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

6 months to
27 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,421 1,214 1,450
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 9.02% 21.49% 14.73%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.89% 24.96% 18.48%
Number of salaries quoted 971 696 507
10th Percentile £27,000 £25,250 £26,500
25th Percentile £31,000 £29,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £38,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +11.84% -20.00% -3.06%
75th Percentile £56,838 £50,000 £60,000
90th Percentile £71,250 £65,000 £72,500
England median annual salary £46,500 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +3.33% -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 11,022 4,864 7,847
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 69.95% 86.10% 79.71%
Number of salaries quoted 7,820 2,873 3,741
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,500 £47,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.42% -5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £63,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £78,250
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £59,664
% change year-on-year +9.09% -7.82% -4.27%

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 September 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 September 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 -7 795 £42,500 -0.98% 667
East Midlands -7 624 £42,000 +27.27% 441
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 (5.00%) SharePoint
2 44 (3.10%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (0.99%) IIS
4 8 (0.56%) CMS
4 8 (0.56%) Confluence
5 5 (0.35%) CICS
6 4 (0.28%) SAS
6 4 (0.28%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.28%) WordPress
7 3 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.21%) Headless CMS
7 3 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.14%) Documentum
9 1 (0.070%) Apache
9 1 (0.070%) Appian
9 1 (0.070%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.070%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 1 (0.070%) Tomcat
Applications
1 124 (8.73%) Microsoft Office
2 100 (7.04%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (0.84%) Spreadsheet
4 11 (0.77%) Simulink
5 9 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 7 (0.49%) OrCAD
7 5 (0.35%) AutoCAD
7 5 (0.35%) EPLAN
7 5 (0.35%) Fusion 360
8 4 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
8 4 (0.28%) Revit
9 3 (0.21%) Navisworks
9 3 (0.21%) SOLIDWORKS
10 2 (0.14%) Chatbot
10 2 (0.14%) MS Visio
11 1 (0.070%) Adobe Illustrator
11 1 (0.070%) CorelDRAW
11 1 (0.070%) Photoshop
11 1 (0.070%) SketchUp
11 1 (0.070%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 19 (1.34%) Dynamics CRM
2 14 (0.99%) SAP S/4HANA
3 13 (0.91%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 13 (0.91%) Shopify
4 11 (0.77%) SAP Business One
5 10 (0.70%) NetSuite
6 9 (0.63%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 7 (0.49%) Sage X3
8 6 (0.42%) Dynamics AX
8 6 (0.42%) Magento
9 5 (0.35%) Oracle EBS
9 5 (0.35%) Oracle ERP
9 5 (0.35%) Payment Gateway
9 5 (0.35%) Sage 50
9 5 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
10 4 (0.28%) Line 50
10 4 (0.28%) Oracle Payables
11 3 (0.21%) Infor M3
11 3 (0.21%) SAP FI
11 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 265 (18.65%) Microsoft 365
2 239 (16.82%) Azure
3 135 (9.50%) Power Platform
4 94 (6.62%) Entra ID
5 83 (5.84%) AWS
6 54 (3.80%) SaaS
7 38 (2.67%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (2.53%) Dynamics 365
9 25 (1.76%) Power Automate
10 21 (1.48%) GitHub
11 20 (1.41%) Google Workspace
11 20 (1.41%) OneDrive
12 18 (1.27%) PowerApps
13 17 (1.20%) GitHub Actions
13 17 (1.20%) Microsoft Copilot
13 17 (1.20%) Microsoft Purview
14 16 (1.13%) GCP
15 13 (0.91%) PaaS
16 12 (0.84%) Google Analytics
17 11 (0.77%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 78 (5.49%) DNS
2 66 (4.64%) Firewall
3 64 (4.50%) DHCP
4 62 (4.36%) VPN
5 53 (3.73%) TCP/IP
6 34 (2.39%) Wireless
7 32 (2.25%) VLAN
7 32 (2.25%) WAN
8 31 (2.18%) LAN
9 28 (1.97%) Wi-Fi
10 20 (1.41%) Network Security
11 16 (1.13%) VoIP
12 12 (0.84%) Internet
13 9 (0.63%) Wireshark
14 8 (0.56%) Modbus
15 7 (0.49%) Cisco IOS
15 7 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.42%) MQTT
16 6 (0.42%) SSL
17 5 (0.35%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 125 (8.80%) Power BI
2 58 (4.08%) SQL Server
3 28 (1.97%) Relational Database
4 27 (1.90%) Tableau
5 26 (1.83%) Data Warehouse
6 23 (1.62%) Power Query
7 22 (1.55%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 18 (1.27%) Azure SQL Database
9 16 (1.13%) Electronic Patient Records
9 16 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 14 (0.99%) MySQL
11 12 (0.84%) Data Mining
12 11 (0.77%) Crystal Reports
12 11 (0.77%) Oracle Reports
13 9 (0.63%) Data Lake
13 9 (0.63%) DynamoDB
13 9 (0.63%) PostgreSQL
14 6 (0.42%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (0.42%) MongoDB
15 5 (0.35%) Oracle BI EE
Development Applications
1 46 (3.24%) Git
2 32 (2.25%) JIRA
3 26 (1.83%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.63%) Eclipse
5 8 (0.56%) GitLab
6 7 (0.49%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.49%) LabVIEW
6 7 (0.49%) Postman
6 7 (0.49%) Selenium
7 6 (0.42%) JMeter
7 6 (0.42%) Maven
8 5 (0.35%) JUnit
8 5 (0.35%) SoapUI
8 5 (0.35%) VersionOne
8 5 (0.35%) Zephyr
9 4 (0.28%) Burp Suite
9 4 (0.28%) Metasploit
10 3 (0.21%) Mockito
10 3 (0.21%) Subversion
11 2 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 732 (51.51%) Social Skills
2 412 (28.99%) Analytical Skills
3 244 (17.17%) Manufacturing
4 229 (16.12%) Finance
5 124 (8.73%) Organisational Skills
6 103 (7.25%) Retail
7 79 (5.56%) Marketing
8 66 (4.64%) Public Sector
9 53 (3.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 52 (3.66%) Electronics
11 42 (2.96%) Law
12 39 (2.74%) Legal
13 38 (2.67%) Automotive
14 30 (2.11%) Influencing Skills
15 22 (1.55%) Telecoms
16 21 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
17 17 (1.20%) Aerospace
18 16 (1.13%) Presentation Skills
19 12 (0.84%) Billing
20 11 (0.77%) Banking
Job Titles
1 189 (13.30%) Analyst
2 155 (10.91%) IT Support
3 145 (10.20%) Support Engineer
4 115 (8.09%) Senior
5 113 (7.95%) Developer
6 88 (6.19%) IT Engineer
7 84 (5.91%) Consultant
8 82 (5.77%) Lead
9 76 (5.35%) Technical Support
10 65 (4.57%) IT Support Engineer
10 65 (4.57%) Technical Engineer
11 64 (4.50%) Support Analyst
12 63 (4.43%) Technical Support Engineer
13 59 (4.15%) Support Technician
14 49 (3.45%) IT Technician
15 41 (2.89%) Data Analyst
16 40 (2.81%) IT Manager
16 40 (2.81%) IT Support Technician
17 37 (2.60%) Administrator
18 33 (2.32%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (4.08%) REST
2 48 (3.38%) .NET
3 37 (2.60%) React
4 30 (2.11%) Spring
5 27 (1.90%) Spring Boot
6 26 (1.83%) SOAP
7 20 (1.41%) Node.js
8 17 (1.20%) CSS
8 17 (1.20%) HTML
8 17 (1.20%) RESTful
8 17 (1.20%) Terraform
9 14 (0.99%) AngularJS
9 14 (0.99%) ISPF
9 14 (0.99%) Playwright
10 12 (0.84%) EDI
10 12 (0.84%) JSON
10 12 (0.84%) XML
11 11 (0.77%) Middleware
11 11 (0.77%) SAP Fiori
12 9 (0.63%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 167 (11.75%) Driving Licence
2 103 (7.25%) Onboarding
3 83 (5.84%) Management Information System
4 74 (5.21%) Self-Motivation
5 44 (3.10%) Enterprise Software
6 37 (2.60%) Robotics
7 28 (1.97%) NHS
8 22 (1.55%) Analytical Mindset
9 21 (1.48%) SCADA
10 18 (1.27%) Data Centre
10 18 (1.27%) Social Media
11 17 (1.20%) IoT
11 17 (1.20%) SystemC
12 16 (1.13%) Legacy Applications
12 16 (1.13%) Virtual Team
13 15 (1.06%) CMDB
13 15 (1.06%) Greenfield Project
13 15 (1.06%) Mainframe
14 14 (0.99%) Data Structures
14 14 (0.99%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 250 (17.59%) Windows
2 91 (6.40%) Windows Server
3 79 (5.56%) Linux
4 46 (3.24%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.20%) Android
6 13 (0.91%) Apple iOS
7 11 (0.77%) Mac OS
8 10 (0.70%) Unix
9 7 (0.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.35%) OpenVMS
11 4 (0.28%) FreeRTOS
11 4 (0.28%) Ubuntu
11 4 (0.28%) VMS
12 3 (0.21%) Solaris
12 3 (0.21%) Windows Server 2016
13 2 (0.14%) Debian
14 1 (0.070%) AIX
14 1 (0.070%) CentOS
14 1 (0.070%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.070%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 409 (28.78%) Continuous Improvement
2 290 (20.41%) Customer Service
3 190 (13.37%) Decision-Making
4 175 (12.32%) Analytics
5 170 (11.96%) Agile
6 144 (10.13%) Mentoring
7 136 (9.57%) ERP
8 135 (9.50%) Business Intelligence
9 127 (8.94%) Collaborative Working
10 122 (8.59%) Cybersecurity
11 112 (7.88%) Stakeholder Management
12 105 (7.39%) Project Delivery
13 101 (7.11%) AI
14 99 (6.97%) Service Delivery
15 97 (6.83%) Roadmaps
16 95 (6.69%) Project Management
17 94 (6.62%) ITIL
18 89 (6.26%) CRM
19 85 (5.98%) Root Cause Analysis
19 85 (5.98%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 222 (15.62%) SQL
2 98 (6.90%) Python
3 71 (5.00%) Java
4 58 (4.08%) PowerShell
5 47 (3.31%) JavaScript
6 37 (2.60%) C#
7 28 (1.97%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 22 (1.55%) C
9 21 (1.48%) Ladder Logic
9 21 (1.48%) TypeScript
10 17 (1.20%) Embedded C
11 14 (0.99%) COBOL
11 14 (0.99%) JCL
12 13 (0.91%) VBA
13 11 (0.77%) Bash
13 11 (0.77%) C++
13 11 (0.77%) MATLAB
14 9 (0.63%) ABAP
15 8 (0.56%) R
16 7 (0.49%) PHP
Qualifications
1 216 (15.20%) Degree
2 100 (7.04%) Security Cleared
3 84 (5.91%) SC Cleared
4 43 (3.03%) HNC
4 43 (3.03%) HND
5 25 (1.76%) Azure Certification
6 24 (1.69%) DBS Check
7 22 (1.55%) Microsoft Certification
8 19 (1.34%) Cisco Certification
9 15 (1.06%) Computer Science Degree
9 15 (1.06%) NVQ Level 3
10 14 (0.99%) PMI Certification
11 13 (0.91%) CCNA
11 13 (0.91%) City & Guilds
12 12 (0.84%) NVQ Level 4
13 11 (0.77%) ACCA
14 9 (0.63%) CISSP
15 8 (0.56%) BPSS Clearance
16 7 (0.49%) A+ Certification
16 7 (0.49%) Chartered Engineer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 66 (4.64%) Data Quality
2 57 (4.01%) GDPR
3 52 (3.66%) QA
4 41 (2.89%) SLA
5 40 (2.81%) Cyber Essentials
6 31 (2.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 25 (1.76%) Accessibility
8 22 (1.55%) ISO 9001
9 10 (0.70%) PCI DSS
10 9 (0.63%) ISO 14001
11 7 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 7 (0.49%) GRC
12 6 (0.42%) GMP
12 6 (0.42%) NIST
13 5 (0.35%) PMO
14 4 (0.28%) 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
1 165 (11.61%) Active Directory
2 54 (3.80%) Hyper-V
3 30 (2.11%) VMware Infrastructure
4 25 (1.76%) Docker
5 21 (1.48%) Firmware
6 13 (0.91%) Embedded Firmware
6 13 (0.91%) Virtual Desktop
7 8 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
8 6 (0.42%) vSphere
9 2 (0.14%) Samba
9 2 (0.14%) XenApp
10 1 (0.070%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 51 (3.59%) Microsoft Intune
2 21 (1.48%) Kubernetes
3 10 (0.70%) SCCM
4 8 (0.56%) Ansible
4 8 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
5 7 (0.49%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.28%) Backup Exec
6 4 (0.28%) BMC PATROL
6 4 (0.28%) Grafana
6 4 (0.28%) Nmap
6 4 (0.28%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.21%) Control-M
7 3 (0.21%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (0.21%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.21%) Puppet
7 3 (0.21%) WhatsUp Gold
8 2 (0.14%) Galera Cluster
8 2 (0.14%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.14%) WSUS
9 1 (0.070%) Nagios
Vendors
1 437 (30.75%) Microsoft
2 67 (4.71%) SAP
3 41 (2.89%) VMware
3 41 (2.89%) Workday
4 39 (2.74%) Oracle
5 37 (2.60%) Google
6 33 (2.32%) Cisco
7 32 (2.25%) ServiceNow
8 27 (1.90%) Sage
9 21 (1.48%) Salesforce
10 20 (1.41%) IBM
11 18 (1.27%) Cognos
12 14 (0.99%) Allen-Bradley
12 14 (0.99%) Databricks
13 13 (0.91%) JD Edwards
14 12 (0.84%) Apple
14 12 (0.84%) HubSpot
14 12 (0.84%) Siemens
15 10 (0.70%) Epicor
15 10 (0.70%) Sophos