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

6 months to
15 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 5 8
Rank change year-on-year -15 +3 +18
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 728 816 880
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 9.94% 17.59% 13.19%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.73% 18.89% 15.37%
Number of salaries quoted 561 432 654
10th Percentile £26,750 £31,250 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,555 £31,438
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £46,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.00% +5.26% -5.00%
75th Percentile £53,000 £65,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £63,750 £80,000 £72,675
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -9.74%

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 5,717 4,320 5,726
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 78.08% 93.14% 85.85%
Number of salaries quoted 2,997 2,133 4,664
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £27,750
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,620 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £66,778
90th Percentile £83,000 £82,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 February 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 February 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 -17 295 £45,000 -14.29% 195
Merseyside +1 135 £48,000 +47.69% 24
Cheshire -11 135 £48,979 +22.45% 84
Lancashire -10 113 £40,000 -23.81% 69
Cumbria +5 49 £45,000 +9.76% 12
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 41 (5.63%) SharePoint
2 19 (2.61%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (0.96%) WordPress
4 6 (0.82%) Confluence
5 3 (0.41%) Apache Spark
5 3 (0.41%) Moodle
5 3 (0.41%) Totara
6 2 (0.27%) Apache Solr
6 2 (0.27%) FactoryTalk
6 2 (0.27%) nginx
6 2 (0.27%) WinCC
7 1 (0.14%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.14%) Apache
7 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.14%) CMS
Applications
1 40 (5.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 27 (3.71%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.41%) Simulink
4 2 (0.27%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.27%) Revit
5 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (1.10%) SAP Business One
2 6 (0.82%) Workday HCM
3 4 (0.55%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.41%) Shopify
5 2 (0.27%) NetSuite
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.14%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.14%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.14%) Magento
6 1 (0.14%) Primavera
6 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 133 (18.27%) Azure
2 102 (14.01%) Microsoft 365
3 76 (10.44%) AWS
4 53 (7.28%) Entra ID
5 48 (6.59%) Power Platform
6 35 (4.81%) GCP
7 33 (4.53%) SaaS
8 15 (2.06%) OneDrive
9 13 (1.79%) Serverless
10 12 (1.65%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.37%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.24%) Azure Sentinel
12 9 (1.24%) Cloud Computing
12 9 (1.24%) Google Workspace
12 9 (1.24%) Microsoft Purview
13 8 (1.10%) Dynamics 365
13 8 (1.10%) PaaS
14 7 (0.96%) Adobe Analytics
14 7 (0.96%) Figma
14 7 (0.96%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.32%) Firewall
2 32 (4.40%) DNS
3 30 (4.12%) DHCP
4 22 (3.02%) VPN
5 21 (2.88%) VLAN
6 20 (2.75%) Wi-Fi
7 16 (2.20%) TCP/IP
7 16 (2.20%) Unified Communications
7 16 (2.20%) VoIP
8 15 (2.06%) WAN
9 14 (1.92%) Telepresence
9 14 (1.92%) WebEx
10 12 (1.65%) Wireless
11 10 (1.37%) Structured Cabling
12 9 (1.24%) Broadband
12 9 (1.24%) SD-WAN
13 7 (0.96%) Ethernet
13 7 (0.96%) LAN
14 4 (0.55%) NGFW
14 4 (0.55%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (5.22%) Power BI
2 18 (2.47%) SQL Server
3 13 (1.79%) NoSQL
3 13 (1.79%) Tableau
4 9 (1.24%) MongoDB
4 9 (1.24%) MySQL
4 9 (1.24%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (1.24%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 8 (1.10%) Crystal Reports
6 6 (0.82%) Amazon Redshift
6 6 (0.82%) Elasticsearch
7 5 (0.69%) Azure SQL Database
7 5 (0.69%) Big Data
7 5 (0.69%) Relational Database
8 4 (0.55%) BigQuery
8 4 (0.55%) Data Warehouse
8 4 (0.55%) DynamoDB
8 4 (0.55%) Looker
9 3 (0.41%) Hadoop
10 2 (0.27%) Data Mart
Development Applications
1 25 (3.43%) Git
2 8 (1.10%) JIRA
3 7 (0.96%) GitLab
4 3 (0.41%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.14%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.14%) TeamCity
General
1 312 (42.86%) Social Skills
2 179 (24.59%) Analytical Skills
3 145 (19.92%) Finance
4 52 (7.14%) Organisational Skills
5 45 (6.18%) Automotive
6 29 (3.98%) Legal
7 27 (3.71%) Public Sector
8 25 (3.43%) Telecoms
9 22 (3.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 22 (3.02%) Presentation Skills
9 22 (3.02%) Retail
10 18 (2.47%) Manufacturing
11 17 (2.34%) Electronics
12 16 (2.20%) Banking
13 15 (2.06%) Law
14 14 (1.92%) Marketing
15 13 (1.79%) Pharmaceutical
16 12 (1.65%) Advertising
17 11 (1.51%) Documentation Skills
17 11 (1.51%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 95 (13.05%) Analyst
2 91 (12.50%) IT Support
3 82 (11.26%) Support Engineer
4 69 (9.48%) Senior
5 42 (5.77%) IT Engineer
5 42 (5.77%) IT Support Engineer
6 36 (4.95%) Business Analyst
7 34 (4.67%) Lead
8 31 (4.26%) Developer
9 30 (4.12%) Trainee
10 26 (3.57%) Trainee Analyst
10 26 (3.57%) Trainee Business Analyst
11 24 (3.30%) Support Technician
12 23 (3.16%) Architect
12 23 (3.16%) Consultant
13 21 (2.88%) Technical Engineer
13 21 (2.88%) Technical Support
13 21 (2.88%) Technical Support Engineer
14 20 (2.75%) 1st Line Support
15 19 (2.61%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.88%) React
2 18 (2.47%) HTML
3 14 (1.92%) .NET
4 13 (1.79%) CSS
5 12 (1.65%) Spring
6 11 (1.51%) Spring Boot
7 10 (1.37%) RESTful
8 9 (1.24%) Node.js
9 8 (1.10%) Vue
10 7 (0.96%) Hibernate
10 7 (0.96%) Laravel
11 5 (0.69%) AngularJS
11 5 (0.69%) Django
11 5 (0.69%) EDI
11 5 (0.69%) FastAPI
11 5 (0.69%) OAuth
11 5 (0.69%) REST
12 4 (0.55%) Celery
12 4 (0.55%) OAuth2
12 4 (0.55%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 200 (27.47%) Driving Licence
2 52 (7.14%) Onboarding
3 30 (4.12%) Self-Motivation
4 25 (3.43%) EPoS
5 24 (3.30%) Analytical Mindset
6 19 (2.61%) Enterprise Software
7 15 (2.06%) Cloud Native
8 14 (1.92%) CCTV
8 14 (1.92%) Data Centre
9 13 (1.79%) Distributed Systems
10 11 (1.51%) Product Ownership
11 8 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.10%) Video Conferencing
12 7 (0.96%) Management Information System
12 7 (0.96%) Virtual Team
13 6 (0.82%) Greenfield Project
13 6 (0.82%) Home Automation
13 6 (0.82%) Mobile App
13 6 (0.82%) Renewable Energy
13 6 (0.82%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 107 (14.70%) Windows
2 42 (5.77%) Windows Server
3 26 (3.57%) Windows 10
4 24 (3.30%) Linux
5 14 (1.92%) Android
6 13 (1.79%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.24%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.24%) Windows 8
8 7 (0.96%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Unix
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (13.46%) Customer Service
2 97 (13.32%) Continuous Improvement
3 93 (12.77%) Decision-Making
4 91 (12.50%) Agile
5 89 (12.23%) Mentoring
6 68 (9.34%) AI
7 67 (9.20%) Stakeholder Management
8 65 (8.93%) Project Management
9 58 (7.97%) Cybersecurity
10 57 (7.83%) Coaching
11 46 (6.32%) Analytics
12 44 (6.04%) CI/CD
12 44 (6.04%) ITIL
13 41 (5.63%) Process Improvement
14 40 (5.49%) Business Intelligence
15 39 (5.36%) DevOps
16 38 (5.22%) Change Management
16 38 (5.22%) CRM
16 38 (5.22%) Service Delivery
16 38 (5.22%) Visualisation
Programming Languages
1 69 (9.48%) SQL
2 50 (6.87%) Python
3 22 (3.02%) Java
4 21 (2.88%) JavaScript
5 13 (1.79%) C#
6 11 (1.51%) PHP
7 10 (1.37%) PowerShell
7 10 (1.37%) TypeScript
8 7 (0.96%) Kotlin
9 4 (0.55%) Bash
9 4 (0.55%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 4 (0.55%) MATLAB
9 4 (0.55%) Scala
10 3 (0.41%) Go
10 3 (0.41%) Ladder Logic
11 2 (0.27%) Bicep
11 2 (0.27%) C
11 2 (0.27%) R
11 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) C++
Qualifications
1 127 (17.45%) Degree
2 33 (4.53%) DBS Check
3 21 (2.88%) BPSS Clearance
4 16 (2.20%) Master's Degree
5 15 (2.06%) Security Cleared
6 11 (1.51%) SC Cleared
7 9 (1.24%) Azure Certification
7 9 (1.24%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.10%) HNC
8 8 (1.10%) Network+ Certification
9 7 (0.96%) A+ Certification
9 7 (0.96%) NVQ Level 4
10 6 (0.82%) CompTIA Security+
10 6 (0.82%) Microsoft Certification
11 5 (0.69%) ACCA
11 5 (0.69%) CIMA
11 5 (0.69%) HND
12 4 (0.55%) ITIL Certification
13 3 (0.41%) CCNA
13 3 (0.41%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.57%) QA
2 19 (2.61%) GDPR
3 17 (2.34%) Data Quality
4 14 (1.92%) Cyber Essentials
4 14 (1.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (1.10%) Accessibility
6 7 (0.96%) SLA
7 6 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (0.82%) ISO 9001
8 4 (0.55%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 4 (0.55%) GLBA
9 2 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.27%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.27%) PCI DSS
9 2 (0.27%) PMO
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
System Software
1 78 (10.71%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.43%) Docker
3 22 (3.02%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.37%) VMware Infrastructure
5 8 (1.10%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.41%) Firmware
6 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.27%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.14%) HDFS
Systems Management
1 42 (5.77%) BMC PATROL
2 41 (5.63%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (3.71%) Terraform
4 22 (3.02%) Kubernetes
5 16 (2.20%) SCCM
6 14 (1.92%) Cisco CUCM
7 11 (1.51%) Ansible
8 10 (1.37%) Single Sign-On
9 9 (1.24%) Autotask
10 3 (0.41%) cPanel
10 3 (0.41%) Grafana
10 3 (0.41%) Plesk
10 3 (0.41%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.41%) Rancher
11 2 (0.27%) AssetCenter
11 2 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
12 1 (0.14%) Argo
12 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
12 1 (0.14%) Podman
12 1 (0.14%) SCVMM
Vendors
1 148 (20.33%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.16%) Oracle
3 19 (2.61%) Cisco
4 18 (2.47%) SAP
5 16 (2.20%) Google
6 15 (2.06%) VMware
6 15 (2.06%) Workday
7 10 (1.37%) HubSpot
7 10 (1.37%) ServiceNow
7 10 (1.37%) Siemens
8 9 (1.24%) ESET
9 8 (1.10%) New Relic
9 8 (1.10%) Splunk
10 7 (0.96%) Adobe
10 7 (0.96%) Apple
10 7 (0.96%) Qualtrics
11 6 (0.82%) BiZZdesign
11 6 (0.82%) iManage
12 5 (0.69%) Facebook
13 4 (0.55%) EXASOL