Problem-Solving Contracts in the West Midlands

Problem Solving
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the West Midlands requiring Problem-Solving skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Problem-Solving over the 6 months leading up to 29 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 2 12 8
Rank change year-on-year +10 -4 +5
Contract jobs citing Problem-Solving 263 197 289
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the West Midlands 18.93% 10.14% 12.94%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 21.35% 12.17% 14.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 170 140 176
10th Percentile £150 £259 £260
25th Percentile £287 £372 £395
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £453 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.56% -5.00% +1.01%
75th Percentile £538 £588 £598
90th Percentile £638 £650 £713
England median daily rate £500 £510 £525
% change year-on-year -1.96% -2.86% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 9 8
10th Percentile £13.78 £14.29 £10.96
25th Percentile £15.13 £15.13 £13.03
Median hourly rate £29.33 £42.00 £18.50
Median % change year-on-year -30.17% +127.09% +10.42%
75th Percentile £44.00 £56.25 £22.56
90th Percentile £54.13 £72.50 £47.36
England median hourly rate £21.39 £16.23 £50.75
% change year-on-year +31.79% -68.02% +111.46%

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 1,232 1,619 1,967
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands 88.70% 83.32% 88.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 801 1,082 1,334
10th Percentile £200 £271 £263
25th Percentile £375 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.40% -4.76% +6.06%
75th Percentile £582 £625 £609
90th Percentile £663 £750 £700
England median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% +1.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 61 117 50
10th Percentile £12.62 £11.10 £12.50
25th Percentile £13.78 £14.13 £13.87
Median hourly rate £19.00 £22.50 £21.69
Median % change year-on-year -15.56% +3.73% +28.92%
75th Percentile £29.33 £40.50 £28.75
90th Percentile £50.00 £58.75 £48.13
England median hourly rate £28.00 £37.18 £37.32
% change year-on-year -24.69% -0.38% +49.28%

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
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the West Midlands

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Problem-Solving in the West Midlands.

Daily rate trend for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

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 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the West Midlands

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Problem-Solving in the West Midlands.

Hourly rate trend for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

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 May 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 29 May 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 +9 96 £436 -8.16% 458
Warwickshire +7 67 £525 -2.33% 170
Shropshire +10 39 £457 +224.00% 506
Coventry +12 17 £375 -28.57% 286
Staffordshire +3 15 £155 -61.25% 402
Worcestershire -1 11 £525 +10.53% 286
Solihull +17 6 £220 -36.23% 18
Herefordshire +17 4 £575 +21.05% 7
Walsall -1 1 £425 +30.77% 7
Halesowen - 1 - - 1
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 10 (3.80%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.90%) Oracle Self-Service HR
2 5 (1.90%) Oracle Workflow
3 4 (1.52%) Confluence
3 4 (1.52%) IBM Notes
3 4 (1.52%) IIS
4 3 (1.14%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (1.14%) WebLogic
5 2 (0.76%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.38%) Apache
Applications
1 15 (5.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (3.80%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.90%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.76%) AutoCAD
4 2 (0.76%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.76%) Revit
5 1 (0.38%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.38%) Trello
Business Applications
1 5 (1.90%) Oracle HRMS
2 3 (1.14%) Oracle EBS R12
2 3 (1.14%) Oracle ERP
2 3 (1.14%) Oracle Receivables
3 2 (0.76%) Magento
3 2 (0.76%) Maximo
3 2 (0.76%) Oracle Assets
3 2 (0.76%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.76%) Oracle General Ledger
3 2 (0.76%) Oracle iProcurement
3 2 (0.76%) Oracle Payables
3 2 (0.76%) SAP HR
3 2 (0.76%) SAP PSCD
3 2 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.38%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.38%) SAP HCM
4 1 (0.38%) SAP Payroll
4 1 (0.38%) SAP PM
4 1 (0.38%) Summit
Cloud Services
1 57 (21.67%) Azure
2 40 (15.21%) Power Platform
3 33 (12.55%) Microsoft 365
4 22 (8.37%) AWS
5 21 (7.98%) Entra ID
5 21 (7.98%) PowerApps
6 9 (3.42%) Dynamics 365
6 9 (3.42%) SuccessFactors
7 8 (3.04%) GCP
8 7 (2.66%) Power Automate
9 6 (2.28%) OneDrive
10 5 (1.90%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (1.52%) Serverless
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Data Factory
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Event Grid
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Functions
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Logic Apps
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Monitor
12 3 (1.14%) Azure Service Bus
12 3 (1.14%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 14 (5.32%) Firewall
2 13 (4.94%) VPN
3 10 (3.80%) Network Security
4 8 (3.04%) BGP
4 8 (3.04%) OSPF
5 7 (2.66%) TCP/IP
5 7 (2.66%) VLAN
6 6 (2.28%) IPsec
6 6 (2.28%) SSL
7 4 (1.52%) Intrusion Detection
8 3 (1.14%) Internet
8 3 (1.14%) SD-WAN
8 3 (1.14%) WAN
8 3 (1.14%) Wireless
9 2 (0.76%) Broadband
9 2 (0.76%) DHCP
9 2 (0.76%) EIGRP
9 2 (0.76%) SAN
9 2 (0.76%) Structured Cabling
9 2 (0.76%) Telepresence
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (6.46%) Power BI
2 15 (5.70%) SQL Server
3 12 (4.56%) Data Warehouse
4 9 (3.42%) NoSQL
5 6 (2.28%) Elasticsearch
5 6 (2.28%) Oracle Database
5 6 (2.28%) Relational Database
5 6 (2.28%) Tableau
6 5 (1.90%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 4 (1.52%) Big Data
7 4 (1.52%) Data Lake
7 4 (1.52%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (1.14%) MySQL
9 2 (0.76%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.76%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.76%) Metadata
9 2 (0.76%) Power Query
9 2 (0.76%) SAP BW
10 1 (0.38%) Amazon Aurora
10 1 (0.38%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
Development Applications
1 16 (6.08%) Git
2 13 (4.94%) JIRA
3 12 (4.56%) Jenkins
4 10 (3.80%) GitLab
5 4 (1.52%) JMeter
6 3 (1.14%) Maven
6 3 (1.14%) Oracle Forms
6 3 (1.14%) Postman
6 3 (1.14%) REST Assured
6 3 (1.14%) Selenium
6 3 (1.14%) TestNG
6 3 (1.14%) Travis CI
7 2 (0.76%) Android Studio
7 2 (0.76%) Gradle
7 2 (0.76%) Xcode
8 1 (0.38%) ClearCase
8 1 (0.38%) ERwin
8 1 (0.38%) LoadRunner
8 1 (0.38%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.38%) Zephyr
General
1 174 (66.16%) Social Skills
2 104 (39.54%) Analytical Skills
3 38 (14.45%) Finance
4 16 (6.08%) Public Sector
5 13 (4.94%) Legal
6 12 (4.56%) Organisational Skills
6 12 (4.56%) Presentation Skills
7 10 (3.80%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (3.04%) Banking
8 8 (3.04%) Telecoms
9 6 (2.28%) Advertising
9 6 (2.28%) Retail
10 5 (1.90%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (1.52%) Automotive
11 4 (1.52%) Manufacturing
12 3 (1.14%) Games
12 3 (1.14%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.76%) Financial Institution
13 2 (0.76%) Law
14 1 (0.38%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 42 (15.97%) Analyst
2 35 (13.31%) Developer
3 23 (8.75%) Architect
4 22 (8.37%) Lead
5 17 (6.46%) Senior
6 16 (6.08%) Support Engineer
7 9 (3.42%) Business Analyst
7 9 (3.42%) Consultant
7 9 (3.42%) Desktop Engineer
7 9 (3.42%) Project Manager
8 8 (3.04%) Data Engineer
8 8 (3.04%) IT Analyst
8 8 (3.04%) Junior
8 8 (3.04%) Technical Leader
9 7 (2.66%) 1st Line Support
9 7 (2.66%) Data Analyst
9 7 (2.66%) Data Architect
9 7 (2.66%) Service Analyst
9 7 (2.66%) Service Desk Analyst
9 7 (2.66%) Support Officer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (4.56%) React
2 11 (4.18%) .NET
2 11 (4.18%) HTML
3 9 (3.42%) RESTful
4 7 (2.66%) CSS
4 7 (2.66%) Web Services
5 6 (2.28%) Middleware
5 6 (2.28%) SailPoint
6 5 (1.90%) REST
7 4 (1.52%) LDAP
7 4 (1.52%) Node.js
8 3 (1.14%) Apache Axis
8 3 (1.14%) React Native
8 3 (1.14%) Redux
9 2 (0.76%) Jest
9 2 (0.76%) Next.js
9 2 (0.76%) RequireJS
9 2 (0.76%) SAP Fiori
9 2 (0.76%) SAPUI5
9 2 (0.76%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 15 (5.70%) Onboarding
2 8 (3.04%) Data Protection Act
2 8 (3.04%) Product Ownership
2 8 (3.04%) Security Posture
2 8 (3.04%) Self-Motivation
3 7 (2.66%) Data Centre
4 6 (2.28%) Driving Licence
4 6 (2.28%) Management Information System
5 4 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
6 3 (1.14%) Distributed Systems
6 3 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
6 3 (1.14%) Fibre Optics
6 3 (1.14%) IoT
6 3 (1.14%) Mobile App
6 3 (1.14%) NHS
7 2 (0.76%) CCTV
7 2 (0.76%) CMDB
7 2 (0.76%) FMCG
7 2 (0.76%) Legacy Systems
7 2 (0.76%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 37 (14.07%) Windows
2 14 (5.32%) Windows 10
3 11 (4.18%) Linux
4 8 (3.04%) Android
5 6 (2.28%) Check Point GAiA
6 5 (1.90%) Windows Server
7 4 (1.52%) Mac OS
7 4 (1.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (1.14%) Unix
8 3 (1.14%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.76%) AIX
9 2 (0.76%) Apple iOS
10 1 (0.38%) Amazon Linux
10 1 (0.38%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 57 (21.67%) Agile
2 33 (12.55%) DevOps
3 30 (11.41%) Data Modelling
3 30 (11.41%) ITIL
4 29 (11.03%) Computer Science
4 29 (11.03%) Project Management
4 29 (11.03%) Stakeholder Management
5 25 (9.51%) Customer Service
6 24 (9.13%) Continuous Improvement
6 24 (9.13%) Process Improvement
7 23 (8.75%) Business Intelligence
7 23 (8.75%) CI/CD
8 17 (6.46%) Data Analysis
8 17 (6.46%) ITSM
8 17 (6.46%) Test Strategy
9 15 (5.70%) Collaborative Working
9 15 (5.70%) Configuration Management
9 15 (5.70%) Migration
9 15 (5.70%) Problem Management
10 14 (5.32%) Privileged Access Management
Programming Languages
1 55 (20.91%) SQL
2 29 (11.03%) Python
3 21 (7.98%) JavaScript
4 16 (6.08%) PowerShell
5 12 (4.56%) C#
6 10 (3.80%) Java
7 7 (2.66%) TypeScript
8 6 (2.28%) Bash
9 5 (1.90%) PHP
9 5 (1.90%) Ruby
10 3 (1.14%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (1.14%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.76%) ABAP
11 2 (0.76%) Go
11 2 (0.76%) JSX
11 2 (0.76%) Scala
11 2 (0.76%) VBA
12 1 (0.38%) Perl
12 1 (0.38%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 47 (17.87%) Degree
2 45 (17.11%) Security Cleared
3 29 (11.03%) SC Cleared
4 17 (6.46%) Computer Science Degree
5 11 (4.18%) CISSP
6 7 (2.66%) CEH
6 7 (2.66%) DV Cleared
7 6 (2.28%) CCSE
7 6 (2.28%) Microsoft Certification
8 5 (1.90%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (1.52%) Azure Certification
9 4 (1.52%) ISTQB
10 3 (1.14%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (1.14%) CISM
10 3 (1.14%) CompTIA Security+
10 3 (1.14%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 3 (1.14%) OCP
10 3 (1.14%) Oracle Certification
10 3 (1.14%) PMI Certification
11 2 (0.76%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (8.75%) QA
2 13 (4.94%) SLA
3 10 (3.80%) Data Quality
4 8 (3.04%) GDPR
5 7 (2.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 4 (1.52%) NIST
7 3 (1.14%) PMO
8 2 (0.76%) PCI DSS
8 2 (0.76%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.38%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.38%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 1 (0.38%) NCSC
9 1 (0.38%) PERC
9 1 (0.38%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 34 (12.93%) Active Directory
2 12 (4.56%) Docker
3 4 (1.52%) Virtual Machines
3 4 (1.52%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.76%) BitLocker
5 1 (0.38%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.38%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 13 (4.94%) Kubernetes
2 9 (3.42%) SCCM
2 9 (3.42%) Terraform
3 7 (2.66%) Ansible
3 7 (2.66%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (2.28%) FortiGate
5 5 (1.90%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (1.14%) Grafana
6 3 (1.14%) Kibana
6 3 (1.14%) Opsview
7 2 (0.76%) Tivoli
7 2 (0.76%) Tivoli Storage Manager
8 1 (0.38%) Rancher
8 1 (0.38%) SELinux
8 1 (0.38%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 56 (21.29%) Microsoft
2 23 (8.75%) SAP
3 20 (7.60%) Oracle
4 19 (7.22%) ServiceNow
5 12 (4.56%) CyberArk
6 11 (4.18%) Cisco
7 6 (2.28%) CheckPoint
7 6 (2.28%) Fortinet
8 5 (1.90%) Adobe
9 4 (1.52%) Lotus
9 4 (1.52%) VMware
10 3 (1.14%) Apple
10 3 (1.14%) BT
10 3 (1.14%) Dell
10 3 (1.14%) Denodo
10 3 (1.14%) Google
10 3 (1.14%) HP
10 3 (1.14%) PagerDuty
10 3 (1.14%) Salesforce
11 2 (0.76%) Nexthink