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 14 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -16 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 863 1,167 1,287
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 9.89% 19.58% 15.38%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.52% 21.32% 17.90%
Number of salaries quoted 680 475 1,015
10th Percentile £26,000 £27,750 £25,000
25th Percentile £28,500 £36,250 £29,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £37,500 £52,387 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -28.42% +23.26% -16.67%
75th Percentile £53,963 £63,750 £58,750
90th Percentile £67,525 £83,750 £68,750
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -9.91%

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 6,893 5,473 7,188
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 79.02% 91.83% 85.88%
Number of salaries quoted 3,880 2,441 5,846
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £26,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £39,036 £34,834
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £49,990
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +5.02% -4.78%
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,967 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 14 February 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 14 February 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 -18 505 £42,500 -22.73% 285
East Midlands 0 356 £35,000 - 173
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 54 (6.26%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.48%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (1.51%) IIS
4 6 (0.70%) Apache
4 6 (0.70%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 5 (0.58%) Confluence
6 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2007
6 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2010
6 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2013
7 3 (0.35%) CMS
8 1 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.12%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.12%) NServiceBus
8 1 (0.12%) SAS
8 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
Applications
1 65 (7.53%) Microsoft Excel
2 47 (5.45%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.62%) Spreadsheet
4 10 (1.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (1.04%) AutoCAD
6 8 (0.93%) SOLIDWORKS
7 7 (0.81%) MS Visio
8 4 (0.46%) CATIA
9 2 (0.23%) Trello
10 1 (0.12%) Abaqus
10 1 (0.12%) EPLAN
10 1 (0.12%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 29 (3.36%) Dynamics CRM
2 11 (1.27%) iTrent
3 9 (1.04%) NetSuite
4 5 (0.58%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.35%) Dynamics NAV
5 3 (0.35%) Q-Pulse
5 3 (0.35%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 2 (0.23%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
6 2 (0.23%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.23%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.23%) Oracle EBS R12
6 2 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.23%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
7 1 (0.12%) NEC Housing
7 1 (0.12%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 1 (0.12%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.12%) Sage X3
7 1 (0.12%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.12%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 182 (21.09%) Azure
2 174 (20.16%) Microsoft 365
3 77 (8.92%) SaaS
4 74 (8.57%) AWS
5 62 (7.18%) Power Platform
6 52 (6.03%) Entra ID
7 27 (3.13%) Dynamics 365
8 26 (3.01%) Serverless
9 17 (1.97%) Power Automate
10 16 (1.85%) Amazon S3
10 16 (1.85%) AWS Lambda
10 16 (1.85%) GCP
11 14 (1.62%) PowerApps
12 13 (1.51%) Google Workspace
13 12 (1.39%) Azure DevOps
13 12 (1.39%) OneDrive
14 9 (1.04%) Azure Data Factory
15 7 (0.81%) Azure Sentinel
15 7 (0.81%) OCI
16 5 (0.58%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 65 (7.53%) DNS
2 63 (7.30%) DHCP
3 42 (4.87%) VPN
4 36 (4.17%) Remote Desktop
5 33 (3.82%) WAN
6 29 (3.36%) Firewall
7 26 (3.01%) Internet
8 22 (2.55%) LAN
9 20 (2.32%) Wi-Fi
10 17 (1.97%) TCP/IP
11 15 (1.74%) Wireless
12 13 (1.51%) SD-WAN
12 13 (1.51%) VoIP
13 12 (1.39%) VLAN
14 9 (1.04%) ADSL
14 9 (1.04%) Ethernet
14 9 (1.04%) VDSL
15 6 (0.70%) Broadband
16 5 (0.58%) Network Security
16 5 (0.58%) PBX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 49 (5.68%) Power BI
2 48 (5.56%) SQL Server
3 16 (1.85%) MySQL
4 15 (1.74%) Oracle Reports
4 15 (1.74%) Relational Database
5 14 (1.62%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 13 (1.51%) PostgreSQL
7 12 (1.39%) Amazon Redshift
7 12 (1.39%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 11 (1.27%) Tableau
9 7 (0.81%) GIS
10 6 (0.70%) Crystal Reports
10 6 (0.70%) Data Warehouse
10 6 (0.70%) Metadata
11 5 (0.58%) Amazon RDS
11 5 (0.58%) Azure SQL Database
12 4 (0.46%) Data Lake
13 3 (0.35%) BusinessObjects
13 3 (0.35%) NoSQL
13 3 (0.35%) Redis
Development Applications
1 27 (3.13%) JIRA
2 22 (2.55%) Git
3 9 (1.04%) JUnit
4 7 (0.81%) Burp Suite
4 7 (0.81%) Metasploit
4 7 (0.81%) Mockito
5 6 (0.70%) GitLab
5 6 (0.70%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.70%) Maven
6 5 (0.58%) Subversion
7 3 (0.35%) Appcelerator Titanium
7 3 (0.35%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.35%) Selenium
7 3 (0.35%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.12%) Babel
9 1 (0.12%) Balsamiq
9 1 (0.12%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.12%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.12%) webpack
General
1 419 (48.55%) Social Skills
2 278 (32.21%) Analytical Skills
3 173 (20.05%) Finance
4 110 (12.75%) Retail
5 85 (9.85%) Manufacturing
6 52 (6.03%) Organisational Skills
7 48 (5.56%) Law
8 39 (4.52%) Legal
8 39 (4.52%) Marketing
9 38 (4.40%) Public Sector
10 24 (2.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 23 (2.67%) Electronics
12 19 (2.20%) Telecoms
13 18 (2.09%) Documentation Skills
14 14 (1.62%) Automotive
14 14 (1.62%) Banking
15 13 (1.51%) Presentation Skills
16 12 (1.39%) Aerospace
17 8 (0.93%) Advertising
17 8 (0.93%) Games
Job Titles
1 158 (18.31%) Support Engineer
2 157 (18.19%) IT Support
3 122 (14.14%) Analyst
4 103 (11.94%) IT Engineer
5 92 (10.66%) IT Support Engineer
6 82 (9.50%) Lead
7 77 (8.92%) Developer
8 73 (8.46%) Technical Support
9 63 (7.30%) Senior
10 60 (6.95%) Technical Engineer
11 58 (6.72%) Support Analyst
11 58 (6.72%) Technical Support Engineer
12 53 (6.14%) 2nd Line Support
13 45 (5.21%) Support Technician
14 36 (4.17%) Administrator
15 34 (3.94%) Applications Support
16 33 (3.82%) Architect
17 32 (3.71%) 1st/2nd Line Support
18 28 (3.24%) Full-Stack Developer
19 23 (2.67%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (4.63%) React
2 31 (3.59%) .NET
3 28 (3.24%) REST
4 27 (3.13%) CSS
5 26 (3.01%) HTML
6 24 (2.78%) Node.js
7 15 (1.74%) AngularJS
7 15 (1.74%) JSON
8 11 (1.27%) Razor View Engine
9 7 (0.81%) Oracle Fusion
9 7 (0.81%) RESTful
9 7 (0.81%) Vue
10 6 (0.70%) LAMP
10 6 (0.70%) Laravel
10 6 (0.70%) Middleware
11 5 (0.58%) Spring
11 5 (0.58%) Web Services
12 4 (0.46%) Next.js
12 4 (0.46%) WPF
13 3 (0.35%) Tailwind CSS
Miscellaneous
1 106 (12.28%) Driving Licence
2 101 (11.70%) Onboarding
3 49 (5.68%) Management Information System
4 45 (5.21%) Self-Motivation
5 36 (4.17%) Analytical Mindset
6 32 (3.71%) FMCG
7 16 (1.85%) Social Media
8 14 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
8 14 (1.62%) Legacy Systems
9 13 (1.51%) Operational Technology
9 13 (1.51%) Product Ownership
10 11 (1.27%) Security Posture
11 10 (1.16%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
12 9 (1.04%) Data Structures
12 9 (1.04%) EPoS
12 9 (1.04%) IoT
13 7 (0.81%) Data Centre
13 7 (0.81%) e-Learning
13 7 (0.81%) Embedded Systems
13 7 (0.81%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 154 (17.84%) Windows
2 56 (6.49%) Windows Server
3 37 (4.29%) Linux
4 23 (2.67%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.39%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.58%) Windows Server 2019
7 4 (0.46%) Android
7 4 (0.46%) Debian
7 4 (0.46%) Unix
7 4 (0.46%) Windows 7
8 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.12%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 186 (21.55%) Continuous Improvement
2 184 (21.32%) Customer Service
3 116 (13.44%) CRM
4 111 (12.86%) ERP
5 98 (11.36%) Project Management
6 94 (10.89%) Agile
7 92 (10.66%) Mentoring
8 91 (10.54%) Decision-Making
9 82 (9.50%) ITIL
10 78 (9.04%) Business Intelligence
11 72 (8.34%) Analytics
12 56 (6.49%) Root Cause Analysis
13 53 (6.14%) Analytical Thinking
14 52 (6.03%) Change Management
14 52 (6.03%) Computer Science
14 52 (6.03%) Migration
14 52 (6.03%) Process Improvement
15 50 (5.79%) E-Commerce
15 50 (5.79%) Time Management
16 49 (5.68%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 173 (20.05%) SQL
2 73 (8.46%) C#
3 60 (6.95%) Python
4 54 (6.26%) JavaScript
5 31 (3.59%) Java
5 31 (3.59%) PowerShell
6 21 (2.43%) PHP
7 15 (1.74%) T-SQL
8 13 (1.51%) C
9 11 (1.27%) Bash
10 9 (1.04%) TypeScript
11 8 (0.93%) Ladder Logic
12 7 (0.81%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.81%) R
13 5 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 4 (0.46%) Delphi
15 3 (0.35%) C++
15 3 (0.35%) VB.NET
16 2 (0.23%) Perl
16 2 (0.23%) VBA
Qualifications
1 169 (19.58%) Degree
2 74 (8.57%) Security Cleared
3 54 (6.26%) SC Cleared
4 32 (3.71%) Computer Science Degree
5 31 (3.59%) Microsoft Certification
6 25 (2.90%) DBS Check
7 19 (2.20%) Master's Degree
8 16 (1.85%) BPSS Clearance
8 16 (1.85%) Cisco Certification
9 14 (1.62%) CISSP
10 10 (1.16%) A+ Certification
10 10 (1.16%) ACCA
10 10 (1.16%) CCNA
10 10 (1.16%) CIMA
10 10 (1.16%) CompTIA Security+
10 10 (1.16%) PMI Certification
11 9 (1.04%) AWS Certification
11 9 (1.04%) CISMP
11 9 (1.04%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 9 (1.04%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (6.95%) QA
2 33 (3.82%) Data Quality
3 30 (3.48%) GDPR
4 25 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 11 (1.27%) Actionable Recommendations
6 10 (1.16%) NIST
7 9 (1.04%) SLA
8 7 (0.81%) Cyber Essentials
9 6 (0.70%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 5 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 4 (0.46%) Accessibility
12 3 (0.35%) COSHH
12 3 (0.35%) GMP
12 3 (0.35%) HIPAA
13 2 (0.23%) Government Security Classifications
13 2 (0.23%) ISO 20022
13 2 (0.23%) ISO 9001
13 2 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 2 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 2 (0.23%) PMO
System Software
1 104 (12.05%) Active Directory
2 23 (2.67%) Docker
3 14 (1.62%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (1.04%) Hyper-V
5 8 (0.93%) vSphere
6 5 (0.58%) Firmware
7 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 39 (4.52%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (2.78%) Kubernetes
3 14 (1.62%) Terraform
4 7 (0.81%) Ansible
4 7 (0.81%) Nmap
5 5 (0.58%) Grafana
5 5 (0.58%) SCCM
6 4 (0.46%) Nagios
7 2 (0.23%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.23%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.12%) Argo
8 1 (0.12%) Autotask
8 1 (0.12%) AWS Copilot
8 1 (0.12%) CA Service Virtualization
8 1 (0.12%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 240 (27.81%) Microsoft
2 67 (7.76%) SAP
3 54 (6.26%) Oracle
4 35 (4.06%) Salesforce
5 34 (3.94%) Cisco
6 16 (1.85%) Google
7 15 (1.74%) ServiceNow
7 15 (1.74%) VMware
8 9 (1.04%) Databricks
8 9 (1.04%) HP
8 9 (1.04%) Meraki
8 9 (1.04%) Sage
9 7 (0.81%) Epicor
9 7 (0.81%) Infor
10 6 (0.70%) Freshdesk
10 6 (0.70%) SolarWinds
11 5 (0.58%) Panasonic
11 5 (0.58%) Samsung
11 5 (0.58%) Zoho
11 5 (0.58%) Zscaler