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

6 months to
25 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 4 8
Rank change year-on-year -16 +4 +15
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 650 714 1,109
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.62% 19.40% 13.26%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.06% 20.51% 15.76%
Number of salaries quoted 491 527 805
10th Percentile £27,250 £29,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £30,000 £36,250 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,500 £48,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.54% +1.05% -
75th Percentile £53,000 £66,250 £61,250
90th Percentile £68,750 £81,250 £76,250
England median annual salary £46,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -16.36% +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 6,461 3,481 7,038
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 75.79% 94.57% 84.18%
Number of salaries quoted 3,592 2,133 5,636
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,620 £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 £69,000 £70,000 £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 25 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 25 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 -20 304 £50,000 -9.09% 221
Cheshire -11 102 £41,000 +9.33% 56
Merseyside -1 101 £32,500 - 37
Lancashire -14 91 £36,500 -28.28% 89
Cumbria +8 51 £45,000 +12.50% 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 48 (7.38%) SharePoint
2 33 (5.08%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.69%) Confluence
4 4 (0.62%) Moodle
4 4 (0.62%) Totara
5 3 (0.46%) WordPress
6 2 (0.31%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.15%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.15%) Apache Solr
7 1 (0.15%) ArcGIS
7 1 (0.15%) CMS
Applications
1 38 (5.85%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (3.85%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.46%) Simulink
4 2 (0.31%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.31%) Revit
5 1 (0.15%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.15%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (1.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.92%) SAP ERP
2 6 (0.92%) Workday HCM
3 5 (0.77%) Shopify
4 4 (0.62%) Magento
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
5 2 (0.31%) Oracle Receivables
5 2 (0.31%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.15%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.15%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 140 (21.54%) Azure
2 126 (19.38%) Microsoft 365
3 60 (9.23%) AWS
4 49 (7.54%) Entra ID
5 48 (7.38%) Power Platform
6 34 (5.23%) GCP
7 30 (4.62%) SaaS
8 16 (2.46%) Microsoft Purview
9 14 (2.15%) Serverless
10 11 (1.69%) Google Workspace
10 11 (1.69%) OneDrive
10 11 (1.69%) Power Automate
11 10 (1.54%) Azure Monitor
12 9 (1.38%) PowerApps
13 8 (1.23%) Azure Sentinel
13 8 (1.23%) Dynamics 365
13 8 (1.23%) Microsoft Copilot
13 8 (1.23%) PaaS
14 7 (1.08%) IaaS
14 7 (1.08%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 58 (8.92%) Firewall
2 36 (5.54%) DNS
3 34 (5.23%) DHCP
4 29 (4.46%) VLAN
5 26 (4.00%) VPN
6 25 (3.85%) Wi-Fi
7 23 (3.54%) VoIP
8 21 (3.23%) TCP/IP
8 21 (3.23%) WAN
9 18 (2.77%) Wireless
10 16 (2.46%) Unified Communications
11 14 (2.15%) Structured Cabling
11 14 (2.15%) Telepresence
11 14 (2.15%) WebEx
12 11 (1.69%) LAN
12 11 (1.69%) SD-WAN
13 10 (1.54%) Broadband
14 6 (0.92%) Network Security
15 5 (0.77%) Ethernet
16 4 (0.62%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (5.23%) Power BI
2 21 (3.23%) SQL Server
3 16 (2.46%) NoSQL
4 12 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
4 12 (1.85%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 10 (1.54%) MongoDB
6 8 (1.23%) MySQL
7 7 (1.08%) Tableau
8 6 (0.92%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (0.77%) Elasticsearch
9 5 (0.77%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.62%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.31%) Big Data
11 2 (0.31%) Crystal Reports
11 2 (0.31%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.31%) Looker
12 1 (0.15%) Data Warehouse
12 1 (0.15%) DB2
12 1 (0.15%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 25 (3.85%) Git
2 16 (2.46%) JIRA
3 7 (1.08%) GitLab
4 3 (0.46%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.15%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.15%) LabVIEW
5 1 (0.15%) Rational DOORS
5 1 (0.15%) TeamCity
General
1 306 (47.08%) Social Skills
2 164 (25.23%) Analytical Skills
3 141 (21.69%) Finance
4 63 (9.69%) Organisational Skills
5 35 (5.38%) Manufacturing
6 29 (4.46%) Public Sector
7 27 (4.15%) Legal
8 25 (3.85%) Automotive
9 24 (3.69%) Retail
10 22 (3.38%) Telecoms
11 21 (3.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 20 (3.08%) Law
13 19 (2.92%) Presentation Skills
14 14 (2.15%) Electronics
14 14 (2.15%) Marketing
15 13 (2.00%) Advertising
15 13 (2.00%) Banking
16 11 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
17 10 (1.54%) Influencing Skills
18 9 (1.38%) French Language
Job Titles
1 91 (14.00%) Support Engineer
2 89 (13.69%) IT Support
3 85 (13.08%) Analyst
4 66 (10.15%) Senior
5 48 (7.38%) IT Engineer
5 48 (7.38%) IT Support Engineer
6 43 (6.62%) Lead
7 35 (5.38%) Developer
7 35 (5.38%) Support Technician
8 33 (5.08%) Business Analyst
9 24 (3.69%) Architect
10 23 (3.54%) Consultant
10 23 (3.54%) Trainee
10 23 (3.54%) Trainee Analyst
10 23 (3.54%) Trainee Business Analyst
11 21 (3.23%) Solutions Architect
12 20 (3.08%) IT Support Technician
12 20 (3.08%) IT Technician
13 18 (2.77%) Team Leader
13 18 (2.77%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (3.08%) React
2 19 (2.92%) .NET
3 17 (2.62%) HTML
4 14 (2.15%) CSS
4 14 (2.15%) RESTful
4 14 (2.15%) Spring
4 14 (2.15%) Spring Boot
5 13 (2.00%) Vue
6 10 (1.54%) Node.js
7 6 (0.92%) AngularJS
7 6 (0.92%) Django
7 6 (0.92%) EDI
7 6 (0.92%) FastAPI
7 6 (0.92%) Hibernate
7 6 (0.92%) OAuth
7 6 (0.92%) OAuth2
8 5 (0.77%) Celery
8 5 (0.77%) Flask
8 5 (0.77%) Laravel
9 4 (0.62%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 111 (17.08%) Driving Licence
2 52 (8.00%) Onboarding
3 27 (4.15%) Self-Motivation
4 21 (3.23%) EPoS
5 19 (2.92%) Analytical Mindset
6 18 (2.77%) CCTV
7 15 (2.31%) Data Centre
7 15 (2.31%) Distributed Systems
7 15 (2.31%) Enterprise Software
8 12 (1.85%) Product Ownership
9 11 (1.69%) Management Information System
9 11 (1.69%) Social Media
10 10 (1.54%) Cloud Native
11 9 (1.38%) CMDB
11 9 (1.38%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.23%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (1.08%) Security Posture
13 7 (1.08%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.92%) Greenfield Project
14 6 (0.92%) Solar Energy
Operating Systems
1 131 (20.15%) Windows
2 57 (8.77%) Windows Server
3 33 (5.08%) Windows 10
4 22 (3.38%) Linux
5 20 (3.08%) Apple iOS
6 16 (2.46%) Android
7 11 (1.69%) Windows 7
7 11 (1.69%) Windows 8
8 10 (1.54%) Mac OS
9 8 (1.23%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.77%) Windows Server 2019
11 2 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.31%) Unix
12 1 (0.15%) CentOS
12 1 (0.15%) CoreOS
12 1 (0.15%) Solaris
12 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.15%) VME
Processes & Methodologies
1 126 (19.38%) Customer Service
2 108 (16.62%) Continuous Improvement
3 89 (13.69%) Decision-Making
4 84 (12.92%) Mentoring
5 81 (12.46%) Stakeholder Management
6 80 (12.31%) Agile
7 64 (9.85%) AI
8 60 (9.23%) Project Management
9 53 (8.15%) Cybersecurity
10 50 (7.69%) Coaching
11 47 (7.23%) CI/CD
12 46 (7.08%) ITIL
13 43 (6.62%) Service Delivery
14 40 (6.15%) Analytics
15 39 (6.00%) Business Intelligence
15 39 (6.00%) User Experience
16 37 (5.69%) Software Engineering
17 36 (5.54%) Collaborative Culture
17 36 (5.54%) DevOps
18 35 (5.38%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 64 (9.85%) SQL
2 45 (6.92%) Python
3 24 (3.69%) JavaScript
4 23 (3.54%) Java
5 18 (2.77%) C#
6 10 (1.54%) TypeScript
7 9 (1.38%) Kotlin
7 9 (1.38%) PHP
7 9 (1.38%) PowerShell
8 4 (0.62%) Bash
8 4 (0.62%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 3 (0.46%) C
9 3 (0.46%) Go
9 3 (0.46%) Ladder Logic
9 3 (0.46%) MATLAB
9 3 (0.46%) Swift
10 2 (0.31%) C++
10 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.31%) T-SQL
10 2 (0.31%) VBA
Qualifications
1 113 (17.38%) Degree
2 31 (4.77%) DBS Check
3 23 (3.54%) BPSS Clearance
4 16 (2.46%) Security Cleared
5 13 (2.00%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.69%) HNC
7 10 (1.54%) Computer Science Degree
7 10 (1.54%) Master's Degree
8 9 (1.38%) SC Cleared
9 8 (1.23%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.23%) Network+ Certification
10 7 (1.08%) CCNA
10 7 (1.08%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.08%) NVQ Level 4
11 6 (0.92%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (0.77%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.62%) HND
13 4 (0.62%) MCSA
14 3 (0.46%) PMI Certification
14 3 (0.46%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (4.46%) QA
2 23 (3.54%) SLA
3 21 (3.23%) Data Quality
3 21 (3.23%) GDPR
4 14 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (1.23%) ISO 9001
7 7 (1.08%) Accessibility
8 3 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
8 3 (0.46%) GLBA
9 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.31%) Disclosure Scotland
9 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.15%) GMP
10 1 (0.15%) NEBOSH
10 1 (0.15%) PMO
System Software
1 90 (13.85%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.54%) Hyper-V
3 20 (3.08%) Docker
4 17 (2.62%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (1.54%) VMware Workstation
6 3 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.31%) Firmware
8 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.15%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 35 (5.38%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (3.85%) Terraform
3 22 (3.38%) BMC PATROL
3 22 (3.38%) SCCM
4 20 (3.08%) Kubernetes
5 14 (2.15%) Cisco CUCM
6 12 (1.85%) Autotask
7 11 (1.69%) Single Sign-On
8 10 (1.54%) Ansible
9 5 (0.77%) FortiGate
9 5 (0.77%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.46%) cPanel
10 3 (0.46%) Plesk
10 3 (0.46%) Rancher
11 1 (0.15%) McAfee ePO
11 1 (0.15%) Nagios
11 1 (0.15%) Podman
11 1 (0.15%) Prometheus
11 1 (0.15%) SCVMM
11 1 (0.15%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 178 (27.38%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.54%) Oracle
3 20 (3.08%) Cisco
3 20 (3.08%) VMware
4 17 (2.62%) SAP
5 16 (2.46%) Google
6 13 (2.00%) Workday
7 11 (1.69%) Apple
7 11 (1.69%) ESET
8 9 (1.38%) ServiceNow
9 8 (1.23%) Adobe
9 8 (1.23%) New Relic
9 8 (1.23%) Splunk
10 7 (1.08%) Siemens
11 6 (0.92%) BiZZdesign
11 6 (0.92%) HubSpot
11 6 (0.92%) iManage
11 6 (0.92%) Meraki
11 6 (0.92%) Qualtrics
12 5 (0.77%) Facebook