Critical Thinking Job Trends in the West Midlands

Critical Thinking
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the West Midlands requiring Critical Thinking skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 163 185 157
Rank change year-on-year +22 -28 +46
Permanent jobs citing Critical Thinking 15 13 21
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 0.28% 0.31% 0.56%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.34% 0.34% 0.64%
Number of salaries quoted 15 2 20
10th Percentile - £51,775 £24,637
25th Percentile £31,250 £52,561 £30,938
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £32,500 £55,965 £45,465
Median % change year-on-year -41.93% +23.09% -25.77%
75th Percentile £39,250 £60,211 £50,000
90th Percentile £52,250 £61,504 £53,125
England median annual salary £52,500 £60,965 £62,500
% change year-on-year -13.89% -2.46% -3.85%

All Process & Methodology Skills
West Midlands

Critical Thinking 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 West Midlands.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 4,351 3,803 3,269
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 82.03% 91.64% 87.03%
Number of salaries quoted 2,275 1,690 2,742
10th Percentile £29,000 £32,500 £26,500
25th Percentile £38,500 £41,719 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,500 £70,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

Critical Thinking
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Critical Thinking relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the West Midlands.

Critical Thinking job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Critical Thinking
Salary Trend in the West Midlands

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Critical Thinking.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking
Salary Histogram in the West Midlands

Salary distribution for jobs citing Critical Thinking in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 15 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Critical Thinking in the West Midlands

Critical Thinking
Job Locations in the West Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Critical Thinking within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 15 January 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
Halesowen - 11 £32,500 -
Warwickshire +29 2 £47,000 - 2
Staffordshire -10 1 £52,500 - 4
Herefordshire - 1 £50,000 -
Critical Thinking
England

Critical Thinking
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West 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:

Applications
1 1 (6.67%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (6.67%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 1 (6.67%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 1 (6.67%) PuTTY
1 1 (6.67%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (6.67%) Power BI
1 1 (6.67%) Tableau
General
1 12 (80.00%) Social Skills
2 11 (73.33%) Manufacturing
3 2 (13.33%) Analytical Skills
4 1 (6.67%) Finance
4 1 (6.67%) Law
Job Titles
1 11 (73.33%) IT Support
2 2 (13.33%) Analyst
2 2 (13.33%) Senior
2 2 (13.33%) Senior Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Data Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Data Insight Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Insight Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Insight Data Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Lead
3 1 (6.67%) Senior Data Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Senior Insight Analyst
3 1 (6.67%) Vulnerability Analyst
Miscellaneous
1 1 (6.67%) Cyber Defence
1 1 (6.67%) Data Structures
1 1 (6.67%) Operational Technology
Processes & Methodologies
1 13 (86.67%) Problem-Solving
2 12 (80.00%) Project Management
3 11 (73.33%) ITIL
4 1 (6.67%) Analytics
4 1 (6.67%) Business Analysis
4 1 (6.67%) Business Analytics
4 1 (6.67%) Business Intelligence
4 1 (6.67%) Continuous Improvement
4 1 (6.67%) Cost-Benefit Analysis
4 1 (6.67%) CRM
4 1 (6.67%) Cybersecurity
4 1 (6.67%) Data Analysis
4 1 (6.67%) Data Governance
4 1 (6.67%) Economics
4 1 (6.67%) ERP
4 1 (6.67%) Risk Management
4 1 (6.67%) Stakeholder Management
4 1 (6.67%) Statistical Analysis
4 1 (6.67%) Vulnerability Assessment
4 1 (6.67%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 1 (6.67%) C
1 1 (6.67%) Python
1 1 (6.67%) SQL
Qualifications
1 12 (80.00%) SC Cleared
1 12 (80.00%) Security Cleared
2 11 (73.33%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (6.67%) DBS Check
3 1 (6.67%) Degree