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 10 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 8 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -5 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 827 620 911
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 9.26% 19.22% 16.07%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.27% 22.04% 19.71%
Number of salaries quoted 546 387 297
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £27,000
25th Percentile £32,250 £29,750 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year - -18.27% +6.12%
75th Percentile £56,950 £57,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £67,500 £68,000 £83,000
England median annual salary £46,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +2.22% -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 6,234 2,813 4,622
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.77% 87.22% 81.52%
Number of salaries quoted 4,525 1,730 2,221
10th Percentile £31,250 £29,000 £30,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -9.09% +10.00%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £68,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.32%

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 10 October 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 10 October 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 -4 293 £55,000 +22.22% 325
Staffordshire -3 111 £35,500 -21.11% 84
Warwickshire -3 87 £38,750 -29.55% 90
Shropshire +1 76 £42,000 -11.58% 47
Worcestershire -6 67 £37,912 +24.30% 37
Coventry -5 40 £42,500 +34.92% 78
Wolverhampton +8 19 £45,000 -30.77% 23
Solihull +1 15 £31,000 -6.77% 39
Herefordshire -21 9 £28,500 -18.57% 19
Walsall -1 8 £40,000 -11.11% 8
Dudley - 8 £36,000 - 6
Willenhall -1 5 £37,500 -16.67% 2
Sutton Coldfield - 5 £42,500 -
Halesowen -4 4 £47,500 +46.15%
Tipton - 4 £33,500 - 5
Smethwick - 2 £37,500 - 2
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 (5.32%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.21%) IIS
4 7 (0.85%) CICS
4 7 (0.85%) Confluence
5 4 (0.48%) WordPress
6 3 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.36%) CMS
6 3 (0.36%) Oracle Workflow
7 2 (0.24%) Documentum
7 2 (0.24%) SAS
7 2 (0.24%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.12%) Apache
8 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 72 (8.71%) Microsoft Office
2 60 (7.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.45%) Simulink
4 9 (1.09%) OrCAD
5 6 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 3 (0.36%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.24%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.24%) Chatbot
8 2 (0.24%) EPLAN
8 2 (0.24%) Revit
8 2 (0.24%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.12%) Fusion 360
9 1 (0.12%) LaTeX
9 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
9 1 (0.12%) Navisworks
9 1 (0.12%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.12%) SketchUp
9 1 (0.12%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.21%) NetSuite
2 8 (0.97%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.85%) Shopify
4 6 (0.73%) Magento
5 5 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
6 4 (0.48%) Dynamics AX
6 4 (0.48%) Oracle EBS
6 4 (0.48%) Sage 50
6 4 (0.48%) Sage X3
7 3 (0.36%) Line 50
7 3 (0.36%) Oracle Cash Management
7 3 (0.36%) Oracle Payables
7 3 (0.36%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
7 3 (0.36%) SAP ERP
8 2 (0.24%) JDE EnterpriseOne
8 2 (0.24%) SAP Business One
9 1 (0.12%) Exchequer
9 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
9 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 158 (19.11%) Azure
2 137 (16.57%) Microsoft 365
3 91 (11.00%) Power Platform
4 64 (7.74%) Entra ID
5 55 (6.65%) AWS
6 46 (5.56%) SaaS
7 33 (3.99%) Azure DevOps
8 22 (2.66%) Dynamics 365
8 22 (2.66%) GitHub
9 19 (2.30%) GitHub Actions
10 17 (2.06%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (1.81%) Power Automate
12 13 (1.57%) GCP
13 12 (1.45%) PowerApps
14 11 (1.33%) Google Workspace
14 11 (1.33%) OneDrive
15 10 (1.21%) PaaS
16 8 (0.97%) Google Analytics
16 8 (0.97%) Microsoft Copilot
17 6 (0.73%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 31 (3.75%) VPN
2 30 (3.63%) DNS
2 30 (3.63%) Firewall
3 27 (3.26%) TCP/IP
3 27 (3.26%) WAN
4 23 (2.78%) LAN
5 21 (2.54%) DHCP
5 21 (2.54%) Wireless
6 17 (2.06%) Wi-Fi
7 13 (1.57%) Network Security
7 13 (1.57%) VLAN
8 9 (1.09%) Wireshark
9 8 (0.97%) VoIP
10 7 (0.85%) Internet
11 6 (0.73%) Cisco IOS
12 5 (0.60%) SD-WAN
13 3 (0.36%) Ethernet
13 3 (0.36%) HTTP
13 3 (0.36%) SAN
13 3 (0.36%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 86 (10.40%) Power BI
2 33 (3.99%) SQL Server
3 24 (2.90%) Relational Database
4 23 (2.78%) Data Warehouse
5 21 (2.54%) Tableau
6 16 (1.93%) Power Query
7 14 (1.69%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 11 (1.33%) Azure SQL Database
9 10 (1.21%) MySQL
9 10 (1.21%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 9 (1.09%) Data Lake
10 9 (1.09%) Data Mining
11 8 (0.97%) Electronic Patient Records
11 8 (0.97%) Oracle Reports
12 7 (0.85%) Db2
12 7 (0.85%) PostgreSQL
13 6 (0.73%) Amazon Redshift
14 5 (0.60%) Amazon RDS
14 5 (0.60%) Big Data
14 5 (0.60%) Oracle BI EE
Development Applications
1 30 (3.63%) Git
1 30 (3.63%) Jenkins
2 27 (3.26%) JIRA
3 9 (1.09%) Eclipse
4 8 (0.97%) GitLab
5 7 (0.85%) Cucumber
6 6 (0.73%) JMeter
6 6 (0.73%) Maven
6 6 (0.73%) Postman
6 6 (0.73%) Selenium
7 5 (0.60%) JUnit
7 5 (0.60%) SoapUI
7 5 (0.60%) Zephyr
8 3 (0.36%) Mockito
9 2 (0.24%) Ant
9 2 (0.24%) Apache Ivy
9 2 (0.24%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.12%) Claude Code
10 1 (0.12%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio
General
1 410 (49.58%) Social Skills
2 220 (26.60%) Analytical Skills
3 136 (16.44%) Manufacturing
4 126 (15.24%) Finance
5 76 (9.19%) Organisational Skills
6 59 (7.13%) Retail
7 57 (6.89%) Public Sector
8 38 (4.59%) Marketing
9 36 (4.35%) Electronics
10 23 (2.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 22 (2.66%) Automotive
12 21 (2.54%) Law
13 20 (2.42%) Legal
14 17 (2.06%) Telecoms
15 16 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
16 10 (1.21%) Billing
16 10 (1.21%) Fire and Rescue
17 9 (1.09%) Presentation Skills
18 8 (0.97%) Aerospace
18 8 (0.97%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 99 (11.97%) Support Engineer
2 80 (9.67%) Analyst
3 71 (8.59%) IT Support
4 69 (8.34%) Developer
5 68 (8.22%) Technical Support
6 65 (7.86%) Lead
7 60 (7.26%) Technical Engineer
8 58 (7.01%) Technical Support Engineer
9 57 (6.89%) Consultant
10 53 (6.41%) Senior
11 51 (6.17%) IT Engineer
12 38 (4.59%) IT Support Engineer
13 32 (3.87%) IT Manager
14 30 (3.63%) Administrator
15 26 (3.14%) Support Analyst
16 24 (2.90%) Architect
17 19 (2.30%) Electronics Engineer
17 19 (2.30%) Infrastructure Engineer
18 18 (2.18%) Applications Consultant
18 18 (2.18%) Mainframe Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (4.96%) .NET
2 40 (4.84%) REST
3 31 (3.75%) Spring
4 28 (3.39%) Spring Boot
5 24 (2.90%) React
6 18 (2.18%) ISPF
7 15 (1.81%) RESTful
8 14 (1.69%) Playwright
8 14 (1.69%) SOAP
9 12 (1.45%) AngularJS
9 12 (1.45%) CSS
9 12 (1.45%) HTML
9 12 (1.45%) Terraform
10 11 (1.33%) XML
11 9 (1.09%) Web Services
12 8 (0.97%) LDAP
12 8 (0.97%) SAP Fiori
13 7 (0.85%) Node.js
14 6 (0.73%) OAuth
14 6 (0.73%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 82 (9.92%) Driving Licence
2 50 (6.05%) Onboarding
3 46 (5.56%) Enterprise Software
4 45 (5.44%) Management Information System
5 42 (5.08%) Self-Motivation
6 20 (2.42%) NHS
7 18 (2.18%) Data Centre
7 18 (2.18%) Legacy Applications
7 18 (2.18%) Mainframe
8 16 (1.93%) Social Media
9 15 (1.81%) Analytical Mindset
9 15 (1.81%) Cloud Native
9 15 (1.81%) Virtual Team
10 12 (1.45%) Data Structures
10 12 (1.45%) Robotics
11 11 (1.33%) Data Protection Act
11 11 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
11 11 (1.33%) IoT
11 11 (1.33%) Mobile App
11 11 (1.33%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 137 (16.57%) Windows
2 49 (5.93%) Windows Server
3 37 (4.47%) Linux
4 21 (2.54%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.45%) Android
6 8 (0.97%) Apple iOS
6 8 (0.97%) Unix
7 6 (0.73%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.48%) Windows Server 2016
9 3 (0.36%) Solaris
10 2 (0.24%) FreeRTOS
10 2 (0.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.12%) AIX
11 1 (0.12%) CentOS
11 1 (0.12%) Debian
11 1 (0.12%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.12%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 237 (28.66%) Continuous Improvement
2 168 (20.31%) Customer Service
3 122 (14.75%) Agile
4 101 (12.21%) Decision-Making
5 92 (11.12%) Analytics
5 92 (11.12%) Business Intelligence
6 83 (10.04%) Mentoring
7 79 (9.55%) Stakeholder Management
8 76 (9.19%) AI
9 74 (8.95%) ERP
10 73 (8.83%) Collaborative Working
11 67 (8.10%) CI/CD
12 64 (7.74%) CRM
13 63 (7.62%) Project Delivery
14 62 (7.50%) Customer Experience
15 61 (7.38%) Collaborative Culture
16 60 (7.26%) Cybersecurity
17 59 (7.13%) DevOps
17 59 (7.13%) Validation
18 58 (7.01%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 131 (15.84%) SQL
2 71 (8.59%) Java
3 51 (6.17%) Python
4 29 (3.51%) PowerShell
5 27 (3.26%) JavaScript
6 26 (3.14%) C#
7 18 (2.18%) COBOL
7 18 (2.18%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 18 (2.18%) JCL
8 17 (2.06%) C
9 16 (1.93%) Ladder Logic
10 15 (1.81%) Embedded C
11 14 (1.69%) TypeScript
12 12 (1.45%) MATLAB
13 8 (0.97%) R
14 7 (0.85%) C++
14 7 (0.85%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.85%) RPG
15 6 (0.73%) ABAP
16 5 (0.60%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 127 (15.36%) Degree
2 77 (9.31%) Security Cleared
3 62 (7.50%) SC Cleared
4 22 (2.66%) Azure Certification
5 20 (2.42%) HNC
6 18 (2.18%) DBS Check
6 18 (2.18%) HND
7 12 (1.45%) PMI Certification
8 11 (1.33%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.33%) Computer Science Degree
8 11 (1.33%) Microsoft Certification
9 10 (1.21%) CCNA
10 9 (1.09%) BPSS Clearance
11 8 (0.97%) NVQ Level 3
12 7 (0.85%) ACCA
12 7 (0.85%) CCNP
13 6 (0.73%) CIMA
13 6 (0.73%) City & Guilds
13 6 (0.73%) ISTQB
14 5 (0.60%) ISEB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 52 (6.29%) Data Quality
2 37 (4.47%) QA
3 35 (4.23%) GDPR
4 24 (2.90%) Cyber Essentials
5 20 (2.42%) Accessibility
5 20 (2.42%) SLA
6 19 (2.30%) ISO 9001
7 17 (2.06%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 8 (0.97%) ISO 14001
9 5 (0.60%) PCI DSS
9 5 (0.60%) PMO
10 4 (0.48%) GMP
11 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.36%) AQAP
11 3 (0.36%) ISO 26262
11 3 (0.36%) NIST
12 2 (0.24%) Automotive SPICE
12 2 (0.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.24%) GRC
12 2 (0.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 90 (10.88%) Active Directory
2 26 (3.14%) Hyper-V
3 19 (2.30%) VMware Infrastructure
4 18 (2.18%) Docker
5 13 (1.57%) Firmware
6 11 (1.33%) Embedded Firmware
7 8 (0.97%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.60%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.48%) vSphere
10 2 (0.24%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 35 (4.23%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (1.57%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.09%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.73%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.60%) SCCM
6 4 (0.48%) Ansible
7 3 (0.36%) Backup Exec
7 3 (0.36%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.36%) Puppet
8 2 (0.24%) Grafana
8 2 (0.24%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.24%) WSUS
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.12%) Nagios
9 1 (0.12%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 242 (29.26%) Microsoft
2 36 (4.35%) SAP
3 34 (4.11%) Workday
4 24 (2.90%) VMware
5 22 (2.66%) Google
6 20 (2.42%) Cisco
7 18 (2.18%) Oracle
8 17 (2.06%) Sage
9 14 (1.69%) ServiceNow
10 13 (1.57%) Salesforce
11 11 (1.33%) Broadcom
12 10 (1.21%) Apple
12 10 (1.21%) Databricks
12 10 (1.21%) EMC
12 10 (1.21%) HubSpot
13 7 (0.85%) Cadence
13 7 (0.85%) IBM
13 7 (0.85%) Veeam
14 6 (0.73%) iManage
14 6 (0.73%) Pega