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 28 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 612 701 1,034
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.42% 20.61% 14.80%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.78% 24.18% 18.67%
Number of salaries quoted 449 455 515
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,000 £30,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% - -10.00%
75th Percentile £57,000 £61,250 £58,750
90th Percentile £63,750 £70,750 £72,800
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - -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 5,678 2,899 5,537
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.86% 85.24% 79.26%
Number of salaries quoted 4,266 1,856 3,533
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £27,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,144 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,293 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.18% +4.59% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £56,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +6.19% +2.73% -11.29%

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 28 July 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 28 July 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 -13 205 £52,500 +9.38% 106
Staffordshire -3 95 £47,500 -8.06% 27
Warwickshire -2 74 £33,500 -29.47% 50
Worcestershire -5 57 £37,500 +22.95% 17
Shropshire +8 43 £45,000 +5.88% 32
Coventry -12 32 £42,000 -0.34% 13
Solihull +1 11 £30,500 -44.55% 6
Wolverhampton -15 11 £38,500 +18.46% 7
Walsall +2 9 £37,500 -16.67% 3
Herefordshire -25 9 £52,500 +61.54% 8
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 1
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +35.71%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 2
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
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 (6.86%) SharePoint
2 28 (4.58%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.31%) IIS
4 5 (0.82%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.65%) Confluence
5 4 (0.65%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.65%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.65%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.49%) WordPress
7 2 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.16%) Apache
8 1 (0.16%) Appian
8 1 (0.16%) CICS
8 1 (0.16%) Documentum
8 1 (0.16%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.16%) SAS
Applications
1 59 (9.64%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (6.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.82%) Fusion 360
4 5 (0.82%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.49%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.33%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.16%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.16%) LaTeX
7 1 (0.16%) Simulink
7 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.80%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.98%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.82%) Magento
3 5 (0.82%) Shopify
4 4 (0.65%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.65%) Line 50
4 4 (0.65%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.65%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.49%) SAP Business One
6 2 (0.33%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 2 (0.33%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.16%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.16%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.16%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.16%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.16%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 121 (19.77%) Microsoft 365
2 111 (18.14%) Azure
3 75 (12.25%) Power Platform
4 54 (8.82%) Entra ID
5 44 (7.19%) AWS
6 36 (5.88%) SaaS
7 17 (2.78%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.12%) Microsoft Purview
8 13 (2.12%) Power Automate
8 13 (2.12%) PowerApps
9 8 (1.31%) GCP
9 8 (1.31%) Google Workspace
9 8 (1.31%) Microsoft Copilot
10 7 (1.14%) OneDrive
11 6 (0.98%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (0.82%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.82%) GitHub
12 5 (0.82%) IaaS
12 5 (0.82%) PaaS
13 3 (0.49%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 32 (5.23%) Firewall
2 22 (3.59%) WAN
3 21 (3.43%) VPN
4 19 (3.10%) DNS
5 18 (2.94%) LAN
5 18 (2.94%) Wi-Fi
5 18 (2.94%) Wireless
6 14 (2.29%) TCP/IP
7 13 (2.12%) Network Security
8 12 (1.96%) DHCP
9 10 (1.63%) VLAN
10 6 (0.98%) VoIP
11 5 (0.82%) Cisco IOS
11 5 (0.82%) Internet
11 5 (0.82%) SD-WAN
11 5 (0.82%) Skype
12 4 (0.65%) Bluetooth
12 4 (0.65%) SSL
13 3 (0.49%) HTTP
13 3 (0.49%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (11.60%) Power BI
2 23 (3.76%) SQL Server
3 18 (2.94%) Power Query
4 17 (2.78%) Tableau
5 15 (2.45%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.80%) MySQL
6 11 (1.80%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 9 (1.47%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 8 (1.31%) Relational Database
9 7 (1.14%) Star Schema
10 6 (0.98%) Amazon RDS
10 6 (0.98%) Data Mining
11 5 (0.82%) Amazon Redshift
11 5 (0.82%) Azure SQL Database
12 4 (0.65%) FileMaker
12 4 (0.65%) PostgreSQL
13 3 (0.49%) GIS
13 3 (0.49%) NoSQL
13 3 (0.49%) SQL Server Analysis Services
14 2 (0.33%) MariaDB
Development Applications
1 22 (3.59%) Git
2 15 (2.45%) JIRA
3 10 (1.63%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.82%) Cucumber
4 5 (0.82%) JUnit
4 5 (0.82%) Maven
4 5 (0.82%) Postman
5 4 (0.65%) GitLab
5 4 (0.65%) JMeter
5 4 (0.65%) Selenium
5 4 (0.65%) SoapUI
6 3 (0.49%) Mockito
6 3 (0.49%) Zephyr
7 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
8 1 (0.16%) Apache Ivy
8 1 (0.16%) Appium
8 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.16%) Gradle
8 1 (0.16%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.16%) Yeoman
General
1 285 (46.57%) Social Skills
2 158 (25.82%) Analytical Skills
3 105 (17.16%) Finance
4 88 (14.38%) Manufacturing
5 38 (6.21%) Organisational Skills
6 37 (6.05%) Public Sector
7 31 (5.07%) Retail
8 25 (4.08%) Marketing
9 24 (3.92%) Legal
10 21 (3.43%) Law
11 16 (2.61%) Electronics
12 14 (2.29%) Automotive
13 13 (2.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 12 (1.96%) Documentation Skills
15 11 (1.80%) Telecoms
16 10 (1.63%) Banking
17 9 (1.47%) Investment Banking
18 8 (1.31%) Games
19 6 (0.98%) Esports
19 6 (0.98%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 98 (16.01%) Support Engineer
2 85 (13.89%) Analyst
3 67 (10.95%) Technical Support
4 63 (10.29%) IT Support
4 63 (10.29%) Technical Engineer
5 61 (9.97%) Technical Support Engineer
6 60 (9.80%) Developer
7 46 (7.52%) Senior
8 43 (7.03%) IT Engineer
9 35 (5.72%) IT Manager
9 35 (5.72%) IT Support Engineer
10 34 (5.56%) Lead
11 28 (4.58%) Support Analyst
12 27 (4.41%) Consultant
13 19 (3.10%) 1st Line Support
14 16 (2.61%) Programmer
15 14 (2.29%) IT Analyst
15 14 (2.29%) IT Technician
15 14 (2.29%) Support Technician
16 13 (2.12%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (5.72%) REST
2 23 (3.76%) React
3 20 (3.27%) .NET
4 18 (2.94%) Spring
5 15 (2.45%) Spring Boot
6 12 (1.96%) AngularJS
7 11 (1.80%) CSS
7 11 (1.80%) HTML
7 11 (1.80%) RESTful
8 10 (1.63%) Playwright
9 9 (1.47%) SOAP
10 7 (1.14%) Node.js
10 7 (1.14%) SAP Fiori
11 6 (0.98%) JDBC
11 6 (0.98%) Middleware
11 6 (0.98%) OAuth
11 6 (0.98%) SAPUI5
12 5 (0.82%) JSON
12 5 (0.82%) XML
13 4 (0.65%) COM
Miscellaneous
1 47 (7.68%) Driving Licence
2 30 (4.90%) Management Information System
3 27 (4.41%) Self-Motivation
4 25 (4.08%) Onboarding
5 22 (3.59%) Enterprise Software
6 12 (1.96%) Data Centre
6 12 (1.96%) NHS
6 12 (1.96%) Social Media
7 11 (1.80%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.63%) Analytical Mindset
8 10 (1.63%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.47%) Legacy Systems
10 8 (1.31%) IoT
10 8 (1.31%) Mobile App
10 8 (1.31%) Security Posture
11 7 (1.14%) AS400
11 7 (1.14%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.14%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.14%) iSeries
12 6 (0.98%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 99 (16.18%) Windows
2 35 (5.72%) Linux
3 29 (4.74%) Windows Server
4 26 (4.25%) Windows 10
5 14 (2.29%) Android
6 9 (1.47%) Apple iOS
7 6 (0.98%) Unix
8 5 (0.82%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.65%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.33%) CentOS
10 2 (0.33%) Debian
10 2 (0.33%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.16%) Solaris
11 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 180 (29.41%) Continuous Improvement
2 101 (16.50%) Customer Service
3 84 (13.73%) Agile
4 74 (12.09%) Analytics
4 74 (12.09%) Business Intelligence
4 74 (12.09%) Decision-Making
5 73 (11.93%) Mentoring
6 68 (11.11%) AI
6 68 (11.11%) Collaborative Working
7 65 (10.62%) ITIL
8 62 (10.13%) ERP
9 54 (8.82%) Cybersecurity
10 50 (8.17%) Customer Experience
11 45 (7.35%) Root Cause Analysis
11 45 (7.35%) Service Delivery
12 43 (7.03%) CRM
13 42 (6.86%) Collaborative Culture
14 41 (6.70%) Stakeholder Management
15 38 (6.21%) CI/CD
16 37 (6.05%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 98 (16.01%) SQL
2 42 (6.86%) Java
3 35 (5.72%) Python
4 23 (3.76%) PowerShell
5 19 (3.10%) C#
5 19 (3.10%) Ladder Logic
6 18 (2.94%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 15 (2.45%) JavaScript
8 11 (1.80%) PHP
8 11 (1.80%) TypeScript
9 7 (1.14%) Bash
9 7 (1.14%) C
9 7 (1.14%) RPG
10 6 (0.98%) ABAP
11 5 (0.82%) Embedded C
12 4 (0.65%) C++
12 4 (0.65%) PL/SQL
12 4 (0.65%) RPG IV
12 4 (0.65%) RPG/400
13 3 (0.49%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 84 (13.73%) Degree
2 60 (9.80%) Security Cleared
3 48 (7.84%) SC Cleared
4 19 (3.10%) DBS Check
5 18 (2.94%) Azure Certification
5 18 (2.94%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.80%) CISSP
7 10 (1.63%) CompTIA Security+
8 8 (1.31%) Cisco Certification
9 7 (1.14%) A+ Certification
9 7 (1.14%) ACCA
9 7 (1.14%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (1.14%) CIMA
9 7 (1.14%) CISA
9 7 (1.14%) SSCP
10 6 (0.98%) Computer Science Degree
11 5 (0.82%) CCNA
11 5 (0.82%) HND
11 5 (0.82%) MCITP
11 5 (0.82%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (5.39%) Data Quality
2 29 (4.74%) GDPR
2 29 (4.74%) QA
3 27 (4.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 26 (4.25%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (2.94%) SLA
6 17 (2.78%) Accessibility
6 17 (2.78%) ISO 9001
7 16 (2.61%) NIST
8 9 (1.47%) ISO 14001
9 5 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 4 (0.65%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.49%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.49%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.49%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.49%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.33%) GRC
12 2 (0.33%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.33%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.33%) PMO
System Software
1 79 (12.91%) Active Directory
2 25 (4.08%) Hyper-V
3 20 (3.27%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (2.29%) Docker
5 7 (1.14%) Firmware
6 5 (0.82%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.65%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.49%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.33%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 34 (5.56%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (2.12%) Kubernetes
3 11 (1.80%) Terraform
4 6 (0.98%) Ansible
5 4 (0.65%) Functional Safety
6 3 (0.49%) Grafana
6 3 (0.49%) Progress Chef
6 3 (0.49%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.49%) Puppet
6 3 (0.49%) SCCM
7 2 (0.33%) Nagios
8 1 (0.16%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.16%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 168 (27.45%) Microsoft
2 30 (4.90%) SAP
3 25 (4.08%) VMware
4 21 (3.43%) Cisco
5 14 (2.29%) Sage
6 12 (1.96%) Dell
7 11 (1.80%) Salesforce
8 10 (1.63%) Google
9 9 (1.47%) Oracle
9 9 (1.47%) ServiceNow
10 8 (1.31%) HubSpot
11 7 (1.14%) HP
11 7 (1.14%) IBM
12 6 (0.98%) Apple
12 6 (0.98%) iManage
12 6 (0.98%) McAfee
12 6 (0.98%) Sophos
13 5 (0.82%) Meraki
13 5 (0.82%) SolarWinds
14 4 (0.65%) Veeam