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 27 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -8 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,092 1,240 1,580
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 7.94% 21.72% 13.75%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.38% 25.43% 17.54%
Number of salaries quoted 801 709 827
10th Percentile £26,031 £25,267 £25,000
25th Percentile £30,000 £29,250 £29,875
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,000 £40,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -5.88% -11.46%
75th Percentile £56,250 £57,500 £57,750
90th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £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 9,598 4,876 9,010
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 69.80% 85.42% 78.43%
Number of salaries quoted 6,831 2,944 5,707
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £27,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £47,842 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.74% -4.32% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,000 £63,750 £63,250
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,772
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +5.26% +3.64% -11.29%

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 27 July 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 27 July 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 -9 612 £42,500 -5.56% 259
East Midlands -10 476 £37,500 +5.63% 199
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 55 (5.04%) SharePoint
2 37 (3.39%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (0.92%) CMS
4 9 (0.82%) IIS
5 5 (0.46%) Confluence
5 5 (0.46%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2007
6 4 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2010
6 4 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2013
7 3 (0.27%) WordPress
8 2 (0.18%) Apache Airflow
9 1 (0.092%) Apache
9 1 (0.092%) Appian
9 1 (0.092%) CICS
9 1 (0.092%) Documentum
9 1 (0.092%) Drupal
9 1 (0.092%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.092%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.092%) SAS
Applications
1 98 (8.97%) Microsoft Office
2 82 (7.51%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.46%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.18%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.092%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.092%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.092%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.092%) Simulink
8 1 (0.092%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 16 (1.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 14 (1.28%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 12 (1.10%) Dynamics CRM
4 11 (1.01%) SAP Business One
5 9 (0.82%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 5 (0.46%) Magento
6 5 (0.46%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.46%) Shopify
7 4 (0.37%) Dynamics AX
7 4 (0.37%) Line 50
7 4 (0.37%) Q-Pulse
7 4 (0.37%) Sage 50
8 3 (0.27%) NetSuite
8 3 (0.27%) SAP CO
8 3 (0.27%) SAP FI
8 3 (0.27%) SAP FI/CO
9 2 (0.18%) Oracle EBS
10 1 (0.092%) Dynamics GP
10 1 (0.092%) Exchequer
10 1 (0.092%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
Cloud Services
1 230 (21.06%) Microsoft 365
2 190 (17.40%) Azure
3 114 (10.44%) Power Platform
4 80 (7.33%) AWS
5 79 (7.23%) Entra ID
6 40 (3.66%) SaaS
7 26 (2.38%) Dynamics 365
8 19 (1.74%) Power Automate
9 18 (1.65%) Serverless
10 16 (1.47%) PowerApps
11 14 (1.28%) Amazon S3
11 14 (1.28%) GCP
11 14 (1.28%) Microsoft Copilot
11 14 (1.28%) Microsoft Purview
12 13 (1.19%) AWS Lambda
12 13 (1.19%) Azure DevOps
13 12 (1.10%) Google Workspace
14 11 (1.01%) OneDrive
15 9 (0.82%) Azure Data Factory
15 9 (0.82%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 64 (5.86%) Firewall
2 59 (5.40%) DNS
3 47 (4.30%) DHCP
3 47 (4.30%) VPN
4 40 (3.66%) TCP/IP
5 32 (2.93%) Wireless
6 30 (2.75%) WAN
7 26 (2.38%) VLAN
8 23 (2.11%) LAN
9 21 (1.92%) Wi-Fi
10 16 (1.47%) Network Security
11 12 (1.10%) VoIP
12 9 (0.82%) Internet
12 9 (0.82%) SD-WAN
13 8 (0.73%) MQTT
14 6 (0.55%) Cisco IOS
14 6 (0.55%) SSL
15 5 (0.46%) Skype
16 4 (0.37%) HTTP
16 4 (0.37%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 106 (9.71%) Power BI
2 45 (4.12%) SQL Server
3 25 (2.29%) Power Query
4 24 (2.20%) Tableau
5 20 (1.83%) Data Warehouse
6 18 (1.65%) MySQL
7 16 (1.47%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 15 (1.37%) Relational Database
8 15 (1.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 12 (1.10%) Azure SQL Database
10 9 (0.82%) DynamoDB
11 8 (0.73%) Amazon Redshift
12 7 (0.64%) Crystal Reports
12 7 (0.64%) MongoDB
12 7 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
12 7 (0.64%) Star Schema
13 6 (0.55%) Amazon RDS
13 6 (0.55%) Data Mining
14 4 (0.37%) Neo4j
14 4 (0.37%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 30 (2.75%) Git
2 22 (2.01%) JIRA
3 10 (0.92%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.46%) Cucumber
4 5 (0.46%) JUnit
4 5 (0.46%) Maven
4 5 (0.46%) Postman
4 5 (0.46%) VersionOne
5 4 (0.37%) Burp Suite
5 4 (0.37%) GitLab
5 4 (0.37%) JMeter
5 4 (0.37%) Metasploit
5 4 (0.37%) Selenium
5 4 (0.37%) SoapUI
6 3 (0.27%) Mockito
6 3 (0.27%) Subversion
6 3 (0.27%) Zephyr
7 2 (0.18%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.18%) TeamCity
7 2 (0.18%) Visual Studio
General
1 541 (49.54%) Social Skills
2 320 (29.30%) Analytical Skills
3 191 (17.49%) Finance
4 157 (14.38%) Manufacturing
5 74 (6.78%) Retail
6 72 (6.59%) Organisational Skills
7 46 (4.21%) Marketing
8 43 (3.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 39 (3.57%) Legal
10 38 (3.48%) Public Sector
11 37 (3.39%) Law
12 27 (2.47%) Influencing Skills
13 23 (2.11%) Electronics
14 20 (1.83%) Automotive
15 19 (1.74%) Documentation Skills
16 15 (1.37%) Telecoms
17 13 (1.19%) Games
18 11 (1.01%) Banking
19 9 (0.82%) Advertising
19 9 (0.82%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 181 (16.58%) Analyst
2 144 (13.19%) IT Support
3 139 (12.73%) Support Engineer
4 100 (9.16%) Developer
5 94 (8.61%) Senior
6 79 (7.23%) Technical Support
7 76 (6.96%) IT Engineer
8 72 (6.59%) Technical Engineer
9 70 (6.41%) Technical Support Engineer
10 66 (6.04%) Support Technician
11 57 (5.22%) IT Support Engineer
11 57 (5.22%) Lead
12 53 (4.85%) IT Technician
13 52 (4.76%) Support Analyst
14 48 (4.40%) IT Manager
15 46 (4.21%) Consultant
15 46 (4.21%) IT Support Technician
16 39 (3.57%) Data Analyst
17 36 (3.30%) Senior Analyst
18 27 (2.47%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (4.58%) REST
2 38 (3.48%) React
3 29 (2.66%) .NET
4 25 (2.29%) Node.js
5 20 (1.83%) SOAP
6 18 (1.65%) Spring
7 15 (1.37%) CSS
7 15 (1.37%) HTML
7 15 (1.37%) Spring Boot
8 12 (1.10%) AngularJS
8 12 (1.10%) RESTful
9 10 (0.92%) Playwright
9 10 (0.92%) SAP Fiori
10 9 (0.82%) JDBC
10 9 (0.82%) JSON
10 9 (0.82%) Middleware
10 9 (0.82%) OAuth
10 9 (0.82%) SAPUI5
11 6 (0.55%) EDI
11 6 (0.55%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 106 (9.71%) Driving Licence
2 59 (5.40%) Management Information System
3 56 (5.13%) Onboarding
4 44 (4.03%) Self-Motivation
5 25 (2.29%) Enterprise Software
6 17 (1.56%) IoT
7 16 (1.47%) Analytical Mindset
8 15 (1.37%) Greenfield Project
8 15 (1.37%) NHS
9 12 (1.10%) Data Centre
9 12 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
9 12 (1.10%) Security Posture
9 12 (1.10%) Social Media
10 11 (1.01%) Virtual Team
11 10 (0.92%) Data Structures
11 10 (0.92%) Mobile App
11 10 (0.92%) Replication
12 9 (0.82%) CMDB
12 9 (0.82%) Robotics
12 9 (0.82%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 194 (17.77%) Windows
2 71 (6.50%) Linux
3 66 (6.04%) Windows Server
4 46 (4.21%) Windows 10
5 15 (1.37%) Android
6 10 (0.92%) Apple iOS
6 10 (0.92%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.64%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.55%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 6 (0.55%) Unix
9 5 (0.46%) CentOS
9 5 (0.46%) Debian
9 5 (0.46%) OpenVMS
9 5 (0.46%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.37%) FreeRTOS
10 4 (0.37%) VMS
11 3 (0.27%) SUSE
12 1 (0.092%) Solaris
12 1 (0.092%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.092%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 312 (28.57%) Continuous Improvement
2 186 (17.03%) Customer Service
3 156 (14.29%) Decision-Making
4 144 (13.19%) Analytics
5 137 (12.55%) Agile
6 132 (12.09%) Mentoring
7 129 (11.81%) Collaborative Working
8 112 (10.26%) ERP
9 111 (10.16%) Business Intelligence
10 103 (9.43%) ITIL
11 96 (8.79%) Cybersecurity
12 95 (8.70%) Service Delivery
13 89 (8.15%) AI
14 73 (6.68%) Roadmaps
15 67 (6.14%) Process Improvement
15 67 (6.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 66 (6.04%) Root Cause Analysis
16 66 (6.04%) Stakeholder Management
17 65 (5.95%) CRM
18 62 (5.68%) Collaborative Culture
Programming Languages
1 191 (17.49%) SQL
2 83 (7.60%) Python
3 45 (4.12%) Java
4 44 (4.03%) PowerShell
5 33 (3.02%) JavaScript
6 30 (2.75%) C#
7 29 (2.66%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 21 (1.92%) Ladder Logic
9 19 (1.74%) TypeScript
10 16 (1.47%) VBA
11 13 (1.19%) PHP
12 12 (1.10%) Bash
13 10 (0.92%) C
13 10 (0.92%) C++
14 9 (0.82%) ABAP
15 7 (0.64%) RPG
15 7 (0.64%) T-SQL
16 6 (0.55%) Go
17 5 (0.46%) Embedded C
18 4 (0.37%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 144 (13.19%) Degree
2 74 (6.78%) Security Cleared
3 59 (5.40%) SC Cleared
4 30 (2.75%) Microsoft Certification
5 26 (2.38%) DBS Check
6 18 (1.65%) Azure Certification
6 18 (1.65%) CISSP
7 15 (1.37%) CompTIA Security+
8 14 (1.28%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (1.01%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (0.64%) A+ Certification
10 7 (0.64%) ACCA
10 7 (0.64%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (0.64%) CCNA
10 7 (0.64%) CIMA
10 7 (0.64%) CISA
10 7 (0.64%) PMI Certification
10 7 (0.64%) SSCP
11 6 (0.55%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 6 (0.55%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 52 (4.76%) Data Quality
2 40 (3.66%) Cyber Essentials
2 40 (3.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 36 (3.30%) QA
4 34 (3.11%) GDPR
5 31 (2.84%) SLA
6 20 (1.83%) Accessibility
7 19 (1.74%) NIST
8 17 (1.56%) ISO 9001
9 11 (1.01%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 9 (0.82%) ISO 14001
11 7 (0.64%) Actionable Recommendations
11 7 (0.64%) GRC
11 7 (0.64%) PCI DSS
12 4 (0.37%) COSHH
12 4 (0.37%) GMP
12 4 (0.37%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.27%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 3 (0.27%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.27%) SOC 2
System Software
1 138 (12.64%) Active Directory
2 44 (4.03%) Hyper-V
3 31 (2.84%) VMware Infrastructure
4 22 (2.01%) Docker
5 9 (0.82%) Firmware
6 8 (0.73%) vSphere
7 5 (0.46%) Embedded Firmware
7 5 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
7 5 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.18%) Samba
9 1 (0.092%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.092%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 44 (4.03%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (1.83%) Kubernetes
3 15 (1.37%) Terraform
4 10 (0.92%) Ansible
5 6 (0.55%) Grafana
6 5 (0.46%) Prometheus
6 5 (0.46%) SCCM
7 4 (0.37%) Functional Safety
7 4 (0.37%) Galera Cluster
7 4 (0.37%) Nmap
7 4 (0.37%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.27%) BMC PATROL
8 3 (0.27%) Control-M
8 3 (0.27%) Progress Chef
8 3 (0.27%) Puppet
8 3 (0.27%) WhatsUp Gold
9 2 (0.18%) Nagios
10 1 (0.092%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.092%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.092%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 317 (29.03%) Microsoft
2 45 (4.12%) SAP
3 40 (3.66%) VMware
4 28 (2.56%) Cisco
5 23 (2.11%) ServiceNow
6 21 (1.92%) IBM
7 18 (1.65%) Workday
8 17 (1.56%) Cognos
8 17 (1.56%) Google
9 16 (1.47%) Sage
10 14 (1.28%) Salesforce
11 12 (1.10%) Dell
11 12 (1.10%) Oracle
12 11 (1.01%) Red Hat
13 10 (0.92%) HubSpot
13 10 (0.92%) iManage
14 9 (0.82%) JD Edwards
15 8 (0.73%) Epicor
15 8 (0.73%) HP
15 8 (0.73%) SolarWinds