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 7 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -6 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,458 1,195 1,409
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 9.29% 21.15% 14.79%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.17% 24.38% 18.45%
Number of salaries quoted 984 673 488
10th Percentile £27,260 £25,375 £26,750
25th Percentile £30,750 £29,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £38,000 £49,254
Median % change year-on-year +11.84% -22.85% +0.52%
75th Percentile £56,250 £50,000 £60,000
90th Percentile £71,250 £65,000 £73,750
England median annual salary £46,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +2.22% -14.29% -4.55%

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 11,070 4,901 7,637
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 70.54% 86.74% 80.17%
Number of salaries quoted 7,833 2,830 3,566
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £39,676 £32,500 £37,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,000 £46,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.68% -7.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £63,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £78,750
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.64%

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 7 October 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 7 October 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 -5 820 £42,500 - 725
East Midlands -6 636 £42,000 +29.23% 476
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 71 (4.87%) SharePoint
2 43 (2.95%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (0.96%) IIS
4 10 (0.69%) CMS
5 8 (0.55%) Confluence
6 6 (0.41%) CICS
7 4 (0.27%) SAS
7 4 (0.27%) WordPress
8 3 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.21%) Headless CMS
8 3 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.14%) Documentum
9 2 (0.14%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.069%) Apache
10 1 (0.069%) Appian
10 1 (0.069%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.069%) Oracle SOA Suite
10 1 (0.069%) Tomcat
10 1 (0.069%) Umbraco
Applications
1 128 (8.78%) Microsoft Office
2 106 (7.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (0.82%) Simulink
3 12 (0.82%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (0.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.55%) OrCAD
6 6 (0.41%) EPLAN
7 5 (0.34%) AutoCAD
8 4 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
8 4 (0.27%) Revit
9 3 (0.21%) Fusion 360
9 3 (0.21%) Navisworks
9 3 (0.21%) SOLIDWORKS
10 2 (0.14%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 2 (0.14%) Chatbot
10 2 (0.14%) MS Visio
11 1 (0.069%) LaTeX
11 1 (0.069%) Photoshop
11 1 (0.069%) Siemens NX
11 1 (0.069%) SketchUp
Business Applications
1 19 (1.30%) Dynamics CRM
2 13 (0.89%) SAP S/4HANA
3 12 (0.82%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 12 (0.82%) Shopify
4 10 (0.69%) NetSuite
4 10 (0.69%) SAP Business One
5 9 (0.62%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.48%) Sage X3
7 6 (0.41%) Dynamics AX
7 6 (0.41%) Magento
8 5 (0.34%) Oracle ERP
8 5 (0.34%) Payment Gateway
8 5 (0.34%) Sage 50
8 5 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
9 4 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
10 3 (0.21%) Infor LN
10 3 (0.21%) Infor M3
10 3 (0.21%) SAP ERP
10 3 (0.21%) SAP FI
10 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 267 (18.31%) Microsoft 365
2 243 (16.67%) Azure
3 129 (8.85%) Power Platform
4 99 (6.79%) Entra ID
5 81 (5.56%) AWS
6 57 (3.91%) SaaS
7 41 (2.81%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (2.47%) Dynamics 365
9 24 (1.65%) Power Automate
10 23 (1.58%) GitHub
10 23 (1.58%) OneDrive
11 22 (1.51%) Google Workspace
12 19 (1.30%) GitHub Actions
12 19 (1.30%) PowerApps
13 18 (1.23%) Microsoft Purview
14 17 (1.17%) Microsoft Copilot
15 16 (1.10%) GCP
16 13 (0.89%) Google Analytics
16 13 (0.89%) PaaS
17 10 (0.69%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 80 (5.49%) DNS
2 66 (4.53%) Firewall
3 65 (4.46%) DHCP
4 63 (4.32%) VPN
5 53 (3.64%) TCP/IP
6 34 (2.33%) Wireless
7 33 (2.26%) VLAN
8 32 (2.19%) WAN
9 31 (2.13%) LAN
10 28 (1.92%) Wi-Fi
11 19 (1.30%) Network Security
12 14 (0.96%) VoIP
13 12 (0.82%) Internet
14 10 (0.69%) Modbus
15 9 (0.62%) Wireshark
16 7 (0.48%) Cisco IOS
16 7 (0.48%) Remote Desktop
17 6 (0.41%) SSL
18 5 (0.34%) Ethernet
18 5 (0.34%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 118 (8.09%) Power BI
2 61 (4.18%) SQL Server
3 29 (1.99%) Relational Database
4 25 (1.71%) Data Warehouse
4 25 (1.71%) Tableau
5 22 (1.51%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 20 (1.37%) Azure SQL Database
7 19 (1.30%) Power Query
8 16 (1.10%) Electronic Patient Records
9 12 (0.82%) Data Mining
9 12 (0.82%) MySQL
9 12 (0.82%) Oracle Reports
9 12 (0.82%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 11 (0.75%) Crystal Reports
11 10 (0.69%) PostgreSQL
12 9 (0.62%) Data Lake
13 8 (0.55%) Db2
13 8 (0.55%) DynamoDB
14 6 (0.41%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (0.41%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 45 (3.09%) Git
2 32 (2.19%) JIRA
3 28 (1.92%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.62%) Eclipse
4 9 (0.62%) LabVIEW
5 8 (0.55%) GitLab
6 7 (0.48%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.48%) Postman
6 7 (0.48%) Selenium
7 6 (0.41%) JMeter
7 6 (0.41%) Maven
8 5 (0.34%) JUnit
8 5 (0.34%) SoapUI
8 5 (0.34%) Zephyr
9 4 (0.27%) Burp Suite
9 4 (0.27%) Metasploit
9 4 (0.27%) VersionOne
10 3 (0.21%) Mockito
11 2 (0.14%) IBM UrbanCode
11 2 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 757 (51.92%) Social Skills
2 423 (29.01%) Analytical Skills
3 253 (17.35%) Manufacturing
4 229 (15.71%) Finance
5 137 (9.40%) Organisational Skills
6 109 (7.48%) Retail
7 80 (5.49%) Marketing
8 66 (4.53%) Public Sector
9 54 (3.70%) Electronics
9 54 (3.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 41 (2.81%) Legal
11 39 (2.67%) Automotive
11 39 (2.67%) Law
12 29 (1.99%) Influencing Skills
13 24 (1.65%) Telecoms
14 23 (1.58%) Aerospace
15 21 (1.44%) Documentation Skills
15 21 (1.44%) Presentation Skills
16 13 (0.89%) Billing
16 13 (0.89%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 183 (12.55%) Analyst
2 161 (11.04%) IT Support
3 150 (10.29%) Support Engineer
4 121 (8.30%) Senior
5 112 (7.68%) Developer
6 90 (6.17%) IT Engineer
7 84 (5.76%) Consultant
8 83 (5.69%) Lead
9 76 (5.21%) Technical Support
10 70 (4.80%) IT Support Engineer
11 65 (4.46%) Technical Engineer
12 63 (4.32%) Support Analyst
12 63 (4.32%) Technical Support Engineer
13 58 (3.98%) Support Technician
14 50 (3.43%) IT Technician
15 41 (2.81%) Data Analyst
16 40 (2.74%) Administrator
17 39 (2.67%) IT Manager
18 38 (2.61%) IT Support Technician
19 35 (2.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (3.98%) REST
2 54 (3.70%) .NET
3 34 (2.33%) React
4 30 (2.06%) Spring
5 27 (1.85%) Spring Boot
6 26 (1.78%) SOAP
7 19 (1.30%) Node.js
8 16 (1.10%) CSS
8 16 (1.10%) HTML
8 16 (1.10%) ISPF
8 16 (1.10%) Terraform
9 15 (1.03%) RESTful
10 14 (0.96%) Playwright
11 12 (0.82%) AngularJS
11 12 (0.82%) EDI
12 11 (0.75%) SAP Fiori
12 11 (0.75%) XML
13 10 (0.69%) JSON
13 10 (0.69%) Middleware
13 10 (0.69%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 178 (12.21%) Driving Licence
2 112 (7.68%) Onboarding
3 83 (5.69%) Management Information System
4 74 (5.08%) Self-Motivation
5 51 (3.50%) Enterprise Software
6 48 (3.29%) Robotics
7 28 (1.92%) NHS
7 28 (1.92%) SCADA
8 21 (1.44%) Analytical Mindset
9 19 (1.30%) Data Centre
10 18 (1.23%) IoT
10 18 (1.23%) Legacy Applications
10 18 (1.23%) Legacy Systems
10 18 (1.23%) Social Media
11 17 (1.17%) FMCG
11 17 (1.17%) Mainframe
11 17 (1.17%) SystemC
12 16 (1.10%) CMDB
12 16 (1.10%) Virtual Team
13 15 (1.03%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 259 (17.76%) Windows
2 95 (6.52%) Windows Server
3 75 (5.14%) Linux
4 41 (2.81%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.10%) Android
6 12 (0.82%) Apple iOS
6 12 (0.82%) Mac OS
7 9 (0.62%) Unix
8 7 (0.48%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.34%) OpenVMS
10 4 (0.27%) VMS
10 4 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.21%) FreeRTOS
11 3 (0.21%) Solaris
11 3 (0.21%) Ubuntu
12 2 (0.14%) Debian
13 1 (0.069%) AIX
13 1 (0.069%) CentOS
13 1 (0.069%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
13 1 (0.069%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 418 (28.67%) Continuous Improvement
2 302 (20.71%) Customer Service
3 185 (12.69%) Decision-Making
4 167 (11.45%) Agile
4 167 (11.45%) Analytics
5 142 (9.74%) Mentoring
6 136 (9.33%) ERP
7 127 (8.71%) Business Intelligence
8 125 (8.57%) Collaborative Working
9 123 (8.44%) Cybersecurity
10 119 (8.16%) Stakeholder Management
11 111 (7.61%) Project Delivery
12 104 (7.13%) AI
13 101 (6.93%) Project Management
14 99 (6.79%) Roadmaps
15 95 (6.52%) CRM
15 95 (6.52%) Service Delivery
16 93 (6.38%) ITIL
17 91 (6.24%) Validation
18 88 (6.04%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 222 (15.23%) SQL
2 99 (6.79%) Python
3 71 (4.87%) Java
4 58 (3.98%) PowerShell
5 48 (3.29%) JavaScript
6 42 (2.88%) C#
7 24 (1.65%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 21 (1.44%) C
9 20 (1.37%) TypeScript
10 19 (1.30%) Ladder Logic
11 16 (1.10%) COBOL
11 16 (1.10%) Embedded C
11 16 (1.10%) JCL
12 13 (0.89%) VBA
13 12 (0.82%) C++
13 12 (0.82%) MATLAB
14 10 (0.69%) Bash
14 10 (0.69%) R
15 9 (0.62%) ABAP
16 7 (0.48%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 227 (15.57%) Degree
2 102 (7.00%) Security Cleared
3 86 (5.90%) SC Cleared
4 52 (3.57%) HNC
5 51 (3.50%) HND
6 26 (1.78%) Azure Certification
6 26 (1.78%) DBS Check
7 22 (1.51%) Microsoft Certification
8 19 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
9 18 (1.23%) NVQ Level 3
10 16 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
11 15 (1.03%) City & Guilds
12 13 (0.89%) CCNA
12 13 (0.89%) Chartered Engineer
12 13 (0.89%) PMI Certification
13 12 (0.82%) NVQ Level 4
14 10 (0.69%) ACCA
15 9 (0.62%) CISSP
16 8 (0.55%) BPSS Clearance
17 7 (0.48%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 64 (4.39%) Data Quality
2 56 (3.84%) GDPR
3 53 (3.64%) QA
4 41 (2.81%) Cyber Essentials
5 39 (2.67%) SLA
6 31 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 25 (1.71%) Accessibility
8 21 (1.44%) ISO 9001
9 10 (0.69%) PCI DSS
10 8 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 8 (0.55%) ISO 14001
11 7 (0.48%) GRC
12 6 (0.41%) GMP
12 6 (0.41%) NIST
13 5 (0.34%) PMO
14 4 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
15 3 (0.21%) AQAP
15 3 (0.21%) COSHH
15 3 (0.21%) ISO 26262
15 3 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 17025
System Software
1 168 (11.52%) Active Directory
2 56 (3.84%) Hyper-V
3 32 (2.19%) VMware Infrastructure
4 27 (1.85%) Docker
5 20 (1.37%) Firmware
6 14 (0.96%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (0.82%) Embedded Firmware
8 8 (0.55%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (0.34%) vSphere
10 2 (0.14%) Samba
10 2 (0.14%) XenApp
11 1 (0.069%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 53 (3.64%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (1.51%) Kubernetes
3 11 (0.75%) SCCM
4 9 (0.62%) Single Sign-On
5 8 (0.55%) Ansible
5 8 (0.55%) Functional Safety
6 6 (0.41%) Backup Exec
7 4 (0.27%) BMC PATROL
7 4 (0.27%) Grafana
7 4 (0.27%) Nmap
7 4 (0.27%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.21%) Control-M
8 3 (0.21%) Jamf Pro
8 3 (0.21%) Progress Chef
8 3 (0.21%) Puppet
8 3 (0.21%) WhatsUp Gold
9 2 (0.14%) WSUS
10 1 (0.069%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.069%) Nagios
10 1 (0.069%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 457 (31.34%) Microsoft
2 66 (4.53%) SAP
3 46 (3.16%) Workday
4 41 (2.81%) Oracle
4 41 (2.81%) VMware
5 40 (2.74%) Google
6 33 (2.26%) Cisco
7 32 (2.19%) ServiceNow
8 26 (1.78%) Sage
9 24 (1.65%) Salesforce
10 19 (1.30%) IBM
11 18 (1.23%) Cognos
12 15 (1.03%) Allen-Bradley
13 14 (0.96%) Siemens
14 13 (0.89%) JD Edwards
15 12 (0.82%) Databricks
15 12 (0.82%) EMC
16 11 (0.75%) Apple
16 11 (0.75%) HubSpot
16 11 (0.75%) Veeam