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 28 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -22 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 887 1,001 1,753
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 7.02% 20.12% 15.28%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.60% 22.59% 18.58%
Number of salaries quoted 686 622 1,214
10th Percentile £26,250 £26,250 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,120 £32,500 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £42,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +7.14% -16.00%
75th Percentile £56,250 £61,250 £57,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £72,500 £69,000
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 9,243 4,432 9,433
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 73.16% 89.10% 82.21%
Number of salaries quoted 5,483 2,614 7,103
10th Percentile £28,500 £27,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £36,249 £34,660
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £66,250 £65,000 £61,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £59,450 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -0.92% +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 28 April 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 28 April 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 -24 526 £42,500 -15.00% 265
East Midlands -6 358 £35,000 -9.09% 181
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 58 (6.54%) SharePoint
2 40 (4.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (0.90%) CMS
4 5 (0.56%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 5 (0.56%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2013
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%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.11%) Appian
8 1 (0.11%) Drupal
8 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 59 (6.65%) Microsoft Excel
2 58 (6.54%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.80%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (1.01%) Microsoft Project
5 8 (0.90%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 6 (0.68%) MS Visio
7 5 (0.56%) Fusion 360
8 1 (0.11%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.11%) Sketch
8 1 (0.11%) Trello
Business Applications
1 16 (1.80%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.13%) iTrent
3 7 (0.79%) SAP Business One
4 6 (0.68%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (0.56%) Q-Pulse
6 4 (0.45%) Line 50
6 4 (0.45%) NetSuite
6 4 (0.45%) Shopify
7 3 (0.34%) IBM Planning Analytics
7 3 (0.34%) Magento
7 3 (0.34%) Sage X3
7 3 (0.34%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
9 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
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
1 204 (23.00%) Microsoft 365
2 174 (19.62%) Azure
3 80 (9.02%) AWS
4 77 (8.68%) Power Platform
5 63 (7.10%) Entra ID
6 35 (3.95%) SaaS
7 34 (3.83%) Serverless
8 23 (2.59%) Amazon S3
8 23 (2.59%) AWS Lambda
9 16 (1.80%) Dynamics 365
9 16 (1.80%) Power Automate
10 15 (1.69%) GCP
11 14 (1.58%) OneDrive
12 13 (1.47%) Google Workspace
13 12 (1.35%) PowerApps
14 11 (1.24%) Azure Data Factory
15 9 (1.01%) Azure Sentinel
16 7 (0.79%) Microsoft Copilot
17 6 (0.68%) Amazon Cognito
17 6 (0.68%) Amazon EventBridge
Communications & Networking
1 58 (6.54%) DNS
2 52 (5.86%) DHCP
3 47 (5.30%) VPN
4 39 (4.40%) Firewall
4 39 (4.40%) WAN
5 24 (2.71%) LAN
6 22 (2.48%) Internet
6 22 (2.48%) Wi-Fi
7 19 (2.14%) TCP/IP
8 17 (1.92%) SD-WAN
8 17 (1.92%) Wireless
9 16 (1.80%) VoIP
10 11 (1.24%) Network Security
10 11 (1.24%) VLAN
11 7 (0.79%) Remote Desktop
12 5 (0.56%) Bluetooth
12 5 (0.56%) MQTT
12 5 (0.56%) Skype
12 5 (0.56%) WLAN
13 4 (0.45%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (7.67%) Power BI
2 40 (4.51%) SQL Server
3 17 (1.92%) Power Query
4 14 (1.58%) MySQL
4 14 (1.58%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 13 (1.47%) Amazon Redshift
5 13 (1.47%) Oracle Reports
5 13 (1.47%) Tableau
6 9 (1.01%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.01%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 7 (0.79%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (0.79%) DynamoDB
7 7 (0.79%) NoSQL
8 6 (0.68%) Data Warehouse
8 6 (0.68%) Star Schema
9 4 (0.45%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (0.45%) Data Mining
9 4 (0.45%) FileMaker
9 4 (0.45%) Metadata
9 4 (0.45%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 21 (2.37%) Git
1 21 (2.37%) JIRA
2 7 (0.79%) JUnit
3 6 (0.68%) GitLab
3 6 (0.68%) Jenkins
3 6 (0.68%) Subversion
4 5 (0.56%) Burp Suite
4 5 (0.56%) Maven
4 5 (0.56%) Metasploit
4 5 (0.56%) Mockito
4 5 (0.56%) VersionOne
5 2 (0.23%) Appcelerator Titanium
5 2 (0.23%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.23%) Selenium
5 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio
5 2 (0.23%) XCUITest
6 1 (0.11%) MLflow
6 1 (0.11%) Postman
6 1 (0.11%) Yeoman
General
1 400 (45.10%) Social Skills
2 274 (30.89%) Analytical Skills
3 156 (17.59%) Finance
4 89 (10.03%) Manufacturing
5 66 (7.44%) Organisational Skills
6 50 (5.64%) Retail
7 42 (4.74%) Marketing
8 41 (4.62%) Legal
9 39 (4.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 39 (4.40%) Law
10 33 (3.72%) Public Sector
11 23 (2.59%) Automotive
11 23 (2.59%) Electronics
12 17 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
13 13 (1.47%) Influencing Skills
14 12 (1.35%) Banking
15 11 (1.24%) Advertising
15 11 (1.24%) Games
16 10 (1.13%) Presentation Skills
17 9 (1.01%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 144 (16.23%) Analyst
2 140 (15.78%) IT Support
3 136 (15.33%) Support Engineer
4 101 (11.39%) IT Engineer
5 81 (9.13%) IT Support Engineer
6 69 (7.78%) Senior
7 62 (6.99%) Developer
8 56 (6.31%) Lead
9 53 (5.98%) Technical Support
10 51 (5.75%) Support Analyst
11 45 (5.07%) Technical Engineer
11 45 (5.07%) Technical Support Engineer
12 43 (4.85%) Support Technician
13 34 (3.83%) 2nd Line Support
14 33 (3.72%) Administrator
15 32 (3.61%) IT Technician
16 30 (3.38%) Architect
17 29 (3.27%) Consultant
17 29 (3.27%) Full-Stack Developer
17 29 (3.27%) IT Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (4.17%) React
2 31 (3.49%) CSS
2 31 (3.49%) HTML
3 30 (3.38%) Node.js
4 18 (2.03%) REST
5 12 (1.35%) .NET
6 8 (0.90%) Spring
7 7 (0.79%) RESTful
7 7 (0.79%) Spring Boot
8 6 (0.68%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.56%) JSON
10 4 (0.45%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.45%) Middleware
10 4 (0.45%) Oracle Fusion
11 3 (0.34%) ASP.NET
11 3 (0.34%) ASP.NET Core
11 3 (0.34%) Elastic Stack
11 3 (0.34%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.34%) Laravel
11 3 (0.34%) Vue
Miscellaneous
1 102 (11.50%) Driving Licence
2 58 (6.54%) Onboarding
3 39 (4.40%) Self-Motivation
4 31 (3.49%) Management Information System
5 20 (2.25%) Analytical Mindset
6 18 (2.03%) Social Media
7 17 (1.92%) Enterprise Software
8 15 (1.69%) FMCG
9 11 (1.24%) Legacy Systems
9 11 (1.24%) Product Ownership
10 9 (1.01%) IoT
11 8 (0.90%) Data Centre
11 8 (0.90%) Distributed Systems
11 8 (0.90%) Greenfield Project
11 8 (0.90%) Security Posture
11 8 (0.90%) Virtual Team
12 7 (0.79%) Cyber Defence
12 7 (0.79%) EPoS
12 7 (0.79%) Web Conferencing
13 6 (0.68%) Embedded Systems
Operating Systems
1 161 (18.15%) Windows
2 55 (6.20%) Windows Server
3 42 (4.74%) Windows 10
4 41 (4.62%) Linux
5 15 (1.69%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.90%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.68%) Android
7 6 (0.68%) Debian
8 5 (0.56%) CentOS
8 5 (0.56%) Windows 7
8 5 (0.56%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.45%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.45%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.45%) Unix
10 3 (0.34%) SUSE
11 2 (0.23%) VMS
11 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.11%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 177 (19.95%) Continuous Improvement
2 159 (17.93%) Customer Service
3 109 (12.29%) Agile
4 97 (10.94%) ITIL
5 95 (10.71%) Decision-Making
6 77 (8.68%) Analytics
7 76 (8.57%) ERP
7 76 (8.57%) Mentoring
8 72 (8.12%) Business Intelligence
9 69 (7.78%) CRM
10 66 (7.44%) Process Improvement
11 60 (6.76%) Collaborative Working
12 58 (6.54%) Project Management
13 55 (6.20%) Cybersecurity
13 55 (6.20%) Service Delivery
14 53 (5.98%) Computer Science
15 52 (5.86%) Roadmaps
16 51 (5.75%) Time Management
17 48 (5.41%) ITSM
18 46 (5.19%) AI
Programming Languages
1 131 (14.77%) SQL
2 67 (7.55%) Python
3 33 (3.72%) JavaScript
4 29 (3.27%) PowerShell
5 26 (2.93%) Java
6 23 (2.59%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 16 (1.80%) C
7 16 (1.80%) PHP
8 14 (1.58%) C#
8 14 (1.58%) TypeScript
9 12 (1.35%) Bash
9 12 (1.35%) Ladder Logic
10 10 (1.13%) T-SQL
11 7 (0.79%) R
12 6 (0.68%) C++
13 5 (0.56%) PL/SQL
13 5 (0.56%) VBA
14 4 (0.45%) Embedded C
15 3 (0.34%) Delphi
15 3 (0.34%) VB
Qualifications
1 125 (14.09%) Degree
2 55 (6.20%) Security Cleared
3 46 (5.19%) SC Cleared
4 30 (3.38%) Microsoft Certification
5 23 (2.59%) Computer Science Degree
6 20 (2.25%) DBS Check
7 19 (2.14%) CISSP
8 15 (1.69%) CompTIA Security+
9 13 (1.47%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.35%) A+ Certification
10 12 (1.35%) PMI Certification
11 10 (1.13%) PMP
12 9 (1.01%) ACCA
12 9 (1.01%) CCNA
12 9 (1.01%) CIMA
13 8 (0.90%) BPSS Clearance
13 8 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 7 (0.79%) CISA
14 7 (0.79%) CISMP
14 7 (0.79%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (5.19%) Data Quality
2 37 (4.17%) QA
3 28 (3.16%) GDPR
4 26 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 20 (2.25%) NIST
6 16 (1.80%) Cyber Essentials
6 16 (1.80%) SLA
7 11 (1.24%) Actionable Recommendations
8 10 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (0.79%) Accessibility
9 7 (0.79%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 6 (0.68%) HIPAA
11 5 (0.56%) COSHH
11 5 (0.56%) GMP
12 4 (0.45%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 4 (0.45%) ISO 14001
12 4 (0.45%) ISO 9001
12 4 (0.45%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.45%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.23%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 111 (12.51%) Active Directory
2 23 (2.59%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.48%) Docker
4 11 (1.24%) Hyper-V
5 8 (0.90%) Firmware
5 8 (0.90%) vSphere
6 4 (0.45%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.11%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 38 (4.28%) Microsoft Intune
2 23 (2.59%) Kubernetes
3 18 (2.03%) Terraform
4 8 (0.90%) Ansible
5 5 (0.56%) Grafana
5 5 (0.56%) Nagios
5 5 (0.56%) Nmap
5 5 (0.56%) SCCM
6 3 (0.34%) Galera Cluster
6 3 (0.34%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.34%) vCenter Server
7 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.23%) Puppet
7 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.11%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 233 (26.27%) Microsoft
2 33 (3.72%) Cisco
3 32 (3.61%) Oracle
4 31 (3.49%) VMware
5 28 (3.16%) SAP
6 16 (1.80%) Google
7 14 (1.58%) ServiceNow
8 13 (1.47%) Sage
8 13 (1.47%) Salesforce
9 11 (1.24%) Databricks
9 11 (1.24%) SolarWinds
10 10 (1.13%) Dell
10 10 (1.13%) Meraki
11 9 (1.01%) HP
12 8 (0.90%) Freshdesk
13 7 (0.79%) Zscaler
14 6 (0.68%) Apple
14 6 (0.68%) Avaya
14 6 (0.68%) McAfee
14 6 (0.68%) Workday