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

6 months to
25 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 886 1,149 1,771
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 6.70% 23.59% 14.47%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.27% 26.35% 17.95%
Number of salaries quoted 681 594 1,207
10th Percentile £26,265 £25,575 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,500 £31,250 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £45,000 £41,250
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +9.09% -13.16%
75th Percentile £56,875 £61,250 £57,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £70,875 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -5.94% +1.00% -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 9,561 4,360 9,869
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 72.33% 89.53% 80.66%
Number of salaries quoted 5,838 2,358 7,294
10th Percentile £29,925 £26,990 £26,250
25th Percentile £39,959 £32,500 £35,000
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 £62,238
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 25 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 25 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 -24 522 £42,500 -11.46% 254
East Midlands -10 360 £35,000 -9.09% 149
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 53 (5.98%) SharePoint
2 38 (4.29%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.24%) CMS
4 5 (0.56%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.45%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.45%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.34%) IIS
6 3 (0.34%) WordPress
7 2 (0.23%) Confluence
8 1 (0.11%) Appian
8 1 (0.11%) Drupal
8 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 67 (7.56%) Microsoft Office
2 53 (5.98%) Microsoft Excel
3 17 (1.92%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (0.90%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.68%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.56%) Fusion 360
7 4 (0.45%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.11%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.11%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.11%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 12 (1.35%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (1.02%) iTrent
3 8 (0.90%) SAP S/4HANA
4 7 (0.79%) SAP Business One
5 5 (0.56%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 5 (0.56%) Magento
5 5 (0.56%) Q-Pulse
5 5 (0.56%) Shopify
6 4 (0.45%) Line 50
6 4 (0.45%) Sage 50
7 3 (0.34%) NetSuite
7 3 (0.34%) Sage X3
7 3 (0.34%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
9 1 (0.11%) Dynamics NAV
9 1 (0.11%) Exchequer
9 1 (0.11%) Oracle EBS
9 1 (0.11%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 196 (22.12%) Microsoft 365
2 159 (17.95%) Azure
3 80 (9.03%) Power Platform
4 76 (8.58%) AWS
5 60 (6.77%) Entra ID
6 30 (3.39%) Serverless
7 28 (3.16%) SaaS
8 22 (2.48%) Amazon S3
8 22 (2.48%) AWS Lambda
9 19 (2.14%) Dynamics 365
10 17 (1.92%) Power Automate
11 14 (1.58%) PowerApps
12 13 (1.47%) Google Workspace
12 13 (1.47%) OneDrive
13 12 (1.35%) GCP
13 12 (1.35%) Microsoft Copilot
14 9 (1.02%) Azure Data Factory
15 8 (0.90%) Azure Sentinel
16 7 (0.79%) Amazon Cognito
16 7 (0.79%) Amazon EventBridge
Communications & Networking
1 52 (5.87%) DNS
2 44 (4.97%) DHCP
3 43 (4.85%) VPN
4 42 (4.74%) Firewall
5 38 (4.29%) WAN
6 27 (3.05%) Wireless
7 24 (2.71%) LAN
8 21 (2.37%) Wi-Fi
9 19 (2.14%) Internet
9 19 (2.14%) TCP/IP
10 16 (1.81%) SD-WAN
11 14 (1.58%) VLAN
12 13 (1.47%) VoIP
13 10 (1.13%) Network Security
14 7 (0.79%) MQTT
15 5 (0.56%) Bluetooth
15 5 (0.56%) Skype
16 3 (0.34%) LoRaWAN
16 3 (0.34%) SAN
16 3 (0.34%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (8.01%) Power BI
2 28 (3.16%) SQL Server
3 20 (2.26%) Tableau
4 18 (2.03%) Power Query
5 14 (1.58%) MySQL
6 13 (1.47%) Amazon Redshift
6 13 (1.47%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 10 (1.13%) Oracle Reports
8 7 (0.79%) Data Warehouse
8 7 (0.79%) DynamoDB
8 7 (0.79%) Star Schema
9 6 (0.68%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.56%) MongoDB
10 5 (0.56%) NoSQL
10 5 (0.56%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 4 (0.45%) Data Mining
11 4 (0.45%) FileMaker
12 3 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
12 3 (0.34%) GIS
12 3 (0.34%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 18 (2.03%) Git
2 16 (1.81%) JIRA
3 8 (0.90%) JUnit
4 7 (0.79%) Maven
4 7 (0.79%) Mockito
5 6 (0.68%) Subversion
6 5 (0.56%) VersionOne
7 4 (0.45%) Burp Suite
7 4 (0.45%) Metasploit
8 3 (0.34%) GitLab
8 3 (0.34%) Jenkins
9 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 2 (0.23%) TeamCity
9 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.23%) XCUITest
10 1 (0.11%) Appium
10 1 (0.11%) Bugzilla
10 1 (0.11%) MLflow
10 1 (0.11%) Postman
10 1 (0.11%) TestRail
General
1 384 (43.34%) Social Skills
2 268 (30.25%) Analytical Skills
3 151 (17.04%) Finance
4 97 (10.95%) Manufacturing
5 59 (6.66%) Organisational Skills
6 49 (5.53%) Retail
7 45 (5.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 39 (4.40%) Law
9 37 (4.18%) Legal
10 36 (4.06%) Marketing
11 30 (3.39%) Public Sector
12 24 (2.71%) Electronics
13 18 (2.03%) Documentation Skills
14 17 (1.92%) Automotive
15 16 (1.81%) Influencing Skills
16 13 (1.47%) Banking
17 12 (1.35%) Telecoms
18 11 (1.24%) Investment Banking
19 9 (1.02%) Advertising
19 9 (1.02%) Games
Job Titles
1 135 (15.24%) Analyst
2 133 (15.01%) Support Engineer
3 115 (12.98%) IT Support
4 87 (9.82%) IT Engineer
5 80 (9.03%) Senior
6 73 (8.24%) Developer
7 68 (7.67%) IT Support Engineer
8 60 (6.77%) Technical Support
9 54 (6.09%) Technical Engineer
9 54 (6.09%) Technical Support Engineer
10 50 (5.64%) Lead
11 48 (5.42%) Support Technician
12 38 (4.29%) Support Analyst
13 33 (3.72%) Consultant
14 31 (3.50%) IT Technician
15 28 (3.16%) IT Support Technician
16 27 (3.05%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 26 (2.93%) IT Manager
18 25 (2.82%) Administrator
19 24 (2.71%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (5.08%) React
2 30 (3.39%) Node.js
3 25 (2.82%) CSS
3 25 (2.82%) HTML
3 25 (2.82%) REST
4 16 (1.81%) .NET
5 13 (1.47%) Spring
6 11 (1.24%) AngularJS
7 10 (1.13%) RESTful
7 10 (1.13%) Spring Boot
8 6 (0.68%) EDI
9 5 (0.56%) JSON
10 4 (0.45%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.45%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.45%) ASP.NET Core
10 4 (0.45%) Laravel
10 4 (0.45%) Middleware
11 3 (0.34%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.34%) Playwright
11 3 (0.34%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 96 (10.84%) Driving Licence
2 44 (4.97%) Onboarding
3 41 (4.63%) Management Information System
4 37 (4.18%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (2.03%) Social Media
6 15 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
7 14 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
8 11 (1.24%) FMCG
8 11 (1.24%) Legacy Systems
9 10 (1.13%) IoT
9 10 (1.13%) Security Posture
10 9 (1.02%) Data Centre
10 9 (1.02%) Product Ownership
10 9 (1.02%) Virtual Team
11 8 (0.90%) Greenfield Project
11 8 (0.90%) iSeries
12 7 (0.79%) Cyber Defence
12 7 (0.79%) EPoS
12 7 (0.79%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.79%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 147 (16.59%) Windows
2 54 (6.09%) Windows Server
3 45 (5.08%) Linux
4 40 (4.51%) Windows 10
5 10 (1.13%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.90%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.79%) Android
8 6 (0.68%) Debian
9 5 (0.56%) CentOS
9 5 (0.56%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.45%) FreeRTOS
10 4 (0.45%) Mac OS
10 4 (0.45%) Unix
10 4 (0.45%) VMS
11 3 (0.34%) SUSE
11 3 (0.34%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 194 (21.90%) Continuous Improvement
2 150 (16.93%) Customer Service
3 116 (13.09%) Agile
4 104 (11.74%) Decision-Making
5 89 (10.05%) Mentoring
6 85 (9.59%) Analytics
7 84 (9.48%) ITIL
8 81 (9.14%) Collaborative Working
9 75 (8.47%) ERP
10 71 (8.01%) Business Intelligence
11 70 (7.90%) Service Delivery
12 68 (7.67%) Cybersecurity
13 64 (7.22%) AI
14 62 (7.00%) Process Improvement
15 55 (6.21%) CRM
15 55 (6.21%) Project Management
16 54 (6.09%) Computer Science
17 53 (5.98%) Roadmaps
18 49 (5.53%) Root Cause Analysis
19 48 (5.42%) Time Management
Programming Languages
1 123 (13.88%) SQL
2 66 (7.45%) Python
3 33 (3.72%) Java
3 33 (3.72%) PowerShell
4 31 (3.50%) JavaScript
5 21 (2.37%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 20 (2.26%) C#
7 19 (2.14%) TypeScript
8 14 (1.58%) Bash
9 13 (1.47%) Ladder Logic
9 13 (1.47%) PHP
10 12 (1.35%) C
11 10 (1.13%) C++
12 7 (0.79%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.79%) R
12 7 (0.79%) T-SQL
12 7 (0.79%) VBA
13 6 (0.68%) RPG
14 4 (0.45%) Embedded C
14 4 (0.45%) RPG/400
Qualifications
1 134 (15.12%) Degree
2 63 (7.11%) Security Cleared
3 50 (5.64%) SC Cleared
4 33 (3.72%) Microsoft Certification
5 29 (3.27%) DBS Check
6 24 (2.71%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (1.81%) CISSP
8 15 (1.69%) CompTIA Security+
9 14 (1.58%) Cisco Certification
10 11 (1.24%) A+ Certification
10 11 (1.24%) BPSS Clearance
10 11 (1.24%) CCNA
10 11 (1.24%) PMI Certification
11 10 (1.13%) ACCA
11 10 (1.13%) CIMA
12 9 (1.02%) PMP
13 7 (0.79%) Azure Certification
13 7 (0.79%) CISA
13 7 (0.79%) MCSE
13 7 (0.79%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (4.51%) Data Quality
2 39 (4.40%) QA
3 28 (3.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 26 (2.93%) GDPR
5 20 (2.26%) Cyber Essentials
6 19 (2.14%) NIST
7 17 (1.92%) SLA
8 13 (1.47%) Accessibility
9 9 (1.02%) Actionable Recommendations
9 9 (1.02%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 8 (0.90%) ISO 14001
10 8 (0.90%) ISO 9001
11 6 (0.68%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 6 (0.68%) PCI DSS
12 5 (0.56%) COSHH
12 5 (0.56%) GMP
12 5 (0.56%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.34%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 3 (0.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.34%) SOC 2
System Software
1 104 (11.74%) Active Directory
2 22 (2.48%) Docker
2 22 (2.48%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (1.81%) Hyper-V
4 9 (1.02%) vSphere
5 8 (0.90%) Firmware
6 4 (0.45%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.11%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.11%) Terminal Services
8 1 (0.11%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 36 (4.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 21 (2.37%) Kubernetes
3 16 (1.81%) Terraform
4 7 (0.79%) Ansible
5 6 (0.68%) Nagios
6 4 (0.45%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.45%) Grafana
6 4 (0.45%) Nmap
6 4 (0.45%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.34%) Galera Cluster
7 3 (0.34%) SCCM
7 3 (0.34%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.23%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.23%) Puppet
8 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 231 (26.07%) Microsoft
2 31 (3.50%) Cisco
3 30 (3.39%) SAP
3 30 (3.39%) VMware
4 26 (2.93%) Oracle
5 16 (1.81%) Google
6 15 (1.69%) Sage
7 11 (1.24%) Dell
7 11 (1.24%) IBM
7 11 (1.24%) Salesforce
7 11 (1.24%) SolarWinds
8 10 (1.13%) ServiceNow
9 9 (1.02%) Databricks
9 9 (1.02%) Meraki
10 8 (0.90%) Cognos
10 8 (0.90%) HP
10 8 (0.90%) Workday
11 7 (0.79%) Zscaler
12 6 (0.68%) Apple
12 6 (0.68%) Avaya