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 contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

 6 months to
26 Aug 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 3 8
Rank change year-on-year -9 +5 0
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 377 318 206
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 10.97% 18.43% 10.81%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.94% 20.87% 13.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 255 199 129
10th Percentile £306 £205 £156
25th Percentile £363 £400 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £463 £470
Median % change year-on-year -2.70% -1.60% -12.96%
75th Percentile £525 £538 £575
90th Percentile £636 £634 £640
England median daily rate £500 £493 £500
% change year-on-year +1.52% -1.50% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 9 7
10th Percentile £12.90 £14.86 £15.13
25th Percentile £13.31 £25.00 £15.32
Median hourly rate £25.15 £33.88 £18.97
Median % change year-on-year -25.77% +78.60% -17.91%
75th Percentile £44.80 £44.00 £38.88
90th Percentile £67.84 £54.13 £56.25
England median hourly rate £20.52 £19.13 £16.23
% change year-on-year +7.29% +17.84% -70.49%

All Process & 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 2,914 1,524 1,550
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 84.76% 88.35% 81.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,800 973 1,031
10th Percentile £313 £235 £250
25th Percentile £408 £387 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £492 £505
Median % change year-on-year -3.46% -2.57% +1.00%
75th Percentile £575 £584 £625
90th Percentile £670 £650 £738
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 191 104 55
10th Percentile £13.45 £12.62 £13.07
25th Percentile £17.74 £15.02 £14.85
Median hourly rate £30.27 £24.34 £21.00
Median % change year-on-year +24.36% +15.90% -23.64%
75th Percentile £53.75 £35.14 £36.25
90th Percentile £70.23 £50.00 £54.00
England median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.79% -41.51% +1.18%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend 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 26 August 2026.

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 26 August 2026.

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 26 August 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
Contract
IT Job Ads		 Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months		 Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year		 Live
Jobs
Warwickshire -2 107 £477 -4.60% 42
Shropshire -10 106 £450 -11.33% 36
Birmingham -14 71 £450 - 117
Coventry -10 33 £363 -12.12% 21
Worcestershire +6 11 £425 +24.45% 25
Staffordshire -9 11 £313 -30.56% 46
Solihull -15 7 £402 -31.57% 16
Wolverhampton - 6 £275 - 12
Herefordshire 0 4 - - 13
Dudley - 3 £375 - 6
Wednesbury - 1 - -
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands 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 33 (8.75%) Confluence
2 22 (5.84%) SharePoint
3 17 (4.51%) SAS
4 15 (3.98%) Oracle Workflow
5 9 (2.39%) Microsoft Exchange
6 6 (1.59%) Oracle Self-Service HR
7 1 (0.27%) Apache
7 1 (0.27%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.27%) Appian
7 1 (0.27%) IIS
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.27%) WebLogic
Applications
1 29 (7.69%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (5.04%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.86%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (1.59%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (1.33%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (1.06%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.80%) Navisworks
7 3 (0.80%) Revit
8 2 (0.53%) Adobe XD
8 2 (0.53%) CATIA
8 2 (0.53%) Sketch
9 1 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
9 1 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.27%) Fusion 360
9 1 (0.27%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.27%) Trello
Business Applications
1 14 (3.71%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (2.92%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (1.59%) Oracle HRMS
4 5 (1.33%) SAP PSCD
5 3 (0.80%) ContrOCC
5 3 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.80%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.27%) Aladdin
6 1 (0.27%) Maximo
6 1 (0.27%) NEC Housing
6 1 (0.27%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.27%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.27%) SAP CX
6 1 (0.27%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.27%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.27%) SAP PP
6 1 (0.27%) SAP QM
6 1 (0.27%) SAP SD
6 1 (0.27%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 75 (19.89%) Azure
2 40 (10.61%) Microsoft 365
3 38 (10.08%) Power Platform
4 34 (9.02%) AWS
5 29 (7.69%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (6.10%) Entra ID
7 14 (3.71%) Power Automate
8 13 (3.45%) Dynamics 365
9 12 (3.18%) Serverless
10 11 (2.92%) Azure Data Factory
10 11 (2.92%) GitHub
11 10 (2.65%) OneDrive
12 9 (2.39%) Azure Functions
13 8 (2.12%) Microsoft Purview
14 7 (1.86%) GCP
14 7 (1.86%) Snowflake
15 5 (1.33%) Google Analytics
16 4 (1.06%) SuccessFactors
17 3 (0.80%) Azure Storage
17 3 (0.80%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 17 (4.51%) DNS
2 15 (3.98%) DHCP
3 14 (3.71%) VPN
4 12 (3.18%) Firewall
5 10 (2.65%) LAN
5 10 (2.65%) TCP/IP
5 10 (2.65%) WAN
6 8 (2.12%) Network Security
6 8 (2.12%) SD-WAN
7 5 (1.33%) Internet
7 5 (1.33%) Wi-Fi
8 4 (1.06%) Unified Communications
8 4 (1.06%) VoIP
9 3 (0.80%) Intrusion Detection
9 3 (0.80%) SSL
9 3 (0.80%) VLAN
10 2 (0.53%) PBX
10 2 (0.53%) SAN
10 2 (0.53%) Softphone
10 2 (0.53%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (8.75%) Power BI
2 21 (5.57%) Pentaho
3 20 (5.31%) Data Warehouse
3 20 (5.31%) SQL Server
4 12 (3.18%) Metadata
5 11 (2.92%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (2.12%) Data Lake
7 7 (1.86%) Oracle Reports
8 6 (1.59%) Ingres
8 6 (1.59%) MySQL
8 6 (1.59%) NoSQL
8 6 (1.59%) Relational Database
9 5 (1.33%) Oracle Database
10 4 (1.06%) Big Data
10 4 (1.06%) SAP BW
11 3 (0.80%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.80%) Power Query
11 3 (0.80%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 3 (0.80%) Tableau
12 2 (0.53%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 56 (14.85%) JIRA
2 21 (5.57%) Git
3 19 (5.04%) Selenium
4 16 (4.24%) Jenkins
4 16 (4.24%) Postman
5 11 (2.92%) Cypress.io
6 10 (2.65%) WebDriver
7 9 (2.39%) GitLab
8 7 (1.86%) Cucumber
9 6 (1.59%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 5 (1.33%) Bitbucket
10 5 (1.33%) Zephyr
11 4 (1.06%) JUnit
11 4 (1.06%) Maven
11 4 (1.06%) REST Assured
12 3 (0.80%) Browser DevTools
12 3 (0.80%) Protractor
12 3 (0.80%) SonarQube
13 2 (0.53%) Gatling
13 2 (0.53%) Mockito
General
1 203 (53.85%) Social Skills
2 151 (40.05%) Analytical Skills
3 60 (15.92%) Public Sector
4 58 (15.38%) Finance
5 22 (5.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 18 (4.77%) Local Government
7 17 (4.51%) Manufacturing
8 13 (3.45%) Influencing Skills
8 13 (3.45%) Organisational Skills
9 12 (3.18%) Legal
10 10 (2.65%) Automotive
11 9 (2.39%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (1.86%) Banking
12 7 (1.86%) Marketing
13 6 (1.59%) Documentation Skills
13 6 (1.59%) Retail
14 5 (1.33%) Billing
14 5 (1.33%) Electronics
15 4 (1.06%) Telecoms
16 2 (0.53%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 59 (15.65%) Analyst
2 44 (11.67%) Lead
3 36 (9.55%) Senior
4 33 (8.75%) Data Engineer
5 27 (7.16%) Consultant
6 21 (5.57%) Developer
7 19 (5.04%) Administrator
7 19 (5.04%) Architect
7 19 (5.04%) SAP Consultant
8 18 (4.77%) Business Analyst
9 16 (4.24%) Test Analyst
10 10 (2.65%) Data Analyst
11 9 (2.39%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 8 (2.12%) 1st Line Support
12 8 (2.12%) Delivery Manager
12 8 (2.12%) Network Engineer
12 8 (2.12%) Project Manager
12 8 (2.12%) Support Engineer
12 8 (2.12%) Test Engineer
13 7 (1.86%) Technical Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 16 (4.24%) REST
2 13 (3.45%) Terraform
3 10 (2.65%) Oracle Fusion
3 10 (2.65%) SOAP
4 9 (2.39%) Gherkin
5 7 (1.86%) Play Framework
6 6 (1.59%) Middleware
6 6 (1.59%) Spring
7 5 (1.33%) AngularJS
7 5 (1.33%) IDoc
7 5 (1.33%) JDBC
7 5 (1.33%) RESTful
7 5 (1.33%) SAP PI
7 5 (1.33%) Spring Boot
8 4 (1.06%) Playwright
8 4 (1.06%) React
8 4 (1.06%) SAML
8 4 (1.06%) Spring Cloud
8 4 (1.06%) Web Services
8 4 (1.06%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (5.04%) Cloud Native
1 19 (5.04%) Management Information System
2 16 (4.24%) Enterprise Software
3 15 (3.98%) Product Ownership
3 15 (3.98%) Self-Motivation
4 11 (2.92%) Legacy Systems
5 9 (2.39%) Data Centre
5 9 (2.39%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.12%) Analytical Mindset
6 8 (2.12%) SCADA
6 8 (2.12%) Virtual Team
7 7 (1.86%) Data Protection Act
7 7 (1.86%) Operational Technology
8 6 (1.59%) Autonomous Agent
9 5 (1.33%) Cyber Threat
9 5 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
10 4 (1.06%) Distributed Systems
10 4 (1.06%) iPhone
10 4 (1.06%) Mobile App
11 3 (0.80%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 46 (12.20%) Windows
2 14 (3.71%) Windows 10
3 13 (3.45%) Mac OS
4 12 (3.18%) Windows Server
5 11 (2.92%) Linux
5 11 (2.92%) Unix
6 3 (0.80%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.53%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.27%) CentOS
8 1 (0.27%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.27%) HPUX
8 1 (0.27%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (34.48%) Agile
2 115 (30.50%) Continuous Improvement
3 76 (20.16%) Stakeholder Management
4 71 (18.83%) DevOps
5 64 (16.98%) CI/CD
6 55 (14.59%) Migration
6 55 (14.59%) Test Automation
7 50 (13.26%) AI
8 49 (13.00%) Business Intelligence
9 47 (12.47%) Analytics
9 47 (12.47%) ETL
10 46 (12.20%) Scrum
11 45 (11.94%) Data Modelling
11 45 (11.94%) Decision-Making
11 45 (11.94%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 39 (10.34%) ITIL
13 37 (9.81%) Validation
14 34 (9.02%) Technical Leadership
15 33 (8.75%) Generative AI
16 31 (8.22%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 68 (18.04%) SQL
2 33 (8.75%) Python
3 22 (5.84%) Java
4 15 (3.98%) PowerShell
5 12 (3.18%) JavaScript
6 11 (2.92%) C
7 10 (2.65%) Bash
7 10 (2.65%) C#
8 9 (2.39%) PL/SQL
9 8 (2.12%) ProC
10 7 (1.86%) Scala
11 5 (1.33%) ABAP
11 5 (1.33%) TypeScript
12 4 (1.06%) Bicep
12 4 (1.06%) C++
12 4 (1.06%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 4 (1.06%) MATLAB
13 1 (0.27%) T-SQL
13 1 (0.27%) VB
13 1 (0.27%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 114 (30.24%) Security Cleared
2 94 (24.93%) SC Cleared
3 42 (11.14%) Degree
4 23 (6.10%) BPSS Clearance
5 22 (5.84%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (2.92%) Azure Certification
7 10 (2.65%) Computer Science Degree
8 9 (2.39%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (2.39%) ISTQB
9 8 (2.12%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 7 (1.86%) CCNA
11 6 (1.59%) DV Cleared
11 6 (1.59%) MCSE
11 6 (1.59%) OCP
11 6 (1.59%) Oracle Certification
12 5 (1.33%) A+ Certification
12 5 (1.33%) AWS Certification
12 5 (1.33%) CISSP
12 5 (1.33%) Network+ Certification
13 4 (1.06%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (11.94%) Data Quality
2 39 (10.34%) QA
3 18 (4.77%) Accessibility
4 15 (3.98%) GDPR
5 14 (3.71%) SLA
6 10 (2.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 10 (2.65%) WCAG
7 5 (1.33%) PMO
8 4 (1.06%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.80%) GRC
9 3 (0.80%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.80%) NIST
10 2 (0.53%) ISO 19650
10 2 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 12207
10 2 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 1 (0.27%) HL7
11 1 (0.27%) ISO 14001
11 1 (0.27%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 1 (0.27%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 24 (6.37%) Active Directory
1 24 (6.37%) Docker
2 13 (3.45%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (2.65%) vSphere
4 9 (2.39%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (1.86%) Hyper-V
6 2 (0.53%) FreeRADIUS
6 2 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.27%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
7 1 (0.27%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.27%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 21 (5.57%) Kubernetes
2 19 (5.04%) SCCM
3 15 (3.98%) Microsoft Intune
4 10 (2.65%) Ansible
5 9 (2.39%) Grafana
6 7 (1.86%) Prometheus
7 5 (1.33%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (1.06%) Podman
8 4 (1.06%) PowerCLI
8 4 (1.06%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (1.06%) vMotion
9 2 (0.53%) Argo
9 2 (0.53%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.27%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.27%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.27%) QRadar
10 1 (0.27%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 88 (23.34%) Microsoft
2 47 (12.47%) Oracle
3 32 (8.49%) SAP
4 20 (5.31%) VMware
5 18 (4.77%) ServiceNow
6 17 (4.51%) Cisco
6 17 (4.51%) Denodo
7 16 (4.24%) Talend
8 14 (3.71%) Atlassian
9 9 (2.39%) Google
9 9 (2.39%) Splunk
10 8 (2.12%) Databricks
11 7 (1.86%) Apple
11 7 (1.86%) Qualys
12 5 (1.33%) webMethods
13 4 (1.06%) Adobe
13 4 (1.06%) Citrix
13 4 (1.06%) Informatica
13 4 (1.06%) Red Hat
13 4 (1.06%) Siemens
352 Problem-Solving jobs in the West Midlands