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 16 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -21 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 868 1,172 1,784
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 6.65% 23.04% 15.19%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.20% 25.74% 18.61%
Number of salaries quoted 674 620 1,215
10th Percentile £26,265 £25,725 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,250 £31,250 £28,875
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £42,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +7.14% -11.58%
75th Percentile £55,627 £61,250 £57,500
90th Percentile £66,250 £72,500 £69,600
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,967 £50,000
% change year-on-year -6.80% +1.93% -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 9,438 4,553 9,584
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 72.29% 89.52% 81.62%
Number of salaries quoted 5,726 2,550 7,144
10th Percentile £29,625 £27,250 £26,250
25th Percentile £39,000 £33,750 £34,959
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,500 £63,750 £62,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £75,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +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 16 May 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 16 May 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 -24 512 £42,500 -11.46% 255
East Midlands -10 353 £35,000 -12.50% 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 57 (6.57%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.72%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.27%) CMS
4 5 (0.58%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.46%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.46%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.35%) WordPress
7 2 (0.23%) Confluence
7 2 (0.23%) IIS
8 1 (0.12%) Appian
8 1 (0.12%) Drupal
8 1 (0.12%) SAS
Applications
1 68 (7.83%) Microsoft Office
2 52 (5.99%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.96%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.58%) Fusion 360
7 4 (0.46%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.12%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.12%) Sketch
8 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (1.50%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.15%) iTrent
3 7 (0.81%) SAP Business One
4 6 (0.69%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (0.58%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 5 (0.58%) Magento
5 5 (0.58%) Q-Pulse
5 5 (0.58%) Shopify
6 4 (0.46%) Line 50
7 3 (0.35%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.35%) Sage 50
7 3 (0.35%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 2 (0.23%) Sage X3
8 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
9 1 (0.12%) Dynamics NAV
9 1 (0.12%) Exchequer
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle EBS
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.12%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 198 (22.81%) Microsoft 365
2 162 (18.66%) Azure
3 80 (9.22%) Power Platform
4 77 (8.87%) AWS
5 61 (7.03%) Entra ID
6 31 (3.57%) Serverless
7 28 (3.23%) SaaS
8 22 (2.53%) Amazon S3
8 22 (2.53%) AWS Lambda
9 19 (2.19%) Dynamics 365
10 17 (1.96%) Power Automate
11 14 (1.61%) OneDrive
11 14 (1.61%) PowerApps
12 13 (1.50%) GCP
12 13 (1.50%) Google Workspace
13 10 (1.15%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (1.04%) Azure Data Factory
15 8 (0.92%) Azure DevOps
15 8 (0.92%) Azure Sentinel
16 7 (0.81%) Amazon Cognito
Communications & Networking
1 52 (5.99%) DNS
2 44 (5.07%) DHCP
2 44 (5.07%) VPN
3 40 (4.61%) Firewall
3 40 (4.61%) WAN
4 26 (3.00%) LAN
4 26 (3.00%) Wireless
5 21 (2.42%) Wi-Fi
6 19 (2.19%) Internet
7 18 (2.07%) TCP/IP
8 16 (1.84%) SD-WAN
9 13 (1.50%) VoIP
10 12 (1.38%) VLAN
11 10 (1.15%) Network Security
12 7 (0.81%) MQTT
13 5 (0.58%) Bluetooth
13 5 (0.58%) Skype
14 4 (0.46%) WLAN
15 3 (0.35%) LoRaWAN
15 3 (0.35%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (8.18%) Power BI
2 32 (3.69%) SQL Server
3 18 (2.07%) Power Query
3 18 (2.07%) Tableau
4 14 (1.61%) MySQL
5 13 (1.50%) Amazon Redshift
5 13 (1.50%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 10 (1.15%) Oracle Reports
7 7 (0.81%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (0.81%) DynamoDB
7 7 (0.81%) Star Schema
8 6 (0.69%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (0.58%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.58%) NoSQL
9 5 (0.58%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 4 (0.46%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.46%) FileMaker
10 4 (0.46%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.35%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.35%) GIS
Development Applications
1 19 (2.19%) Git
1 19 (2.19%) JIRA
2 6 (0.69%) JUnit
2 6 (0.69%) Maven
2 6 (0.69%) Mockito
2 6 (0.69%) Subversion
3 5 (0.58%) VersionOne
4 4 (0.46%) Burp Suite
4 4 (0.46%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.46%) Metasploit
5 3 (0.35%) GitLab
6 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.23%) TeamCity
6 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.23%) XCUITest
7 1 (0.12%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.12%) Bugzilla
7 1 (0.12%) MLflow
7 1 (0.12%) Postman
7 1 (0.12%) SoapUI
General
1 375 (43.20%) Social Skills
2 261 (30.07%) Analytical Skills
3 148 (17.05%) Finance
4 93 (10.71%) Manufacturing
5 60 (6.91%) Organisational Skills
6 44 (5.07%) Retail
7 43 (4.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 37 (4.26%) Marketing
9 36 (4.15%) Law
10 34 (3.92%) Legal
11 29 (3.34%) Public Sector
12 23 (2.65%) Electronics
13 18 (2.07%) Documentation Skills
14 17 (1.96%) Automotive
15 13 (1.50%) Banking
15 13 (1.50%) Influencing Skills
15 13 (1.50%) Telecoms
16 10 (1.15%) Games
16 10 (1.15%) Investment Banking
17 9 (1.04%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 134 (15.44%) Analyst
1 134 (15.44%) Support Engineer
2 120 (13.82%) IT Support
3 91 (10.48%) IT Engineer
4 74 (8.53%) Senior
5 72 (8.29%) IT Support Engineer
6 67 (7.72%) Developer
7 57 (6.57%) Technical Support
8 51 (5.88%) Technical Engineer
8 51 (5.88%) Technical Support Engineer
9 50 (5.76%) Lead
10 43 (4.95%) Support Technician
11 39 (4.49%) Support Analyst
12 31 (3.57%) Consultant
13 29 (3.34%) IT Technician
14 27 (3.11%) Administrator
14 27 (3.11%) IT Manager
15 26 (3.00%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 26 (3.00%) IT Support Technician
16 25 (2.88%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (4.84%) React
2 30 (3.46%) Node.js
3 27 (3.11%) CSS
3 27 (3.11%) HTML
4 21 (2.42%) REST
5 14 (1.61%) .NET
6 11 (1.27%) Spring
7 9 (1.04%) RESTful
7 9 (1.04%) Spring Boot
8 8 (0.92%) AngularJS
9 5 (0.58%) JSON
10 4 (0.46%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.46%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.46%) ASP.NET Core
10 4 (0.46%) EDI
10 4 (0.46%) Laravel
10 4 (0.46%) Middleware
11 3 (0.35%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.35%) Vue
11 3 (0.35%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 100 (11.52%) Driving Licence
2 45 (5.18%) Onboarding
3 38 (4.38%) Management Information System
4 37 (4.26%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (2.07%) Social Media
6 15 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
6 15 (1.73%) Enterprise Software
7 12 (1.38%) FMCG
8 11 (1.27%) Legacy Systems
8 11 (1.27%) Product Ownership
9 10 (1.15%) IoT
10 9 (1.04%) Data Centre
10 9 (1.04%) Security Posture
10 9 (1.04%) Virtual Team
11 8 (0.92%) Greenfield Project
12 7 (0.81%) Cyber Defence
12 7 (0.81%) EPoS
13 6 (0.69%) Embedded Systems
13 6 (0.69%) Hybrid Cloud
13 6 (0.69%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 150 (17.28%) Windows
2 54 (6.22%) Windows Server
3 44 (5.07%) Linux
4 39 (4.49%) Windows 10
5 10 (1.15%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.92%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.69%) Android
7 6 (0.69%) Debian
8 5 (0.58%) CentOS
8 5 (0.58%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.46%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.46%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.46%) Unix
9 4 (0.46%) VMS
9 4 (0.46%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.35%) SUSE
11 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 179 (20.62%) Continuous Improvement
2 151 (17.40%) Customer Service
3 114 (13.13%) Agile
4 100 (11.52%) Decision-Making
5 86 (9.91%) ITIL
6 82 (9.45%) Analytics
7 78 (8.99%) Mentoring
8 72 (8.29%) Business Intelligence
8 72 (8.29%) ERP
9 70 (8.06%) Collaborative Working
10 65 (7.49%) Service Delivery
11 63 (7.26%) Cybersecurity
12 60 (6.91%) Process Improvement
13 58 (6.68%) AI
13 58 (6.68%) Project Management
14 57 (6.57%) CRM
15 53 (6.11%) Computer Science
16 50 (5.76%) Roadmaps
17 48 (5.53%) Time Management
18 46 (5.30%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 121 (13.94%) SQL
2 65 (7.49%) Python
3 33 (3.80%) PowerShell
4 31 (3.57%) JavaScript
5 27 (3.11%) Java
6 21 (2.42%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 17 (1.96%) C#
7 17 (1.96%) TypeScript
8 15 (1.73%) PHP
9 13 (1.50%) Bash
9 13 (1.50%) C
10 12 (1.38%) Ladder Logic
11 10 (1.15%) C++
12 7 (0.81%) R
12 7 (0.81%) T-SQL
13 6 (0.69%) PL/SQL
14 5 (0.58%) VBA
15 4 (0.46%) Embedded C
16 3 (0.35%) Go
16 3 (0.35%) RPG
Qualifications
1 129 (14.86%) Degree
2 58 (6.68%) Security Cleared
3 47 (5.41%) SC Cleared
4 33 (3.80%) Microsoft Certification
5 27 (3.11%) DBS Check
6 24 (2.76%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (1.84%) CISSP
8 15 (1.73%) CompTIA Security+
9 14 (1.61%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.38%) A+ Certification
10 12 (1.38%) PMI Certification
11 11 (1.27%) CCNA
12 10 (1.15%) ACCA
12 10 (1.15%) BPSS Clearance
12 10 (1.15%) CIMA
12 10 (1.15%) PMP
13 7 (0.81%) CISA
13 7 (0.81%) MCSE
13 7 (0.81%) SSCP
14 6 (0.69%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (4.72%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.49%) QA
3 26 (3.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 25 (2.88%) GDPR
5 19 (2.19%) Cyber Essentials
6 18 (2.07%) NIST
7 16 (1.84%) SLA
8 11 (1.27%) Accessibility
9 9 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 8 (0.92%) Actionable Recommendations
11 7 (0.81%) ISO 14001
11 7 (0.81%) ISO 9001
12 6 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 5 (0.58%) COSHH
13 5 (0.58%) GMP
13 5 (0.58%) HIPAA
13 5 (0.58%) PCI DSS
14 3 (0.35%) California Consumer Privacy Act
14 3 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 3 (0.35%) SOC 2
System Software
1 106 (12.21%) Active Directory
2 22 (2.53%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.42%) Docker
4 13 (1.50%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.04%) vSphere
6 8 (0.92%) Firmware
7 4 (0.46%) Embedded Firmware
8 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.12%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.12%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.12%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 35 (4.03%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (2.53%) Kubernetes
3 17 (1.96%) Terraform
4 7 (0.81%) Ansible
5 6 (0.69%) Nagios
6 4 (0.46%) Grafana
6 4 (0.46%) Nmap
6 4 (0.46%) Prometheus
6 4 (0.46%) SCCM
7 3 (0.35%) Functional Safety
7 3 (0.35%) Galera Cluster
7 3 (0.35%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.23%) Puppet
8 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 228 (26.27%) Microsoft
2 30 (3.46%) Cisco
2 30 (3.46%) VMware
3 29 (3.34%) SAP
4 26 (3.00%) Oracle
5 16 (1.84%) Google
6 13 (1.50%) Sage
7 12 (1.38%) Salesforce
8 11 (1.27%) Dell
8 11 (1.27%) SolarWinds
9 9 (1.04%) Databricks
9 9 (1.04%) Meraki
9 9 (1.04%) ServiceNow
10 8 (0.92%) Cognos
10 8 (0.92%) HP
10 8 (0.92%) IBM
10 8 (0.92%) Workday
11 7 (0.81%) Zscaler
12 6 (0.69%) Apple
12 6 (0.69%) Avaya