Problem-Solving Job Trends in the West Midlands

Problem Solving
England > West Midlands

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the West Midlands requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -8 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 715 658 929
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.13% 19.71% 15.35%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.75% 23.17% 19.48%
Number of salaries quoted 497 423 342
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £33,500 £29,250 £33,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £44,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.41% -12.00% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £58,750 £60,938
90th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £79,750
England median annual salary £47,371 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +5.27% -14.29% -4.55%

All Process & Methodology Skills
West 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 West Midlands.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 6,083 2,840 4,770
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.19% 85.06% 78.80%
Number of salaries quoted 4,544 1,798 2,584
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,925 £28,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £37,149
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -8.00%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

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

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
Salary Trend in the West Midlands

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the West Midlands citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Salary Histogram in the West Midlands

Salary distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Problem-Solving in the West Midlands

Problem-Solving
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 Problem-Solving within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 10 September 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 -8 256 £55,000 +22.22% 297
Staffordshire -8 94 £47,500 +5.56% 57
Warwickshire -7 74 £40,000 -27.27% 62
Worcestershire -4 69 £40,000 +31.15% 26
Shropshire +4 59 £45,000 -5.26% 44
Coventry -10 37 £42,000 +27.27% 39
Wolverhampton -1 16 £38,500 -21.03% 21
Solihull +2 15 £31,000 -8.82% 20
Herefordshire -23 8 £28,500 -12.31% 11
Tipton - 7 £33,500 - 2
Walsall 0 6 £37,500 -16.67% 8
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +46.15% 1
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Dudley - 4 £31,050 - 11
Sutton Coldfield - 3 £42,500 -
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
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 42 (5.87%) SharePoint
2 29 (4.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.40%) IIS
4 8 (1.12%) Confluence
5 5 (0.70%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.56%) CICS
7 3 (0.42%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.42%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.42%) WordPress
8 2 (0.28%) Documentum
8 2 (0.28%) SAS
9 1 (0.14%) Apache
9 1 (0.14%) Appian
9 1 (0.14%) CMS
9 1 (0.14%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 59 (8.25%) Microsoft Office
2 39 (5.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.26%) Simulink
4 6 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.84%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.70%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.56%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.28%) Chatbot
8 2 (0.28%) OrCAD
8 2 (0.28%) Revit
9 1 (0.14%) EPLAN
9 1 (0.14%) LaTeX
9 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
9 1 (0.14%) Navisworks
9 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.14%) SketchUp
9 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.54%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.40%) NetSuite
3 9 (1.26%) Dynamics CRM
4 5 (0.70%) Magento
4 5 (0.70%) Shopify
5 4 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.56%) Line 50
5 4 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
5 4 (0.56%) Sage 50
5 4 (0.56%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.42%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.42%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.42%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 3 (0.42%) SAP Business One
6 3 (0.42%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.28%) JDE EnterpriseOne
8 1 (0.14%) Exchequer
8 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 142 (19.86%) Azure
2 124 (17.34%) Microsoft 365
3 91 (12.73%) Power Platform
4 54 (7.55%) AWS
5 52 (7.27%) Entra ID
6 46 (6.43%) SaaS
7 25 (3.50%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (3.22%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.38%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.24%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (2.10%) GitHub
12 14 (1.96%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.82%) GitHub Actions
14 12 (1.68%) GCP
15 11 (1.54%) Microsoft Copilot
16 10 (1.40%) PaaS
17 6 (0.84%) Google Workspace
17 6 (0.84%) IaaS
18 4 (0.56%) Amazon Kinesis
18 4 (0.56%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 29 (4.06%) Firewall
2 24 (3.36%) DNS
3 23 (3.22%) TCP/IP
4 22 (3.08%) VPN
5 21 (2.94%) WAN
5 21 (2.94%) Wireless
6 17 (2.38%) LAN
7 16 (2.24%) DHCP
7 16 (2.24%) Wi-Fi
8 13 (1.82%) Network Security
9 12 (1.68%) VLAN
10 10 (1.40%) VoIP
11 7 (0.98%) Wireshark
12 6 (0.84%) Cisco IOS
12 6 (0.84%) SD-WAN
13 5 (0.70%) Skype
14 4 (0.56%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.42%) HTTP
15 3 (0.42%) Internet
15 3 (0.42%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 86 (12.03%) Power BI
2 27 (3.78%) SQL Server
3 24 (3.36%) Tableau
4 20 (2.80%) Relational Database
5 19 (2.66%) Data Warehouse
5 19 (2.66%) Power Query
6 12 (1.68%) MySQL
6 12 (1.68%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 11 (1.54%) Data Mining
8 9 (1.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 8 (1.12%) Electronic Patient Records
10 7 (0.98%) Data Lake
11 6 (0.84%) Amazon Redshift
11 6 (0.84%) Azure SQL Database
12 5 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
12 5 (0.70%) Big Data
12 5 (0.70%) Oracle BI EE
12 5 (0.70%) Oracle Reports
12 5 (0.70%) QlikView
12 5 (0.70%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 31 (4.34%) Git
2 27 (3.78%) JIRA
3 24 (3.36%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.98%) Cucumber
4 7 (0.98%) Eclipse
4 7 (0.98%) Postman
5 6 (0.84%) GitLab
5 6 (0.84%) JMeter
5 6 (0.84%) Maven
5 6 (0.84%) Selenium
5 6 (0.84%) SoapUI
6 5 (0.70%) JUnit
6 5 (0.70%) Zephyr
7 3 (0.42%) Mockito
8 2 (0.28%) Ant
8 2 (0.28%) Apache Ivy
8 2 (0.28%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.14%) Bugzilla
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
General
1 343 (47.97%) Social Skills
2 183 (25.59%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (15.94%) Finance
4 104 (14.55%) Manufacturing
5 53 (7.41%) Organisational Skills
6 52 (7.27%) Public Sector
7 41 (5.73%) Retail
8 32 (4.48%) Marketing
9 26 (3.64%) Electronics
10 21 (2.94%) Law
10 21 (2.94%) Legal
11 18 (2.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 17 (2.38%) Automotive
13 16 (2.24%) Documentation Skills
14 12 (1.68%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.40%) Banking
16 8 (1.12%) Billing
16 8 (1.12%) Fire and Rescue
16 8 (1.12%) Influencing Skills
16 8 (1.12%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 86 (12.03%) Support Engineer
2 80 (11.19%) Analyst
3 73 (10.21%) Developer
4 69 (9.65%) Technical Support
5 61 (8.53%) Technical Engineer
6 59 (8.25%) Technical Support Engineer
7 55 (7.69%) Lead
8 53 (7.41%) IT Support
9 47 (6.57%) Consultant
9 47 (6.57%) Senior
10 35 (4.90%) IT Engineer
10 35 (4.90%) IT Manager
11 32 (4.48%) Support Analyst
12 25 (3.50%) IT Support Engineer
13 24 (3.36%) Administrator
14 19 (2.66%) Architect
15 17 (2.38%) Project Manager
16 15 (2.10%) 1st Line Support
16 15 (2.10%) 2nd Line Support
17 14 (1.96%) Graduate
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.17%) REST
2 33 (4.62%) .NET
3 28 (3.92%) Spring
4 26 (3.64%) React
5 25 (3.50%) Spring Boot
6 15 (2.10%) CSS
6 15 (2.10%) HTML
6 15 (2.10%) RESTful
7 14 (1.96%) AngularJS
7 14 (1.96%) Playwright
8 12 (1.68%) ISPF
9 11 (1.54%) SOAP
9 11 (1.54%) Terraform
9 11 (1.54%) XML
10 7 (0.98%) JSON
10 7 (0.98%) LDAP
10 7 (0.98%) Node.js
10 7 (0.98%) SAP Fiori
11 6 (0.84%) OAuth
11 6 (0.84%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 63 (8.81%) Driving Licence
2 42 (5.87%) Onboarding
3 38 (5.31%) Self-Motivation
4 37 (5.17%) Management Information System
5 35 (4.90%) Enterprise Software
6 19 (2.66%) Data Centre
6 19 (2.66%) NHS
7 17 (2.38%) Virtual Team
8 16 (2.24%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (1.96%) Legacy Applications
10 12 (1.68%) Mainframe
11 11 (1.54%) Public Cloud
12 10 (1.40%) Cloud Native
12 10 (1.40%) Data Structures
13 9 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.26%) IoT
13 9 (1.26%) Mobile App
13 9 (1.26%) Social Media
13 9 (1.26%) SystemC
14 8 (1.12%) PMI
Operating Systems
1 111 (15.52%) Windows
2 38 (5.31%) Linux
2 38 (5.31%) Windows Server
3 21 (2.94%) Windows 10
4 14 (1.96%) Android
5 10 (1.40%) Apple iOS
6 9 (1.26%) Unix
7 6 (0.84%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.56%) FreeRTOS
9 3 (0.42%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.28%) Solaris
11 1 (0.14%) CentOS
11 1 (0.14%) Debian
11 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 225 (31.47%) Continuous Improvement
2 126 (17.62%) Customer Service
3 109 (15.24%) Agile
4 90 (12.59%) Decision-Making
5 89 (12.45%) Business Intelligence
6 86 (12.03%) Analytics
7 78 (10.91%) AI
8 74 (10.35%) Mentoring
9 73 (10.21%) ERP
10 68 (9.51%) Collaborative Working
11 60 (8.39%) Stakeholder Management
12 59 (8.25%) Collaborative Culture
13 58 (8.11%) Cybersecurity
14 57 (7.97%) CI/CD
15 56 (7.83%) ITIL
16 55 (7.69%) CRM
17 53 (7.41%) Project Management
18 52 (7.27%) Workflow
19 50 (6.99%) Project Delivery
19 50 (6.99%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 112 (15.66%) SQL
2 66 (9.23%) Java
3 44 (6.15%) Python
4 30 (4.20%) JavaScript
5 27 (3.78%) PowerShell
6 24 (3.36%) C#
7 19 (2.66%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 19 (2.66%) Ladder Logic
8 16 (2.24%) C
9 15 (2.10%) Embedded C
10 14 (1.96%) TypeScript
11 12 (1.68%) COBOL
11 12 (1.68%) JCL
12 10 (1.40%) PHP
13 9 (1.26%) MATLAB
14 7 (0.98%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.98%) RPG
15 6 (0.84%) ABAP
15 6 (0.84%) R
16 5 (0.70%) Bash
Qualifications
1 110 (15.38%) Degree
2 80 (11.19%) Security Cleared
3 65 (9.09%) SC Cleared
4 21 (2.94%) Azure Certification
5 14 (1.96%) PMI Certification
6 13 (1.82%) DBS Check
7 12 (1.68%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (1.54%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (1.26%) CCNA
9 9 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
9 9 (1.26%) HND
10 8 (1.12%) PMP
11 7 (0.98%) ACCA
11 7 (0.98%) CIMA
11 7 (0.98%) HNC
12 6 (0.84%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (0.84%) CCNP
12 6 (0.84%) ISTQB
13 5 (0.70%) ISEB
14 3 (0.42%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (6.15%) Data Quality
2 36 (5.03%) QA
3 33 (4.62%) GDPR
4 24 (3.36%) Cyber Essentials
4 24 (3.36%) SLA
5 20 (2.80%) Accessibility
5 20 (2.80%) ISO 9001
5 20 (2.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 9 (1.26%) ISO 14001
7 5 (0.70%) NIST
8 4 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (0.42%) AQAP
9 3 (0.42%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 3 (0.42%) GMP
9 3 (0.42%) HIPAA
9 3 (0.42%) ISO 26262
9 3 (0.42%) SOC 2
10 2 (0.28%) Actionable Recommendations
10 2 (0.28%) Automotive SPICE
10 2 (0.28%) GRC
System Software
1 80 (11.19%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.50%) Hyper-V
3 16 (2.24%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (2.10%) Docker
5 13 (1.82%) Firmware
6 11 (1.54%) Embedded Firmware
7 7 (0.98%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.70%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.56%) vSphere
10 2 (0.28%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 29 (4.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (1.82%) Kubernetes
3 6 (0.84%) Functional Safety
3 6 (0.84%) Single Sign-On
4 5 (0.70%) SCCM
5 4 (0.56%) Ansible
6 3 (0.42%) Progress Chef
6 3 (0.42%) Puppet
7 2 (0.28%) Grafana
7 2 (0.28%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.28%) WSUS
8 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.14%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.14%) Nagios
Vendors
1 195 (27.27%) Microsoft
2 39 (5.45%) SAP
3 23 (3.22%) VMware
4 22 (3.08%) Cisco
5 18 (2.52%) Sage
6 16 (2.24%) Workday
7 14 (1.96%) Oracle
8 13 (1.82%) ServiceNow
9 12 (1.68%) HubSpot
10 11 (1.54%) Salesforce
11 10 (1.40%) Dell
11 10 (1.40%) Google
12 9 (1.26%) Apple
13 8 (1.12%) Broadcom
13 8 (1.12%) Databricks
13 8 (1.12%) Sophos
14 7 (0.98%) IBM
15 6 (0.84%) iManage
15 6 (0.84%) McAfee
15 6 (0.84%) Pega