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 12 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -6 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,483 1,177 1,383
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 9.48% 21.23% 14.78%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.40% 24.44% 18.35%
Number of salaries quoted 988 671 474
10th Percentile £27,175 £25,375 £27,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £29,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £37,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.33% -25.00% +4.06%
75th Percentile £56,000 £49,250 £61,188
90th Percentile £71,250 £66,250 £72,500
England median annual salary £46,000 £45,000 £53,000
% change year-on-year +2.22% -15.09% -3.64%

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 11,065 4,815 7,536
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 70.75% 86.85% 80.52%
Number of salaries quoted 7,812 2,803 3,480
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £39,500 £32,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,281 £45,390 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.77% -9.22% -4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £63,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £78,750
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.32%

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 12 October 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 12 October 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 -5 833 £42,500 - 360
East Midlands -7 648 £42,250 +30.00% 228
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 72 (4.86%) SharePoint
2 41 (2.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 14 (0.94%) IIS
4 10 (0.67%) CMS
5 8 (0.54%) Confluence
6 7 (0.47%) CICS
7 5 (0.34%) WordPress
8 4 (0.27%) SAS
9 3 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
9 3 (0.20%) Headless CMS
9 3 (0.20%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.13%) Documentum
10 2 (0.13%) Skype for Business
11 1 (0.067%) Apache
11 1 (0.067%) Jupyter
11 1 (0.067%) Oracle SOA Suite
11 1 (0.067%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.067%) Umbraco
Applications
1 131 (8.83%) Microsoft Office
2 111 (7.48%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (0.81%) Simulink
3 12 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (0.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.61%) OrCAD
5 6 (0.40%) AutoCAD
5 6 (0.40%) EPLAN
6 4 (0.27%) Microsoft Project
6 4 (0.27%) Revit
7 3 (0.20%) Chatbot
7 3 (0.20%) Navisworks
7 3 (0.20%) Notion
7 3 (0.20%) SOLIDWORKS
8 2 (0.13%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.13%) Fusion 360
8 2 (0.13%) MS Visio
9 1 (0.067%) LaTeX
9 1 (0.067%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.067%) SketchUp
Business Applications
1 18 (1.21%) Dynamics CRM
2 13 (0.88%) SAP S/4HANA
3 12 (0.81%) IBM Planning Analytics
3 12 (0.81%) NetSuite
3 12 (0.81%) Shopify
4 9 (0.61%) JDE EnterpriseOne
4 9 (0.61%) SAP Business One
5 6 (0.40%) Dynamics AX
5 6 (0.40%) Sage X3
6 5 (0.34%) Magento
6 5 (0.34%) Oracle ERP
6 5 (0.34%) Payment Gateway
6 5 (0.34%) Sage 50
6 5 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
7 4 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
8 3 (0.20%) Maximo
8 3 (0.20%) Oracle Payables
8 3 (0.20%) SAP CO
8 3 (0.20%) SAP FI
8 3 (0.20%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 260 (17.53%) Microsoft 365
2 245 (16.52%) Azure
3 124 (8.36%) Power Platform
4 96 (6.47%) Entra ID
5 79 (5.33%) AWS
6 57 (3.84%) SaaS
7 43 (2.90%) Azure DevOps
8 35 (2.36%) Dynamics 365
9 28 (1.89%) GitHub
10 24 (1.62%) OneDrive
11 22 (1.48%) Google Workspace
11 22 (1.48%) Power Automate
12 21 (1.42%) GitHub Actions
13 18 (1.21%) Microsoft Purview
13 18 (1.21%) PowerApps
14 17 (1.15%) Microsoft Copilot
15 15 (1.01%) GCP
16 14 (0.94%) Google Analytics
17 12 (0.81%) PaaS
18 9 (0.61%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 80 (5.39%) DNS
2 66 (4.45%) Firewall
3 64 (4.32%) DHCP
3 64 (4.32%) VPN
4 55 (3.71%) TCP/IP
5 34 (2.29%) VLAN
5 34 (2.29%) WAN
6 33 (2.23%) LAN
6 33 (2.23%) Wireless
7 29 (1.96%) Wi-Fi
8 19 (1.28%) Network Security
9 15 (1.01%) Internet
10 12 (0.81%) VoIP
11 11 (0.74%) Modbus
12 9 (0.61%) Wireshark
13 7 (0.47%) Cisco IOS
13 7 (0.47%) Remote Desktop
13 7 (0.47%) SSL
14 5 (0.34%) Ethernet
14 5 (0.34%) MQTT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 112 (7.55%) Power BI
2 58 (3.91%) SQL Server
3 36 (2.43%) Relational Database
4 25 (1.69%) Data Warehouse
5 24 (1.62%) Tableau
6 22 (1.48%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 20 (1.35%) Azure SQL Database
8 17 (1.15%) Power Query
9 16 (1.08%) Electronic Patient Records
10 12 (0.81%) MySQL
10 12 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
10 12 (0.81%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 11 (0.74%) Crystal Reports
11 11 (0.74%) Data Mining
12 10 (0.67%) Db2
12 10 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
13 9 (0.61%) Data Lake
14 6 (0.40%) Amazon Redshift
14 6 (0.40%) DynamoDB
14 6 (0.40%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 53 (3.57%) Git
2 34 (2.29%) JIRA
3 30 (2.02%) Jenkins
4 10 (0.67%) LabVIEW
5 9 (0.61%) Eclipse
5 9 (0.61%) GitLab
6 7 (0.47%) Cucumber
6 7 (0.47%) Postman
6 7 (0.47%) Selenium
7 6 (0.40%) JMeter
7 6 (0.40%) Maven
8 5 (0.34%) JUnit
8 5 (0.34%) SoapUI
8 5 (0.34%) Zephyr
9 4 (0.27%) Burp Suite
9 4 (0.27%) Metasploit
10 3 (0.20%) Mockito
10 3 (0.20%) VersionOne
11 2 (0.13%) IBM UrbanCode
11 2 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 761 (51.31%) Social Skills
2 438 (29.53%) Analytical Skills
3 257 (17.33%) Manufacturing
4 233 (15.71%) Finance
5 141 (9.51%) Organisational Skills
6 108 (7.28%) Retail
7 82 (5.53%) Marketing
8 64 (4.32%) Public Sector
9 60 (4.05%) Electronics
10 56 (3.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 41 (2.76%) Legal
12 40 (2.70%) Automotive
12 40 (2.70%) Law
13 28 (1.89%) Influencing Skills
14 26 (1.75%) Telecoms
15 25 (1.69%) Presentation Skills
16 24 (1.62%) Aerospace
17 23 (1.55%) Documentation Skills
18 13 (0.88%) Pharmaceutical
19 12 (0.81%) Billing
Job Titles
1 177 (11.94%) Analyst
2 161 (10.86%) IT Support
3 151 (10.18%) Support Engineer
4 122 (8.23%) Senior
5 112 (7.55%) Developer
6 87 (5.87%) IT Engineer
6 87 (5.87%) Lead
7 83 (5.60%) Consultant
8 77 (5.19%) Technical Support
9 69 (4.65%) IT Support Engineer
10 66 (4.45%) Technical Engineer
11 64 (4.32%) Technical Support Engineer
12 61 (4.11%) Support Analyst
13 57 (3.84%) Support Technician
14 52 (3.51%) IT Technician
15 43 (2.90%) Administrator
16 40 (2.70%) Data Analyst
17 38 (2.56%) IT Manager
17 38 (2.56%) IT Support Technician
18 37 (2.49%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (3.84%) REST
2 56 (3.78%) .NET
3 32 (2.16%) React
4 31 (2.09%) Spring
5 28 (1.89%) Spring Boot
6 26 (1.75%) SOAP
7 18 (1.21%) ISPF
7 18 (1.21%) Terraform
8 17 (1.15%) Node.js
9 16 (1.08%) CSS
9 16 (1.08%) HTML
10 15 (1.01%) RESTful
11 14 (0.94%) Playwright
12 13 (0.88%) XML
13 12 (0.81%) AngularJS
13 12 (0.81%) EDI
13 12 (0.81%) Middleware
13 12 (0.81%) Web Services
14 11 (0.74%) SAP Fiori
15 10 (0.67%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 180 (12.14%) Driving Licence
2 117 (7.89%) Onboarding
3 88 (5.93%) Management Information System
4 82 (5.53%) Self-Motivation
5 54 (3.64%) Enterprise Software
6 49 (3.30%) Robotics
7 31 (2.09%) SCADA
8 29 (1.96%) NHS
9 22 (1.48%) Analytical Mindset
10 21 (1.42%) Data Centre
10 21 (1.42%) Social Media
11 20 (1.35%) Legacy Applications
12 19 (1.28%) Legacy Systems
12 19 (1.28%) Mainframe
13 18 (1.21%) FMCG
13 18 (1.21%) IoT
14 17 (1.15%) SystemC
15 16 (1.08%) CMDB
15 16 (1.08%) Virtual Team
16 15 (1.01%) Cloud Native
Operating Systems
1 258 (17.40%) Windows
2 92 (6.20%) Windows Server
3 73 (4.92%) Linux
4 38 (2.56%) Windows 10
5 15 (1.01%) Android
6 13 (0.88%) Apple iOS
7 12 (0.81%) macOS
8 8 (0.54%) Unix
9 7 (0.47%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 5 (0.34%) OpenVMS
10 5 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.27%) VMS
12 3 (0.20%) Solaris
12 3 (0.20%) Ubuntu
13 2 (0.13%) Debian
13 2 (0.13%) FreeRTOS
14 1 (0.067%) AIX
14 1 (0.067%) CentOS
14 1 (0.067%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 1 (0.067%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 427 (28.79%) Continuous Improvement
2 298 (20.09%) Customer Service
3 192 (12.95%) Decision-Making
4 171 (11.53%) Analytics
5 166 (11.19%) Agile
6 145 (9.78%) Mentoring
7 131 (8.83%) ERP
8 129 (8.70%) Stakeholder Management
9 128 (8.63%) Collaborative Working
10 122 (8.23%) Project Delivery
11 121 (8.16%) Business Intelligence
12 120 (8.09%) Cybersecurity
13 109 (7.35%) AI
14 105 (7.08%) Project Management
15 99 (6.68%) Roadmaps
16 98 (6.61%) CRM
17 97 (6.54%) Validation
18 93 (6.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
19 92 (6.20%) ITIL
19 92 (6.20%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 227 (15.31%) SQL
2 96 (6.47%) Python
3 74 (4.99%) Java
4 57 (3.84%) PowerShell
5 50 (3.37%) JavaScript
6 42 (2.83%) C#
7 22 (1.48%) C
8 21 (1.42%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 19 (1.28%) Ladder Logic
9 19 (1.28%) TypeScript
10 18 (1.21%) COBOL
10 18 (1.21%) JCL
11 15 (1.01%) Embedded C
12 14 (0.94%) C++
13 13 (0.88%) VBA
14 12 (0.81%) MATLAB
15 10 (0.67%) Bash
15 10 (0.67%) R
16 9 (0.61%) ABAP
17 7 (0.47%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 229 (15.44%) Degree
2 102 (6.88%) Security Cleared
3 86 (5.80%) SC Cleared
4 54 (3.64%) HNC
5 52 (3.51%) HND
6 27 (1.82%) Azure Certification
6 27 (1.82%) DBS Check
7 22 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
8 19 (1.28%) Cisco Certification
8 19 (1.28%) NVQ Level 3
9 16 (1.08%) City & Guilds
9 16 (1.08%) Computer Science Degree
10 14 (0.94%) CCNA
11 13 (0.88%) Chartered Engineer
11 13 (0.88%) PMI Certification
12 12 (0.81%) NVQ Level 4
13 10 (0.67%) ACCA
14 9 (0.61%) BPSS Clearance
15 8 (0.54%) Master's Degree
16 7 (0.47%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 74 (4.99%) Data Quality
2 56 (3.78%) GDPR
3 54 (3.64%) QA
4 41 (2.76%) Cyber Essentials
5 36 (2.43%) SLA
6 30 (2.02%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 27 (1.82%) Accessibility
8 20 (1.35%) ISO 9001
9 10 (0.67%) PCI DSS
10 8 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 7 (0.47%) ISO 14001
12 6 (0.40%) GMP
12 6 (0.40%) GRC
12 6 (0.40%) PMO
13 5 (0.34%) Actionable Recommendations
13 5 (0.34%) NIST
14 3 (0.20%) AQAP
14 3 (0.20%) COSHH
14 3 (0.20%) ISO 26262
14 3 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 17025
System Software
1 161 (10.86%) Active Directory
2 55 (3.71%) Hyper-V
3 31 (2.09%) VMware Infrastructure
4 29 (1.96%) Docker
5 19 (1.28%) Firmware
6 15 (1.01%) Virtual Desktop
7 11 (0.74%) Embedded Firmware
8 8 (0.54%) Virtual Machines
9 5 (0.34%) vSphere
10 2 (0.13%) Samba
10 2 (0.13%) XenApp
11 1 (0.067%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 53 (3.57%) Microsoft Intune
2 25 (1.69%) Kubernetes
3 12 (0.81%) SCCM
4 9 (0.61%) Single Sign-On
5 8 (0.54%) Ansible
5 8 (0.54%) Functional Safety
6 6 (0.40%) Backup Exec
7 4 (0.27%) BMC PATROL
7 4 (0.27%) Grafana
7 4 (0.27%) Nmap
7 4 (0.27%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.20%) Control-M
8 3 (0.20%) Jamf Pro
8 3 (0.20%) Progress Chef
8 3 (0.20%) Puppet
8 3 (0.20%) WhatsUp Gold
9 2 (0.13%) WSUS
10 1 (0.067%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.067%) Nagios
10 1 (0.067%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 461 (31.09%) Microsoft
2 65 (4.38%) SAP
3 46 (3.10%) Workday
4 44 (2.97%) Google
5 41 (2.76%) Oracle
6 40 (2.70%) VMware
7 34 (2.29%) Cisco
8 31 (2.09%) ServiceNow
9 28 (1.89%) Salesforce
10 25 (1.69%) Sage
11 19 (1.28%) IBM
12 18 (1.21%) Cognos
13 15 (1.01%) Allen-Bradley
13 15 (1.01%) Siemens
14 14 (0.94%) EMC
15 13 (0.88%) JD Edwards
16 12 (0.81%) Apple
17 11 (0.74%) Broadcom
17 11 (0.74%) Fortinet
17 11 (0.74%) Veeam