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

6 months to
17 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 2 5
Rank change year-on-year -22 +3 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 904 993 1,655
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 7.52% 20.49% 14.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.18% 22.96% 17.87%
Number of salaries quoted 700 614 1,232
10th Percentile £26,000 £26,250 £25,000
25th Percentile £28,500 £32,500 £28,938
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £38,500 £47,500 £42,350
Median % change year-on-year -18.95% +12.16% -15.30%
75th Percentile £57,500 £61,250 £57,500
90th Percentile £67,525 £73,750 £69,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £54,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -12.04% +8.00% -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 8,881 4,325 9,263
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 73.89% 89.23% 82.41%
Number of salaries quoted 5,214 2,588 7,115
10th Percentile £28,250 £28,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £36,250 £34,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,245 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.43% +7.88% -9.52%
75th Percentile £65,640 £65,000 £61,725
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.17% +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 17 April 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 17 April 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 -25 535 £42,500 -18.48% 282
East Midlands -5 366 £35,000 -11.95% 204
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 59 (6.53%) SharePoint
2 39 (4.31%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (0.88%) CMS
4 5 (0.55%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 5 (0.55%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.44%) Exchange Server 2013
6 2 (0.22%) Confluence
6 2 (0.22%) IIS
6 2 (0.22%) WordPress
7 1 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.11%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.11%) Appian
7 1 (0.11%) Drupal
7 1 (0.11%) NServiceBus
7 1 (0.11%) SAS
Applications
1 58 (6.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 54 (5.97%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.66%) Spreadsheet
4 10 (1.11%) Microsoft Project
5 7 (0.77%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 7 (0.77%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.55%) Fusion 360
7 2 (0.22%) AutoCAD
7 2 (0.22%) Trello
8 1 (0.11%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.11%) EPLAN
8 1 (0.11%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 23 (2.54%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.11%) iTrent
3 8 (0.88%) NetSuite
4 6 (0.66%) SAP Business One
4 6 (0.66%) SAP S/4HANA
5 5 (0.55%) Q-Pulse
6 3 (0.33%) Dynamics NAV
6 3 (0.33%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 3 (0.33%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.33%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 3 (0.33%) Shopify
7 2 (0.22%) Line 50
7 2 (0.22%) Magento
7 2 (0.22%) SAP MM
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Payables
8 1 (0.11%) Oracle Receivables
8 1 (0.11%) Raiser’s Edge
8 1 (0.11%) SAP EWM
8 1 (0.11%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.11%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 207 (22.90%) Microsoft 365
2 182 (20.13%) Azure
3 78 (8.63%) AWS
3 78 (8.63%) Power Platform
4 65 (7.19%) Entra ID
5 46 (5.09%) SaaS
6 34 (3.76%) Serverless
7 23 (2.54%) Dynamics 365
8 22 (2.43%) Amazon S3
8 22 (2.43%) AWS Lambda
9 18 (1.99%) Power Automate
10 15 (1.66%) GCP
11 14 (1.55%) OneDrive
12 13 (1.44%) Google Workspace
12 13 (1.44%) PowerApps
13 11 (1.22%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (1.00%) Azure DevOps
15 8 (0.88%) Azure Sentinel
15 8 (0.88%) OCI
16 6 (0.66%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 60 (6.64%) DNS
2 56 (6.19%) DHCP
3 46 (5.09%) VPN
4 37 (4.09%) WAN
5 36 (3.98%) Firewall
6 24 (2.65%) LAN
7 23 (2.54%) Internet
8 22 (2.43%) Wi-Fi
9 19 (2.10%) TCP/IP
10 15 (1.66%) SD-WAN
11 14 (1.55%) VoIP
12 13 (1.44%) Remote Desktop
13 12 (1.33%) Wireless
14 9 (1.00%) VLAN
15 8 (0.88%) Network Security
16 5 (0.55%) Broadband
16 5 (0.55%) Skype
16 5 (0.55%) WLAN
17 4 (0.44%) Bluetooth
18 3 (0.33%) ADSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 68 (7.52%) Power BI
2 36 (3.98%) SQL Server
3 16 (1.77%) MySQL
3 16 (1.77%) Power Query
4 15 (1.66%) Oracle Reports
5 14 (1.55%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 13 (1.44%) Amazon Redshift
6 13 (1.44%) Tableau
7 11 (1.22%) PostgreSQL
8 9 (1.00%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 7 (0.77%) NoSQL
10 6 (0.66%) Data Warehouse
10 6 (0.66%) DynamoDB
10 6 (0.66%) Relational Database
10 6 (0.66%) Star Schema
11 5 (0.55%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.55%) Metadata
12 4 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
13 3 (0.33%) Neo4j
13 3 (0.33%) Redis
Development Applications
1 25 (2.77%) Git
2 24 (2.65%) JIRA
3 7 (0.77%) JUnit
4 6 (0.66%) Burp Suite
4 6 (0.66%) GitLab
4 6 (0.66%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.66%) Metasploit
4 6 (0.66%) Subversion
5 5 (0.55%) Maven
5 5 (0.55%) Mockito
6 4 (0.44%) VersionOne
7 3 (0.33%) Appcelerator Titanium
8 2 (0.22%) Cucumber
8 2 (0.22%) Selenium
8 2 (0.22%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.22%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.22%) Visual Studio Code
8 2 (0.22%) XCUITest
9 1 (0.11%) MLflow
9 1 (0.11%) Postman
General
1 418 (46.24%) Social Skills
2 281 (31.08%) Analytical Skills
3 161 (17.81%) Finance
4 92 (10.18%) Manufacturing
5 69 (7.63%) Organisational Skills
6 63 (6.97%) Retail
7 47 (5.20%) Legal
8 42 (4.65%) Law
8 42 (4.65%) Marketing
9 41 (4.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 35 (3.87%) Public Sector
11 25 (2.77%) Automotive
12 22 (2.43%) Electronics
13 17 (1.88%) Documentation Skills
14 15 (1.66%) Banking
15 12 (1.33%) Games
15 12 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
16 11 (1.22%) Advertising
16 11 (1.22%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (0.88%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 150 (16.59%) Analyst
2 149 (16.48%) IT Support
3 134 (14.82%) Support Engineer
4 106 (11.73%) IT Engineer
5 86 (9.51%) IT Support Engineer
6 69 (7.63%) Senior
7 68 (7.52%) Developer
8 62 (6.86%) Lead
9 59 (6.53%) Support Analyst
10 49 (5.42%) Technical Support
11 45 (4.98%) Support Technician
12 40 (4.42%) Technical Engineer
12 40 (4.42%) Technical Support Engineer
13 37 (4.09%) 2nd Line Support
14 34 (3.76%) Architect
15 33 (3.65%) Administrator
16 32 (3.54%) IT Technician
17 30 (3.32%) Consultant
18 29 (3.21%) Full-Stack Developer
18 29 (3.21%) IT Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (4.31%) React
2 31 (3.43%) Node.js
3 30 (3.32%) CSS
3 30 (3.32%) HTML
4 19 (2.10%) REST
5 15 (1.66%) .NET
6 7 (0.77%) RESTful
6 7 (0.77%) Spring
7 6 (0.66%) AngularJS
7 6 (0.66%) JSON
7 6 (0.66%) Spring Boot
7 6 (0.66%) Vue
8 5 (0.55%) Laravel
8 5 (0.55%) Middleware
8 5 (0.55%) Oracle Fusion
9 4 (0.44%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.44%) ASP.NET
10 3 (0.33%) ASP.NET Core
10 3 (0.33%) Elastic Stack
10 3 (0.33%) WinForms
Miscellaneous
1 97 (10.73%) Driving Licence
2 61 (6.75%) Onboarding
3 34 (3.76%) Management Information System
3 34 (3.76%) Self-Motivation
4 20 (2.21%) Analytical Mindset
5 18 (1.99%) Social Media
6 17 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
7 15 (1.66%) FMCG
8 13 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
9 12 (1.33%) Product Ownership
10 10 (1.11%) IoT
10 10 (1.11%) Security Posture
11 9 (1.00%) Distributed Systems
12 8 (0.88%) Data Centre
13 7 (0.77%) Cyber Defence
13 7 (0.77%) Data Structures
13 7 (0.77%) EPoS
13 7 (0.77%) Greenfield Project
13 7 (0.77%) Web Conferencing
14 6 (0.66%) Insider Threat
Operating Systems
1 164 (18.14%) Windows
2 54 (5.97%) Windows Server
3 44 (4.87%) Windows 10
4 38 (4.20%) Linux
5 15 (1.66%) Apple iOS
6 7 (0.77%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.66%) Android
8 5 (0.55%) Debian
8 5 (0.55%) Windows 7
8 5 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.44%) CentOS
10 3 (0.33%) FreeRTOS
10 3 (0.33%) SUSE
11 2 (0.22%) Mac OS
11 2 (0.22%) Unix
11 2 (0.22%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.11%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 181 (20.02%) Continuous Improvement
2 161 (17.81%) Customer Service
3 111 (12.28%) Agile
4 100 (11.06%) ITIL
5 92 (10.18%) Decision-Making
6 85 (9.40%) Mentoring
7 83 (9.18%) ERP
8 80 (8.85%) CRM
9 75 (8.30%) Analytics
10 73 (8.08%) Business Intelligence
11 68 (7.52%) Process Improvement
11 68 (7.52%) Project Management
12 58 (6.42%) Collaborative Working
13 56 (6.19%) Computer Science
14 55 (6.08%) Service Delivery
15 54 (5.97%) Roadmaps
15 54 (5.97%) Time Management
16 53 (5.86%) Cybersecurity
17 51 (5.64%) ITSM
18 48 (5.31%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 132 (14.60%) SQL
2 54 (5.97%) Python
3 37 (4.09%) JavaScript
4 25 (2.77%) Java
4 25 (2.77%) PowerShell
5 23 (2.54%) C#
6 22 (2.43%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 16 (1.77%) PHP
8 15 (1.66%) C
9 13 (1.44%) Ladder Logic
9 13 (1.44%) T-SQL
9 13 (1.44%) TypeScript
10 11 (1.22%) Bash
11 7 (0.77%) R
12 6 (0.66%) C++
13 5 (0.55%) PL/SQL
13 5 (0.55%) VBA
14 3 (0.33%) Delphi
14 3 (0.33%) Embedded C
14 3 (0.33%) VB
Qualifications
1 148 (16.37%) Degree
2 63 (6.97%) Security Cleared
3 53 (5.86%) SC Cleared
4 32 (3.54%) Microsoft Certification
5 24 (2.65%) Computer Science Degree
6 21 (2.32%) CISSP
7 20 (2.21%) DBS Check
8 17 (1.88%) CompTIA Security+
9 15 (1.66%) Cisco Certification
10 12 (1.33%) A+ Certification
10 12 (1.33%) PMI Certification
11 11 (1.22%) ACCA
11 11 (1.22%) CIMA
12 10 (1.11%) CCNA
12 10 (1.11%) PMP
13 9 (1.00%) BPSS Clearance
14 8 (0.88%) CISMP
14 8 (0.88%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 7 (0.77%) CISA
15 7 (0.77%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (5.20%) Data Quality
2 41 (4.54%) QA
3 29 (3.21%) GDPR
4 27 (2.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (2.32%) NIST
6 15 (1.66%) Cyber Essentials
6 15 (1.66%) SLA
7 12 (1.33%) Actionable Recommendations
8 10 (1.11%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 8 (0.88%) Accessibility
10 6 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 5 (0.55%) COSHH
11 5 (0.55%) GMP
11 5 (0.55%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.33%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.33%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.22%) ISO 14001
13 2 (0.22%) ISO 9001
13 2 (0.22%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 114 (12.61%) Active Directory
2 24 (2.65%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.32%) Docker
4 12 (1.33%) Hyper-V
5 8 (0.88%) vSphere
6 6 (0.66%) Firmware
7 3 (0.33%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.22%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.22%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.11%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 40 (4.42%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (2.43%) Kubernetes
3 17 (1.88%) Terraform
4 7 (0.77%) Ansible
5 6 (0.66%) Nmap
6 5 (0.55%) Grafana
6 5 (0.55%) Nagios
6 5 (0.55%) SCCM
7 3 (0.33%) Galera Cluster
7 3 (0.33%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.33%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.22%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.11%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.11%) Puppet
9 1 (0.11%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 232 (25.66%) Microsoft
2 35 (3.87%) Oracle
3 33 (3.65%) Cisco
4 32 (3.54%) VMware
5 31 (3.43%) SAP
6 19 (2.10%) ServiceNow
7 16 (1.77%) Google
8 13 (1.44%) Salesforce
9 12 (1.33%) Sage
10 11 (1.22%) Databricks
11 10 (1.11%) Dell
11 10 (1.11%) Freshdesk
11 10 (1.11%) HP
12 9 (1.00%) Meraki
13 8 (0.88%) SolarWinds
14 6 (0.66%) McAfee
14 6 (0.66%) Sophos
14 6 (0.66%) Workday
14 6 (0.66%) Zscaler
15 5 (0.55%) Avaya