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 24 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 785 640 943
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.69% 19.78% 15.90%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.54% 22.88% 19.83%
Number of salaries quoted 530 409 324
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £33,063 £29,250 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £44,543 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.59% -10.91% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £57,500 £63,375
90th Percentile £67,625 £67,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £47,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.44% -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 6,259 2,797 4,755
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.31% 86.46% 80.17%
Number of salaries quoted 4,599 1,774 2,397
10th Percentile £31,250 £29,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,204 £37,689
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -7.41% +2.86%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £58,298
% change year-on-year +9.09% -5.66% -6.72%

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 24 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 24 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 -6 287 £55,000 +22.22% 311
Staffordshire -4 107 £46,750 +3.89% 73
Warwickshire -5 80 £40,000 -27.27% 96
Worcestershire -2 66 £39,000 +27.87% 52
Shropshire +4 65 £44,500 -6.32% 56
Coventry -9 38 £42,000 +33.33% 63
Wolverhampton +5 17 £49,250 -24.23% 28
Solihull +4 16 £31,000 -8.82% 31
Herefordshire -22 10 £29,750 -8.46% 22
Tipton - 7 £33,500 - 11
Dudley - 6 £36,000 - 9
Walsall -2 5 £37,500 -16.67% 8
Halesowen -5 5 £47,500 +46.15%
Willenhall -3 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 44 (5.61%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.27%) IIS
4 7 (0.89%) Confluence
5 4 (0.51%) CICS
5 4 (0.51%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.38%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle Workflow
6 3 (0.38%) WordPress
7 2 (0.25%) Documentum
7 2 (0.25%) SAS
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) Appian
8 1 (0.13%) CMS
8 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 68 (8.66%) Microsoft Office
2 49 (6.24%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.40%) Simulink
4 6 (0.76%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.64%) Fusion 360
5 5 (0.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.64%) OrCAD
6 3 (0.38%) AutoCAD
6 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.25%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.25%) EPLAN
7 2 (0.25%) Revit
7 2 (0.25%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.13%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.13%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.13%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
8 1 (0.13%) SketchUp
8 1 (0.13%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.27%) NetSuite
2 9 (1.15%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.89%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.89%) Shopify
4 5 (0.64%) Magento
5 4 (0.51%) Dynamics AX
5 4 (0.51%) Line 50
5 4 (0.51%) Oracle EBS
5 4 (0.51%) Sage 50
5 4 (0.51%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle Cash Management
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
6 3 (0.38%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
6 3 (0.38%) SAP Business One
6 3 (0.38%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.25%) JDE EnterpriseOne
8 1 (0.13%) Exchequer
8 1 (0.13%) SAP CO
8 1 (0.13%) SAP FI
8 1 (0.13%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 150 (19.11%) Azure
2 132 (16.82%) Microsoft 365
3 95 (12.10%) Power Platform
4 57 (7.26%) Entra ID
5 55 (7.01%) AWS
6 45 (5.73%) SaaS
7 26 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (3.06%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.17%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.04%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (1.91%) GitHub
12 14 (1.78%) GCP
12 14 (1.78%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.66%) GitHub Actions
14 11 (1.40%) Microsoft Copilot
14 11 (1.40%) PaaS
15 9 (1.15%) Google Workspace
16 7 (0.89%) IaaS
16 7 (0.89%) OneDrive
17 6 (0.76%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 30 (3.82%) Firewall
2 27 (3.44%) VPN
3 26 (3.31%) DNS
4 25 (3.18%) TCP/IP
4 25 (3.18%) WAN
5 21 (2.68%) Wireless
6 20 (2.55%) LAN
7 18 (2.29%) DHCP
8 15 (1.91%) Wi-Fi
9 13 (1.66%) Network Security
9 13 (1.66%) VLAN
10 9 (1.15%) VoIP
10 9 (1.15%) Wireshark
11 6 (0.76%) Cisco IOS
11 6 (0.76%) Internet
11 6 (0.76%) SD-WAN
12 4 (0.51%) Bluetooth
12 4 (0.51%) Skype
13 3 (0.38%) SAN
13 3 (0.38%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 90 (11.46%) Power BI
2 32 (4.08%) SQL Server
3 24 (3.06%) Tableau
4 21 (2.68%) Data Warehouse
5 19 (2.42%) Relational Database
6 18 (2.29%) Power Query
7 13 (1.66%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 11 (1.40%) MySQL
9 10 (1.27%) Azure SQL Database
9 10 (1.27%) Data Mining
9 10 (1.27%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 9 (1.15%) Data Lake
11 8 (1.02%) Electronic Patient Records
12 6 (0.76%) Amazon Redshift
12 6 (0.76%) Oracle Reports
12 6 (0.76%) PostgreSQL
13 5 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
13 5 (0.64%) Big Data
13 5 (0.64%) Oracle BI EE
13 5 (0.64%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 28 (3.57%) Git
2 25 (3.18%) JIRA
3 24 (3.06%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.15%) Eclipse
5 7 (0.89%) Cucumber
5 7 (0.89%) GitLab
6 6 (0.76%) JMeter
6 6 (0.76%) Maven
6 6 (0.76%) Postman
6 6 (0.76%) Selenium
7 5 (0.64%) JUnit
7 5 (0.64%) SoapUI
7 5 (0.64%) Zephyr
8 3 (0.38%) Mockito
9 2 (0.25%) Ant
9 2 (0.25%) Apache Ivy
9 2 (0.25%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.13%) Bugzilla
10 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 382 (48.66%) Social Skills
2 199 (25.35%) Analytical Skills
3 127 (16.18%) Finance
4 124 (15.80%) Manufacturing
5 64 (8.15%) Organisational Skills
6 56 (7.13%) Public Sector
7 52 (6.62%) Retail
8 36 (4.59%) Marketing
9 32 (4.08%) Electronics
10 23 (2.93%) Automotive
11 22 (2.80%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 21 (2.68%) Law
12 21 (2.68%) Legal
13 16 (2.04%) Documentation Skills
14 13 (1.66%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.27%) Banking
15 10 (1.27%) Billing
15 10 (1.27%) Influencing Skills
16 9 (1.15%) Fire and Rescue
17 8 (1.02%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 92 (11.72%) Support Engineer
2 84 (10.70%) Analyst
3 72 (9.17%) Developer
4 68 (8.66%) Technical Support
5 61 (7.77%) IT Support
6 60 (7.64%) Technical Engineer
7 59 (7.52%) Lead
8 58 (7.39%) Technical Support Engineer
9 52 (6.62%) Senior
10 50 (6.37%) Consultant
11 43 (5.48%) IT Engineer
12 33 (4.20%) IT Manager
13 31 (3.95%) IT Support Engineer
14 30 (3.82%) Support Analyst
15 27 (3.44%) Administrator
16 21 (2.68%) Architect
17 17 (2.17%) 1st Line Support
17 17 (2.17%) 2nd Line Support
18 16 (2.04%) Electronics Engineer
19 15 (1.91%) Applications Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (4.97%) REST
2 34 (4.33%) .NET
3 28 (3.57%) Spring
4 26 (3.31%) React
5 25 (3.18%) Spring Boot
6 15 (1.91%) RESTful
7 14 (1.78%) AngularJS
7 14 (1.78%) Playwright
8 13 (1.66%) CSS
8 13 (1.66%) HTML
9 12 (1.53%) ISPF
9 12 (1.53%) SOAP
9 12 (1.53%) Terraform
10 10 (1.27%) XML
11 8 (1.02%) LDAP
11 8 (1.02%) SAP Fiori
12 7 (0.89%) Node.js
12 7 (0.89%) Web Services
13 6 (0.76%) JSON
13 6 (0.76%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 72 (9.17%) Driving Licence
2 44 (5.61%) Onboarding
3 43 (5.48%) Self-Motivation
4 40 (5.10%) Management Information System
5 37 (4.71%) Enterprise Software
6 19 (2.42%) NHS
7 18 (2.29%) Data Centre
8 17 (2.17%) Virtual Team
9 16 (2.04%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (1.78%) Social Media
11 12 (1.53%) Legacy Applications
11 12 (1.53%) Mainframe
12 11 (1.40%) Cloud Native
12 11 (1.40%) Data Structures
12 11 (1.40%) Mobile App
12 11 (1.40%) Public Cloud
13 10 (1.27%) Data Protection Act
13 10 (1.27%) Hybrid Cloud
13 10 (1.27%) IoT
14 9 (1.15%) PMI
Operating Systems
1 128 (16.31%) Windows
2 44 (5.61%) Windows Server
3 40 (5.10%) Linux
4 22 (2.80%) Windows 10
5 13 (1.66%) Android
6 9 (1.15%) Apple iOS
6 9 (1.15%) Unix
7 7 (0.89%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.51%) FreeRTOS
9 3 (0.38%) Solaris
9 3 (0.38%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.13%) AIX
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) Debian
11 1 (0.13%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.13%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 231 (29.43%) Continuous Improvement
2 152 (19.36%) Customer Service
3 114 (14.52%) Agile
4 98 (12.48%) Decision-Making
5 96 (12.23%) Business Intelligence
6 92 (11.72%) Analytics
7 81 (10.32%) Mentoring
8 79 (10.06%) AI
9 77 (9.81%) ERP
10 74 (9.43%) Collaborative Working
11 67 (8.54%) Stakeholder Management
12 62 (7.90%) Cybersecurity
13 58 (7.39%) CI/CD
13 58 (7.39%) CRM
14 57 (7.26%) Collaborative Culture
15 55 (7.01%) Root Cause Analysis
16 54 (6.88%) ITIL
16 54 (6.88%) Project Delivery
16 54 (6.88%) Project Management
17 53 (6.75%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 125 (15.92%) SQL
2 66 (8.41%) Java
3 50 (6.37%) Python
4 29 (3.69%) PowerShell
5 26 (3.31%) JavaScript
6 25 (3.18%) C#
7 18 (2.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 18 (2.29%) Ladder Logic
8 17 (2.17%) C
8 17 (2.17%) Embedded C
9 13 (1.66%) TypeScript
10 12 (1.53%) COBOL
10 12 (1.53%) JCL
11 11 (1.40%) MATLAB
12 7 (0.89%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.89%) RPG
13 6 (0.76%) ABAP
13 6 (0.76%) PHP
13 6 (0.76%) R
14 5 (0.64%) Bash
Qualifications
1 119 (15.16%) Degree
2 81 (10.32%) Security Cleared
3 66 (8.41%) SC Cleared
4 22 (2.80%) Azure Certification
5 15 (1.91%) DBS Check
6 13 (1.66%) HNC
7 12 (1.53%) HND
7 12 (1.53%) PMI Certification
8 11 (1.40%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.40%) Microsoft Certification
9 9 (1.15%) ACCA
9 9 (1.15%) CCNA
9 9 (1.15%) Computer Science Degree
10 8 (1.02%) CIMA
11 7 (0.89%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (0.76%) CCNP
12 6 (0.76%) ISTQB
13 5 (0.64%) ISEB
13 5 (0.64%) PMP
14 4 (0.51%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (6.24%) Data Quality
2 37 (4.71%) QA
3 33 (4.20%) GDPR
4 24 (3.06%) Cyber Essentials
4 24 (3.06%) SLA
5 22 (2.80%) Accessibility
6 20 (2.55%) ISO 9001
7 17 (2.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 9 (1.15%) ISO 14001
9 5 (0.64%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.38%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.38%) AQAP
10 3 (0.38%) GMP
10 3 (0.38%) ISO 26262
10 3 (0.38%) NIST
10 3 (0.38%) PMO
11 2 (0.25%) Automotive SPICE
11 2 (0.25%) GRC
11 2 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 2 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 84 (10.70%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.06%) Hyper-V
3 17 (2.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (1.91%) Docker
4 15 (1.91%) Firmware
5 13 (1.66%) Embedded Firmware
6 8 (1.02%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.64%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.51%) vSphere
9 2 (0.25%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 32 (4.08%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (1.53%) Kubernetes
3 8 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.76%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.64%) SCCM
6 4 (0.51%) Ansible
7 3 (0.38%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.38%) Puppet
8 2 (0.25%) Grafana
8 2 (0.25%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.25%) WSUS
9 1 (0.13%) Backup Exec
9 1 (0.13%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.13%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.13%) Nagios
9 1 (0.13%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 221 (28.15%) Microsoft
2 38 (4.84%) SAP
3 26 (3.31%) Workday
4 24 (3.06%) VMware
5 20 (2.55%) Cisco
6 18 (2.29%) Sage
7 17 (2.17%) Google
8 16 (2.04%) Oracle
9 14 (1.78%) ServiceNow
10 12 (1.53%) HubSpot
11 11 (1.40%) Salesforce
12 9 (1.15%) Apple
12 9 (1.15%) Databricks
12 9 (1.15%) Dell
13 8 (1.02%) Broadcom
13 8 (1.02%) Sophos
14 7 (0.89%) IBM
15 6 (0.76%) EMC
15 6 (0.76%) iManage
15 6 (0.76%) Pega