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

6 months to
3 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -7 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,002 1,146 1,946
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 7.77% 21.57% 14.11%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.16% 24.82% 17.83%
Number of salaries quoted 740 655 1,132
10th Percentile £26,265 £25,107 £25,000
25th Percentile £29,750 £29,750 £29,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,000 £42,500 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.18% +6.25% -15.79%
75th Percentile £56,906 £57,500 £57,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -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 8,979 4,617 10,914
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 69.67% 86.88% 79.12%
Number of salaries quoted 6,341 2,705 7,444
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £48,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +8.25% +2.11% -9.52%
75th Percentile £67,500 £63,875 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -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 3 July 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 3 July 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 -9 567 £42,500 -5.56% 247
East Midlands -10 432 £35,000 -4.11% 208
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 62 (6.19%) SharePoint
2 41 (4.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.10%) CMS
4 10 (1.00%) IIS
5 5 (0.50%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.40%) Exchange Server 2007
6 4 (0.40%) Exchange Server 2010
6 4 (0.40%) Exchange Server 2013
7 3 (0.30%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 3 (0.30%) WordPress
8 2 (0.20%) Confluence
9 1 (0.100%) Appian
9 1 (0.100%) Documentum
9 1 (0.100%) Drupal
9 1 (0.100%) SAS
Applications
1 86 (8.58%) Microsoft Office
2 68 (6.79%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (0.80%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.50%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.40%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.100%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.100%) Simulink
7 1 (0.100%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 13 (1.30%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (1.10%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 9 (0.90%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.70%) SAP Business One
5 6 (0.60%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 5 (0.50%) iTrent
6 5 (0.50%) Magento
6 5 (0.50%) Q-Pulse
6 5 (0.50%) Shopify
7 4 (0.40%) Line 50
7 4 (0.40%) Sage 50
7 4 (0.40%) Sage X3
8 3 (0.30%) Dynamics AX
8 3 (0.30%) SAP Business ByDesign
9 2 (0.20%) Oracle EBS
10 1 (0.100%) Exchequer
10 1 (0.100%) SAP CO
10 1 (0.100%) SAP FI
10 1 (0.100%) SAP FI/CO
10 1 (0.100%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 217 (21.66%) Microsoft 365
2 180 (17.96%) Azure
3 97 (9.68%) Power Platform
4 78 (7.78%) Entra ID
5 75 (7.49%) AWS
6 32 (3.19%) SaaS
7 24 (2.40%) Serverless
8 20 (2.00%) Amazon S3
9 19 (1.90%) Dynamics 365
10 18 (1.80%) AWS Lambda
10 18 (1.80%) Power Automate
11 15 (1.50%) PowerApps
12 14 (1.40%) OneDrive
13 13 (1.30%) Google Workspace
13 13 (1.30%) Microsoft Purview
14 12 (1.20%) GCP
15 10 (1.00%) Microsoft Copilot
16 9 (0.90%) Azure Data Factory
16 9 (0.90%) Azure DevOps
17 8 (0.80%) Amazon Cognito
Communications & Networking
1 58 (5.79%) DNS
1 58 (5.79%) Firewall
2 53 (5.29%) VPN
3 51 (5.09%) DHCP
4 36 (3.59%) TCP/IP
5 32 (3.19%) WAN
6 30 (2.99%) Wireless
7 24 (2.40%) LAN
8 23 (2.30%) VLAN
8 23 (2.30%) Wi-Fi
9 15 (1.50%) Network Security
10 13 (1.30%) VoIP
11 12 (1.20%) Internet
11 12 (1.20%) SD-WAN
12 8 (0.80%) MQTT
13 5 (0.50%) Skype
14 4 (0.40%) Bluetooth
14 4 (0.40%) LoRaWAN
14 4 (0.40%) Remote Desktop
14 4 (0.40%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 91 (9.08%) Power BI
2 39 (3.89%) SQL Server
3 22 (2.20%) Tableau
4 20 (2.00%) MySQL
4 20 (2.00%) Power Query
5 14 (1.40%) Relational Database
6 13 (1.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 12 (1.20%) Azure SQL Database
7 12 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
8 11 (1.10%) Amazon Redshift
9 10 (1.00%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 8 (0.80%) DynamoDB
11 7 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
11 7 (0.70%) MongoDB
11 7 (0.70%) Star Schema
12 6 (0.60%) Data Mining
12 6 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
13 5 (0.50%) NoSQL
14 4 (0.40%) FileMaker
14 4 (0.40%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 20 (2.00%) Git
2 12 (1.20%) JIRA
3 6 (0.60%) JUnit
4 5 (0.50%) Burp Suite
4 5 (0.50%) Maven
4 5 (0.50%) Metasploit
4 5 (0.50%) Mockito
4 5 (0.50%) VersionOne
5 3 (0.30%) Subversion
6 2 (0.20%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.20%) TeamCity
6 2 (0.20%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.100%) Appium
7 1 (0.100%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.100%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.100%) Postman
7 1 (0.100%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.100%) TestRail
7 1 (0.100%) Yeoman
General
1 469 (46.81%) Social Skills
2 303 (30.24%) Analytical Skills
3 172 (17.17%) Finance
4 141 (14.07%) Manufacturing
5 64 (6.39%) Retail
6 63 (6.29%) Organisational Skills
7 46 (4.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 44 (4.39%) Marketing
9 39 (3.89%) Legal
10 34 (3.39%) Law
10 34 (3.39%) Public Sector
11 27 (2.69%) Influencing Skills
12 21 (2.10%) Automotive
12 21 (2.10%) Electronics
13 19 (1.90%) Documentation Skills
14 12 (1.20%) Banking
14 12 (1.20%) Telecoms
15 11 (1.10%) Games
16 10 (1.00%) Investment Banking
17 9 (0.90%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 162 (16.17%) Analyst
2 147 (14.67%) Support Engineer
3 128 (12.77%) IT Support
4 93 (9.28%) Developer
5 92 (9.18%) Senior
6 85 (8.48%) IT Engineer
7 76 (7.58%) Technical Support
8 69 (6.89%) Technical Engineer
8 69 (6.89%) Technical Support Engineer
9 66 (6.59%) IT Support Engineer
10 59 (5.89%) Support Technician
11 49 (4.89%) Lead
12 43 (4.29%) IT Technician
13 41 (4.09%) Support Analyst
14 38 (3.79%) Data Analyst
14 38 (3.79%) IT Manager
14 38 (3.79%) IT Support Technician
15 36 (3.59%) Consultant
16 32 (3.19%) Senior Analyst
17 26 (2.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (4.19%) React
2 38 (3.79%) REST
3 30 (2.99%) Node.js
4 26 (2.59%) .NET
5 20 (2.00%) CSS
5 20 (2.00%) HTML
6 13 (1.30%) Spring
7 12 (1.20%) AngularJS
8 10 (1.00%) RESTful
8 10 (1.00%) Spring Boot
9 9 (0.90%) Middleware
9 9 (0.90%) SOAP
10 7 (0.70%) JDBC
10 7 (0.70%) OAuth
10 7 (0.70%) SAP Fiori
10 7 (0.70%) SAPUI5
11 6 (0.60%) ASP.NET
11 6 (0.60%) ASP.NET Core
12 5 (0.50%) EDI
13 4 (0.40%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 95 (9.48%) Driving Licence
2 52 (5.19%) Onboarding
3 49 (4.89%) Management Information System
4 45 (4.49%) Self-Motivation
5 18 (1.80%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (1.60%) Analytical Mindset
6 16 (1.60%) IoT
7 13 (1.30%) Legacy Systems
7 13 (1.30%) Security Posture
8 11 (1.10%) Greenfield Project
8 11 (1.10%) Social Media
8 11 (1.10%) Virtual Team
9 9 (0.90%) Data Structures
9 9 (0.90%) Mobile App
9 9 (0.90%) Replication
9 9 (0.90%) SCADA
10 8 (0.80%) Data Centre
10 8 (0.80%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (0.80%) iSeries
10 8 (0.80%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 172 (17.17%) Windows
2 65 (6.49%) Windows Server
3 61 (6.09%) Linux
4 50 (4.99%) Windows 10
5 13 (1.30%) Android
6 11 (1.10%) Apple iOS
7 10 (1.00%) Ubuntu
8 7 (0.70%) Debian
8 7 (0.70%) Mac OS
9 6 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.50%) CentOS
10 5 (0.50%) OpenVMS
10 5 (0.50%) Unix
10 5 (0.50%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.40%) FreeRTOS
11 4 (0.40%) VMS
12 3 (0.30%) SUSE
13 1 (0.100%) Windows Server 2016
13 1 (0.100%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 256 (25.55%) Continuous Improvement
2 173 (17.27%) Customer Service
3 139 (13.87%) Decision-Making
4 124 (12.38%) Analytics
5 118 (11.78%) Agile
6 116 (11.58%) Mentoring
7 114 (11.38%) Collaborative Working
8 98 (9.78%) ERP
9 97 (9.68%) ITIL
10 94 (9.38%) Business Intelligence
11 89 (8.88%) Cybersecurity
12 87 (8.68%) Service Delivery
13 75 (7.49%) AI
14 66 (6.59%) Roadmaps
15 62 (6.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 60 (5.99%) Process Improvement
17 58 (5.79%) CRM
18 57 (5.69%) Computer Science
18 57 (5.69%) Root Cause Analysis
19 55 (5.49%) Coaching
Programming Languages
1 169 (16.87%) SQL
2 82 (8.18%) Python
3 43 (4.29%) PowerShell
4 38 (3.79%) Java
5 29 (2.89%) C#
5 29 (2.89%) JavaScript
6 24 (2.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 18 (1.80%) Ladder Logic
8 17 (1.70%) TypeScript
9 14 (1.40%) Bash
9 14 (1.40%) VBA
10 13 (1.30%) PHP
11 11 (1.10%) C
12 9 (0.90%) C++
13 7 (0.70%) ABAP
13 7 (0.70%) R
13 7 (0.70%) RPG
13 7 (0.70%) T-SQL
14 6 (0.60%) Go
14 6 (0.60%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 136 (13.57%) Degree
2 76 (7.58%) Security Cleared
3 59 (5.89%) SC Cleared
4 31 (3.09%) Microsoft Certification
5 25 (2.50%) DBS Check
6 19 (1.90%) CISSP
7 17 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
8 16 (1.60%) Azure Certification
9 15 (1.50%) CompTIA Security+
10 13 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
11 11 (1.10%) A+ Certification
12 9 (0.90%) ACCA
12 9 (0.90%) CIMA
13 8 (0.80%) BPSS Clearance
14 7 (0.70%) CISA
14 7 (0.70%) SSCP
15 6 (0.60%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 6 (0.60%) CCNA
15 6 (0.60%) CCSP
15 6 (0.60%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (4.59%) Data Quality
2 43 (4.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 40 (3.99%) Cyber Essentials
4 34 (3.39%) QA
5 30 (2.99%) GDPR
6 24 (2.40%) SLA
7 21 (2.10%) NIST
8 17 (1.70%) Accessibility
9 15 (1.50%) ISO 9001
10 13 (1.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 9 (0.90%) ISO 14001
12 7 (0.70%) Actionable Recommendations
12 7 (0.70%) GRC
12 7 (0.70%) PCI DSS
13 5 (0.50%) COSHH
13 5 (0.50%) GMP
14 4 (0.40%) HIPAA
14 4 (0.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 3 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 3 (0.30%) SOC 2
System Software
1 133 (13.27%) Active Directory
2 40 (3.99%) Hyper-V
3 31 (3.09%) VMware Infrastructure
4 21 (2.10%) Docker
5 9 (0.90%) Firmware
6 8 (0.80%) vSphere
7 5 (0.50%) Embedded Firmware
7 5 (0.50%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.20%) Samba
10 1 (0.100%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.100%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 47 (4.69%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (2.00%) Kubernetes
3 13 (1.30%) Terraform
4 9 (0.90%) Ansible
5 6 (0.60%) Grafana
6 5 (0.50%) Nagios
6 5 (0.50%) Nmap
6 5 (0.50%) Prometheus
7 4 (0.40%) Functional Safety
7 4 (0.40%) Galera Cluster
7 4 (0.40%) vCenter Server
8 3 (0.30%) SCCM
8 3 (0.30%) Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.20%) Progress Chef
9 2 (0.20%) Puppet
10 1 (0.100%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.100%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 284 (28.34%) Microsoft
2 39 (3.89%) VMware
3 36 (3.59%) SAP
4 26 (2.59%) Cisco
5 18 (1.80%) IBM
6 17 (1.70%) Google
6 17 (1.70%) Sage
7 16 (1.60%) Salesforce
8 14 (1.40%) Cognos
8 14 (1.40%) Workday
9 12 (1.20%) Dell
9 12 (1.20%) Oracle
9 12 (1.20%) ServiceNow
10 11 (1.10%) Red Hat
11 8 (0.80%) Databricks
11 8 (0.80%) HP
11 8 (0.80%) iManage
11 8 (0.80%) SolarWinds
12 7 (0.70%) Apple
13 6 (0.60%) JD Edwards