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

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 3 9
Rank change year-on-year -9 +6 -2
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 386 324 208
As % of all contract jobs in the West Midlands 11.18% 18.36% 10.99%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.17% 20.78% 13.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 259 206 129
10th Percentile £306 £207 £156
25th Percentile £363 £400 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £469 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.05% -1.26% -12.04%
75th Percentile £536 £538 £575
90th Percentile £656 £638 £640
England median daily rate £500 £490 £500
% change year-on-year +2.04% -2.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 10 6
10th Percentile £12.90 £14.20 £15.13
25th Percentile £13.31 £17.59 £15.22
Median hourly rate £25.15 £31.61 £17.99
Median % change year-on-year -20.42% +75.73% -22.18%
75th Percentile £44.80 £43.00 £20.87
90th Percentile £67.84 £53.31 £38.88
England median hourly rate £20.48 £19.00 £16.23
% change year-on-year +7.76% +17.07% -70.37%

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 2,932 1,559 1,542
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 84.91% 88.33% 81.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,807 997 1,013
10th Percentile £313 £250 £250
25th Percentile £410 £400 £380
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £477 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year -4.60% -1.96% +2.00%
75th Percentile £575 £588 £625
90th Percentile £675 £650 £725
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 194 102 51
10th Percentile £13.45 £12.62 £13.18
25th Percentile £17.74 £15.34 £14.85
Median hourly rate £30.27 £24.34 £21.59
Median % change year-on-year +24.36% +12.74% -21.49%
75th Percentile £53.75 £35.45 £36.25
90th Percentile £70.16 £50.00 £55.25
England median hourly rate £43.56 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +73.20% -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 29 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 29 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 29 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
Shropshire -8 109 £450 -11.33% 40
Warwickshire -2 108 £481 -3.80% 70
Birmingham -15 73 £450 - 265
Coventry -12 33 £363 -23.68% 36
Worcestershire +10 12 £425 +152.98% 36
Staffordshire -7 12 £313 -21.88% 55
Solihull -16 7 £402 -31.57% 22
Herefordshire +1 5 - - 16
Wolverhampton - 5 £275 - 15
Dudley - 3 £375 - 7
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 31 (8.03%) Confluence
2 22 (5.70%) SharePoint
3 17 (4.40%) SAS
4 15 (3.89%) Oracle Workflow
5 10 (2.59%) Microsoft Exchange
6 6 (1.55%) Oracle Self-Service HR
7 1 (0.26%) Apache
7 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.26%) Appian
7 1 (0.26%) IIS
7 1 (0.26%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.26%) Skype for Business
7 1 (0.26%) WebLogic
Applications
1 28 (7.25%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (4.66%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (1.55%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (1.30%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (1.04%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.78%) Navisworks
7 3 (0.78%) Revit
8 2 (0.52%) Adobe XD
8 2 (0.52%) CATIA
8 2 (0.52%) Sketch
9 1 (0.26%) Adobe Captivate
9 1 (0.26%) Adobe Illustrator
9 1 (0.26%) Fusion 360
9 1 (0.26%) Photoshop
9 1 (0.26%) Trello
Business Applications
1 15 (3.89%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (2.85%) Dynamics CRM
3 6 (1.55%) Oracle HRMS
4 5 (1.30%) SAP PSCD
5 3 (0.78%) ContrOCC
5 3 (0.78%) Remedy ITSM
5 3 (0.78%) Teamcenter
6 2 (0.52%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.26%) Aladdin
7 1 (0.26%) Maximo
7 1 (0.26%) NEC Housing
7 1 (0.26%) Oracle Receivables
7 1 (0.26%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.26%) SAP CX
7 1 (0.26%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.26%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.26%) SAP PP
7 1 (0.26%) SAP QM
7 1 (0.26%) SAP SD
7 1 (0.26%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 74 (19.17%) Azure
2 42 (10.88%) Microsoft 365
3 38 (9.84%) Power Platform
4 33 (8.55%) AWS
5 29 (7.51%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (5.96%) Entra ID
7 14 (3.63%) Power Automate
8 13 (3.37%) Dynamics 365
9 12 (3.11%) Serverless
10 11 (2.85%) Azure Data Factory
11 10 (2.59%) GitHub
11 10 (2.59%) OneDrive
12 9 (2.33%) Azure Functions
13 8 (2.07%) Microsoft Purview
14 7 (1.81%) Snowflake
15 6 (1.55%) GCP
16 5 (1.30%) Google Analytics
17 4 (1.04%) SuccessFactors
18 3 (0.78%) Azure Storage
18 3 (0.78%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 18 (4.66%) DNS
2 16 (4.15%) DHCP
3 14 (3.63%) VPN
4 13 (3.37%) Firewall
5 11 (2.85%) TCP/IP
6 10 (2.59%) LAN
6 10 (2.59%) WAN
7 8 (2.07%) Network Security
7 8 (2.07%) SD-WAN
8 5 (1.30%) Internet
8 5 (1.30%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (1.04%) Unified Communications
9 4 (1.04%) VoIP
10 3 (0.78%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.78%) SAN
10 3 (0.78%) SSL
10 3 (0.78%) VLAN
11 2 (0.52%) Remote Desktop
11 2 (0.52%) Softphone
11 2 (0.52%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (8.55%) Power BI
2 22 (5.70%) Pentaho
3 21 (5.44%) SQL Server
4 20 (5.18%) Data Warehouse
5 12 (3.11%) Metadata
6 10 (2.59%) PostgreSQL
7 8 (2.07%) Data Lake
8 7 (1.81%) Oracle Reports
9 6 (1.55%) Ingres
9 6 (1.55%) MySQL
9 6 (1.55%) NoSQL
9 6 (1.55%) Oracle Database
9 6 (1.55%) Relational Database
10 4 (1.04%) Big Data
10 4 (1.04%) SAP BW
11 3 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.78%) Power Query
11 3 (0.78%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 3 (0.78%) Tableau
12 2 (0.52%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 53 (13.73%) JIRA
2 20 (5.18%) Git
3 18 (4.66%) Selenium
4 16 (4.15%) Postman
5 15 (3.89%) Jenkins
6 11 (2.85%) Cypress.io
7 10 (2.59%) GitLab
8 9 (2.33%) WebDriver
9 6 (1.55%) Cucumber
10 5 (1.30%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 5 (1.30%) Zephyr
11 4 (1.04%) Bitbucket
11 4 (1.04%) Maven
11 4 (1.04%) REST Assured
12 3 (0.78%) Browser DevTools
12 3 (0.78%) JUnit
12 3 (0.78%) Protractor
12 3 (0.78%) SonarQube
13 2 (0.52%) Gatling
13 2 (0.52%) TestRail
General
1 211 (54.66%) Social Skills
2 158 (40.93%) Analytical Skills
3 68 (17.62%) Public Sector
4 62 (16.06%) Finance
5 22 (5.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 19 (4.92%) Manufacturing
7 18 (4.66%) Local Government
8 13 (3.37%) Influencing Skills
8 13 (3.37%) Legal
8 13 (3.37%) Organisational Skills
9 10 (2.59%) Automotive
10 8 (2.07%) Presentation Skills
11 7 (1.81%) Banking
11 7 (1.81%) Marketing
12 6 (1.55%) Documentation Skills
12 6 (1.55%) Retail
13 5 (1.30%) Billing
13 5 (1.30%) Electronics
14 4 (1.04%) Telecoms
15 2 (0.52%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 59 (15.28%) Analyst
2 43 (11.14%) Lead
3 37 (9.59%) Senior
4 34 (8.81%) Data Engineer
5 29 (7.51%) Consultant
6 25 (6.48%) Developer
7 21 (5.44%) SAP Consultant
8 19 (4.92%) Administrator
8 19 (4.92%) Architect
9 18 (4.66%) Business Analyst
10 16 (4.15%) Test Analyst
11 10 (2.59%) Data Analyst
11 10 (2.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 9 (2.33%) Support Engineer
13 8 (2.07%) 1st Line Support
13 8 (2.07%) Delivery Manager
13 8 (2.07%) Network Engineer
13 8 (2.07%) Project Manager
13 8 (2.07%) Test Engineer
14 7 (1.81%) Technical Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (5.44%) REST
2 15 (3.89%) SOAP
3 13 (3.37%) Terraform
4 10 (2.59%) Oracle Fusion
5 9 (2.33%) Gherkin
6 7 (1.81%) Play Framework
7 6 (1.55%) Middleware
8 5 (1.30%) AngularJS
8 5 (1.30%) IDoc
8 5 (1.30%) JDBC
8 5 (1.30%) RESTful
8 5 (1.30%) SAP PI
8 5 (1.30%) Spring
8 5 (1.30%) Spring Boot
8 5 (1.30%) Web Services
9 4 (1.04%) JSON
9 4 (1.04%) Playwright
9 4 (1.04%) React
9 4 (1.04%) SAP Fiori
9 4 (1.04%) Spring Cloud
Miscellaneous
1 21 (5.44%) Management Information System
2 19 (4.92%) Cloud Native
3 16 (4.15%) Enterprise Software
3 16 (4.15%) Self-Motivation
4 15 (3.89%) Product Ownership
5 11 (2.85%) Legacy Systems
6 9 (2.33%) Data Centre
6 9 (2.33%) Onboarding
7 8 (2.07%) Analytical Mindset
7 8 (2.07%) SCADA
7 8 (2.07%) Virtual Team
8 7 (1.81%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (1.81%) Operational Technology
9 6 (1.55%) Autonomous Agent
10 5 (1.30%) Cyber Threat
10 5 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
11 4 (1.04%) iPhone
11 4 (1.04%) Mobile App
12 3 (0.78%) Life Science
12 3 (0.78%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 47 (12.18%) Windows
2 14 (3.63%) Windows 10
3 13 (3.37%) Mac OS
3 13 (3.37%) Windows Server
4 12 (3.11%) Linux
5 11 (2.85%) Unix
6 3 (0.78%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.52%) CentOS
7 2 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.52%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.26%) Embedded Linux
8 1 (0.26%) HPUX
8 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2003
8 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 134 (34.72%) Agile
2 116 (30.05%) Continuous Improvement
3 78 (20.21%) Stakeholder Management
4 70 (18.13%) DevOps
5 63 (16.32%) CI/CD
6 55 (14.25%) Migration
6 55 (14.25%) Test Automation
7 51 (13.21%) AI
8 50 (12.95%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 49 (12.69%) Business Intelligence
10 47 (12.18%) Analytics
10 47 (12.18%) ETL
11 46 (11.92%) Decision-Making
12 45 (11.66%) Data Modelling
12 45 (11.66%) Scrum
13 38 (9.84%) Generative AI
13 38 (9.84%) ITIL
14 37 (9.59%) Validation
15 36 (9.33%) User Acceptance Testing
16 35 (9.07%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 69 (17.88%) SQL
2 33 (8.55%) Python
3 22 (5.70%) Java
4 17 (4.40%) JavaScript
5 16 (4.15%) PowerShell
6 11 (2.85%) C
7 10 (2.59%) Bash
7 10 (2.59%) C#
8 9 (2.33%) PL/SQL
9 8 (2.07%) ProC
10 7 (1.81%) Scala
11 6 (1.55%) ABAP
12 5 (1.30%) TypeScript
13 4 (1.04%) Bicep
13 4 (1.04%) C++
13 4 (1.04%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 4 (1.04%) MATLAB
14 1 (0.26%) T-SQL
14 1 (0.26%) VBA
14 1 (0.26%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 119 (30.83%) Security Cleared
2 98 (25.39%) SC Cleared
3 43 (11.14%) Degree
4 22 (5.70%) BPSS Clearance
4 22 (5.70%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (2.85%) Azure Certification
6 10 (2.59%) Computer Science Degree
7 9 (2.33%) Cisco Certification
7 9 (2.33%) ISTQB
8 8 (2.07%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 7 (1.81%) CCNA
9 7 (1.81%) DV Cleared
10 6 (1.55%) MCSE
10 6 (1.55%) OCP
10 6 (1.55%) Oracle Certification
11 5 (1.30%) A+ Certification
11 5 (1.30%) AWS Certification
11 5 (1.30%) CISSP
11 5 (1.30%) Network+ Certification
12 4 (1.04%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (11.66%) Data Quality
2 40 (10.36%) QA
3 18 (4.66%) Accessibility
4 16 (4.15%) GDPR
5 13 (3.37%) SLA
6 10 (2.59%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 10 (2.59%) WCAG
7 4 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials
7 4 (1.04%) NIST
7 4 (1.04%) PMO
8 3 (0.78%) GRC
8 3 (0.78%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.52%) ISO 19650
9 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 12207
9 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 2 (0.52%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.26%) HL7
10 1 (0.26%) ISO 14001
10 1 (0.26%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 25 (6.48%) Active Directory
2 23 (5.96%) Docker
3 14 (3.63%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (2.59%) vSphere
5 9 (2.33%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (2.07%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.52%) FreeRADIUS
7 2 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.26%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.26%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.26%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 20 (5.18%) Kubernetes
2 19 (4.92%) SCCM
3 15 (3.89%) Microsoft Intune
4 10 (2.59%) Ansible
5 8 (2.07%) Grafana
6 6 (1.55%) Prometheus
7 5 (1.30%) Jamf Pro
8 4 (1.04%) Podman
8 4 (1.04%) PowerCLI
8 4 (1.04%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (1.04%) vMotion
9 2 (0.52%) Argo
9 2 (0.52%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.26%) AirWatch
10 1 (0.26%) HP ALM
10 1 (0.26%) QRadar
10 1 (0.26%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 90 (23.32%) Microsoft
2 48 (12.44%) Oracle
3 34 (8.81%) SAP
4 23 (5.96%) ServiceNow
5 21 (5.44%) VMware
6 17 (4.40%) Cisco
6 17 (4.40%) Denodo
6 17 (4.40%) Talend
7 12 (3.11%) Atlassian
8 9 (2.33%) Google
8 9 (2.33%) Splunk
9 8 (2.07%) Databricks
10 7 (1.81%) Apple
10 7 (1.81%) Qualys
11 5 (1.30%) Informatica
11 5 (1.30%) webMethods
12 4 (1.04%) Adobe
12 4 (1.04%) Citrix
12 4 (1.04%) Red Hat
12 4 (1.04%) Siemens