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

6 months to
30 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 1,433 1,200 1,422
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 9.09% 21.38% 14.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.97% 24.61% 18.40%
Number of salaries quoted 978 682 490
10th Percentile £27,175 £25,250 £26,500
25th Percentile £31,063 £29,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £38,000 £47,750
Median % change year-on-year +11.84% -20.42% -2.55%
75th Percentile £56,621 £50,000 £60,000
90th Percentile £71,250 £65,000 £72,750
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 11,051 4,876 7,727
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 70.07% 86.85% 79.79%
Number of salaries quoted 7,827 2,826 3,651
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 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -2.44%

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 30 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 30 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 -7 805 £42,500 - 693
East Midlands -7 626 £42,000 +27.27% 458
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 (4.95%) SharePoint
2 43 (3.00%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (0.98%) IIS
4 9 (0.63%) CMS
5 8 (0.56%) Confluence
6 5 (0.35%) CICS
7 4 (0.28%) SAS
7 4 (0.28%) WordPress
8 3 (0.21%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.21%) Headless CMS
8 3 (0.21%) Oracle Workflow
8 3 (0.21%) Skype for Business
9 2 (0.14%) Documentum
10 1 (0.070%) Apache
10 1 (0.070%) Appian
10 1 (0.070%) Jupyter
10 1 (0.070%) Oracle SOA Suite
10 1 (0.070%) Tomcat
10 1 (0.070%) Umbraco
Applications
1 124 (8.65%) Microsoft Office
2 103 (7.19%) 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 (1.33%) Dynamics CRM
2 14 (0.98%) 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%) SAP CO
11 3 (0.21%) SAP ERP
11 3 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 264 (18.42%) Microsoft 365
2 241 (16.82%) Azure
3 136 (9.49%) Power Platform
4 97 (6.77%) Entra ID
5 82 (5.72%) AWS
6 54 (3.77%) SaaS
7 40 (2.79%) Azure DevOps
8 36 (2.51%) Dynamics 365
9 25 (1.74%) Power Automate
10 21 (1.47%) GitHub
10 21 (1.47%) OneDrive
11 20 (1.40%) Google Workspace
12 18 (1.26%) Microsoft Purview
12 18 (1.26%) PowerApps
13 17 (1.19%) GitHub Actions
13 17 (1.19%) Microsoft Copilot
14 16 (1.12%) GCP
15 13 (0.91%) PaaS
16 12 (0.84%) Google Analytics
17 11 (0.77%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 78 (5.44%) DNS
2 66 (4.61%) Firewall
3 63 (4.40%) DHCP
4 62 (4.33%) VPN
5 52 (3.63%) TCP/IP
6 34 (2.37%) Wireless
7 32 (2.23%) VLAN
8 31 (2.16%) WAN
9 30 (2.09%) LAN
10 29 (2.02%) Wi-Fi
11 20 (1.40%) Network Security
12 16 (1.12%) VoIP
13 12 (0.84%) Internet
14 9 (0.63%) Modbus
14 9 (0.63%) Wireshark
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
1 126 (8.79%) Power BI
2 60 (4.19%) SQL Server
3 29 (2.02%) Relational Database
4 27 (1.88%) Tableau
5 26 (1.81%) Data Warehouse
6 22 (1.54%) Power Query
6 22 (1.54%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 19 (1.33%) Azure SQL Database
8 16 (1.12%) Electronic Patient Records
8 16 (1.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 14 (0.98%) MySQL
10 12 (0.84%) Data Mining
11 11 (0.77%) Crystal Reports
11 11 (0.77%) Oracle Reports
12 10 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
13 9 (0.63%) Data Lake
13 9 (0.63%) DynamoDB
14 6 (0.42%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (0.42%) MongoDB
15 5 (0.35%) Oracle BI EE
Development Applications
1 47 (3.28%) Git
2 32 (2.23%) JIRA
3 26 (1.81%) Jenkins
4 9 (0.63%) Eclipse
5 8 (0.56%) GitLab
5 8 (0.56%) LabVIEW
6 7 (0.49%) Cucumber
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
1 737 (51.43%) Social Skills
2 418 (29.17%) Analytical Skills
3 247 (17.24%) Manufacturing
4 227 (15.84%) Finance
5 128 (8.93%) Organisational Skills
6 104 (7.26%) Retail
7 78 (5.44%) Marketing
8 66 (4.61%) Public Sector
9 54 (3.77%) Electronics
10 52 (3.63%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 41 (2.86%) Law
12 39 (2.72%) Automotive
12 39 (2.72%) Legal
13 30 (2.09%) Influencing Skills
14 23 (1.61%) Telecoms
15 21 (1.47%) Documentation Skills
16 19 (1.33%) Aerospace
17 17 (1.19%) Presentation Skills
18 12 (0.84%) Billing
19 11 (0.77%) Banking
Job Titles
1 191 (13.33%) Analyst
2 156 (10.89%) IT Support
3 146 (10.19%) Support Engineer
4 118 (8.23%) Senior
5 114 (7.96%) Developer
6 88 (6.14%) IT Engineer
7 84 (5.86%) Consultant
8 82 (5.72%) Lead
9 76 (5.30%) Technical Support
10 66 (4.61%) IT Support Engineer
11 65 (4.54%) Technical Engineer
12 64 (4.47%) Support Analyst
13 63 (4.40%) Technical Support Engineer
14 59 (4.12%) Support Technician
15 50 (3.49%) IT Technician
16 43 (3.00%) Data Analyst
17 40 (2.79%) IT Manager
17 40 (2.79%) IT Support Technician
18 36 (2.51%) Administrator
19 34 (2.37%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (4.19%) REST
2 50 (3.49%) .NET
3 37 (2.58%) React
4 30 (2.09%) Spring
5 27 (1.88%) Spring Boot
6 26 (1.81%) SOAP
7 20 (1.40%) Node.js
8 18 (1.26%) CSS
8 18 (1.26%) HTML
9 17 (1.19%) RESTful
9 17 (1.19%) Terraform
10 14 (0.98%) AngularJS
10 14 (0.98%) ISPF
10 14 (0.98%) Playwright
11 12 (0.84%) EDI
11 12 (0.84%) JSON
11 12 (0.84%) XML
12 11 (0.77%) Middleware
12 11 (0.77%) SAP Fiori
13 9 (0.63%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 168 (11.72%) Driving Licence
2 104 (7.26%) Onboarding
3 84 (5.86%) Management Information System
4 74 (5.16%) Self-Motivation
5 47 (3.28%) Enterprise Software
6 39 (2.72%) Robotics
7 28 (1.95%) NHS
8 23 (1.61%) SCADA
9 22 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
10 18 (1.26%) Data Centre
10 18 (1.26%) IoT
10 18 (1.26%) Social Media
11 17 (1.19%) SystemC
12 16 (1.12%) CMDB
12 16 (1.12%) Legacy Applications
12 16 (1.12%) Legacy Systems
12 16 (1.12%) Virtual Team
13 15 (1.05%) Data Structures
13 15 (1.05%) Greenfield Project
13 15 (1.05%) Mainframe
Operating Systems
1 251 (17.52%) Windows
2 92 (6.42%) Windows Server
3 78 (5.44%) Linux
4 43 (3.00%) Windows 10
5 17 (1.19%) 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
1 410 (28.61%) Continuous Improvement
2 290 (20.24%) Customer Service
3 190 (13.26%) Decision-Making
4 176 (12.28%) Analytics
5 170 (11.86%) Agile
6 144 (10.05%) Mentoring
7 136 (9.49%) Business Intelligence
8 135 (9.42%) ERP
9 129 (9.00%) Collaborative Working
10 124 (8.65%) Cybersecurity
11 113 (7.89%) Stakeholder Management
12 108 (7.54%) Project Delivery
13 102 (7.12%) AI
14 99 (6.91%) Roadmaps
14 99 (6.91%) Service Delivery
15 97 (6.77%) Project Management
16 93 (6.49%) ITIL
17 91 (6.35%) CRM
18 86 (6.00%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 86 (6.00%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 227 (15.84%) SQL
2 102 (7.12%) Python
3 71 (4.95%) Java
4 57 (3.98%) PowerShell
5 49 (3.42%) JavaScript
6 39 (2.72%) C#
7 28 (1.95%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 22 (1.54%) C
9 21 (1.47%) TypeScript
10 20 (1.40%) Ladder Logic
11 17 (1.19%) Embedded C
12 14 (0.98%) COBOL
12 14 (0.98%) JCL
13 13 (0.91%) VBA
14 11 (0.77%) Bash
14 11 (0.77%) C++
14 11 (0.77%) MATLAB
15 9 (0.63%) ABAP
15 9 (0.63%) R
16 7 (0.49%) PHP
Qualifications
1 220 (15.35%) Degree
2 100 (6.98%) Security Cleared
3 84 (5.86%) SC Cleared
4 44 (3.07%) HNC
4 44 (3.07%) HND
5 25 (1.74%) Azure Certification
6 24 (1.67%) DBS Check
7 22 (1.54%) Microsoft Certification
8 19 (1.33%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.12%) Computer Science Degree
10 15 (1.05%) NVQ Level 3
11 14 (0.98%) PMI Certification
12 13 (0.91%) CCNA
12 13 (0.91%) City & Guilds
13 12 (0.84%) NVQ Level 4
14 11 (0.77%) ACCA
15 9 (0.63%) CISSP
16 8 (0.56%) BPSS Clearance
16 8 (0.56%) Chartered Engineer
17 7 (0.49%) CIMA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (4.68%) Data Quality
2 57 (3.98%) GDPR
3 52 (3.63%) QA
4 41 (2.86%) Cyber Essentials
4 41 (2.86%) SLA
5 31 (2.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 25 (1.74%) Accessibility
7 22 (1.54%) ISO 9001
8 10 (0.70%) PCI DSS
9 9 (0.63%) ISO 14001
10 8 (0.56%) 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
1 166 (11.58%) Active Directory
2 55 (3.84%) Hyper-V
3 32 (2.23%) VMware Infrastructure
4 26 (1.81%) Docker
5 21 (1.47%) 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 (3.56%) Microsoft Intune
2 21 (1.47%) 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%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 441 (30.77%) Microsoft
2 67 (4.68%) SAP
3 42 (2.93%) VMware
3 42 (2.93%) Workday
4 39 (2.72%) Oracle
5 37 (2.58%) Google
6 33 (2.30%) Cisco
7 32 (2.23%) ServiceNow
8 27 (1.88%) Sage
9 21 (1.47%) Salesforce
10 20 (1.40%) IBM
11 18 (1.26%) Cognos
12 15 (1.05%) Databricks
13 14 (0.98%) Allen-Bradley
14 13 (0.91%) Apple
14 13 (0.91%) JD Edwards
15 12 (0.84%) Siemens
16 11 (0.77%) EMC
16 11 (0.77%) HubSpot
17 10 (0.70%) Epicor