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

6 months to
13 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -22 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 857 1,058 1,780
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 6.65% 21.20% 15.21%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.18% 23.71% 18.61%
Number of salaries quoted 663 619 1,214
10th Percentile £26,265 £25,700 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,250 £31,250 £28,813
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 £71,700 £70,000
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 9,336 4,463 9,563
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 72.43% 89.42% 81.72%
Number of salaries quoted 5,643 2,558 7,134
10th Percentile £29,625 £27,465 £26,250
25th Percentile £39,000 £34,250 £34,834
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,375 £63,750 £62,311
90th Percentile £82,500 £76,250 £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 13 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 13 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 -25 506 £42,500 -11.46% 259
East Midlands -10 348 £35,000 -12.50% 171
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 (6.65%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.78%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.17%) CMS
4 5 (0.58%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.47%) 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 64 (7.47%) Microsoft Office
2 49 (5.72%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.98%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.82%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.58%) Fusion 360
6 5 (0.58%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.12%) Abaqus
7 1 (0.12%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.12%) Sketch
7 1 (0.12%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (1.52%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.17%) iTrent
3 7 (0.82%) SAP Business One
4 6 (0.70%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (0.58%) Magento
5 5 (0.58%) Q-Pulse
5 5 (0.58%) Shopify
6 4 (0.47%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 4 (0.47%) Line 50
7 3 (0.35%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.35%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 2 (0.23%) Sage 50
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
1 197 (22.99%) Microsoft 365
2 162 (18.90%) Azure
3 80 (9.33%) Power Platform
4 77 (8.98%) AWS
5 60 (7.00%) Entra ID
6 31 (3.62%) Serverless
7 27 (3.15%) SaaS
8 22 (2.57%) Amazon S3
8 22 (2.57%) AWS Lambda
9 20 (2.33%) Dynamics 365
10 18 (2.10%) Power Automate
11 14 (1.63%) OneDrive
11 14 (1.63%) PowerApps
12 13 (1.52%) GCP
12 13 (1.52%) Google Workspace
13 10 (1.17%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (1.05%) Azure Data Factory
15 8 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
15 8 (0.93%) Azure Sentinel
16 7 (0.82%) Amazon Cognito
Communications & Networking
1 50 (5.83%) DNS
2 44 (5.13%) VPN
3 42 (4.90%) DHCP
4 40 (4.67%) WAN
5 39 (4.55%) Firewall
6 26 (3.03%) LAN
7 24 (2.80%) Wireless
8 21 (2.45%) Wi-Fi
9 19 (2.22%) Internet
10 17 (1.98%) TCP/IP
11 16 (1.87%) SD-WAN
12 13 (1.52%) VoIP
13 10 (1.17%) Network Security
13 10 (1.17%) VLAN
14 7 (0.82%) MQTT
15 5 (0.58%) Bluetooth
15 5 (0.58%) Skype
16 4 (0.47%) WLAN
17 3 (0.35%) LoRaWAN
17 3 (0.35%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (8.28%) Power BI
2 34 (3.97%) SQL Server
3 17 (1.98%) Power Query
3 17 (1.98%) Tableau
4 14 (1.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 13 (1.52%) Amazon Redshift
5 13 (1.52%) MySQL
6 10 (1.17%) Oracle Reports
7 7 (0.82%) Azure SQL Database
7 7 (0.82%) Data Warehouse
7 7 (0.82%) DynamoDB
7 7 (0.82%) Star Schema
8 6 (0.70%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 5 (0.58%) MongoDB
9 5 (0.58%) NoSQL
10 4 (0.47%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.47%) FileMaker
10 4 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.35%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.35%) GIS
Development Applications
1 19 (2.22%) Git
1 19 (2.22%) JIRA
2 6 (0.70%) JUnit
2 6 (0.70%) Maven
2 6 (0.70%) Mockito
2 6 (0.70%) Subversion
3 5 (0.58%) VersionOne
4 4 (0.47%) Burp Suite
4 4 (0.47%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.47%) 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 (43.76%) Social Skills
2 259 (30.22%) Analytical Skills
3 148 (17.27%) Finance
4 93 (10.85%) Manufacturing
5 59 (6.88%) Organisational Skills
6 44 (5.13%) Retail
7 42 (4.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 37 (4.32%) Law
8 37 (4.32%) Marketing
9 35 (4.08%) Legal
10 29 (3.38%) Public Sector
11 22 (2.57%) Electronics
12 18 (2.10%) Documentation Skills
13 17 (1.98%) Automotive
14 13 (1.52%) Banking
14 13 (1.52%) Influencing Skills
15 12 (1.40%) Telecoms
16 10 (1.17%) Advertising
16 10 (1.17%) Games
16 10 (1.17%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 134 (15.64%) Analyst
2 130 (15.17%) Support Engineer
3 119 (13.89%) IT Support
4 90 (10.50%) IT Engineer
5 73 (8.52%) Senior
6 71 (8.28%) IT Support Engineer
7 65 (7.58%) Developer
8 54 (6.30%) Technical Support
9 51 (5.95%) Lead
10 48 (5.60%) Technical Engineer
10 48 (5.60%) Technical Support Engineer
11 41 (4.78%) Support Technician
12 40 (4.67%) Support Analyst
13 31 (3.62%) Consultant
14 29 (3.38%) Administrator
15 28 (3.27%) IT Technician
16 27 (3.15%) IT Manager
17 26 (3.03%) 2nd Line Support
17 26 (3.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
18 25 (2.92%) IT Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (4.90%) React
2 30 (3.50%) Node.js
3 27 (3.15%) CSS
3 27 (3.15%) HTML
4 21 (2.45%) REST
5 14 (1.63%) .NET
6 9 (1.05%) Spring
7 8 (0.93%) AngularJS
7 8 (0.93%) RESTful
8 7 (0.82%) Spring Boot
9 5 (0.58%) JSON
10 4 (0.47%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.47%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.47%) ASP.NET Core
10 4 (0.47%) EDI
10 4 (0.47%) Middleware
11 3 (0.35%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.35%) Laravel
11 3 (0.35%) WinForms
12 2 (0.23%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 98 (11.44%) Driving Licence
2 46 (5.37%) Onboarding
3 38 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
4 37 (4.32%) Management Information System
5 18 (2.10%) Social Media
6 16 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
7 15 (1.75%) Analytical Mindset
8 12 (1.40%) FMCG
9 11 (1.28%) Product Ownership
10 10 (1.17%) IoT
10 10 (1.17%) Legacy Systems
11 9 (1.05%) Data Centre
12 8 (0.93%) Greenfield Project
12 8 (0.93%) Security Posture
12 8 (0.93%) Virtual Team
13 7 (0.82%) Cyber Defence
13 7 (0.82%) EPoS
13 7 (0.82%) NHS
14 6 (0.70%) Data Structures
14 6 (0.70%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 147 (17.15%) Windows
2 53 (6.18%) Windows Server
3 42 (4.90%) Linux
4 38 (4.43%) Windows 10
5 11 (1.28%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.93%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.70%) Android
7 6 (0.70%) Debian
8 5 (0.58%) CentOS
8 5 (0.58%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.47%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.47%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.47%) Unix
9 4 (0.47%) VMS
9 4 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
10 3 (0.35%) SUSE
11 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 176 (20.54%) Continuous Improvement
2 151 (17.62%) Customer Service
3 113 (13.19%) Agile
4 98 (11.44%) Decision-Making
5 88 (10.27%) ITIL
6 81 (9.45%) Analytics
7 76 (8.87%) Mentoring
8 72 (8.40%) Business Intelligence
8 72 (8.40%) ERP
9 67 (7.82%) Collaborative Working
10 64 (7.47%) Service Delivery
11 60 (7.00%) Cybersecurity
11 60 (7.00%) Project Management
12 59 (6.88%) Process Improvement
13 57 (6.65%) CRM
14 56 (6.53%) AI
15 53 (6.18%) Computer Science
16 50 (5.83%) Roadmaps
17 47 (5.48%) Time Management
18 44 (5.13%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 120 (14.00%) SQL
2 64 (7.47%) Python
3 33 (3.85%) PowerShell
4 31 (3.62%) JavaScript
5 25 (2.92%) Java
6 20 (2.33%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 17 (1.98%) TypeScript
8 15 (1.75%) C#
9 14 (1.63%) PHP
10 13 (1.52%) Bash
10 13 (1.52%) C
11 12 (1.40%) Ladder Logic
12 8 (0.93%) C++
12 8 (0.93%) T-SQL
13 7 (0.82%) R
14 6 (0.70%) PL/SQL
15 4 (0.47%) Embedded C
15 4 (0.47%) VBA
16 3 (0.35%) Go
16 3 (0.35%) RPG
Qualifications
1 126 (14.70%) Degree
2 55 (6.42%) Security Cleared
3 45 (5.25%) SC Cleared
4 32 (3.73%) Microsoft Certification
5 25 (2.92%) DBS Check
6 24 (2.80%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (1.87%) CISSP
8 15 (1.75%) CompTIA Security+
9 14 (1.63%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.40%) A+ Certification
10 12 (1.40%) PMI Certification
11 11 (1.28%) CCNA
12 10 (1.17%) ACCA
12 10 (1.17%) CIMA
12 10 (1.17%) PMP
13 9 (1.05%) BPSS Clearance
14 7 (0.82%) CISA
14 7 (0.82%) MCSE
14 7 (0.82%) SSCP
15 6 (0.70%) MCITP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (4.78%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.55%) QA
3 25 (2.92%) GDPR
3 25 (2.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (2.10%) Cyber Essentials
4 18 (2.10%) NIST
5 15 (1.75%) SLA
6 11 (1.28%) Accessibility
7 9 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 8 (0.93%) Actionable Recommendations
9 6 (0.70%) ISO 14001
9 6 (0.70%) ISO 9001
9 6 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (0.58%) COSHH
10 5 (0.58%) GMP
10 5 (0.58%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.47%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.35%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.35%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.35%) SOC 2
System Software
1 103 (12.02%) Active Directory
2 22 (2.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.45%) Docker
4 12 (1.40%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.05%) vSphere
6 8 (0.93%) Firmware
7 4 (0.47%) 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 34 (3.97%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (2.57%) Kubernetes
3 17 (1.98%) Terraform
4 7 (0.82%) Ansible
5 5 (0.58%) Nagios
5 5 (0.58%) SCCM
6 4 (0.47%) Nmap
7 3 (0.35%) Galera Cluster
7 3 (0.35%) Grafana
7 3 (0.35%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.35%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.23%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.23%) Puppet
8 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 229 (26.72%) Microsoft
2 30 (3.50%) Cisco
2 30 (3.50%) VMware
3 29 (3.38%) SAP
4 26 (3.03%) Oracle
5 16 (1.87%) Google
6 12 (1.40%) Sage
6 12 (1.40%) Salesforce
7 11 (1.28%) Dell
7 11 (1.28%) SolarWinds
8 9 (1.05%) Databricks
8 9 (1.05%) Meraki
8 9 (1.05%) ServiceNow
9 8 (0.93%) HP
10 7 (0.82%) Cognos
10 7 (0.82%) IBM
10 7 (0.82%) Workday
10 7 (0.82%) Zscaler
11 6 (0.70%) Avaya
11 6 (0.70%) McAfee