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 10 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -21 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 877 1,071 1,781
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 6.77% 20.95% 15.21%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.34% 23.36% 18.61%
Number of salaries quoted 682 636 1,217
10th Percentile £26,252 £25,625 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,153 £31,250 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £42,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +7.14% -12.50%
75th Percentile £55,250 £61,250 £57,500
90th Percentile £66,250 £72,500 £69,400
England median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% +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 9,388 4,584 9,568
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 72.50% 89.69% 81.74%
Number of salaries quoted 5,666 2,619 7,163
10th Percentile £29,250 £27,500 £26,250
25th Percentile £38,750 £35,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,250 £63,750 £62,200
90th Percentile £81,250 £76,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -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 10 May 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 10 May 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 -24 523 £42,500 -11.46% 244
East Midlands -10 351 £35,000 -12.50% 160
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 61 (6.96%) SharePoint
2 43 (4.90%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.14%) CMS
4 5 (0.57%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.46%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.34%) WordPress
7 2 (0.23%) Confluence
7 2 (0.23%) IIS
8 1 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.11%) Appian
8 1 (0.11%) Drupal
8 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 64 (7.30%) Microsoft Office
2 51 (5.82%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.94%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (0.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (0.91%) Microsoft Project
5 6 (0.68%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.57%) Fusion 360
7 1 (0.11%) Abaqus
7 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.11%) Sketch
7 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 15 (1.71%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.14%) iTrent
3 7 (0.80%) SAP Business One
4 6 (0.68%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (0.57%) Magento
5 5 (0.57%) Q-Pulse
5 5 (0.57%) Shopify
6 4 (0.46%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 4 (0.46%) Line 50
6 4 (0.46%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.34%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 2 (0.23%) Sage 50
8 2 (0.23%) Sage X3
8 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
9 1 (0.11%) Exchequer
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle EBS
9 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP FI
9 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 209 (23.83%) Microsoft 365
2 167 (19.04%) Azure
3 79 (9.01%) Power Platform
4 78 (8.89%) AWS
5 64 (7.30%) Entra ID
6 32 (3.65%) Serverless
7 27 (3.08%) SaaS
8 22 (2.51%) Amazon S3
8 22 (2.51%) AWS Lambda
9 19 (2.17%) Dynamics 365
10 17 (1.94%) Power Automate
11 15 (1.71%) OneDrive
12 14 (1.60%) GCP
13 13 (1.48%) Google Workspace
13 13 (1.48%) PowerApps
14 9 (1.03%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (1.03%) Microsoft Copilot
15 8 (0.91%) Azure DevOps
15 8 (0.91%) Azure Sentinel
16 6 (0.68%) Amazon Cognito
Communications & Networking
1 56 (6.39%) DNS
2 49 (5.59%) DHCP
3 46 (5.25%) VPN
4 43 (4.90%) WAN
5 38 (4.33%) Firewall
6 28 (3.19%) LAN
7 24 (2.74%) Wireless
8 22 (2.51%) Wi-Fi
9 21 (2.39%) Internet
10 18 (2.05%) TCP/IP
11 17 (1.94%) SD-WAN
12 14 (1.60%) VoIP
13 11 (1.25%) VLAN
14 10 (1.14%) Network Security
15 6 (0.68%) MQTT
16 5 (0.57%) Bluetooth
16 5 (0.57%) Skype
16 5 (0.57%) WLAN
17 3 (0.34%) Broadband
17 3 (0.34%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 70 (7.98%) Power BI
2 35 (3.99%) SQL Server
3 17 (1.94%) Power Query
3 17 (1.94%) Tableau
4 14 (1.60%) Amazon Redshift
4 14 (1.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 13 (1.48%) MySQL
6 11 (1.25%) Oracle Reports
7 7 (0.80%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (0.80%) Star Schema
8 6 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
8 6 (0.68%) DynamoDB
8 6 (0.68%) NoSQL
8 6 (0.68%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 5 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
10 4 (0.46%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.46%) FileMaker
10 4 (0.46%) MongoDB
11 3 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.34%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 21 (2.39%) JIRA
2 20 (2.28%) Git
3 6 (0.68%) Subversion
4 5 (0.57%) JUnit
4 5 (0.57%) Maven
4 5 (0.57%) Mockito
4 5 (0.57%) VersionOne
5 4 (0.46%) Burp Suite
5 4 (0.46%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.46%) Metasploit
6 3 (0.34%) GitLab
7 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.23%) TeamCity
7 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio
7 2 (0.23%) XCUITest
8 1 (0.11%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.11%) Bugzilla
8 1 (0.11%) MLflow
8 1 (0.11%) Postman
8 1 (0.11%) SoapUI
General
1 384 (43.79%) Social Skills
2 259 (29.53%) Analytical Skills
3 147 (16.76%) Finance
4 94 (10.72%) Manufacturing
5 62 (7.07%) Organisational Skills
6 45 (5.13%) Retail
7 43 (4.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 39 (4.45%) Law
8 39 (4.45%) Marketing
9 37 (4.22%) Legal
10 30 (3.42%) Public Sector
11 22 (2.51%) Electronics
12 19 (2.17%) Automotive
13 18 (2.05%) Documentation Skills
14 13 (1.48%) Banking
14 13 (1.48%) Influencing Skills
14 13 (1.48%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.14%) Advertising
15 10 (1.14%) Games
15 10 (1.14%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 137 (15.62%) Support Engineer
2 131 (14.94%) Analyst
3 129 (14.71%) IT Support
4 101 (11.52%) IT Engineer
5 78 (8.89%) IT Support Engineer
6 70 (7.98%) Senior
7 66 (7.53%) Developer
8 55 (6.27%) Lead
8 55 (6.27%) Technical Support
9 49 (5.59%) Technical Engineer
9 49 (5.59%) Technical Support Engineer
10 41 (4.68%) Support Technician
11 40 (4.56%) Support Analyst
12 31 (3.53%) Administrator
12 31 (3.53%) Consultant
13 29 (3.31%) 2nd Line Support
13 29 (3.31%) IT Technician
14 27 (3.08%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 27 (3.08%) IT Manager
15 26 (2.96%) IT Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (4.68%) React
2 30 (3.42%) Node.js
3 29 (3.31%) CSS
3 29 (3.31%) HTML
4 21 (2.39%) REST
5 15 (1.71%) .NET
6 8 (0.91%) AngularJS
6 8 (0.91%) Spring
7 7 (0.80%) RESTful
7 7 (0.80%) Spring Boot
8 5 (0.57%) JSON
9 4 (0.46%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.46%) ASP.NET
9 4 (0.46%) ASP.NET Core
9 4 (0.46%) EDI
9 4 (0.46%) Middleware
9 4 (0.46%) WinForms
10 3 (0.34%) GraphQL
10 3 (0.34%) Laravel
11 2 (0.23%) Yii
Miscellaneous
1 103 (11.74%) Driving Licence
2 50 (5.70%) Onboarding
3 38 (4.33%) Management Information System
3 38 (4.33%) Self-Motivation
4 18 (2.05%) Social Media
5 16 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
6 15 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
6 15 (1.71%) FMCG
7 12 (1.37%) Product Ownership
8 10 (1.14%) IoT
8 10 (1.14%) Legacy Systems
9 9 (1.03%) Data Centre
10 8 (0.91%) Security Posture
10 8 (0.91%) Virtual Team
11 7 (0.80%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (0.80%) Distributed Systems
11 7 (0.80%) EPoS
11 7 (0.80%) Greenfield Project
11 7 (0.80%) NHS
12 6 (0.68%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 155 (17.67%) Windows
2 56 (6.39%) Windows Server
3 40 (4.56%) Linux
3 40 (4.56%) Windows 10
4 13 (1.48%) Apple iOS
5 8 (0.91%) Ubuntu
6 6 (0.68%) Android
6 6 (0.68%) Debian
7 5 (0.57%) CentOS
7 5 (0.57%) Windows 7
7 5 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (0.46%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.46%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.46%) Unix
9 3 (0.34%) SUSE
9 3 (0.34%) VMS
10 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (19.95%) Continuous Improvement
2 157 (17.90%) Customer Service
3 111 (12.66%) Agile
4 95 (10.83%) Decision-Making
5 93 (10.60%) ITIL
6 78 (8.89%) Analytics
7 73 (8.32%) Mentoring
8 72 (8.21%) ERP
9 71 (8.10%) Business Intelligence
10 68 (7.75%) Collaborative Working
11 65 (7.41%) Service Delivery
12 62 (7.07%) Project Management
13 61 (6.96%) CRM
14 59 (6.73%) Cybersecurity
14 59 (6.73%) Process Improvement
15 53 (6.04%) AI
15 53 (6.04%) Computer Science
16 49 (5.59%) Roadmaps
16 49 (5.59%) Time Management
17 46 (5.25%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 119 (13.57%) SQL
2 62 (7.07%) Python
3 32 (3.65%) JavaScript
3 32 (3.65%) PowerShell
4 25 (2.85%) Java
5 20 (2.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 16 (1.82%) C#
6 16 (1.82%) TypeScript
7 15 (1.71%) PHP
8 14 (1.60%) C
9 12 (1.37%) Bash
9 12 (1.37%) Ladder Logic
10 8 (0.91%) C++
10 8 (0.91%) T-SQL
11 7 (0.80%) R
12 5 (0.57%) PL/SQL
13 4 (0.46%) Embedded C
13 4 (0.46%) Go
13 4 (0.46%) VBA
14 3 (0.34%) Rust
Qualifications
1 125 (14.25%) Degree
2 53 (6.04%) Security Cleared
3 44 (5.02%) SC Cleared
4 33 (3.76%) Microsoft Certification
5 24 (2.74%) Computer Science Degree
5 24 (2.74%) DBS Check
6 16 (1.82%) CISSP
7 15 (1.71%) CompTIA Security+
8 14 (1.60%) Cisco Certification
9 12 (1.37%) A+ Certification
9 12 (1.37%) PMI Certification
10 11 (1.25%) CCNA
11 10 (1.14%) ACCA
11 10 (1.14%) CIMA
11 10 (1.14%) PMP
12 8 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
13 7 (0.80%) CISA
13 7 (0.80%) MCSE
13 7 (0.80%) SSCP
14 6 (0.68%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (4.90%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.45%) QA
3 26 (2.96%) GDPR
3 26 (2.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 19 (2.17%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (2.05%) NIST
6 15 (1.71%) SLA
7 11 (1.25%) Accessibility
8 10 (1.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 8 (0.91%) Actionable Recommendations
10 6 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 5 (0.57%) COSHH
11 5 (0.57%) GMP
11 5 (0.57%) HIPAA
11 5 (0.57%) ISO 14001
11 5 (0.57%) ISO 9001
12 4 (0.46%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.34%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 3 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.34%) SOC 2
System Software
1 111 (12.66%) Active Directory
2 23 (2.62%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (2.28%) Docker
4 12 (1.37%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.03%) vSphere
6 8 (0.91%) Firmware
7 4 (0.46%) Embedded Firmware
8 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.11%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.11%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 37 (4.22%) Microsoft Intune
2 21 (2.39%) Kubernetes
3 17 (1.94%) Terraform
4 7 (0.80%) Ansible
5 5 (0.57%) Nagios
5 5 (0.57%) SCCM
6 4 (0.46%) Nmap
7 3 (0.34%) Galera Cluster
7 3 (0.34%) Grafana
7 3 (0.34%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.34%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.23%) Puppet
8 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.11%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 237 (27.02%) Microsoft
2 31 (3.53%) Cisco
2 31 (3.53%) VMware
3 29 (3.31%) SAP
4 26 (2.96%) Oracle
5 16 (1.82%) Google
6 13 (1.48%) Salesforce
7 12 (1.37%) Sage
8 11 (1.25%) Dell
8 11 (1.25%) ServiceNow
8 11 (1.25%) SolarWinds
9 10 (1.14%) Meraki
10 9 (1.03%) Databricks
11 8 (0.91%) HP
12 7 (0.80%) Cognos
12 7 (0.80%) IBM
12 7 (0.80%) Workday
12 7 (0.80%) Zscaler
13 6 (0.68%) Avaya
13 6 (0.68%) Freshdesk