Problem-Solving Contract Job Trends in the West Midlands

Problem Solving
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the West Midlands requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 6 7
Rank change year-on-year +3 +1 0
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 319 220 263
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the West Midlands 17.74% 11.62% 12.52%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 20.05% 14.24% 14.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 208 135 161
10th Percentile £204 £153 £263
25th Percentile £400 £348 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £465 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.86% -11.43% +5.00%
75th Percentile £538 £575 £638
90th Percentile £625 £638 £731
England median daily rate £488 £500 £525
% change year-on-year -2.50% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 5 5
10th Percentile £14.25 - £14.04
25th Percentile £20.06 £15.13 £14.54
Median hourly rate £33.88 £17.00 £20.97
Median % change year-on-year +99.29% -18.93% +10.37%
75th Percentile £42.01 £18.97 £25.88
90th Percentile £52.50 £20.49 £38.85
England median hourly rate £18.86 £16.23 £53.67
% change year-on-year +16.20% -69.76% +118.68%

All Process and Methodology Skills
West Midlands

Problem-Solving falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the West Midlands.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,591 1,545 1,798
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 88.49% 81.62% 85.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,023 998 1,206
10th Percentile £250 £250 £263
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £500
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% +4.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £625 £600
90th Percentile £663 £725 £725
England median daily rate £508 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -3.33% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 103 41 51
10th Percentile £12.62 £14.25 £14.54
25th Percentile £16.07 £15.13 £20.24
Median hourly rate £24.34 £22.50 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +8.18% -18.18% +56.16%
75th Percentile £35.30 £35.00 £42.25
90th Percentile £50.00 £55.25 £67.50
England median hourly rate £25.15 £43.00 £43.54
% change year-on-year -41.51% -1.24% +50.14%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Job postings citing Problem-Solving as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Job vacancy trend for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Daily Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 15 September 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Hourly Rate Histogram in the West Midlands

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Problem-Solving in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 15 September 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
Contract Job Locations in the West Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 15 September 2025. 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Birmingham +4 103 £435 -8.42% 119
Warwickshire +5 94 £500 -9.09% 87
Shropshire -2 47 £519 +19.47% 58
Coventry +6 29 £425 +6.25% 37
Staffordshire +5 12 £450 +20.32% 70
Solihull -1 11 £600 +73.91% 13
Herefordshire +5 4 £575 -9.45% 7
Worcestershire -10 4 £569 +67.28% 34
Walsall -1 1 £425 - 2
Wolverhampton -1 1 £188 +102.70% 18
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the West Midlands by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 17 (5.33%) SAS
2 15 (4.70%) SharePoint
3 9 (2.82%) Oracle Self-Service HR
3 9 (2.82%) Oracle Workflow
4 7 (2.19%) Confluence
5 4 (1.25%) Apache Spark
5 4 (1.25%) IBM Notes
6 2 (0.63%) Apache Airflow
6 2 (0.63%) CMS
6 2 (0.63%) IIS
6 2 (0.63%) SugarCRM
7 1 (0.31%) Apache
7 1 (0.31%) ArcGIS
7 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.31%) OpenStack
7 1 (0.31%) Sitecore CMS
7 1 (0.31%) WebLogic
Applications
1 18 (5.64%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (4.39%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (2.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 7 (2.19%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (1.57%) Revit
5 4 (1.25%) AutoCAD
5 4 (1.25%) Navisworks
6 3 (0.94%) Trello
7 2 (0.63%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 8 (2.51%) Oracle HRMS
2 7 (2.19%) SAP HR
3 5 (1.57%) SAP PM
3 5 (1.57%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.94%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.94%) Oracle EBS R12
4 3 (0.94%) Oracle Payables
4 3 (0.94%) Oracle Receivables
4 3 (0.94%) SAP PSCD
5 2 (0.63%) Maximo
5 2 (0.63%) Oracle Assets
5 2 (0.63%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.63%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.63%) Oracle General Ledger
5 2 (0.63%) Oracle iProcurement
5 2 (0.63%) ResourceLink
5 2 (0.63%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.31%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 1 (0.31%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.31%) Summit
Cloud Services
1 58 (18.18%) Azure
2 32 (10.03%) AWS
3 26 (8.15%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (6.27%) Power Platform
5 17 (5.33%) GCP
6 13 (4.08%) PowerApps
7 11 (3.45%) Entra ID
7 11 (3.45%) GitHub
8 10 (3.13%) Serverless
9 9 (2.82%) Dynamics 365
10 8 (2.51%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (2.19%) GitHub Actions
12 6 (1.88%) Power Automate
13 5 (1.57%) Akamai
13 5 (1.57%) Amazon S3
13 5 (1.57%) SuccessFactors
14 4 (1.25%) Azure Functions
14 4 (1.25%) OneDrive
14 4 (1.25%) SaaS
15 3 (0.94%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 22 (6.90%) Firewall
2 16 (5.02%) VPN
3 13 (4.08%) TCP/IP
4 11 (3.45%) Network Security
5 9 (2.82%) BGP
5 9 (2.82%) IPsec
6 7 (2.19%) DHCP
6 7 (2.19%) DNS
6 7 (2.19%) SSL
7 6 (1.88%) OSPF
7 6 (1.88%) VLAN
8 5 (1.57%) WAN
8 5 (1.57%) Wireshark
9 4 (1.25%) MPLS
9 4 (1.25%) Wireless
10 3 (0.94%) Junos
10 3 (0.94%) LAN
10 3 (0.94%) Telepresence
10 3 (0.94%) Unified Communications
10 3 (0.94%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (5.33%) Pentaho
2 13 (4.08%) SQL Server
3 9 (2.82%) NoSQL
3 9 (2.82%) Relational Database
4 8 (2.51%) Elasticsearch
4 8 (2.51%) PostgreSQL
5 7 (2.19%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (2.19%) Tableau
6 6 (1.88%) Power BI
7 5 (1.57%) Big Data
7 5 (1.57%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (1.57%) MySQL
7 5 (1.57%) Oracle Database
8 3 (0.94%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.94%) Geospatial Data
8 3 (0.94%) GIS
8 3 (0.94%) Hadoop
8 3 (0.94%) OLTP
8 3 (0.94%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.94%) SAS Enterprise Guide
Development Applications
1 39 (12.23%) JIRA
2 30 (9.40%) Git
3 25 (7.84%) Jenkins
4 9 (2.82%) GitLab
5 3 (0.94%) SonarQube
5 3 (0.94%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.63%) Android Studio
6 2 (0.63%) Gradle
6 2 (0.63%) JMeter
6 2 (0.63%) Liquibase
6 2 (0.63%) MLflow
6 2 (0.63%) Visual Studio Code
6 2 (0.63%) Xcode
7 1 (0.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.31%) ClearCase
7 1 (0.31%) LoadRunner
7 1 (0.31%) Maven
7 1 (0.31%) Selenium
7 1 (0.31%) TestNG
7 1 (0.31%) TestPartner
General
1 212 (66.46%) Social Skills
2 119 (37.30%) Analytical Skills
3 57 (17.87%) Finance
4 31 (9.72%) Public Sector
5 13 (4.08%) Legal
6 12 (3.76%) Organisational Skills
6 12 (3.76%) Telecoms
7 9 (2.82%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (2.82%) Marketing
8 8 (2.51%) Banking
8 8 (2.51%) Manufacturing
9 7 (2.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (2.19%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (2.19%) Presentation Skills
10 5 (1.57%) Automotive
11 4 (1.25%) Electronics
11 4 (1.25%) Retail
12 3 (0.94%) Advertising
13 2 (0.63%) Law
13 2 (0.63%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 51 (15.99%) Analyst
2 33 (10.34%) Developer
3 27 (8.46%) Architect
4 20 (6.27%) Support Engineer
5 19 (5.96%) Project Manager
6 16 (5.02%) Lead
7 15 (4.70%) Business Analyst
7 15 (4.70%) Senior
8 13 (4.08%) IT Analyst
9 11 (3.45%) Consultant
10 10 (3.13%) Data Analyst
11 9 (2.82%) 1st Line Support
11 9 (2.82%) Data Engineer
11 9 (2.82%) IT Support
12 8 (2.51%) Oracle Specialist
13 7 (2.19%) Administrator
13 7 (2.19%) CyberArk Engineer
13 7 (2.19%) Service Analyst
13 7 (2.19%) Support Officer
13 7 (2.19%) Technical Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (4.70%) .NET
2 9 (2.82%) HTML
3 8 (2.51%) Elastic Stack
3 8 (2.51%) REST
4 7 (2.19%) SAP Fiori
4 7 (2.19%) Web Services
5 6 (1.88%) GraphQL
5 6 (1.88%) React
5 6 (1.88%) RESTful
6 5 (1.57%) CSS
6 5 (1.57%) Node.js
7 4 (1.25%) Lightning Web Components
7 4 (1.25%) Middleware
7 4 (1.25%) OAuth
7 4 (1.25%) SAP PI
7 4 (1.25%) SAPUI5
7 4 (1.25%) Visualforce
8 3 (0.94%) Flask
8 3 (0.94%) React Native
8 3 (0.94%) Redux
Miscellaneous
1 14 (4.39%) Onboarding
2 13 (4.08%) Self-Motivation
3 11 (3.45%) Data Protection Act
4 10 (3.13%) Management Information System
4 10 (3.13%) Product Ownership
5 8 (2.51%) Security Posture
6 5 (1.57%) Cloud Native
6 5 (1.57%) Data Centre
6 5 (1.57%) IoT
6 5 (1.57%) Virtual Team
7 4 (1.25%) Learning Management System
7 4 (1.25%) Legacy Systems
7 4 (1.25%) SCADA
7 4 (1.25%) Team-Oriented Environment
8 3 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (0.94%) Educational Technology
8 3 (0.94%) Mobile App
8 3 (0.94%) NHS
8 3 (0.94%) PKI
8 3 (0.94%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 44 (13.79%) Windows
2 28 (8.78%) Linux
3 14 (4.39%) Unix
4 13 (4.08%) Windows 10
5 9 (2.82%) Android
6 6 (1.88%) Check Point GAiA
6 6 (1.88%) Windows Server
7 5 (1.57%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.94%) Apple iOS
8 3 (0.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.94%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.63%) VMS
10 1 (0.31%) AIX
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon Linux
10 1 (0.31%) Solaris
10 1 (0.31%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.31%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 93 (29.15%) Agile
2 63 (19.75%) DevOps
3 47 (14.73%) ITIL
4 45 (14.11%) CI/CD
4 45 (14.11%) Data Modelling
5 44 (13.79%) Continuous Improvement
6 43 (13.48%) Project Management
7 39 (12.23%) Business Intelligence
8 35 (10.97%) ETL
9 32 (10.03%) Computer Science
10 31 (9.72%) Scrum
10 31 (9.72%) Test Automation
11 30 (9.40%) Analytics
11 30 (9.40%) Customer Service
12 28 (8.78%) Stakeholder Management
13 26 (8.15%) Migration
13 26 (8.15%) Process Improvement
14 22 (6.90%) Data Integration
14 22 (6.90%) Data Pipeline
14 22 (6.90%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 65 (20.38%) SQL
2 39 (12.23%) Python
3 19 (5.96%) JavaScript
4 15 (4.70%) C#
4 15 (4.70%) PowerShell
5 11 (3.45%) Bash
6 9 (2.82%) Java
7 6 (1.88%) TypeScript
8 5 (1.57%) Apex Code
9 4 (1.25%) ABAP
9 4 (1.25%) Go
9 4 (1.25%) PHP
9 4 (1.25%) PL/SQL
9 4 (1.25%) VBA
10 3 (0.94%) Perl
10 3 (0.94%) Ruby
11 2 (0.63%) Groovy
11 2 (0.63%) JSX
11 2 (0.63%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
Qualifications
1 68 (21.32%) Security Cleared
2 56 (17.55%) Degree
3 53 (16.61%) SC Cleared
4 25 (7.84%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (3.13%) DV Cleared
6 9 (2.82%) CISSP
7 8 (2.51%) PMI Certification
7 8 (2.51%) PMP
8 6 (1.88%) CCSE
9 5 (1.57%) BPSS Clearance
9 5 (1.57%) CEH
10 4 (1.25%) Cisco Certification
10 4 (1.25%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 4 (1.25%) MCP
10 4 (1.25%) Microsoft Certification
11 3 (0.94%) CCNA
11 3 (0.94%) CISA
11 3 (0.94%) CISM
11 3 (0.94%) OCP
11 3 (0.94%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (8.15%) Data Quality
1 26 (8.15%) QA
2 15 (4.70%) SLA
3 12 (3.76%) GDPR
4 10 (3.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 7 (2.19%) PMO
6 4 (1.25%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.25%) NIST
6 4 (1.25%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.63%) HIPAA
7 2 (0.63%) ISO 19650
7 2 (0.63%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 1 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 1 (0.31%) NCSC
8 1 (0.31%) PSD2
8 1 (0.31%) WCAG
System Software
1 35 (10.97%) Docker
2 21 (6.58%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.94%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.63%) Oracle RAC
5 1 (0.31%) Firmware
5 1 (0.31%) IAG
5 1 (0.31%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 35 (10.97%) Kubernetes
2 13 (4.08%) Ansible
2 13 (4.08%) Terraform
3 8 (2.51%) Grafana
4 7 (2.19%) SCCM
5 6 (1.88%) FortiGate
5 6 (1.88%) Single Sign-On
6 5 (1.57%) CSIRT
6 5 (1.57%) Kibana
6 5 (1.57%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.94%) Microsoft Intune
7 3 (0.94%) Opsview
7 3 (0.94%) Puppet
8 2 (0.63%) Argo
8 2 (0.63%) Data Guard
8 2 (0.63%) Istio
8 2 (0.63%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
8 2 (0.63%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.31%) Cisco CUCM
9 1 (0.31%) Dell DRAC
Vendors
1 57 (17.87%) Microsoft
2 41 (12.85%) Oracle
3 34 (10.66%) SAP
4 17 (5.33%) Denodo
4 17 (5.33%) Talend
5 15 (4.70%) Splunk
6 14 (4.39%) CyberArk
7 13 (4.08%) Cisco
8 10 (3.13%) ServiceNow
9 8 (2.51%) CheckPoint
9 8 (2.51%) Google
9 8 (2.51%) Salesforce
10 7 (2.19%) BeyondTrust
10 7 (2.19%) Fortinet
11 6 (1.88%) F5
11 6 (1.88%) Workday
12 5 (1.57%) Juniper
13 4 (1.25%) Adobe
13 4 (1.25%) IBM
13 4 (1.25%) Lotus