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 14 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 2 4 8
Rank change year-on-year +2 +4 -1
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,157 1,334 786
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 19.65% 14.92% 15.53%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 23.50% 18.26% 16.69%
Number of salaries quoted 740 457 621
10th Percentile £25,750 £28,500 £26,750
25th Percentile £29,000 £34,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £37,500 £50,000 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +2.04% +4.26%
75th Percentile £51,250 £62,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £75,000 £71,250
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

All Process and 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 4,924 7,306 4,710
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 83.64% 81.71% 93.06%
Number of salaries quoted 3,158 3,242 3,612
10th Percentile £27,000 £30,000 £26,768
25th Percentile £32,500 £38,750 £36,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £52,398 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.35% +4.80% -0.10%
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,613 £63,750
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -0.83%

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 14 November 2025.

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 14 November 2025. 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 +1 641 £42,500 -20.26% 437
East Midlands +4 516 £32,500 -7.14% 233
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 39 (3.37%) SharePoint
2 32 (2.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.38%) IIS
4 7 (0.61%) Confluence
5 6 (0.52%) Apache
6 3 (0.26%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 2 (0.17%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.17%) CMS
7 2 (0.17%) Exchange Server 2007
7 2 (0.17%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.17%) Exchange Server 2013
8 1 (0.086%) Apache Solr
8 1 (0.086%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.086%) Appian
8 1 (0.086%) HCL Notes
8 1 (0.086%) nginx
8 1 (0.086%) NServiceBus
8 1 (0.086%) WebLogic
Applications
1 104 (8.99%) Microsoft Excel
2 60 (5.19%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.78%) AutoCAD
5 8 (0.69%) SOLIDWORKS
6 5 (0.43%) Microsoft Project
7 4 (0.35%) CATIA
8 3 (0.26%) MS Visio
8 3 (0.26%) Spreadsheet
9 2 (0.17%) Trello
10 1 (0.086%) EPLAN
10 1 (0.086%) Revit
Business Applications
1 37 (3.20%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (0.69%) NetSuite
3 5 (0.43%) Exchequer
3 5 (0.43%) SAP Business One
3 5 (0.43%) SAP EWM
3 5 (0.43%) SAP S/4HANA
3 5 (0.43%) SAP WM
3 5 (0.43%) Shopify
4 4 (0.35%) SAP FI
5 3 (0.26%) Dynamics NAV
5 3 (0.26%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
5 3 (0.26%) iTrent
6 2 (0.17%) Magento
6 2 (0.17%) Oracle Cash Management
6 2 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.17%) Oracle EBS R12
6 2 (0.17%) Oracle Payables
6 2 (0.17%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.086%) Oracle BPM
7 1 (0.086%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
Cloud Services
1 190 (16.42%) Azure
2 182 (15.73%) Microsoft 365
3 84 (7.26%) Power Platform
4 82 (7.09%) SaaS
5 56 (4.84%) Entra ID
6 46 (3.98%) AWS
7 32 (2.77%) Dynamics 365
8 17 (1.47%) Cloud Computing
9 15 (1.30%) GCP
9 15 (1.30%) Power Automate
10 14 (1.21%) Azure DevOps
11 12 (1.04%) PowerApps
12 11 (0.95%) GitHub
12 11 (0.95%) OneDrive
13 8 (0.69%) Azure Data Factory
13 8 (0.69%) OCI
13 8 (0.69%) Serverless
14 6 (0.52%) PaaS
15 5 (0.43%) Azure Logic Apps
15 5 (0.43%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 63 (5.45%) DNS
2 60 (5.19%) DHCP
3 54 (4.67%) Firewall
4 46 (3.98%) Remote Desktop
5 45 (3.89%) VPN
6 38 (3.28%) WAN
7 36 (3.11%) LAN
8 24 (2.07%) Wi-Fi
9 18 (1.56%) TCP/IP
10 13 (1.12%) Broadband
11 11 (0.95%) Internet
11 11 (0.95%) Network Security
11 11 (0.95%) VoIP
11 11 (0.95%) Wireless
12 9 (0.78%) ADSL
12 9 (0.78%) Ethernet
12 9 (0.78%) VDSL
13 7 (0.61%) VLAN
14 5 (0.43%) PBX
15 4 (0.35%) Bluetooth
Database & Business Intelligence
1 74 (6.40%) Power BI
2 58 (5.01%) SQL Server
3 22 (1.90%) MySQL
4 20 (1.73%) GIS
4 20 (1.73%) Relational Database
5 17 (1.47%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 13 (1.12%) PostgreSQL
6 13 (1.12%) Tableau
7 12 (1.04%) BusinessObjects
7 12 (1.04%) Crystal Reports
8 11 (0.95%) Metadata
9 6 (0.52%) Oracle Reports
9 6 (0.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.43%) Data Mining
10 5 (0.43%) EDRMS
10 5 (0.43%) Geospatial Data
11 4 (0.35%) Amazon RDS
11 4 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
11 4 (0.35%) Data Warehouse
12 3 (0.26%) Oracle BI Publisher
Development Applications
1 24 (2.07%) JIRA
2 19 (1.64%) Git
3 5 (0.43%) GitLab
3 5 (0.43%) JUnit
4 4 (0.35%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.35%) Selenium
5 3 (0.26%) Appcelerator Titanium
5 3 (0.26%) Burp Suite
5 3 (0.26%) Cucumber
5 3 (0.26%) Metasploit
5 3 (0.26%) Mockito
5 3 (0.26%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.17%) Maven
6 2 (0.17%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.17%) Subversion
6 2 (0.17%) Vagrant
6 2 (0.17%) Visual Studio Code
7 1 (0.086%) Babel
7 1 (0.086%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.086%) webpack
General
1 523 (45.20%) Social Skills
2 329 (28.44%) Retail
3 286 (24.72%) Analytical Skills
4 249 (21.52%) Manufacturing
5 243 (21.00%) Finance
6 46 (3.98%) Law
6 46 (3.98%) Legal
7 43 (3.72%) Marketing
8 42 (3.63%) Organisational Skills
9 40 (3.46%) Public Sector
10 38 (3.28%) Dutch Language
10 38 (3.28%) Finnish Language
10 38 (3.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 38 (3.28%) Norwegian Language
11 33 (2.85%) Digital Health
12 23 (1.99%) Banking
13 20 (1.73%) Electronics
14 19 (1.64%) Catalan Language
15 17 (1.47%) Games
15 17 (1.47%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 176 (15.21%) Trainer
2 172 (14.87%) Support Engineer
3 169 (14.61%) IT Support
4 165 (14.26%) Analyst
5 103 (8.90%) Technical Support
6 100 (8.64%) 2nd Line Support
7 90 (7.78%) Technical Engineer
8 88 (7.61%) Support Analyst
9 87 (7.52%) Technical Support Engineer
10 83 (7.17%) Developer
11 74 (6.40%) IT Engineer
12 63 (5.45%) IT Support Engineer
13 62 (5.36%) Senior
14 59 (5.10%) Lead
15 45 (3.89%) Support Technician
16 43 (3.72%) Applications Support
17 37 (3.20%) 1st/2nd Line Support
18 31 (2.68%) 2nd Line Support Analyst
19 30 (2.59%) Architect
20 28 (2.42%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (3.72%) .NET
2 30 (2.59%) React
3 28 (2.42%) REST
4 27 (2.33%) HTML
5 25 (2.16%) CSS
6 18 (1.56%) AngularJS
7 16 (1.38%) EDI
7 16 (1.38%) JSON
8 13 (1.12%) Razor View Engine
9 11 (0.95%) Middleware
10 8 (0.69%) .NET Framework
10 8 (0.69%) Oracle Fusion
11 7 (0.61%) ASP.NET
11 7 (0.61%) Web Services
12 6 (0.52%) LAMP
12 6 (0.52%) Node.js
12 6 (0.52%) RESTful
12 6 (0.52%) SOAP
12 6 (0.52%) Spring
12 6 (0.52%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 172 (14.87%) Robotics
2 125 (10.80%) Onboarding
3 104 (8.99%) Driving Licence
4 58 (5.01%) FMCG
5 48 (4.15%) Analytical Mindset
6 46 (3.98%) Self-Motivation
7 42 (3.63%) Management Information System
8 19 (1.64%) SCADA
9 17 (1.47%) Operational Technology
10 14 (1.21%) Security Posture
11 13 (1.12%) Legacy Systems
12 12 (1.04%) Data Centre
12 12 (1.04%) e-Learning
12 12 (1.04%) EPoS
13 11 (0.95%) Data Structures
13 11 (0.95%) Product Ownership
14 9 (0.78%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
15 8 (0.69%) IoT
15 8 (0.69%) Linux Command Line
15 8 (0.69%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 188 (16.25%) Windows
2 56 (4.84%) Windows Server
3 52 (4.49%) Windows 10
4 40 (3.46%) Linux
5 13 (1.12%) Mac OS
6 8 (0.69%) Apple iOS
7 6 (0.52%) Unix
8 5 (0.43%) Mac OS X
8 5 (0.43%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.35%) Android
10 3 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.17%) VMS
11 2 (0.17%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.086%) Oracle Linux
12 1 (0.086%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.086%) Windows Mobile
12 1 (0.086%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 236 (20.40%) Continuous Improvement
2 231 (19.97%) Customer Service
3 201 (17.37%) AI
4 183 (15.82%) Machine Learning
5 182 (15.73%) Data Privacy
6 174 (15.04%) Red Team
7 173 (14.95%) LLM
8 171 (14.78%) Generative AI
9 135 (11.67%) ERP
10 130 (11.24%) CRM
11 118 (10.20%) Logistics
12 112 (9.68%) Mentoring
13 95 (8.21%) Business Intelligence
14 94 (8.12%) Project Management
15 93 (8.04%) ITIL
16 92 (7.95%) Decision-Making
17 91 (7.87%) Agile
18 73 (6.31%) Analytics
19 69 (5.96%) Incident Management
20 67 (5.79%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 198 (17.11%) SQL
2 95 (8.21%) C#
3 58 (5.01%) Python
4 52 (4.49%) JavaScript
5 30 (2.59%) Java
6 26 (2.25%) PowerShell
7 23 (1.99%) PHP
8 16 (1.38%) T-SQL
9 8 (0.69%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 8 (0.69%) TypeScript
10 6 (0.52%) C
10 6 (0.52%) C++
11 5 (0.43%) Bash
11 5 (0.43%) Ladder Logic
11 5 (0.43%) R
12 4 (0.35%) Delphi
12 4 (0.35%) Perl
12 4 (0.35%) VB.NET
13 3 (0.26%) Groovy
13 3 (0.26%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 345 (29.82%) Degree
2 74 (6.40%) Security Cleared
3 48 (4.15%) SC Cleared
4 34 (2.94%) Computer Science Degree
5 32 (2.77%) Microsoft Certification
6 17 (1.47%) ACCA
6 17 (1.47%) CIMA
6 17 (1.47%) CISSP
7 16 (1.38%) BPSS Clearance
7 16 (1.38%) DBS Check
8 15 (1.30%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (1.30%) Master's Degree
9 13 (1.12%) MCP
10 12 (1.04%) HND
11 10 (0.86%) DV Cleared
12 9 (0.78%) CISM
13 8 (0.69%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 8 (0.69%) A+ Certification
13 8 (0.69%) HNC
13 8 (0.69%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (3.89%) QA
2 29 (2.51%) GDPR
3 25 (2.16%) Data Quality
4 19 (1.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 18 (1.56%) SLA
6 10 (0.86%) Cyber Essentials
7 9 (0.78%) NIST
8 8 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (0.61%) Actionable Recommendations
10 6 (0.52%) PMO
11 4 (0.35%) Accessibility
11 4 (0.35%) ISO 9001
12 2 (0.17%) COBIT
12 2 (0.17%) Government Security Classifications
12 2 (0.17%) ISO 20022
12 2 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 1 (0.086%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 1 (0.086%) IEC 61131
13 1 (0.086%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 1 (0.086%) SOC 2
System Software
1 134 (11.58%) Active Directory
2 24 (2.07%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (1.04%) Docker
4 9 (0.78%) Firmware
5 7 (0.61%) Hyper-V
6 6 (0.52%) vSphere
7 2 (0.17%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.086%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 41 (3.54%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (1.12%) Kubernetes
3 10 (0.86%) Terraform
4 4 (0.35%) Ansible
5 3 (0.26%) FortiGate
5 3 (0.26%) Grafana
5 3 (0.26%) Nmap
5 3 (0.26%) SCCM
6 2 (0.17%) Nagios
7 1 (0.086%) AirWatch
7 1 (0.086%) Argo
7 1 (0.086%) Autotask
7 1 (0.086%) AWS Copilot
7 1 (0.086%) CA Service Virtualization
7 1 (0.086%) HP Quality Center
7 1 (0.086%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.086%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 281 (24.29%) Microsoft
2 189 (16.34%) Databricks
3 182 (15.73%) Google
4 171 (14.78%) Adobe
5 83 (7.17%) SAP
6 50 (4.32%) Salesforce
7 41 (3.54%) Cisco
7 41 (3.54%) Oracle
8 25 (2.16%) VMware
9 16 (1.38%) ServiceNow
10 12 (1.04%) Juniper
10 12 (1.04%) Zoho
11 11 (0.95%) Dell
11 11 (0.95%) HubSpot
12 9 (0.78%) McAfee
13 8 (0.69%) Apple
13 8 (0.69%) Infor
13 8 (0.69%) Sage
14 7 (0.61%) BT
15 6 (0.52%) NEC