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 6 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 4 5
Rank change year-on-year -16 +1 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 861 1,085 1,376
As % of all permanent jobs in the Midlands 8.97% 19.86% 15.32%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.55% 21.38% 18.03%
Number of salaries quoted 674 507 1,079
10th Percentile £26,000 £27,650 £25,000
25th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £29,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £37,500 £50,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +17.65% -15.00%
75th Percentile £53,988 £63,750 £58,750
90th Percentile £67,675 £82,500 £68,800
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -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 7,454 5,074 7,633
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Midlands 77.62% 92.90% 84.99%
Number of salaries quoted 4,230 2,493 6,116
10th Percentile £28,250 £29,800 £26,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £38,750 £34,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +7.14% -6.67%
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,967 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 6 March 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 6 March 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 -20 506 £42,500 -22.73% 264
East Midlands -1 352 £35,000 -4.11% 202
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 49 (5.69%) SharePoint
2 32 (3.72%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.28%) IIS
4 8 (0.93%) CMS
5 6 (0.70%) Apache
5 6 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2007
5 6 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2010
5 6 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2013
5 6 (0.70%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 5 (0.58%) Confluence
7 1 (0.12%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.12%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.12%) Drupal
7 1 (0.12%) NServiceBus
7 1 (0.12%) SAS
7 1 (0.12%) WebLogic
Applications
1 61 (7.08%) Microsoft Excel
2 52 (6.04%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.86%) Spreadsheet
4 10 (1.16%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (1.05%) AutoCAD
6 8 (0.93%) SOLIDWORKS
7 7 (0.81%) MS Visio
8 4 (0.46%) CATIA
9 2 (0.23%) Trello
10 1 (0.12%) Abaqus
10 1 (0.12%) EPLAN
10 1 (0.12%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 28 (3.25%) Dynamics CRM
2 10 (1.16%) iTrent
2 10 (1.16%) NetSuite
3 5 (0.58%) Q-Pulse
3 5 (0.58%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.35%) Dynamics NAV
4 3 (0.35%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.23%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
5 2 (0.23%) SAP ERP
5 2 (0.23%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.12%) Cognos Controller
6 1 (0.12%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.12%) HFM
6 1 (0.12%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.12%) SAP EWM
6 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
6 1 (0.12%) SAP WM
6 1 (0.12%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 185 (21.49%) Azure
2 180 (20.91%) Microsoft 365
3 76 (8.83%) AWS
4 75 (8.71%) SaaS
5 66 (7.67%) Power Platform
6 53 (6.16%) Entra ID
7 29 (3.37%) Dynamics 365
7 29 (3.37%) Serverless
8 20 (2.32%) Power Automate
9 17 (1.97%) Amazon S3
9 17 (1.97%) AWS Lambda
9 17 (1.97%) PowerApps
10 16 (1.86%) GCP
11 14 (1.63%) Google Workspace
12 11 (1.28%) Azure DevOps
12 11 (1.28%) OneDrive
13 9 (1.05%) Azure Data Factory
14 7 (0.81%) Azure Sentinel
14 7 (0.81%) OCI
15 6 (0.70%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 66 (7.67%) DNS
2 64 (7.43%) DHCP
3 47 (5.46%) VPN
4 37 (4.30%) WAN
5 33 (3.83%) Remote Desktop
6 32 (3.72%) Firewall
7 27 (3.14%) Internet
8 24 (2.79%) LAN
9 20 (2.32%) Wi-Fi
10 19 (2.21%) TCP/IP
11 15 (1.74%) SD-WAN
11 15 (1.74%) Wireless
12 12 (1.39%) VLAN
12 12 (1.39%) VoIP
13 8 (0.93%) ADSL
13 8 (0.93%) Ethernet
13 8 (0.93%) VDSL
14 6 (0.70%) Broadband
14 6 (0.70%) Network Security
15 4 (0.46%) PBX
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (6.04%) Power BI
2 45 (5.23%) SQL Server
3 16 (1.86%) MySQL
4 15 (1.74%) Oracle Reports
5 14 (1.63%) PostgreSQL
5 14 (1.63%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 13 (1.51%) Amazon Redshift
7 12 (1.39%) Relational Database
7 12 (1.39%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 12 (1.39%) Tableau
8 7 (0.81%) Data Warehouse
8 7 (0.81%) Power Query
9 6 (0.70%) Metadata
10 5 (0.58%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.58%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.58%) Crystal Reports
11 4 (0.46%) Redis
11 4 (0.46%) TimescaleDB
12 3 (0.35%) Data Lake
12 3 (0.35%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 27 (3.14%) JIRA
2 19 (2.21%) Git
3 8 (0.93%) JUnit
4 7 (0.81%) Burp Suite
4 7 (0.81%) Metasploit
5 6 (0.70%) GitLab
5 6 (0.70%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.70%) Maven
5 6 (0.70%) Mockito
6 5 (0.58%) Subversion
7 3 (0.35%) Appcelerator Titanium
8 2 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 2 (0.23%) Selenium
8 2 (0.23%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 2 (0.23%) Visual Studio Code
9 1 (0.12%) Balsamiq
9 1 (0.12%) Cypress.io
9 1 (0.12%) Snyk
9 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.12%) webpack
General
1 418 (48.55%) Social Skills
2 288 (33.45%) Analytical Skills
3 160 (18.58%) Finance
4 98 (11.38%) Retail
5 78 (9.06%) Manufacturing
6 65 (7.55%) Organisational Skills
7 46 (5.34%) Law
8 43 (4.99%) Legal
9 35 (4.07%) Marketing
10 34 (3.95%) Public Sector
11 25 (2.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 19 (2.21%) Documentation Skills
13 17 (1.97%) Electronics
14 16 (1.86%) Automotive
15 15 (1.74%) Telecoms
16 13 (1.51%) Banking
16 13 (1.51%) Presentation Skills
17 12 (1.39%) Aerospace
17 12 (1.39%) Games
18 11 (1.28%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 156 (18.12%) IT Support
2 155 (18.00%) Support Engineer
3 131 (15.21%) Analyst
4 103 (11.96%) IT Engineer
5 91 (10.57%) IT Support Engineer
6 75 (8.71%) Lead
7 74 (8.59%) Developer
8 67 (7.78%) Technical Support
9 65 (7.55%) Senior
10 58 (6.74%) Support Analyst
11 54 (6.27%) Technical Engineer
12 53 (6.16%) Technical Support Engineer
13 50 (5.81%) 2nd Line Support
14 46 (5.34%) Support Technician
15 34 (3.95%) Administrator
16 33 (3.83%) Architect
17 32 (3.72%) 1st/2nd Line Support
18 31 (3.60%) Applications Support
19 30 (3.48%) Full-Stack Developer
20 25 (2.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (4.41%) React
2 29 (3.37%) .NET
3 27 (3.14%) HTML
4 26 (3.02%) CSS
5 25 (2.90%) Node.js
5 25 (2.90%) REST
6 13 (1.51%) JSON
7 12 (1.39%) AngularJS
8 8 (0.93%) Razor View Engine
9 7 (0.81%) Vue
10 6 (0.70%) LAMP
10 6 (0.70%) Middleware
10 6 (0.70%) Oracle Fusion
11 5 (0.58%) Laravel
11 5 (0.58%) RESTful
12 4 (0.46%) GraphQL
12 4 (0.46%) Next.js
12 4 (0.46%) Spring
12 4 (0.46%) Web Services
12 4 (0.46%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 108 (12.54%) Driving Licence
2 92 (10.69%) Onboarding
3 46 (5.34%) Management Information System
4 38 (4.41%) Self-Motivation
5 28 (3.25%) Analytical Mindset
6 26 (3.02%) FMCG
7 19 (2.21%) Social Media
8 16 (1.86%) Enterprise Software
9 15 (1.74%) Product Ownership
10 12 (1.39%) Legacy Systems
10 12 (1.39%) Security Posture
11 11 (1.28%) Operational Technology
12 10 (1.16%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 9 (1.05%) IoT
14 8 (0.93%) Data Structures
14 8 (0.93%) Distributed Systems
14 8 (0.93%) EPoS
15 7 (0.81%) Insider Threat
15 7 (0.81%) Linux Command Line
15 7 (0.81%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 160 (18.58%) Windows
2 54 (6.27%) Windows Server
3 40 (4.65%) Linux
4 28 (3.25%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.39%) Apple iOS
6 6 (0.70%) Windows 7
7 5 (0.58%) Debian
7 5 (0.58%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (0.46%) Android
8 4 (0.46%) CentOS
8 4 (0.46%) Ubuntu
8 4 (0.46%) Unix
9 3 (0.35%) SUSE
10 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.12%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.12%) Oracle Linux
11 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 193 (22.42%) Continuous Improvement
2 173 (20.09%) Customer Service
3 109 (12.66%) CRM
4 106 (12.31%) ERP
5 99 (11.50%) Agile
6 98 (11.38%) Mentoring
7 92 (10.69%) Decision-Making
8 89 (10.34%) Project Management
9 87 (10.10%) ITIL
10 73 (8.48%) Business Intelligence
11 72 (8.36%) Analytics
12 58 (6.74%) Time Management
13 55 (6.39%) Computer Science
14 54 (6.27%) Process Improvement
14 54 (6.27%) Root Cause Analysis
15 53 (6.16%) Analytical Thinking
15 53 (6.16%) Migration
16 50 (5.81%) Service Delivery
16 50 (5.81%) Stakeholder Management
17 48 (5.57%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 165 (19.16%) SQL
2 64 (7.43%) C#
3 58 (6.74%) Python
4 52 (6.04%) JavaScript
5 28 (3.25%) PowerShell
6 27 (3.14%) Java
7 18 (2.09%) PHP
8 16 (1.86%) T-SQL
9 12 (1.39%) Bash
10 11 (1.28%) C
11 10 (1.16%) TypeScript
12 8 (0.93%) Ladder Logic
12 8 (0.93%) R
13 7 (0.81%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 7 (0.81%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.46%) C++
14 4 (0.46%) Delphi
14 4 (0.46%) VBA
15 3 (0.35%) VB.NET
16 2 (0.23%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 158 (18.35%) Degree
2 70 (8.13%) Security Cleared
3 53 (6.16%) SC Cleared
4 32 (3.72%) Microsoft Certification
5 30 (3.48%) Computer Science Degree
6 24 (2.79%) DBS Check
7 17 (1.97%) Cisco Certification
7 17 (1.97%) CISSP
8 15 (1.74%) CompTIA Security+
9 14 (1.63%) BPSS Clearance
10 13 (1.51%) Master's Degree
11 11 (1.28%) A+ Certification
11 11 (1.28%) CCNA
12 10 (1.16%) PMI Certification
13 9 (1.05%) ACCA
13 9 (1.05%) AWS Certification
13 9 (1.05%) CIMA
13 9 (1.05%) CISMP
13 9 (1.05%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 9 (1.05%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 56 (6.50%) QA
2 40 (4.65%) Data Quality
3 27 (3.14%) GDPR
4 23 (2.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 13 (1.51%) Actionable Recommendations
6 12 (1.39%) NIST
7 10 (1.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 10 (1.16%) SLA
8 9 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 5 (0.58%) Accessibility
9 5 (0.58%) COSHH
9 5 (0.58%) GMP
9 5 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 3 (0.35%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 2 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 2 (0.23%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.23%) PMO
12 1 (0.12%) IEC 61131
12 1 (0.12%) ISO/IEC 15288
System Software
1 101 (11.73%) Active Directory
2 23 (2.67%) Docker
3 16 (1.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.28%) Hyper-V
5 9 (1.05%) vSphere
6 2 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
6 2 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.12%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 39 (4.53%) Microsoft Intune
2 24 (2.79%) Kubernetes
3 16 (1.86%) Terraform
4 8 (0.93%) Ansible
5 7 (0.81%) Nmap
6 5 (0.58%) Grafana
6 5 (0.58%) Nagios
6 5 (0.58%) SCCM
7 3 (0.35%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.12%) Argo
9 1 (0.12%) Autotask
9 1 (0.12%) AWS Copilot
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.12%) Puppet
9 1 (0.12%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 241 (27.99%) Microsoft
2 53 (6.16%) SAP
3 49 (5.69%) Oracle
4 35 (4.07%) Cisco
5 28 (3.25%) Salesforce
6 20 (2.32%) Google
7 19 (2.21%) VMware
8 15 (1.74%) ServiceNow
9 12 (1.39%) HP
10 9 (1.05%) Databricks
10 9 (1.05%) Meraki
10 9 (1.05%) Sage
11 7 (0.81%) Epicor
11 7 (0.81%) Infor
12 6 (0.70%) Dell
12 6 (0.70%) Freshdesk
12 6 (0.70%) SolarWinds
13 5 (0.58%) Zscaler
14 4 (0.46%) Panasonic
14 4 (0.46%) Samsung