Problem-Solving Job Trends in the Midlands

Problem Solving
England > Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the Midlands requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 1 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 3 6
Rank change year-on-year -21 +3 +2
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 918 1,181 1,784
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 6.92% 23.54% 13.94%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.55% 26.29% 17.47%
Number of salaries quoted 697 618 1,197
10th Percentile £26,500 £25,675 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,625 £30,875 £28,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +12.50% -15.79%
75th Percentile £56,250 £59,875 £57,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £68,750 £69,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -9.09%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Midlands

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 Midlands.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 9,610 4,493 10,213
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 72.46% 89.56% 79.80%
Number of salaries quoted 5,880 2,463 7,430
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,000 £49,887 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +2.23% +5.02% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,500 £63,750 £62,200
90th Percentile £82,500 £75,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £58,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +2.56% +6.36% -12.00%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the Midlands

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

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the Midlands

Problem-Solving
Salary Trend in the Midlands

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Midlands citing Problem-Solving.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Midlands citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Salary Histogram in the Midlands

Salary distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the Midlands over the 6 months to 1 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Problem-Solving in the Midlands

Problem-Solving
Job Locations in the Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the Midlands region over the 6 months to 1 June 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
West Midlands -24 534 £42,500 -10.53% 225
East Midlands -10 380 £35,000 -9.09% 139
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the 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 56 (6.10%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.20%) CMS
4 5 (0.54%) IIS
4 5 (0.54%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 5 (0.54%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.33%) WordPress
7 2 (0.22%) Confluence
8 1 (0.11%) Appian
8 1 (0.11%) Drupal
8 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 71 (7.73%) Microsoft Office
2 57 (6.21%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.85%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (0.87%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.54%) Fusion 360
5 5 (0.54%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.44%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.11%) Abaqus
7 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.11%) Sketch
7 1 (0.11%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 12 (1.31%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (0.87%) IBM Planning Analytics
2 8 (0.87%) iTrent
2 8 (0.87%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.76%) SAP Business One
4 5 (0.54%) Magento
4 5 (0.54%) Q-Pulse
4 5 (0.54%) Shopify
5 4 (0.44%) Line 50
5 4 (0.44%) Sage 50
5 4 (0.44%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.33%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.33%) SAP Business ByDesign
7 2 (0.22%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.22%) SAP MM
8 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
8 1 (0.11%) Sage 200
8 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
8 1 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 198 (21.57%) Microsoft 365
2 162 (17.65%) Azure
3 81 (8.82%) Power Platform
4 80 (8.71%) AWS
5 63 (6.86%) Entra ID
6 29 (3.16%) Serverless
7 28 (3.05%) SaaS
8 23 (2.51%) Amazon S3
9 22 (2.40%) AWS Lambda
10 20 (2.18%) Dynamics 365
11 17 (1.85%) Power Automate
12 14 (1.53%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.42%) Google Workspace
13 13 (1.42%) OneDrive
14 12 (1.31%) GCP
14 12 (1.31%) Microsoft Copilot
15 8 (0.87%) Azure Data Factory
16 7 (0.76%) Amazon Cognito
16 7 (0.76%) Azure DevOps
16 7 (0.76%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 56 (6.10%) DNS
2 49 (5.34%) DHCP
3 48 (5.23%) Firewall
3 48 (5.23%) VPN
4 38 (4.14%) WAN
5 27 (2.94%) Wireless
6 25 (2.72%) LAN
6 25 (2.72%) TCP/IP
7 21 (2.29%) Wi-Fi
8 20 (2.18%) VLAN
9 19 (2.07%) Internet
10 16 (1.74%) SD-WAN
11 14 (1.53%) VoIP
12 11 (1.20%) Network Security
13 8 (0.87%) MQTT
14 5 (0.54%) Bluetooth
14 5 (0.54%) Skype
15 4 (0.44%) LoRaWAN
16 3 (0.33%) Remote Desktop
16 3 (0.33%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (7.73%) Power BI
2 30 (3.27%) SQL Server
3 19 (2.07%) Tableau
4 18 (1.96%) Power Query
5 16 (1.74%) MySQL
6 14 (1.53%) Amazon Redshift
7 13 (1.42%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 11 (1.20%) Oracle Reports
9 7 (0.76%) Data Warehouse
9 7 (0.76%) DynamoDB
9 7 (0.76%) Star Schema
10 6 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.54%) MongoDB
11 5 (0.54%) NoSQL
11 5 (0.54%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 4 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
12 4 (0.44%) Data Mining
12 4 (0.44%) FileMaker
12 4 (0.44%) Neo4j
12 4 (0.44%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 19 (2.07%) Git
2 15 (1.63%) JIRA
3 8 (0.87%) JUnit
4 7 (0.76%) Maven
4 7 (0.76%) Mockito
4 7 (0.76%) Subversion
5 5 (0.54%) Burp Suite
5 5 (0.54%) Metasploit
5 5 (0.54%) VersionOne
6 3 (0.33%) Jenkins
7 2 (0.22%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.22%) TeamCity
7 2 (0.22%) Visual Studio
7 2 (0.22%) XCUITest
8 1 (0.11%) Appium
8 1 (0.11%) GitLab
8 1 (0.11%) MLflow
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Forms
8 1 (0.11%) Postman
8 1 (0.11%) TestRail
General
1 409 (44.55%) Social Skills
2 281 (30.61%) Analytical Skills
3 159 (17.32%) Finance
4 108 (11.76%) Manufacturing
5 59 (6.43%) Organisational Skills
6 52 (5.66%) Retail
7 45 (4.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 38 (4.14%) Law
9 37 (4.03%) Marketing
10 35 (3.81%) Legal
11 29 (3.16%) Public Sector
12 25 (2.72%) Electronics
13 21 (2.29%) Influencing Skills
14 20 (2.18%) Documentation Skills
15 17 (1.85%) Automotive
16 13 (1.42%) Banking
17 12 (1.31%) Telecoms
18 11 (1.20%) Investment Banking
19 9 (0.98%) Advertising
19 9 (0.98%) Games
Job Titles
1 146 (15.90%) Analyst
2 138 (15.03%) Support Engineer
3 117 (12.75%) IT Support
4 88 (9.59%) IT Engineer
5 87 (9.48%) Senior
6 78 (8.50%) Developer
7 69 (7.52%) IT Support Engineer
8 64 (6.97%) Technical Support
9 58 (6.32%) Technical Engineer
9 58 (6.32%) Technical Support Engineer
10 52 (5.66%) Support Technician
11 47 (5.12%) Lead
12 39 (4.25%) Support Analyst
13 34 (3.70%) IT Technician
14 32 (3.49%) Consultant
15 31 (3.38%) IT Support Technician
16 29 (3.16%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 29 (3.16%) Senior Analyst
17 28 (3.05%) IT Manager
18 26 (2.83%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (4.68%) React
2 28 (3.05%) Node.js
2 28 (3.05%) REST
3 24 (2.61%) CSS
3 24 (2.61%) HTML
4 18 (1.96%) .NET
5 13 (1.42%) Spring
6 11 (1.20%) AngularJS
7 10 (1.09%) RESTful
7 10 (1.09%) Spring Boot
8 6 (0.65%) EDI
9 5 (0.54%) Middleware
10 4 (0.44%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.44%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.44%) ASP.NET Core
10 4 (0.44%) JSON
10 4 (0.44%) Laravel
11 3 (0.33%) Playwright
11 3 (0.33%) SOAP
12 2 (0.22%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 95 (10.35%) Driving Licence
2 46 (5.01%) Onboarding
3 45 (4.90%) Management Information System
4 39 (4.25%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (1.96%) Social Media
6 17 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
7 13 (1.42%) Enterprise Software
8 12 (1.31%) Legacy Systems
9 11 (1.20%) IoT
9 11 (1.20%) Security Posture
10 10 (1.09%) FMCG
10 10 (1.09%) Virtual Team
11 9 (0.98%) Data Centre
12 8 (0.87%) Greenfield Project
12 8 (0.87%) Hybrid Cloud
12 8 (0.87%) iSeries
12 8 (0.87%) Product Ownership
12 8 (0.87%) Replication
13 7 (0.76%) AS400
13 7 (0.76%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 152 (16.56%) Windows
2 58 (6.32%) Windows Server
3 49 (5.34%) Linux
4 45 (4.90%) Windows 10
5 9 (0.98%) Apple iOS
5 9 (0.98%) Ubuntu
6 7 (0.76%) Android
7 6 (0.65%) Debian
8 5 (0.54%) CentOS
8 5 (0.54%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.44%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.44%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.44%) Unix
9 4 (0.44%) VMS
10 3 (0.33%) SUSE
11 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2012
11 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2019
12 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 210 (22.88%) Continuous Improvement
2 155 (16.88%) Customer Service
3 124 (13.51%) Agile
4 113 (12.31%) Decision-Making
5 94 (10.24%) Analytics
6 93 (10.13%) Mentoring
7 91 (9.91%) Collaborative Working
8 88 (9.59%) ITIL
9 78 (8.50%) ERP
10 75 (8.17%) Service Delivery
11 72 (7.84%) Business Intelligence
12 71 (7.73%) Cybersecurity
13 67 (7.30%) AI
13 67 (7.30%) Process Improvement
14 60 (6.54%) Roadmaps
15 56 (6.10%) Computer Science
16 54 (5.88%) CRM
16 54 (5.88%) Project Management
17 52 (5.66%) Root Cause Analysis
18 50 (5.45%) Coaching
Programming Languages
1 138 (15.03%) SQL
2 72 (7.84%) Python
3 36 (3.92%) PowerShell
4 33 (3.59%) Java
5 31 (3.38%) JavaScript
6 22 (2.40%) C#
7 21 (2.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 18 (1.96%) TypeScript
9 14 (1.53%) Bash
9 14 (1.53%) Ladder Logic
10 13 (1.42%) PHP
11 11 (1.20%) C
12 10 (1.09%) VBA
13 9 (0.98%) C++
14 8 (0.87%) PL/SQL
14 8 (0.87%) R
14 8 (0.87%) T-SQL
15 7 (0.76%) RPG
16 6 (0.65%) Go
17 4 (0.44%) Embedded C
Qualifications
1 133 (14.49%) Degree
2 64 (6.97%) Security Cleared
3 49 (5.34%) SC Cleared
4 34 (3.70%) Microsoft Certification
5 31 (3.38%) DBS Check
6 24 (2.61%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (1.74%) CISSP
8 15 (1.63%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (1.63%) CompTIA Security+
9 11 (1.20%) A+ Certification
9 11 (1.20%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.20%) CCNA
9 11 (1.20%) PMI Certification
10 10 (1.09%) ACCA
10 10 (1.09%) CIMA
11 9 (0.98%) PMP
12 7 (0.76%) Azure Certification
12 7 (0.76%) CISA
12 7 (0.76%) MCSE
12 7 (0.76%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (4.47%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.25%) QA
3 31 (3.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 27 (2.94%) GDPR
5 24 (2.61%) Cyber Essentials
6 21 (2.29%) NIST
6 21 (2.29%) SLA
7 13 (1.42%) Accessibility
8 11 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 9 (0.98%) Actionable Recommendations
9 9 (0.98%) ISO 14001
9 9 (0.98%) ISO 9001
10 6 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 6 (0.65%) PCI DSS
11 5 (0.54%) COSHH
11 5 (0.54%) GMP
11 5 (0.54%) HIPAA
12 4 (0.44%) GRC
12 4 (0.44%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.33%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 112 (12.20%) Active Directory
2 27 (2.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 24 (2.61%) Docker
4 21 (2.29%) Hyper-V
5 10 (1.09%) vSphere
6 8 (0.87%) Firmware
7 4 (0.44%) Embedded Firmware
8 3 (0.33%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.22%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.11%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.11%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 37 (4.03%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (2.40%) Kubernetes
3 14 (1.53%) Terraform
4 7 (0.76%) Ansible
5 5 (0.54%) Nagios
5 5 (0.54%) Nmap
6 4 (0.44%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.44%) Galera Cluster
6 4 (0.44%) Grafana
6 4 (0.44%) vCenter Server
7 3 (0.33%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.33%) SCCM
7 3 (0.33%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.22%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.22%) Puppet
9 1 (0.11%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.11%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 243 (26.47%) Microsoft
2 35 (3.81%) VMware
3 33 (3.59%) SAP
4 32 (3.49%) Cisco
5 27 (2.94%) Oracle
6 17 (1.85%) Sage
7 16 (1.74%) Google
8 15 (1.63%) IBM
9 13 (1.42%) Salesforce
10 12 (1.31%) Dell
11 11 (1.20%) Cognos
11 11 (1.20%) ServiceNow
11 11 (1.20%) SolarWinds
11 11 (1.20%) Workday
12 9 (0.98%) Databricks
12 9 (0.98%) Meraki
13 8 (0.87%) HP
14 6 (0.65%) Apple
14 6 (0.65%) Avaya
14 6 (0.65%) McAfee