Manufacturing Job Trends in the West Midlands

Manufacturing
England > West Midlands

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Manufacturing in permanent job vacancies in the West Midlands. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered in vacancies that cited Manufacturing over the 6 months leading up to 20 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 32 15 33
Rank change year-on-year -17 +18 +2
Permanent jobs citing Manufacturing 395 304 432
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 4.64% 9.63% 5.77%
As % of the General category 9.45% 15.58% 10.04%
Number of salaries quoted 290 69 267
10th Percentile £31,175 £36,200 £26,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £42,500 £31,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +22.22% -26.53%
75th Percentile £60,000 £62,500 £63,500
90th Percentile £70,125 £80,500 £68,750
England median annual salary £49,450 £50,000 £45,000
% change year-on-year -1.10% +11.11% -18.18%

All General Skills
West Midlands

Manufacturing falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring general skills in the West Midlands.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for general skills 4,182 1,951 4,304
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 49.08% 61.82% 57.50%
Number of salaries quoted 1,981 1,066 3,023
10th Percentile £29,500 £28,250 £25,550
25th Percentile £37,500 £36,000 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -9.52%
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,510 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%

Manufacturing
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

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

Manufacturing job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Manufacturing
Salary Trend in the West Midlands

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Manufacturing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Manufacturing

Manufacturing
Salary Histogram in the West Midlands

Salary distribution for jobs citing Manufacturing in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 20 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Manufacturing in the West Midlands

Manufacturing
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 Manufacturing within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 20 May 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
Birmingham +3 81 £56,250 +25.00% 29
Staffordshire -13 76 £40,000 -20.00% 24
Shropshire +10 73 £45,000 -18.18% 9
Warwickshire -5 40 £40,000 -33.33% 19
Coventry -14 23 £45,000 - 10
Worcestershire -22 20 £42,500 -10.53% 10
Herefordshire - 14 £57,500 - 2
Sutton Coldfield - 13 £40,000 - 1
Stourbridge -2 8 - -
Tipton - 8 £33,500 -
Solihull +10 6 £60,000 - 6
Wolverhampton -31 5 £37,500 -21.05% 2
Halesowen - 4 £32,500 -
Smethwick - 4 £30,000 -
West Bromwich - 3 £40,000 - 2
Dudley -11 1 £42,500 -39.29%
Manufacturing
England

Manufacturing
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:

Application Platforms
1 14 (3.54%) SharePoint
2 8 (2.03%) Jupyter
3 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 21 (5.32%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (2.03%) Chatbot
2 8 (2.03%) Fusion 360
3 5 (1.27%) ALPHACAM
3 5 (1.27%) Microsoft Office
4 4 (1.01%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 4 (1.01%) Adobe Illustrator
4 4 (1.01%) InDesign
4 4 (1.01%) Photoshop
5 3 (0.76%) AutoCAD
5 3 (0.76%) CATIA
5 3 (0.76%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.76%) Siemens NX
5 3 (0.76%) Solid Edge
6 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.51%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.25%) PTC Creo
Business Applications
1 8 (2.03%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (1.27%) SAP PP
3 4 (1.01%) Dynamics AX
4 3 (0.76%) Dynamics CRM
4 3 (0.76%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.51%) Sage X3
5 2 (0.51%) SAP Business One
5 2 (0.51%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.25%) Primavera
6 1 (0.25%) SAP EWM
6 1 (0.25%) SAP IBP
6 1 (0.25%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 16 (4.05%) Azure
2 12 (3.04%) AWS
2 12 (3.04%) Dynamics 365
3 11 (2.78%) Microsoft 365
3 11 (2.78%) Power Platform
3 11 (2.78%) SaaS
4 8 (2.03%) Cloud Computing
5 7 (1.77%) Entra ID
6 4 (1.01%) OneDrive
6 4 (1.01%) Smartsheet
7 3 (0.76%) Power Automate
7 3 (0.76%) PowerApps
8 1 (0.25%) Anthropic Claude
8 1 (0.25%) Azure DevOps
8 1 (0.25%) GitHub
8 1 (0.25%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 10 (2.53%) DHCP
1 10 (2.53%) DNS
2 7 (1.77%) Ethernet
3 6 (1.52%) RFID
4 5 (1.27%) Wireless
5 4 (1.01%) VoIP
5 4 (1.01%) VPN
6 3 (0.76%) Cisco Wireless
6 3 (0.76%) Firewall
6 3 (0.76%) SD-WAN
6 3 (0.76%) WAN
7 2 (0.51%) Bluetooth
7 2 (0.51%) Broadband
7 2 (0.51%) Internet
7 2 (0.51%) PBX
7 2 (0.51%) Unified Communications
7 2 (0.51%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.03%) Power BI
2 6 (1.52%) SQL Server
3 2 (0.51%) DB2
3 2 (0.51%) Relational Database
3 2 (0.51%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (2.03%) Visual Studio Code
2 4 (1.01%) LabVIEW
3 2 (0.51%) Visual Studio
4 1 (0.25%) Git
4 1 (0.25%) GitLab
4 1 (0.25%) JIRA
4 1 (0.25%) Yeoman
General
1 72 (18.23%) Social Skills
2 43 (10.89%) Automotive
3 33 (8.35%) Finance
4 32 (8.10%) Retail
5 21 (5.32%) Aerospace
6 17 (4.30%) Analytical Skills
7 16 (4.05%) Marketing
8 15 (3.80%) Influencing Skills
9 11 (2.78%) Legal
10 7 (1.77%) Advertising
10 7 (1.77%) Agriculture
10 7 (1.77%) Electronics
10 7 (1.77%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.27%) Documentation Skills
11 5 (1.27%) Law
12 2 (0.51%) Back Office
12 2 (0.51%) Military
13 1 (0.25%) French Language
13 1 (0.25%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.25%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 58 (14.68%) Programmer
2 39 (9.87%) Business Manager
3 38 (9.62%) Analyst
3 38 (9.62%) Business Development Manager
3 38 (9.62%) Development Manager
4 31 (7.85%) Senior
4 31 (7.85%) Systems Engineer
5 28 (7.09%) Support Engineer
6 24 (6.08%) Quality Engineer
7 22 (5.57%) IT Support
7 22 (5.57%) Support Analyst
8 17 (4.30%) Developer
9 16 (4.05%) Lead
10 15 (3.80%) Technical Engineer
10 15 (3.80%) Technical Support
10 15 (3.80%) Technical Support Engineer
11 13 (3.29%) Consultant
11 13 (3.29%) IT Engineer
11 13 (3.29%) IT Support Engineer
12 12 (3.04%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (2.03%) Hugging Face
1 8 (2.03%) Matplotlib
1 8 (2.03%) NumPy
1 8 (2.03%) Pandas
1 8 (2.03%) scikit-learn
1 8 (2.03%) Streamlit
2 5 (1.27%) SAP Fiori
3 4 (1.01%) .NET
3 4 (1.01%) EDI
4 2 (0.51%) HTML
4 2 (0.51%) OpenCV
4 2 (0.51%) PyTorch
4 2 (0.51%) TensorFlow
5 1 (0.25%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 16 (4.05%) Robotics
2 14 (3.54%) Self-Motivation
3 11 (2.78%) FMCG
4 10 (2.53%) Algorithms
5 9 (2.28%) Legacy Systems
6 8 (2.03%) Onboarding
7 7 (1.77%) AS400
8 6 (1.52%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.27%) IoT
9 5 (1.27%) Social Media
10 4 (1.01%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.01%) Embedded Systems
10 4 (1.01%) Graphic Design
10 4 (1.01%) Web Conferencing
11 3 (0.76%) Cyber Security Posture
11 3 (0.76%) iSeries
11 3 (0.76%) Low-Code
11 3 (0.76%) Security Posture
11 3 (0.76%) Team-Oriented Environment
12 2 (0.51%) Legacy Applications
Operating Systems
1 17 (4.30%) Windows
2 4 (1.01%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.51%) Embedded Linux
3 2 (0.51%) Linux
3 2 (0.51%) Robot Operating System
4 1 (0.25%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 64 (16.20%) Problem-Solving
2 60 (15.19%) ERP
3 50 (12.66%) Continuous Improvement
4 40 (10.13%) Business Development
5 32 (8.10%) Logistics
6 29 (7.34%) Customer Service
7 25 (6.33%) Quality Management
8 24 (6.08%) QMS
9 21 (5.32%) Customer Experience
10 20 (5.06%) AI
10 20 (5.06%) Migration
10 20 (5.06%) Presales
11 18 (4.56%) Roadmaps
12 17 (4.30%) Stakeholder Management
13 16 (4.05%) CAD
13 16 (4.05%) Validation
13 16 (4.05%) Workflow
14 14 (3.54%) Project Management
14 14 (3.54%) Visualisation
15 13 (3.29%) Analytics
Programming Languages
1 22 (5.57%) Python
2 21 (5.32%) SQL
3 11 (2.78%) C#
3 11 (2.78%) Ladder Logic
4 7 (1.77%) RPG
5 6 (1.52%) JavaScript
6 5 (1.27%) C
6 5 (1.27%) RPG IV
7 4 (1.01%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 4 (1.01%) R
7 4 (1.01%) RPG III
7 4 (1.01%) T-SQL
8 3 (0.76%) RPG/400
9 2 (0.51%) C++
9 2 (0.51%) PowerShell
9 2 (0.51%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.25%) Bash
10 1 (0.25%) Java
Qualifications
1 48 (12.15%) Degree
2 12 (3.04%) BPSS Clearance
2 12 (3.04%) HNC
3 9 (2.28%) AWS Certification
3 9 (2.28%) Master's Degree
3 9 (2.28%) Microsoft Certification
4 8 (2.03%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
4 8 (2.03%) HND
4 8 (2.03%) Numerate Degree
5 6 (1.52%) SC Cleared
5 6 (1.52%) Security Cleared
6 4 (1.01%) MCSA
6 4 (1.01%) Microsoft Certified Professional
7 3 (0.76%) A+ Certification
7 3 (0.76%) ACCA
7 3 (0.76%) CIMA
7 3 (0.76%) Network+ Certification
8 2 (0.51%) PhD
9 1 (0.25%) PMI Certification
9 1 (0.25%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (6.08%) QA
2 6 (1.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (1.27%) IEC 61131
4 4 (1.01%) Data Quality
5 3 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials
5 3 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (0.51%) Accessibility
6 2 (0.51%) GDPR
7 1 (0.25%) GMP
System Software
1 15 (3.80%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.51%) BitLocker
2 2 (0.51%) Embedded Firmware
2 2 (0.51%) Firmware
3 1 (0.25%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.25%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 4 (1.01%) Microsoft Intune
2 3 (0.76%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 48 (12.15%) Microsoft
2 24 (6.08%) SAP
3 8 (2.03%) Allen-Bradley
4 7 (1.77%) IBM
4 7 (1.77%) Siemens
5 5 (1.27%) VMware
6 4 (1.01%) Adobe
6 4 (1.01%) Facebook
6 4 (1.01%) Infor
6 4 (1.01%) Instagram
6 4 (1.01%) Kaseya
6 4 (1.01%) Veeam
7 3 (0.76%) Cisco
8 2 (0.51%) NEC
8 2 (0.51%) Sage
8 2 (0.51%) ServiceNow
9 1 (0.25%) Autodesk