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

6 months to
16 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 6 7
Rank change year-on-year -13 +1 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 687 846 593
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 10.63% 16.73% 13.17%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.14% 18.31% 15.04%
Number of salaries quoted 521 407 401
10th Percentile £26,750 £31,250 £26,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £36,250 £32,092
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,683 £49,965 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.57% +5.19% -
75th Percentile £53,000 £61,055 £62,500
90th Percentile £65,000 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +1.85% -1.82%

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 5,227 4,621 3,942
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 80.90% 91.36% 87.56%
Number of salaries quoted 2,590 2,263 3,060
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £30,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,084 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.00% -0.79% -4.55%
75th Percentile £65,543 £66,625 £68,750
90th Percentile £81,250 £80,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 16 January 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 16 January 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 -17 268 £45,000 -10.00% 178
Cheshire -9 142 £51,500 +28.75% 92
Merseyside +3 124 £48,720 +49.91% 38
Lancashire -8 106 £45,497 -13.34% 80
Cumbria +6 45 £45,000 +7.14% 6
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 (5.24%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.62%) Microsoft Exchange
3 7 (1.02%) WordPress
4 5 (0.73%) Confluence
5 4 (0.58%) Camunda
6 3 (0.44%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.29%) Apache Solr
7 2 (0.29%) FactoryTalk
7 2 (0.29%) nginx
7 2 (0.29%) WinCC
8 1 (0.15%) Anypoint
8 1 (0.15%) Apache
8 1 (0.15%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.15%) CMS
Applications
1 30 (4.37%) Microsoft Excel
1 30 (4.37%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (0.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.44%) Simulink
4 2 (0.29%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.29%) Revit
5 1 (0.15%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (1.16%) SAP Business One
2 3 (0.44%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.29%) NetSuite
3 2 (0.29%) Oracle Assets
3 2 (0.29%) Oracle General Ledger
3 2 (0.29%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.29%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.29%) Shopify
4 1 (0.15%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.15%) Magento
4 1 (0.15%) Primavera
4 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 118 (17.18%) Azure
2 81 (11.79%) Microsoft 365
3 69 (10.04%) AWS
4 52 (7.57%) Entra ID
5 47 (6.84%) Power Platform
6 35 (5.09%) GCP
7 32 (4.66%) SaaS
8 15 (2.18%) OneDrive
9 12 (1.75%) Microsoft Purview
9 12 (1.75%) Power Automate
9 12 (1.75%) Serverless
10 10 (1.46%) Azure Monitor
11 8 (1.16%) PaaS
12 7 (1.02%) Dynamics 365
12 7 (1.02%) IaaS
13 6 (0.87%) Azure Sentinel
13 6 (0.87%) Cloud Computing
13 6 (0.87%) Figma
13 6 (0.87%) Microsoft Copilot
13 6 (0.87%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 33 (4.80%) Firewall
2 23 (3.35%) DNS
3 21 (3.06%) DHCP
4 16 (2.33%) Unified Communications
4 16 (2.33%) VoIP
5 14 (2.04%) Telepresence
5 14 (2.04%) VPN
5 14 (2.04%) WebEx
6 13 (1.89%) TCP/IP
6 13 (1.89%) VLAN
7 11 (1.60%) Wi-Fi
7 11 (1.60%) Wireless
8 9 (1.31%) WAN
9 7 (1.02%) Ethernet
10 6 (0.87%) Broadband
10 6 (0.87%) LAN
10 6 (0.87%) Structured Cabling
11 4 (0.58%) SD-WAN
12 3 (0.44%) ATM
12 3 (0.44%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (5.39%) Power BI
2 19 (2.77%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.18%) NoSQL
4 13 (1.89%) Tableau
5 10 (1.46%) MongoDB
5 10 (1.46%) MySQL
6 9 (1.31%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (1.16%) Crystal Reports
8 7 (1.02%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 6 (0.87%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.87%) Elasticsearch
10 5 (0.73%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.73%) Big Data
10 5 (0.73%) Data Warehouse
10 5 (0.73%) Relational Database
11 4 (0.58%) BigQuery
11 4 (0.58%) DynamoDB
11 4 (0.58%) Looker
12 3 (0.44%) Hadoop
12 3 (0.44%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 22 (3.20%) Git
2 13 (1.89%) GitLab
3 8 (1.16%) Bitbucket
4 7 (1.02%) Jenkins
4 7 (1.02%) JIRA
5 5 (0.73%) SonarQube
5 5 (0.73%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.44%) LabVIEW
7 1 (0.15%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
General
1 292 (42.50%) Social Skills
2 170 (24.75%) Analytical Skills
3 143 (20.82%) Finance
4 47 (6.84%) Automotive
5 30 (4.37%) Organisational Skills
6 28 (4.08%) Legal
7 23 (3.35%) Telecoms
8 22 (3.20%) Public Sector
8 22 (3.20%) Retail
9 20 (2.91%) Presentation Skills
10 19 (2.77%) Electronics
10 19 (2.77%) Manufacturing
11 18 (2.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (2.33%) Banking
12 16 (2.33%) Law
13 15 (2.18%) Marketing
14 14 (2.04%) Advertising
15 13 (1.89%) Pharmaceutical
16 9 (1.31%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (1.16%) Games
Job Titles
1 84 (12.23%) Analyst
2 70 (10.19%) IT Support
3 64 (9.32%) Support Engineer
4 57 (8.30%) Senior
5 42 (6.11%) Developer
5 42 (6.11%) Lead
6 33 (4.80%) Business Analyst
7 30 (4.37%) Trainee
8 26 (3.78%) Trainee Analyst
8 26 (3.78%) Trainee Business Analyst
9 25 (3.64%) IT Engineer
9 25 (3.64%) IT Support Engineer
10 23 (3.35%) Architect
10 23 (3.35%) Systems Engineer
11 22 (3.20%) Support Technician
12 20 (2.91%) Consultant
13 19 (2.77%) Solutions Architect
14 18 (2.62%) Administrator
14 18 (2.62%) Team Leader
15 17 (2.47%) Technical Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (2.91%) React
2 15 (2.18%) HTML
3 12 (1.75%) .NET
4 11 (1.60%) RESTful
5 10 (1.46%) CSS
5 10 (1.46%) REST
5 10 (1.46%) Spring
6 9 (1.31%) Node.js
6 9 (1.31%) Spring Boot
7 7 (1.02%) Hibernate
7 7 (1.02%) Vue
8 6 (0.87%) AngularJS
8 6 (0.87%) Laravel
9 5 (0.73%) Django
9 5 (0.73%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (0.58%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.58%) Celery
10 4 (0.58%) JSON
10 4 (0.58%) RabbitMQ
10 4 (0.58%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 188 (27.37%) Driving Licence
2 46 (6.70%) Onboarding
3 30 (4.37%) Self-Motivation
4 24 (3.49%) Analytical Mindset
5 21 (3.06%) EPoS
6 20 (2.91%) Enterprise Software
7 14 (2.04%) CCTV
8 13 (1.89%) Cloud Native
9 12 (1.75%) Distributed Systems
10 10 (1.46%) IoT
11 9 (1.31%) Management Information System
12 8 (1.16%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.16%) Video Conferencing
13 7 (1.02%) Legacy Systems
13 7 (1.02%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.87%) Greenfield Project
14 6 (0.87%) Home Automation
14 6 (0.87%) Life Science
14 6 (0.87%) Operational Technology
14 6 (0.87%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 87 (12.66%) Windows
2 31 (4.51%) Windows Server
3 21 (3.06%) Linux
4 12 (1.75%) Windows 10
5 6 (0.87%) Android
6 5 (0.73%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.73%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.58%) Windows 7
7 4 (0.58%) Windows 8
8 2 (0.29%) Unix
8 2 (0.29%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.15%) CentOS
9 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.15%) Solaris
9 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (14.12%) Agile
2 93 (13.54%) Continuous Improvement
3 84 (12.23%) Decision-Making
4 80 (11.64%) Customer Service
5 72 (10.48%) Mentoring
6 71 (10.33%) Project Management
7 58 (8.44%) AI
8 54 (7.86%) DevOps
8 54 (7.86%) Stakeholder Management
9 51 (7.42%) Cybersecurity
10 45 (6.55%) Coaching
11 42 (6.11%) Collaborative Culture
12 41 (5.97%) Analytics
12 41 (5.97%) Business Intelligence
12 41 (5.97%) CI/CD
13 40 (5.82%) ITIL
14 39 (5.68%) Change Management
15 38 (5.53%) CRM
16 34 (4.95%) Containerisation
17 33 (4.80%) Business Strategy
Programming Languages
1 74 (10.77%) SQL
2 42 (6.11%) Python
3 25 (3.64%) Java
4 19 (2.77%) JavaScript
5 12 (1.75%) PowerShell
6 11 (1.60%) C#
7 10 (1.46%) MATLAB
7 10 (1.46%) PHP
8 9 (1.31%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.16%) Go
10 5 (0.73%) Elixir
10 5 (0.73%) Kotlin
10 5 (0.73%) Ruby
11 4 (0.58%) Bash
11 4 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 4 (0.58%) Scala
12 3 (0.44%) Ladder Logic
13 2 (0.29%) Bicep
13 2 (0.29%) R
13 2 (0.29%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 137 (19.94%) Degree
2 29 (4.22%) BPSS Clearance
3 22 (3.20%) DBS Check
4 18 (2.62%) Master's Degree
5 17 (2.47%) Security Cleared
6 13 (1.89%) SC Cleared
7 10 (1.46%) Azure Certification
7 10 (1.46%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.16%) A+ Certification
8 8 (1.16%) HNC
9 7 (1.02%) ACCA
9 7 (1.02%) CIMA
9 7 (1.02%) Microsoft Certification
9 7 (1.02%) NVQ Level 4
10 5 (0.73%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 5 (0.73%) Network+ Certification
11 4 (0.58%) HND
11 4 (0.58%) ITIL Certification
12 3 (0.44%) CCNA
12 3 (0.44%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (4.08%) QA
2 19 (2.77%) Data Quality
3 15 (2.18%) GDPR
4 11 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
5 9 (1.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 8 (1.16%) Accessibility
7 6 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (0.87%) SLA
8 5 (0.73%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 5 (0.73%) GLBA
8 5 (0.73%) PMO
9 2 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.29%) COBIT
9 2 (0.29%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.29%) ITGC
9 2 (0.29%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.15%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.15%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.15%) NIST
System Software
1 66 (9.61%) Active Directory
2 27 (3.93%) Docker
3 17 (2.47%) Hyper-V
4 5 (0.73%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.44%) Firmware
5 3 (0.44%) Virtual Desktop
5 3 (0.44%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.44%) VMware Workstation
6 2 (0.29%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.15%) HDFS
Systems Management
1 42 (6.11%) BMC PATROL
2 34 (4.95%) Microsoft Intune
3 26 (3.78%) Terraform
4 24 (3.49%) Kubernetes
5 14 (2.04%) Cisco CUCM
6 10 (1.46%) Ansible
6 10 (1.46%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (1.02%) SCCM
8 4 (0.58%) Autotask
8 4 (0.58%) Grafana
8 4 (0.58%) Prometheus
9 3 (0.44%) cPanel
9 3 (0.44%) Plesk
9 3 (0.44%) Rancher
10 2 (0.29%) AssetCenter
10 2 (0.29%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.15%) Argo
11 1 (0.15%) AWS Copilot
11 1 (0.15%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.15%) Podman
Vendors
1 126 (18.34%) Microsoft
2 26 (3.78%) Oracle
3 19 (2.77%) Cisco
4 17 (2.47%) SAP
5 13 (1.89%) ServiceNow
6 12 (1.75%) Workday
7 11 (1.60%) Siemens
7 11 (1.60%) VMware
8 10 (1.46%) Google
9 9 (1.31%) HubSpot
10 8 (1.16%) New Relic
10 8 (1.16%) Splunk
11 6 (0.87%) Adobe
11 6 (0.87%) BiZZdesign
11 6 (0.87%) iManage
11 6 (0.87%) Qualtrics
12 5 (0.73%) Apple
12 5 (0.73%) Facebook
12 5 (0.73%) SnapLogic
13 4 (0.58%) Fortinet