7 12 (1.69%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (1.69%) HNC
8 11 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
9 10 (1.41%) DV Cleared
10 8 (1.13%) Azure Certification
10 8 (1.13%) CCNP
11 7 (0.99%) CCNA
11 7 (0.99%) MCSA
12 6 (0.85%) Network+ Certification
13 5 (0.70%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (0.56%) ACCA
14 4 (0.56%) ITIL Certification
14 4 (0.56%) PMI Certification
14 4 (0.56%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (5.35%) Data Quality
2 27 (3.80%) SLA
3 26 (3.66%) QA
4 25 (3.52%) GDPR
5 16 (2.25%) Accessibility
6 13 (1.83%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 12 (1.69%) TickIT
8 8 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.13%) ISO 9001
9 4 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 14443
9 4 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 7816
10 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.28%) NIST
10 2 (0.28%) WCAG
11 1 (0.14%) DICOM
11 1 (0.14%) IFRS
11 1 (0.14%) IFRS 9
11 1 (0.14%) NEBOSH
11 1 (0.14%) PMO
11 1 (0.14%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 90 (12.68%) Active Directory
2 29 (4.08%) Docker
3 28 (3.94%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (2.54%) Hyper-V
5 7 (0.99%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.42%) Virtual Desktop
6 3 (0.42%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.28%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 31 (4.37%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (3.94%) Kubernetes
3 27 (3.80%) Terraform
4 17 (2.39%) SCCM
5 11 (1.55%) Ansible
6 10 (1.41%) Grafana
6 10 (1.41%) Prometheus
7 8 (1.13%) Autotask
8 7 (0.99%) FortiGate
9 4 (0.56%) Argo
9 4 (0.56%) Cisco CUCM
9 4 (0.56%) Microsoft Clustering
9 4 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.28%) Nagios
11 2 (0.28%) Podman
12 1 (0.14%) McAfee ePO
12 1 (0.14%) Rancher
12 1 (0.14%) SCVMM
12 1 (0.14%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 240 (33.80%) Microsoft
2 31 (4.37%) VMware
3 29 (4.08%) SAP
4 16 (2.25%) Google
5 14 (1.97%) Cisco
6 13 (1.83%) Oracle
7 10 (1.41%) Aruba
7 10 (1.41%) HubSpot
7 10 (1.41%) iManage
7 10 (1.41%) ServiceNow
8 8 (1.13%) Adobe
8 8 (1.13%) Apple
8 8 (1.13%) Meraki
8 8 (1.13%) Salesforce
8 8 (1.13%) Workday
9 7 (0.99%) ESET
9 7 (0.99%) SonicWALL
9 7 (0.99%) Sophos
10 6 (0.85%) Intapp
10 6 (0.85%) Juniper