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

6 months to
9 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 1,031 1,179 1,896
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 7.90% 21.36% 14.15%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.31% 24.78% 17.78%
Number of salaries quoted 767 666 1,108
10th Percentile £26,259 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,750 £29,375 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,000 £41,750 £41,125
Median % change year-on-year +0.60% +1.52% -13.42%
75th Percentile £55,938 £57,500 £57,500
90th Percentile £66,750 £67,500 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £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 9,112 4,757 10,664
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 69.83% 86.19% 79.57%
Number of salaries quoted 6,461 2,803 7,215
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £49,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% +3.16% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,250 £65,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -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 9 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 9 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 -9 585 £42,500 -5.56% 280
East Midlands -10 443 £35,000 -4.11% 194
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 60 (5.82%) SharePoint
2 40 (3.88%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.07%) CMS
4 10 (0.97%) IIS
5 5 (0.48%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.39%) Exchange Server 2007
6 4 (0.39%) Exchange Server 2010
6 4 (0.39%) Exchange Server 2013
7 3 (0.29%) Confluence
7 3 (0.29%) WordPress
8 2 (0.19%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.097%) Appian
9 1 (0.097%) Documentum
9 1 (0.097%) Drupal
9 1 (0.097%) SAS
Applications
1 94 (9.12%) Microsoft Office
2 72 (6.98%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (1.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (0.97%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.48%) Fusion 360
5 5 (0.48%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.097%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.097%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.097%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.097%) Simulink
6 1 (0.097%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 14 (1.36%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (1.16%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 10 (0.97%) Dynamics CRM
4 8 (0.78%) SAP Business One
5 7 (0.68%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 5 (0.48%) Magento
6 5 (0.48%) Q-Pulse
6 5 (0.48%) Shopify
7 4 (0.39%) Dynamics AX
7 4 (0.39%) iTrent
7 4 (0.39%) Line 50
7 4 (0.39%) Sage 50
7 4 (0.39%) Sage X3
8 2 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
8 2 (0.19%) SAP Business ByDesign
9 1 (0.097%) Oracle Payables
9 1 (0.097%) Oracle Receivables
9 1 (0.097%) Sage 200
9 1 (0.097%) SAP EWM
9 1 (0.097%) SAP FI
Cloud Services
1 222 (21.53%) Microsoft 365
2 180 (17.46%) Azure
3 102 (9.89%) Power Platform
4 77 (7.47%) Entra ID
5 73 (7.08%) AWS
6 36 (3.49%) SaaS
7 22 (2.13%) Serverless
8 21 (2.04%) Dynamics 365
9 18 (1.75%) Amazon S3
9 18 (1.75%) Power Automate
10 16 (1.55%) AWS Lambda
11 15 (1.45%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (1.45%) PowerApps
12 13 (1.26%) GCP
12 13 (1.26%) Google Workspace
12 13 (1.26%) OneDrive
13 11 (1.07%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (0.87%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
15 8 (0.78%) Amazon Cognito
Communications & Networking
1 62 (6.01%) DNS
1 62 (6.01%) Firewall
2 52 (5.04%) VPN
3 51 (4.95%) DHCP
4 38 (3.69%) TCP/IP
5 33 (3.20%) WAN
6 31 (3.01%) Wireless
7 24 (2.33%) LAN
7 24 (2.33%) VLAN
8 23 (2.23%) Wi-Fi
9 15 (1.45%) Network Security
10 12 (1.16%) Internet
10 12 (1.16%) SD-WAN
10 12 (1.16%) VoIP
11 8 (0.78%) MQTT
12 6 (0.58%) SSL
13 5 (0.48%) Cisco IOS
13 5 (0.48%) Remote Desktop
13 5 (0.48%) Skype
14 4 (0.39%) Bluetooth
Database & Business Intelligence
1 94 (9.12%) Power BI
2 43 (4.17%) SQL Server
3 23 (2.23%) Tableau
4 21 (2.04%) Power Query
5 20 (1.94%) MySQL
6 14 (1.36%) Data Warehouse
6 14 (1.36%) Relational Database
6 14 (1.36%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 12 (1.16%) Azure SQL Database
8 11 (1.07%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 9 (0.87%) Amazon Redshift
10 8 (0.78%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.68%) Amazon RDS
11 7 (0.68%) MongoDB
11 7 (0.68%) Star Schema
12 6 (0.58%) Data Mining
12 6 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
13 5 (0.48%) Crystal Reports
13 5 (0.48%) NoSQL
14 4 (0.39%) Neo4j
Development Applications
1 23 (2.23%) Git
2 14 (1.36%) JIRA
3 5 (0.48%) JUnit
3 5 (0.48%) VersionOne
4 4 (0.39%) Burp Suite
4 4 (0.39%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.39%) Maven
4 4 (0.39%) Metasploit
4 4 (0.39%) Mockito
5 3 (0.29%) Subversion
6 2 (0.19%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.19%) GitLab
6 2 (0.19%) Postman
6 2 (0.19%) SoapUI
6 2 (0.19%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.19%) TeamCity
6 2 (0.19%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.097%) Appium
7 1 (0.097%) TestRail
7 1 (0.097%) XCUITest
General
1 497 (48.21%) Social Skills
2 309 (29.97%) Analytical Skills
3 173 (16.78%) Finance
4 143 (13.87%) Manufacturing
5 66 (6.40%) Organisational Skills
5 66 (6.40%) Retail
6 47 (4.56%) Marketing
7 45 (4.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 40 (3.88%) Legal
9 35 (3.39%) Public Sector
10 34 (3.30%) Law
11 26 (2.52%) Influencing Skills
12 22 (2.13%) Electronics
13 21 (2.04%) Automotive
14 20 (1.94%) Documentation Skills
15 13 (1.26%) Telecoms
16 12 (1.16%) Banking
16 12 (1.16%) Games
17 10 (0.97%) Advertising
17 10 (0.97%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 166 (16.10%) Analyst
2 147 (14.26%) Support Engineer
3 133 (12.90%) IT Support
4 94 (9.12%) Developer
5 92 (8.92%) Senior
6 83 (8.05%) IT Engineer
7 79 (7.66%) Technical Support
8 73 (7.08%) Technical Engineer
9 72 (6.98%) Technical Support Engineer
10 64 (6.21%) IT Support Engineer
11 62 (6.01%) Support Technician
12 51 (4.95%) Lead
13 47 (4.56%) IT Technician
14 43 (4.17%) Support Analyst
15 42 (4.07%) IT Manager
16 41 (3.98%) IT Support Technician
17 38 (3.69%) Data Analyst
18 37 (3.59%) Consultant
19 33 (3.20%) Senior Analyst
20 27 (2.62%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (4.07%) REST
2 40 (3.88%) React
3 29 (2.81%) Node.js
4 27 (2.62%) .NET
5 18 (1.75%) CSS
5 18 (1.75%) HTML
6 15 (1.45%) Spring
7 13 (1.26%) SOAP
8 12 (1.16%) AngularJS
8 12 (1.16%) Spring Boot
9 11 (1.07%) RESTful
10 9 (0.87%) Middleware
11 8 (0.78%) JDBC
11 8 (0.78%) OAuth
11 8 (0.78%) SAP Fiori
11 8 (0.78%) SAPUI5
12 7 (0.68%) ASP.NET
13 6 (0.58%) ASP.NET Core
14 5 (0.48%) EDI
14 5 (0.48%) JSON
Miscellaneous
1 100 (9.70%) Driving Licence
2 52 (5.04%) Management Information System
3 51 (4.95%) Onboarding
4 43 (4.17%) Self-Motivation
5 20 (1.94%) Enterprise Software
6 18 (1.75%) IoT
7 16 (1.55%) Analytical Mindset
8 13 (1.26%) Legacy Systems
8 13 (1.26%) Social Media
9 12 (1.16%) Security Posture
10 11 (1.07%) Greenfield Project
10 11 (1.07%) Virtual Team
11 10 (0.97%) Data Centre
12 9 (0.87%) Data Structures
12 9 (0.87%) Mobile App
12 9 (0.87%) NHS
12 9 (0.87%) Replication
12 9 (0.87%) SCADA
13 8 (0.78%) Hybrid Cloud
13 8 (0.78%) iSeries
Operating Systems
1 182 (17.65%) Windows
2 66 (6.40%) Linux
2 66 (6.40%) Windows Server
3 48 (4.66%) Windows 10
4 15 (1.45%) Android
5 11 (1.07%) Apple iOS
6 10 (0.97%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.68%) Debian
7 7 (0.68%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.58%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 5 (0.48%) CentOS
9 5 (0.48%) OpenVMS
9 5 (0.48%) Unix
9 5 (0.48%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.39%) FreeRTOS
10 4 (0.39%) VMS
11 3 (0.29%) SUSE
12 1 (0.097%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.097%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 271 (26.29%) Continuous Improvement
2 177 (17.17%) Customer Service
3 141 (13.68%) Decision-Making
4 132 (12.80%) Analytics
5 121 (11.74%) Collaborative Working
5 121 (11.74%) Mentoring
6 120 (11.64%) Agile
7 102 (9.89%) ERP
8 100 (9.70%) ITIL
9 97 (9.41%) Business Intelligence
10 90 (8.73%) Service Delivery
11 89 (8.63%) Cybersecurity
12 78 (7.57%) AI
13 68 (6.60%) Roadmaps
14 63 (6.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 62 (6.01%) Process Improvement
16 61 (5.92%) CRM
17 59 (5.72%) Root Cause Analysis
18 56 (5.43%) Computer Science
18 56 (5.43%) Customer Experience
Programming Languages
1 174 (16.88%) SQL
2 79 (7.66%) Python
3 42 (4.07%) PowerShell
4 41 (3.98%) Java
5 30 (2.91%) C#
6 29 (2.81%) JavaScript
7 25 (2.42%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 19 (1.84%) Ladder Logic
9 17 (1.65%) TypeScript
10 15 (1.45%) VBA
11 13 (1.26%) Bash
11 13 (1.26%) PHP
12 11 (1.07%) C
13 10 (0.97%) C++
14 8 (0.78%) ABAP
15 7 (0.68%) RPG
15 7 (0.68%) T-SQL
16 6 (0.58%) Go
16 6 (0.58%) R
17 5 (0.48%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 136 (13.19%) Degree
2 73 (7.08%) Security Cleared
3 57 (5.53%) SC Cleared
4 30 (2.91%) Microsoft Certification
5 27 (2.62%) DBS Check
6 18 (1.75%) CISSP
7 17 (1.65%) Azure Certification
8 15 (1.45%) CompTIA Security+
8 15 (1.45%) Computer Science Degree
9 12 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
10 10 (0.97%) A+ Certification
11 8 (0.78%) BPSS Clearance
12 7 (0.68%) ACCA
12 7 (0.68%) CIMA
12 7 (0.68%) CISA
12 7 (0.68%) PMI Certification
12 7 (0.68%) SSCP
13 6 (0.58%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 6 (0.58%) CCSP
13 6 (0.58%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (4.66%) Data Quality
2 44 (4.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 42 (4.07%) Cyber Essentials
4 34 (3.30%) QA
5 30 (2.91%) GDPR
6 26 (2.52%) SLA
7 20 (1.94%) NIST
8 17 (1.65%) Accessibility
8 17 (1.65%) ISO 9001
9 13 (1.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 9 (0.87%) ISO 14001
11 7 (0.68%) GRC
11 7 (0.68%) PCI DSS
12 6 (0.58%) Actionable Recommendations
13 5 (0.48%) COSHH
13 5 (0.48%) GMP
14 4 (0.39%) HIPAA
14 4 (0.39%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 3 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 3 (0.29%) SOC 2
System Software
1 136 (13.19%) Active Directory
2 43 (4.17%) Hyper-V
3 32 (3.10%) VMware Infrastructure
4 21 (2.04%) Docker
5 9 (0.87%) Firmware
6 8 (0.78%) vSphere
7 5 (0.48%) Embedded Firmware
7 5 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.19%) Samba
10 1 (0.097%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.097%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 47 (4.56%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (1.94%) Kubernetes
3 13 (1.26%) Terraform
4 9 (0.87%) Ansible
5 7 (0.68%) Grafana
6 6 (0.58%) Prometheus
7 5 (0.48%) Nagios
8 4 (0.39%) Functional Safety
8 4 (0.39%) Galera Cluster
8 4 (0.39%) Nmap
8 4 (0.39%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.29%) SCCM
10 2 (0.19%) Progress Chef
10 2 (0.19%) Puppet
10 2 (0.19%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.097%) BMC PATROL
11 1 (0.097%) Control-M
11 1 (0.097%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.097%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.097%) WhatsUp Gold
Vendors
1 297 (28.81%) Microsoft
2 40 (3.88%) VMware
3 38 (3.69%) SAP
4 28 (2.72%) Cisco
5 19 (1.84%) IBM
6 17 (1.65%) Google
7 15 (1.45%) Cognos
7 15 (1.45%) Sage
7 15 (1.45%) Salesforce
7 15 (1.45%) ServiceNow
8 14 (1.36%) Workday
9 12 (1.16%) Dell
10 11 (1.07%) Oracle
10 11 (1.07%) Red Hat
11 9 (0.87%) iManage
11 9 (0.87%) SolarWinds
12 8 (0.78%) HP
13 7 (0.68%) Apple
13 7 (0.68%) Epicor
13 7 (0.68%) JD Edwards