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 14 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 540 629 1,315
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.10% 20.73% 15.30%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.35% 23.42% 19.09%
Number of salaries quoted 400 414 723
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,750 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +5.88% -12.89%
75th Percentile £57,500 £62,500 £58,750
90th Percentile £65,640 £71,425 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £49,500
% change year-on-year -5.00% +1.01% -10.00%

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 5,219 2,686 6,890
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.58% 88.53% 80.17%
Number of salaries quoted 3,855 1,627 4,780
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £26,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £35,877
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,560 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.24% +4.65% -12.00%

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 14 June 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 14 June 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 -14 177 £50,000 +0.40% 67
Staffordshire -2 91 £31,500 -38.77% 30
Warwickshire 0 71 £32,500 -27.78% 57
Worcestershire -6 44 £38,750 +27.05% 18
Coventry -10 33 £42,000 -26.96% 18
Shropshire -6 29 £50,678 +19.24% 22
Herefordshire -14 15 £52,500 -2.33% 2
Solihull -1 11 £30,500 -44.55% 4
Walsall +3 9 £37,500 -10.71%
Tipton - 8 £33,500 -
Wolverhampton -19 6 £59,250 +82.31% 4
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 4
Sutton Coldfield - 1 £28,000 - 1
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 47 (8.70%) SharePoint
2 32 (5.93%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (0.93%) IIS
3 5 (0.93%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 5 (0.93%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.74%) Exchange Server 2007
4 4 (0.74%) Exchange Server 2010
4 4 (0.74%) Exchange Server 2013
5 3 (0.56%) WordPress
6 2 (0.37%) Confluence
7 1 (0.19%) Appian
7 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 47 (8.70%) Microsoft Office
2 29 (5.37%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (2.04%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (1.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.93%) Fusion 360
6 3 (0.56%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.19%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.19%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 6 (1.11%) Dynamics CRM
1 6 (1.11%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.93%) Magento
2 5 (0.93%) Shopify
3 4 (0.74%) Line 50
3 4 (0.74%) Sage 50
3 4 (0.74%) Sage X3
4 3 (0.56%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.37%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.19%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.19%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.19%) Raiser’s Edge
Cloud Services
1 111 (20.56%) Microsoft 365
2 106 (19.63%) Azure
3 55 (10.19%) Power Platform
4 49 (9.07%) Entra ID
5 37 (6.85%) AWS
6 26 (4.81%) SaaS
7 14 (2.59%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (2.22%) Power Automate
8 12 (2.22%) PowerApps
9 9 (1.67%) Google Workspace
9 9 (1.67%) OneDrive
10 6 (1.11%) Azure Data Factory
10 6 (1.11%) Azure Sentinel
10 6 (1.11%) Microsoft Purview
11 5 (0.93%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (0.93%) PaaS
11 5 (0.93%) Serverless
12 4 (0.74%) Amazon S3
12 4 (0.74%) GCP
12 4 (0.74%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.00%) Firewall
2 26 (4.81%) VPN
3 25 (4.63%) WAN
4 20 (3.70%) DNS
5 19 (3.52%) Wi-Fi
6 18 (3.33%) DHCP
6 18 (3.33%) LAN
7 15 (2.78%) Internet
7 15 (2.78%) Wireless
8 12 (2.22%) TCP/IP
8 12 (2.22%) VLAN
9 11 (2.04%) Network Security
10 10 (1.85%) SD-WAN
11 7 (1.30%) VoIP
12 5 (0.93%) Skype
13 4 (0.74%) Bluetooth
14 3 (0.56%) SAN
15 2 (0.37%) SNMP
16 1 (0.19%) Broadband
16 1 (0.19%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (9.63%) Power BI
2 14 (2.59%) SQL Server
2 14 (2.59%) Tableau
3 13 (2.41%) Power Query
4 8 (1.48%) MySQL
5 7 (1.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (1.30%) Star Schema
6 5 (0.93%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.93%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.74%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.74%) FileMaker
7 4 (0.74%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.74%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.56%) GIS
8 3 (0.56%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.56%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.56%) PostgreSQL
9 2 (0.37%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.37%) Azure SQL Database
9 2 (0.37%) Redis
Development Applications
1 12 (2.22%) Git
2 10 (1.85%) JIRA
3 8 (1.48%) JUnit
4 7 (1.30%) Maven
4 7 (1.30%) Mockito
5 3 (0.56%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.37%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.19%) Appium
7 1 (0.19%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.19%) Bugzilla
7 1 (0.19%) Carbide.c++
7 1 (0.19%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.19%) Oracle Forms
7 1 (0.19%) Postman
7 1 (0.19%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.19%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.19%) TestRail
7 1 (0.19%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.19%) Yeoman
General
1 225 (41.67%) Social Skills
2 147 (27.22%) Analytical Skills
3 97 (17.96%) Finance
4 73 (13.52%) Manufacturing
5 33 (6.11%) Organisational Skills
6 31 (5.74%) Public Sector
7 25 (4.63%) Retail
8 24 (4.44%) Legal
9 22 (4.07%) Marketing
10 15 (2.78%) Electronics
10 15 (2.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (2.78%) Law
11 12 (2.22%) Automotive
11 12 (2.22%) Banking
12 11 (2.04%) Investment Banking
13 10 (1.85%) Telecoms
14 8 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
15 6 (1.11%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
17 3 (0.56%) Agriculture
Job Titles
1 102 (18.89%) Support Engineer
2 81 (15.00%) Analyst
3 63 (11.67%) IT Support
4 55 (10.19%) IT Engineer
5 54 (10.00%) Technical Engineer
5 54 (10.00%) Technical Support
5 54 (10.00%) Technical Support Engineer
6 50 (9.26%) Developer
7 46 (8.52%) IT Support Engineer
8 44 (8.15%) Senior
9 29 (5.37%) Lead
10 26 (4.81%) Support Analyst
11 20 (3.70%) Consultant
12 18 (3.33%) IT Manager
13 17 (3.15%) 2nd Line Support
14 16 (2.96%) Programmer
15 15 (2.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 14 (2.59%) Instructor
16 14 (2.59%) IT Technician
16 14 (2.59%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (4.44%) REST
2 20 (3.70%) React
3 13 (2.41%) Spring
4 12 (2.22%) .NET
5 11 (2.04%) AngularJS
6 10 (1.85%) CSS
6 10 (1.85%) HTML
6 10 (1.85%) Spring Boot
7 8 (1.48%) RESTful
8 5 (0.93%) Middleware
9 4 (0.74%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.74%) EDI
9 4 (0.74%) Node.js
10 3 (0.56%) COM
10 3 (0.56%) DCOM
10 3 (0.56%) LDAP
10 3 (0.56%) Playwright
11 2 (0.37%) GraphQL
11 2 (0.37%) SAP Fiori
11 2 (0.37%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 46 (8.52%) Driving Licence
2 28 (5.19%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (5.00%) Management Information System
4 26 (4.81%) Onboarding
5 15 (2.78%) Social Media
6 12 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
7 10 (1.85%) Legacy Systems
8 9 (1.67%) Data Centre
8 9 (1.67%) FMCG
8 9 (1.67%) Virtual Team
9 8 (1.48%) Analytical Mindset
9 8 (1.48%) Data Structures
10 7 (1.30%) AS400
10 7 (1.30%) Cyber Defence
10 7 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
10 7 (1.30%) iSeries
10 7 (1.30%) NHS
11 6 (1.11%) Mobile App
11 6 (1.11%) Security Posture
12 4 (0.74%) CAN bus
Operating Systems
1 89 (16.48%) Windows
2 30 (5.56%) Windows 10
3 26 (4.81%) Linux
4 25 (4.63%) Windows Server
5 10 (1.85%) Android
6 9 (1.67%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.93%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.74%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.74%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.74%) Unix
9 2 (0.37%) CentOS
9 2 (0.37%) Debian
9 2 (0.37%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (24.63%) Continuous Improvement
2 79 (14.63%) Customer Service
3 69 (12.78%) Agile
4 62 (11.48%) Decision-Making
5 59 (10.93%) Analytics
6 57 (10.56%) ITIL
7 55 (10.19%) Collaborative Working
7 55 (10.19%) Mentoring
8 51 (9.44%) Business Intelligence
9 50 (9.26%) AI
10 49 (9.07%) ERP
11 45 (8.33%) Cybersecurity
12 42 (7.78%) Service Delivery
13 41 (7.59%) Customer Experience
14 38 (7.04%) Root Cause Analysis
15 33 (6.11%) CRM
15 33 (6.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 32 (5.93%) Process Improvement
17 31 (5.74%) Coaching
18 30 (5.56%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 80 (14.81%) SQL
2 31 (5.74%) Python
3 30 (5.56%) Java
4 22 (4.07%) PowerShell
5 14 (2.59%) C#
5 14 (2.59%) Ladder Logic
6 13 (2.41%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 11 (2.04%) Bash
7 11 (2.04%) C
7 11 (2.04%) JavaScript
7 11 (2.04%) PHP
8 9 (1.67%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.48%) PL/SQL
10 7 (1.30%) RPG
11 5 (0.93%) C++
11 5 (0.93%) R
12 4 (0.74%) Embedded C
12 4 (0.74%) RPG IV
12 4 (0.74%) RPG/400
13 3 (0.56%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 72 (13.33%) Degree
2 55 (10.19%) Security Cleared
3 42 (7.78%) SC Cleared
4 21 (3.89%) DBS Check
5 20 (3.70%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (1.85%) A+ Certification
6 10 (1.85%) CISSP
7 9 (1.67%) Azure Certification
7 9 (1.67%) BPSS Clearance
7 9 (1.67%) CompTIA Security+
8 8 (1.48%) ACCA
8 8 (1.48%) CIMA
9 7 (1.30%) CISA
9 7 (1.30%) Computer Science Degree
9 7 (1.30%) SSCP
10 6 (1.11%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (0.93%) HND
11 5 (0.93%) MCITP
11 5 (0.93%) PMI Certification
12 4 (0.74%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (5.56%) QA
2 29 (5.37%) Data Quality
3 26 (4.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 22 (4.07%) GDPR
5 19 (3.52%) Cyber Essentials
5 19 (3.52%) NIST
6 13 (2.41%) SLA
7 12 (2.22%) Accessibility
8 11 (2.04%) ISO 9001
9 9 (1.67%) ISO 14001
10 8 (1.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 6 (1.11%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 4 (0.74%) HIPAA
12 4 (0.74%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 3 (0.56%) Actionable Recommendations
13 3 (0.56%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 3 (0.56%) SOC 2
14 2 (0.37%) GRC
14 2 (0.37%) PCI DSS
14 2 (0.37%) PMO
System Software
1 72 (13.33%) Active Directory
2 18 (3.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (2.96%) Docker
4 15 (2.78%) Hyper-V
5 7 (1.30%) Firmware
6 4 (0.74%) Embedded Firmware
7 3 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.37%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 32 (5.93%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (2.96%) Kubernetes
3 11 (2.04%) Terraform
4 7 (1.30%) Ansible
5 4 (0.74%) Functional Safety
6 3 (0.56%) Nagios
6 3 (0.56%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.56%) SCCM
6 3 (0.56%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.37%) Grafana
7 2 (0.37%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.37%) Puppet
8 1 (0.19%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.19%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 138 (25.56%) Microsoft
2 23 (4.26%) VMware
3 21 (3.89%) Cisco
4 20 (3.70%) SAP
5 16 (2.96%) Oracle
5 16 (2.96%) Sage
6 12 (2.22%) Dell
7 11 (2.04%) Salesforce
8 9 (1.67%) Google
8 9 (1.67%) SolarWinds
9 7 (1.30%) HP
9 7 (1.30%) IBM
10 6 (1.11%) Avaya
10 6 (1.11%) McAfee
10 6 (1.11%) Meraki
10 6 (1.11%) Sophos
10 6 (1.11%) Zscaler
11 5 (0.93%) Apple
12 4 (0.74%) Adobe
12 4 (0.74%) Veeam