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

6 months to
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -10 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 623 699 1,008
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.47% 20.50% 14.75%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.83% 24.09% 18.67%
Number of salaries quoted 453 454 491
10th Percentile £27,705 £25,075 £25,000
25th Percentile £32,250 £30,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% - -10.00%
75th Percentile £57,250 £61,250 £58,750
90th Percentile £63,750 £70,875 £73,000
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 5,750 2,902 5,400
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.95% 85.13% 79.03%
Number of salaries quoted 4,323 1,860 3,418
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £28,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,009 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,100 £50,309
Median % change year-on-year +5.57% +3.56% -4.17%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,920 £55,000
% change year-on-year +7.30% +1.67% -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 31 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 31 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 -14 207 £52,500 +9.38% 97
Staffordshire -3 97 £47,500 -8.06% 36
Warwickshire -3 78 £33,500 -29.47% 46
Worcestershire -5 57 £37,500 +22.95% 27
Shropshire +8 45 £45,000 +5.88% 30
Coventry -13 32 £42,000 -0.34% 16
Solihull 0 11 £30,500 -44.55% 10
Wolverhampton -13 11 £38,500 +18.46% 8
Walsall +1 9 £37,500 -16.67% 10
Herefordshire -24 9 £52,500 +35.48% 10
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 2
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +46.15%
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 39 (6.26%) SharePoint
2 30 (4.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.44%) IIS
4 5 (0.80%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.64%) Confluence
5 4 (0.64%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.64%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.64%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.48%) WordPress
7 2 (0.32%) 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 58 (9.31%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (5.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.77%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.80%) Fusion 360
4 5 (0.80%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.48%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.32%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.16%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.16%) LaTeX
7 1 (0.16%) OrCAD
7 1 (0.16%) Simulink
7 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.77%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.96%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.80%) Magento
3 5 (0.80%) Shopify
4 4 (0.64%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.64%) Line 50
4 4 (0.64%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.64%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.48%) NetSuite
5 3 (0.48%) SAP Business One
6 2 (0.32%) JDE EnterpriseOne
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
1 123 (19.74%) Microsoft 365
2 113 (18.14%) Azure
3 76 (12.20%) Power Platform
4 55 (8.83%) Entra ID
5 45 (7.22%) AWS
6 36 (5.78%) SaaS
7 19 (3.05%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.09%) Microsoft Purview
9 12 (1.93%) Power Automate
10 11 (1.77%) PowerApps
11 9 (1.44%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.28%) GCP
12 8 (1.28%) Google Workspace
13 7 (1.12%) Azure DevOps
14 6 (0.96%) GitHub
14 6 (0.96%) OneDrive
15 4 (0.64%) GitHub Actions
16 3 (0.48%) Amazon S3
16 3 (0.48%) IaaS
16 3 (0.48%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 31 (4.98%) Firewall
2 22 (3.53%) VPN
3 21 (3.37%) DNS
3 21 (3.37%) WAN
4 18 (2.89%) Wireless
5 17 (2.73%) LAN
6 16 (2.57%) TCP/IP
6 16 (2.57%) Wi-Fi
7 13 (2.09%) DHCP
7 13 (2.09%) Network Security
8 10 (1.61%) VLAN
9 6 (0.96%) VoIP
10 5 (0.80%) Cisco IOS
10 5 (0.80%) Internet
10 5 (0.80%) SD-WAN
10 5 (0.80%) Skype
11 4 (0.64%) Bluetooth
11 4 (0.64%) SSL
12 3 (0.48%) HTTP
12 3 (0.48%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (11.40%) Power BI
2 24 (3.85%) SQL Server
3 19 (3.05%) Power Query
4 17 (2.73%) Tableau
5 14 (2.25%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.77%) MySQL
7 10 (1.61%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 9 (1.44%) Relational Database
9 8 (1.28%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 6 (0.96%) Amazon RDS
10 6 (0.96%) Data Mining
11 5 (0.80%) Amazon Redshift
11 5 (0.80%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.80%) Star Schema
12 4 (0.64%) FileMaker
12 4 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
13 3 (0.48%) Electronic Patient Records
13 3 (0.48%) GIS
13 3 (0.48%) NoSQL
13 3 (0.48%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 23 (3.69%) Git
2 16 (2.57%) JIRA
3 12 (1.93%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.80%) Cucumber
4 5 (0.80%) JUnit
4 5 (0.80%) Maven
4 5 (0.80%) Postman
5 4 (0.64%) GitLab
5 4 (0.64%) JMeter
5 4 (0.64%) Selenium
5 4 (0.64%) SoapUI
6 3 (0.48%) Mockito
6 3 (0.48%) Zephyr
7 1 (0.16%) Apache Ivy
7 1 (0.16%) Appium
7 1 (0.16%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.16%) Gradle
7 1 (0.16%) REST Assured
7 1 (0.16%) WebDriver
7 1 (0.16%) Yeoman
General
1 290 (46.55%) Social Skills
2 163 (26.16%) Analytical Skills
3 107 (17.17%) Finance
4 91 (14.61%) Manufacturing
5 39 (6.26%) Organisational Skills
6 38 (6.10%) Public Sector
7 31 (4.98%) Retail
8 25 (4.01%) Marketing
9 22 (3.53%) Law
9 22 (3.53%) Legal
10 17 (2.73%) Electronics
11 15 (2.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (2.25%) Automotive
13 12 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.77%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.61%) Banking
16 9 (1.44%) Investment Banking
17 8 (1.28%) Games
18 6 (0.96%) Fire and Rescue
18 6 (0.96%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 97 (15.57%) Support Engineer
2 87 (13.96%) Analyst
3 67 (10.75%) Technical Support
4 63 (10.11%) Technical Engineer
5 62 (9.95%) IT Support
6 61 (9.79%) Technical Support Engineer
7 59 (9.47%) Developer
8 46 (7.38%) Senior
9 42 (6.74%) IT Engineer
10 36 (5.78%) Lead
11 34 (5.46%) IT Manager
11 34 (5.46%) IT Support Engineer
12 31 (4.98%) Consultant
13 30 (4.82%) Support Analyst
14 19 (3.05%) 1st Line Support
15 16 (2.57%) Programmer
16 15 (2.41%) IT Analyst
17 14 (2.25%) IT Technician
17 14 (2.25%) Senior Analyst
18 13 (2.09%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (5.62%) REST
2 23 (3.69%) React
3 21 (3.37%) .NET
4 19 (3.05%) Spring
5 16 (2.57%) Spring Boot
6 12 (1.93%) AngularJS
6 12 (1.93%) RESTful
7 11 (1.77%) CSS
7 11 (1.77%) HTML
8 10 (1.61%) Playwright
9 9 (1.44%) SOAP
10 7 (1.12%) Node.js
10 7 (1.12%) SAP Fiori
11 6 (0.96%) JDBC
11 6 (0.96%) Middleware
11 6 (0.96%) OAuth
11 6 (0.96%) SAPUI5
12 5 (0.80%) JSON
12 5 (0.80%) XML
13 4 (0.64%) COM
Miscellaneous
1 49 (7.87%) Driving Licence
2 28 (4.49%) Management Information System
3 27 (4.33%) Self-Motivation
4 26 (4.17%) Onboarding
5 23 (3.69%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (2.09%) NHS
7 12 (1.93%) Data Centre
7 12 (1.93%) Social Media
8 11 (1.77%) Virtual Team
9 10 (1.61%) Analytical Mindset
9 10 (1.61%) Data Structures
10 8 (1.28%) IoT
10 8 (1.28%) Mobile App
10 8 (1.28%) Security Posture
11 7 (1.12%) AS400
11 7 (1.12%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.12%) Data Protection Act
11 7 (1.12%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.12%) iSeries
11 7 (1.12%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 103 (16.53%) Windows
2 37 (5.94%) Linux
3 31 (4.98%) Windows Server
4 27 (4.33%) Windows 10
5 13 (2.09%) Android
6 9 (1.44%) Apple iOS
7 7 (1.12%) Unix
8 5 (0.80%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.80%) Windows 7
9 4 (0.64%) FreeRTOS
10 2 (0.32%) CentOS
10 2 (0.32%) Debian
10 2 (0.32%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.16%) Solaris
11 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 187 (30.02%) Continuous Improvement
2 103 (16.53%) Customer Service
3 85 (13.64%) Agile
4 76 (12.20%) Analytics
5 75 (12.04%) Decision-Making
6 74 (11.88%) Business Intelligence
7 72 (11.56%) Mentoring
8 69 (11.08%) AI
8 69 (11.08%) Collaborative Working
9 66 (10.59%) ITIL
10 65 (10.43%) ERP
11 55 (8.83%) Cybersecurity
12 50 (8.03%) Customer Experience
13 46 (7.38%) Root Cause Analysis
14 45 (7.22%) Collaborative Culture
14 45 (7.22%) Service Delivery
15 44 (7.06%) Stakeholder Management
16 41 (6.58%) CI/CD
16 41 (6.58%) CRM
17 40 (6.42%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 98 (15.73%) SQL
2 43 (6.90%) Java
3 37 (5.94%) Python
4 22 (3.53%) PowerShell
5 20 (3.21%) C#
6 19 (3.05%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 19 (3.05%) Ladder Logic
7 16 (2.57%) JavaScript
8 12 (1.93%) TypeScript
9 11 (1.77%) PHP
10 8 (1.28%) C
11 7 (1.12%) Bash
11 7 (1.12%) RPG
12 6 (0.96%) ABAP
12 6 (0.96%) Embedded C
13 4 (0.64%) C++
13 4 (0.64%) PL/SQL
13 4 (0.64%) RPG IV
13 4 (0.64%) RPG/400
14 3 (0.48%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 87 (13.96%) Degree
2 61 (9.79%) Security Cleared
3 49 (7.87%) SC Cleared
4 19 (3.05%) DBS Check
5 18 (2.89%) Azure Certification
5 18 (2.89%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.77%) CISSP
7 10 (1.61%) CompTIA Security+
8 8 (1.28%) Cisco Certification
9 7 (1.12%) ACCA
9 7 (1.12%) BPSS Clearance
9 7 (1.12%) CIMA
9 7 (1.12%) CISA
9 7 (1.12%) SSCP
10 6 (0.96%) A+ Certification
10 6 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (0.96%) PMI Certification
11 5 (0.80%) CCNA
11 5 (0.80%) HND
12 4 (0.64%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (5.30%) Data Quality
2 30 (4.82%) GDPR
3 29 (4.65%) QA
4 27 (4.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 26 (4.17%) Cyber Essentials
6 19 (3.05%) SLA
7 17 (2.73%) Accessibility
7 17 (2.73%) ISO 9001
8 16 (2.57%) NIST
9 9 (1.44%) ISO 14001
10 5 (0.80%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.64%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.48%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.48%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.48%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.48%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.32%) GRC
13 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.32%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.32%) PMO
System Software
1 79 (12.68%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.85%) Hyper-V
3 19 (3.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (2.41%) Docker
5 7 (1.12%) Firmware
6 5 (0.80%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.48%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.48%) vSphere
9 1 (0.16%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 33 (5.30%) Microsoft Intune
2 14 (2.25%) Kubernetes
3 12 (1.93%) Terraform
4 6 (0.96%) Ansible
5 4 (0.64%) Functional Safety
5 4 (0.64%) SCCM
6 3 (0.48%) Grafana
6 3 (0.48%) Progress Chef
6 3 (0.48%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.48%) Puppet
7 2 (0.32%) Nagios
8 1 (0.16%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.16%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.16%) WSUS
Vendors
1 174 (27.93%) Microsoft
2 30 (4.82%) SAP
3 25 (4.01%) VMware
4 21 (3.37%) Cisco
5 14 (2.25%) Sage
6 13 (2.09%) Dell
7 11 (1.77%) Salesforce
8 10 (1.61%) Google
8 10 (1.61%) ServiceNow
9 9 (1.44%) Oracle
10 8 (1.28%) HubSpot
11 7 (1.12%) Apple
11 7 (1.12%) HP
11 7 (1.12%) IBM
11 7 (1.12%) Sophos
12 6 (0.96%) iManage
12 6 (0.96%) McAfee
13 5 (0.80%) Meraki
13 5 (0.80%) SolarWinds
13 5 (0.80%) Workday