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

6 months to
5 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 2 7
Rank change year-on-year -23 +5 +1
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 527 676 1,153
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 6.50% 22.20% 14.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.14% 24.93% 17.73%
Number of salaries quoted 393 402 728
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,500 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £47,500 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -10.53% +11.76% -12.51%
75th Percentile £57,500 £62,500 £58,750
90th Percentile £65,614 £73,750 £68,600
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 5,766 2,712 6,502
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 71.11% 89.06% 80.56%
Number of salaries quoted 3,771 1,578 4,704
10th Percentile £30,580 £28,822 £26,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,750 £35,750
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 £58,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +3.45% +5.45% -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 5 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 5 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 -14 175 £50,000 -4.76% 73
Staffordshire -14 92 £31,500 -39.29% 29
Warwickshire -13 68 £32,500 -27.78% 67
Worcestershire -19 42 £37,500 +22.95% 22
Coventry -13 32 £42,000 -26.96% 16
Shropshire -11 26 £51,250 +20.59% 27
Herefordshire -16 16 £52,500 -2.33% 5
Solihull -6 11 £30,500 -44.55% 5
Walsall +2 9 £37,500 -10.71%
Tipton +1 8 £33,500 - 4
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 3
Wolverhampton -23 4 £80,000 +146.15% 5
Sutton Coldfield -6 1 £28,000 -
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 45 (8.54%) SharePoint
2 31 (5.88%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (0.95%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 5 (0.95%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.76%) Exchange Server 2007
4 4 (0.76%) Exchange Server 2010
4 4 (0.76%) Exchange Server 2013
4 4 (0.76%) IIS
5 3 (0.57%) WordPress
6 2 (0.38%) Confluence
7 1 (0.19%) Appian
7 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 43 (8.16%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (5.12%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.66%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.95%) Fusion 360
6 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.19%) Abaqus
7 1 (0.19%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.19%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.19%) Sketch
7 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 6 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (0.95%) Magento
2 5 (0.95%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.95%) Shopify
3 4 (0.76%) Line 50
3 4 (0.76%) Sage 50
3 4 (0.76%) Sage X3
4 3 (0.57%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.38%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.19%) Dynamics NAV
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
1 107 (20.30%) Microsoft 365
2 101 (19.17%) Azure
3 50 (9.49%) Power Platform
4 46 (8.73%) Entra ID
5 36 (6.83%) AWS
6 25 (4.74%) SaaS
7 14 (2.66%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (2.28%) Power Automate
8 12 (2.28%) PowerApps
9 9 (1.71%) Google Workspace
9 9 (1.71%) OneDrive
10 6 (1.14%) Azure Data Factory
10 6 (1.14%) Azure Sentinel
10 6 (1.14%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (0.95%) Serverless
12 4 (0.76%) Amazon S3
12 4 (0.76%) GCP
12 4 (0.76%) IaaS
12 4 (0.76%) Microsoft Purview
12 4 (0.76%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 26 (4.93%) VPN
2 25 (4.74%) Firewall
2 25 (4.74%) WAN
3 21 (3.98%) DNS
4 20 (3.80%) Wi-Fi
5 18 (3.42%) DHCP
5 18 (3.42%) Internet
5 18 (3.42%) LAN
6 15 (2.85%) Wireless
7 12 (2.28%) VLAN
8 11 (2.09%) Network Security
9 10 (1.90%) SD-WAN
9 10 (1.90%) TCP/IP
10 7 (1.33%) VoIP
11 5 (0.95%) Bluetooth
11 5 (0.95%) Skype
12 3 (0.57%) SAN
13 2 (0.38%) SNMP
14 1 (0.19%) Broadband
14 1 (0.19%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (8.73%) Power BI
2 14 (2.66%) Tableau
3 12 (2.28%) Power Query
3 12 (2.28%) SQL Server
4 7 (1.33%) MySQL
4 7 (1.33%) Star Schema
5 6 (1.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 5 (0.95%) Oracle Reports
7 4 (0.76%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.76%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.76%) FileMaker
8 3 (0.57%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.57%) GIS
8 3 (0.57%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.57%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.57%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.38%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.38%) MariaDB
9 2 (0.38%) Redis
9 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (2.47%) Git
2 9 (1.71%) JIRA
3 8 (1.52%) JUnit
4 7 (1.33%) Maven
4 7 (1.33%) Mockito
5 3 (0.57%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.19%) Appium
7 1 (0.19%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.19%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.19%) Carbide.c++
7 1 (0.19%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.19%) GitLab
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
1 217 (41.18%) Social Skills
2 145 (27.51%) Analytical Skills
3 95 (18.03%) Finance
4 70 (13.28%) Manufacturing
5 31 (5.88%) Organisational Skills
6 28 (5.31%) Public Sector
7 22 (4.17%) Legal
7 22 (4.17%) Retail
8 21 (3.98%) Marketing
9 16 (3.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (2.85%) Law
11 14 (2.66%) Electronics
12 12 (2.28%) Automotive
12 12 (2.28%) Banking
13 11 (2.09%) Investment Banking
14 10 (1.90%) Telecoms
15 8 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
16 5 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
16 5 (0.95%) Presentation Skills
17 3 (0.57%) Agriculture
Job Titles
1 98 (18.60%) Support Engineer
2 83 (15.75%) Analyst
3 64 (12.14%) IT Support
4 56 (10.63%) IT Engineer
5 50 (9.49%) Technical Engineer
5 50 (9.49%) Technical Support
5 50 (9.49%) Technical Support Engineer
6 46 (8.73%) IT Support Engineer
7 45 (8.54%) Developer
8 44 (8.35%) Senior
9 29 (5.50%) Lead
10 28 (5.31%) Support Analyst
11 22 (4.17%) Consultant
12 17 (3.23%) 2nd Line Support
12 17 (3.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 17 (3.23%) Instructor
13 16 (3.04%) Programmer
14 15 (2.85%) IT Manager
15 14 (2.66%) IT Technician
15 14 (2.66%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (4.17%) REST
2 20 (3.80%) React
3 13 (2.47%) Spring
4 11 (2.09%) .NET
4 11 (2.09%) AngularJS
5 10 (1.90%) CSS
5 10 (1.90%) HTML
5 10 (1.90%) Spring Boot
6 8 (1.52%) RESTful
7 5 (0.95%) EDI
8 4 (0.76%) .NET Framework
9 3 (0.57%) Node.js
9 3 (0.57%) Playwright
10 2 (0.38%) COM
10 2 (0.38%) DCOM
10 2 (0.38%) GraphQL
10 2 (0.38%) LDAP
10 2 (0.38%) Middleware
11 1 (0.19%) JDBC
11 1 (0.19%) OLE
Miscellaneous
1 46 (8.73%) Driving Licence
2 28 (5.31%) Self-Motivation
3 24 (4.55%) Management Information System
4 23 (4.36%) Onboarding
5 18 (3.42%) Social Media
6 10 (1.90%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (1.90%) FMCG
6 10 (1.90%) Legacy Systems
6 10 (1.90%) Virtual Team
7 9 (1.71%) Analytical Mindset
7 9 (1.71%) Data Centre
8 8 (1.52%) Hybrid Cloud
9 7 (1.33%) AS400
9 7 (1.33%) Cyber Defence
9 7 (1.33%) iSeries
10 6 (1.14%) Data Structures
10 6 (1.14%) NHS
10 6 (1.14%) Security Posture
11 5 (0.95%) Mobile App
12 4 (0.76%) CAN bus
Operating Systems
1 86 (16.32%) Windows
2 28 (5.31%) Windows 10
3 25 (4.74%) Linux
4 22 (4.17%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.33%) Android
5 7 (1.33%) Apple iOS
6 5 (0.95%) Windows 7
7 4 (0.76%) FreeRTOS
7 4 (0.76%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.76%) Unix
8 2 (0.38%) CentOS
8 2 (0.38%) Debian
8 2 (0.38%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
9 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 119 (22.58%) Continuous Improvement
2 72 (13.66%) Customer Service
3 71 (13.47%) Agile
4 59 (11.20%) Decision-Making
5 55 (10.44%) ITIL
6 54 (10.25%) Analytics
7 52 (9.87%) Collaborative Working
7 52 (9.87%) Mentoring
8 48 (9.11%) AI
8 48 (9.11%) ERP
9 45 (8.54%) Business Intelligence
9 45 (8.54%) Cybersecurity
10 38 (7.21%) Service Delivery
11 37 (7.02%) Customer Experience
11 37 (7.02%) Root Cause Analysis
12 32 (6.07%) CRM
13 31 (5.88%) Coaching
13 31 (5.88%) Process Improvement
13 31 (5.88%) Project Management
14 30 (5.69%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 73 (13.85%) SQL
2 30 (5.69%) Python
3 29 (5.50%) Java
4 20 (3.80%) PowerShell
5 13 (2.47%) C#
5 13 (2.47%) Ladder Logic
6 12 (2.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 11 (2.09%) Bash
7 11 (2.09%) C
7 11 (2.09%) JavaScript
7 11 (2.09%) PHP
8 9 (1.71%) TypeScript
9 8 (1.52%) PL/SQL
10 7 (1.33%) RPG
11 5 (0.95%) C++
11 5 (0.95%) R
12 4 (0.76%) Embedded C
12 4 (0.76%) RPG IV
12 4 (0.76%) RPG/400
13 3 (0.57%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 70 (13.28%) Degree
2 52 (9.87%) Security Cleared
3 40 (7.59%) SC Cleared
4 24 (4.55%) DBS Check
5 22 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 10 (1.90%) A+ Certification
6 10 (1.90%) BPSS Clearance
6 10 (1.90%) CISSP
7 9 (1.71%) CompTIA Security+
8 8 (1.52%) ACCA
8 8 (1.52%) CIMA
8 8 (1.52%) Computer Science Degree
9 7 (1.33%) CISA
9 7 (1.33%) SSCP
10 6 (1.14%) Azure Certification
10 6 (1.14%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (0.95%) HND
11 5 (0.95%) MCITP
11 5 (0.95%) PMI Certification
12 4 (0.76%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (5.88%) QA
2 28 (5.31%) Data Quality
3 25 (4.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 19 (3.61%) GDPR
4 19 (3.61%) NIST
5 17 (3.23%) Cyber Essentials
6 13 (2.47%) SLA
7 11 (2.09%) Accessibility
8 9 (1.71%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 9 (1.71%) ISO 14001
8 9 (1.71%) ISO 9001
9 6 (1.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (0.95%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.76%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.57%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.57%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.38%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.38%) GRC
13 2 (0.38%) PCI DSS
14 1 (0.19%) PMO
System Software
1 68 (12.90%) Active Directory
2 17 (3.23%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (3.04%) Docker
4 12 (2.28%) Hyper-V
5 7 (1.33%) Firmware
6 4 (0.76%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.38%) vSphere
8 1 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 30 (5.69%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (2.85%) Kubernetes
3 12 (2.28%) Terraform
4 7 (1.33%) Ansible
5 4 (0.76%) Functional Safety
6 3 (0.57%) Nagios
6 3 (0.57%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.57%) SCCM
6 3 (0.57%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.38%) Grafana
7 2 (0.38%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.38%) Puppet
8 1 (0.19%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.19%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 130 (24.67%) Microsoft
2 22 (4.17%) VMware
3 21 (3.98%) Cisco
4 19 (3.61%) SAP
5 17 (3.23%) Oracle
6 16 (3.04%) Sage
7 12 (2.28%) Dell
8 10 (1.90%) Salesforce
9 9 (1.71%) Google
9 9 (1.71%) SolarWinds
10 7 (1.33%) HP
10 7 (1.33%) IBM
10 7 (1.33%) Meraki
11 6 (1.14%) Avaya
11 6 (1.14%) McAfee
11 6 (1.14%) Sophos
11 6 (1.14%) Zscaler
12 4 (0.76%) Adobe
12 4 (0.76%) Apple
12 4 (0.76%) Veeam