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 4 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -23 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 507 702 1,147
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 6.11% 21.31% 15.81%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.35% 23.91% 19.00%
Number of salaries quoted 382 425 761
10th Percentile £26,000 £26,600 £25,000
25th Percentile £30,250 £35,000 £29,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £49,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.27% +15.29% -15.00%
75th Percentile £57,500 £63,750 £58,750
90th Percentile £66,225 £75,000 £71,725
England median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% +5.00% -9.09%

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 6,075 2,936 6,036
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 73.22% 89.10% 83.17%
Number of salaries quoted 3,613 1,686 4,541
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,250 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £38,750 £35,700
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £54,150 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.14% +5.00% -6.10%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £83,750 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -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 4 May 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 4 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 -14 164 £50,000 -9.09% 81
Staffordshire -7 101 £31,500 -37.00% 40
Warwickshire -19 64 £32,500 -7.14% 50
Worcestershire -14 40 £32,500 +6.56% 32
Shropshire -15 29 £50,000 +17.65% 19
Coventry -15 25 £42,500 -26.09% 15
Herefordshire -16 17 £52,500 +4.48% 5
Solihull -5 12 £90,000 +63.64% 11
Tipton -3 8 £33,500 -
Walsall +2 7 £44,000 -13.73% 3
Halesowen -4 6 £47,500 +26.67% 3
Dudley +1 5 £75,000 +114.29% 3
Wolverhampton -30 3 £80,000 +146.15% 3
Kingswinford -6 1 £30,500 -18.67%
Sutton Coldfield -9 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 48 (9.47%) SharePoint
2 29 (5.72%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (0.99%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 5 (0.99%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.79%) Exchange Server 2007
4 4 (0.79%) Exchange Server 2010
4 4 (0.79%) Exchange Server 2013
5 3 (0.59%) WordPress
6 2 (0.39%) Confluence
7 1 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.20%) Appian
7 1 (0.20%) SAS
Applications
1 38 (7.50%) Microsoft Office
2 33 (6.51%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (2.56%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (1.18%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.99%) Fusion 360
7 3 (0.59%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.20%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.20%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.20%) Sketch
8 1 (0.20%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (2.17%) Dynamics CRM
2 4 (0.79%) Line 50
2 4 (0.79%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (0.79%) Shopify
3 3 (0.59%) Magento
3 3 (0.59%) SAP Business ByDesign
4 2 (0.39%) NetSuite
4 2 (0.39%) Sage X3
4 2 (0.39%) SAP Business One
4 2 (0.39%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.20%) Dynamics NAV
5 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.20%) Raiser’s Edge
5 1 (0.20%) Sage 50
Cloud Services
1 115 (22.68%) Microsoft 365
2 106 (20.91%) Azure
3 45 (8.88%) Power Platform
4 41 (8.09%) Entra ID
5 35 (6.90%) AWS
6 24 (4.73%) SaaS
7 12 (2.37%) Power Automate
8 11 (2.17%) Dynamics 365
8 11 (2.17%) OneDrive
8 11 (2.17%) PowerApps
9 9 (1.78%) Google Workspace
10 7 (1.38%) Azure Data Factory
10 7 (1.38%) Azure Sentinel
10 7 (1.38%) Microsoft Copilot
10 7 (1.38%) Serverless
11 6 (1.18%) GCP
12 4 (0.79%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 4 (0.79%) Amazon S3
12 4 (0.79%) IaaS
12 4 (0.79%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 27 (5.33%) VPN
2 24 (4.73%) Firewall
2 24 (4.73%) WAN
3 22 (4.34%) DNS
4 21 (4.14%) Wi-Fi
5 20 (3.94%) Internet
6 18 (3.55%) DHCP
7 15 (2.96%) LAN
8 11 (2.17%) SD-WAN
9 10 (1.97%) Network Security
9 10 (1.97%) VLAN
10 8 (1.58%) VoIP
10 8 (1.58%) Wireless
11 5 (0.99%) Bluetooth
11 5 (0.99%) Skype
12 4 (0.79%) TCP/IP
13 3 (0.59%) Broadband
14 2 (0.39%) NAS
14 2 (0.39%) SAN
15 1 (0.20%) 4G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 41 (8.09%) Power BI
2 15 (2.96%) SQL Server
3 10 (1.97%) Power Query
4 9 (1.78%) Tableau
5 7 (1.38%) Oracle Reports
5 7 (1.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (1.38%) Star Schema
6 5 (0.99%) MySQL
6 5 (0.99%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.79%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.79%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.79%) FileMaker
7 4 (0.79%) NoSQL
7 4 (0.79%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.59%) GIS
8 3 (0.59%) Metadata
8 3 (0.59%) Redis
8 3 (0.59%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.59%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 17 (3.35%) Git
1 17 (3.35%) JIRA
2 6 (1.18%) JUnit
3 5 (0.99%) Jenkins
3 5 (0.99%) Maven
3 5 (0.99%) Mockito
4 4 (0.79%) GitLab
5 2 (0.39%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.20%) Appcelerator Titanium
6 1 (0.20%) Balsamiq
6 1 (0.20%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.20%) Bugzilla
6 1 (0.20%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.20%) MLflow
6 1 (0.20%) Postman
6 1 (0.20%) Selenium
6 1 (0.20%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.20%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.20%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.20%) Yeoman
General
1 220 (43.39%) Social Skills
2 147 (28.99%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (19.53%) Finance
4 59 (11.64%) Manufacturing
5 39 (7.69%) Organisational Skills
6 32 (6.31%) Legal
7 30 (5.92%) Public Sector
8 25 (4.93%) Law
9 22 (4.34%) Marketing
10 19 (3.75%) Retail
11 15 (2.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (2.76%) Automotive
13 10 (1.97%) Banking
13 10 (1.97%) Electronics
14 9 (1.78%) Investment Banking
14 9 (1.78%) Telecoms
15 8 (1.58%) Presentation Skills
16 6 (1.18%) Documentation Skills
17 5 (0.99%) Advertising
17 5 (0.99%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 91 (17.95%) Analyst
2 88 (17.36%) Support Engineer
3 76 (14.99%) IT Support
4 63 (12.43%) IT Engineer
5 51 (10.06%) IT Support Engineer
6 39 (7.69%) Lead
7 36 (7.10%) Senior
7 36 (7.10%) Technical Support
8 35 (6.90%) Technical Engineer
8 35 (6.90%) Technical Support Engineer
9 32 (6.31%) Support Analyst
10 31 (6.11%) Developer
11 21 (4.14%) 2nd Line Support
12 18 (3.55%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 17 (3.35%) Architect
13 17 (3.35%) Business Analyst
13 17 (3.35%) Instructor
14 16 (3.16%) Consultant
15 15 (2.96%) Programmer
15 15 (2.96%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.96%) REST
2 11 (2.17%) React
3 10 (1.97%) CSS
3 10 (1.97%) HTML
4 8 (1.58%) .NET
4 8 (1.58%) Spring
5 7 (1.38%) Spring Boot
6 6 (1.18%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.79%) .NET Framework
7 4 (0.79%) Node.js
7 4 (0.79%) RESTful
8 3 (0.59%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.59%) WinForms
9 2 (0.39%) Elastic Stack
9 2 (0.39%) JSON
9 2 (0.39%) Kafka
9 2 (0.39%) Oracle Fusion
9 2 (0.39%) WPF
10 1 (0.20%) HTML5 Canvas
10 1 (0.20%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 46 (9.07%) Driving Licence
2 28 (5.52%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (5.33%) Onboarding
4 18 (3.55%) Social Media
5 15 (2.96%) FMCG
5 15 (2.96%) Management Information System
6 10 (1.97%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (1.58%) Data Centre
7 8 (1.58%) Legacy Systems
7 8 (1.58%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.58%) Virtual Team
8 7 (1.38%) Analytical Mindset
8 7 (1.38%) Cyber Defence
9 4 (0.79%) CAN bus
9 4 (0.79%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 4 (0.79%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (0.79%) IoT
9 4 (0.79%) Web Conferencing
10 3 (0.59%) Data Structures
10 3 (0.59%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 86 (16.96%) Windows
2 24 (4.73%) Windows 10
3 20 (3.94%) Linux
4 15 (2.96%) Windows Server
5 11 (2.17%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.99%) Android
6 5 (0.99%) Windows 7
7 4 (0.79%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.79%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.79%) Unix
8 2 (0.39%) CentOS
8 2 (0.39%) Debian
8 2 (0.39%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 98 (19.33%) Continuous Improvement
2 65 (12.82%) Agile
3 61 (12.03%) Customer Service
4 56 (11.05%) ITIL
5 54 (10.65%) Decision-Making
6 47 (9.27%) Analytics
7 44 (8.68%) Project Management
8 42 (8.28%) ERP
9 41 (8.09%) Business Intelligence
9 41 (8.09%) CRM
10 40 (7.89%) Mentoring
11 39 (7.69%) Collaborative Working
12 36 (7.10%) AI
13 33 (6.51%) Roadmaps
14 32 (6.31%) Coaching
14 32 (6.31%) Cybersecurity
14 32 (6.31%) Service Delivery
15 30 (5.92%) Migration
16 28 (5.52%) Customer Experience
16 28 (5.52%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 59 (11.64%) SQL
2 34 (6.71%) Python
3 21 (4.14%) Java
4 20 (3.94%) PowerShell
5 12 (2.37%) C
6 11 (2.17%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 10 (1.97%) Ladder Logic
7 10 (1.97%) PHP
8 9 (1.78%) Bash
9 7 (1.38%) JavaScript
10 6 (1.18%) C#
10 6 (1.18%) TypeScript
11 5 (0.99%) C++
11 5 (0.99%) PL/SQL
11 5 (0.99%) R
12 4 (0.79%) Embedded C
12 4 (0.79%) T-SQL
13 3 (0.59%) Rust
14 2 (0.39%) Bicep
14 2 (0.39%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 62 (12.23%) Degree
2 39 (7.69%) Security Cleared
3 34 (6.71%) SC Cleared
4 18 (3.55%) DBS Check
5 17 (3.35%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (1.97%) A+ Certification
6 10 (1.97%) CISSP
7 8 (1.58%) CompTIA Security+
7 8 (1.58%) Computer Science Degree
8 7 (1.38%) ACCA
8 7 (1.38%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (1.38%) CIMA
8 7 (1.38%) CISA
8 7 (1.38%) SSCP
9 6 (1.18%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 6 (1.18%) MCITP
10 5 (0.99%) PMI Certification
11 4 (0.79%) Cisco Certification
11 4 (0.79%) Oracle Certification
11 4 (0.79%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (6.11%) Data Quality
2 28 (5.52%) QA
3 23 (4.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (3.55%) NIST
5 17 (3.35%) GDPR
6 16 (3.16%) Cyber Essentials
7 12 (2.37%) SLA
8 10 (1.97%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (1.38%) Accessibility
10 6 (1.18%) HIPAA
10 6 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 4 (0.79%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 4 (0.79%) ISO 14001
11 4 (0.79%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.79%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.79%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.39%) PMO
13 1 (0.20%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 61 (12.03%) Active Directory
2 17 (3.35%) Docker
3 13 (2.56%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (1.78%) Hyper-V
5 7 (1.38%) Firmware
6 4 (0.79%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 27 (5.33%) Microsoft Intune
2 17 (3.35%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.56%) Terraform
4 6 (1.18%) Ansible
5 3 (0.59%) Nagios
5 3 (0.59%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.39%) Grafana
6 2 (0.39%) Progress Chef
6 2 (0.39%) Puppet
6 2 (0.39%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 137 (27.02%) Microsoft
2 21 (4.14%) Cisco
3 19 (3.75%) Oracle
4 18 (3.55%) VMware
5 17 (3.35%) SAP
6 11 (2.17%) Sage
7 10 (1.97%) Dell
8 9 (1.78%) Google
8 9 (1.78%) SolarWinds
9 8 (1.58%) Meraki
9 8 (1.58%) Salesforce
10 7 (1.38%) HP
10 7 (1.38%) Zscaler
11 6 (1.18%) Avaya
11 6 (1.18%) McAfee
11 6 (1.18%) Sophos
12 4 (0.79%) Adobe
12 4 (0.79%) Apple
13 3 (0.59%) HubSpot
13 3 (0.59%) ServiceNow