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 7 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 18 4 6
Rank change year-on-year -14 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 563 933 577
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 12.06% 18.72% 17.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.42% 21.40% 19.04%
Number of salaries quoted 412 331 476
10th Percentile £26,250 £32,250 £28,500
25th Percentile £30,250 £41,625 £33,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -22.73% +10.00% +5.26%
75th Percentile £58,188 £66,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £73,750 £90,000 £71,250
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

All Process and 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 3,904 4,360 3,031
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 83.62% 87.46% 92.49%
Number of salaries quoted 2,123 1,988 2,448
10th Percentile £29,000 £32,175 £26,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £41,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,500 £70,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £82,500 £81,250 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 7 December 2025.

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 7 December 2025. 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 -1 170 £45,000 -22.41% 147
Staffordshire -7 108 £38,750 -22.50% 78
Warwickshire -11 61 £42,500 -15.00% 47
Worcestershire -14 48 £31,500 -45.78% 70
Shropshire -7 32 £47,500 +5.56% 140
Herefordshire +8 31 £39,250 +49.80% 8
Solihull -2 24 £85,000 +30.77% 9
Coventry -9 20 £52,500 -7.08% 67
Halesowen 0 14 £32,500 - 3
Walsall +2 13 £45,000 +42.86% 8
Wednesbury -4 5 £42,500 -5.56%
Dudley -4 2 £75,000 +114.29% 6
Kingswinford -7 2 £45,250 +20.67% 1
Wolverhampton -16 1 £65,000 +44.44% 51
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 23 (4.09%) SharePoint
2 14 (2.49%) IIS
3 11 (1.95%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (1.07%) Apache
5 2 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.36%) Confluence
5 2 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2007
5 2 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2010
5 2 (0.36%) Exchange Server 2013
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.18%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.18%) Appian
6 1 (0.18%) CMS
6 1 (0.18%) HCL Notes
6 1 (0.18%) NServiceBus
6 1 (0.18%) SAS
6 1 (0.18%) WebLogic
Applications
1 73 (12.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 33 (5.86%) Microsoft Office
3 8 (1.42%) AutoCAD
3 8 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.42%) SOLIDWORKS
4 7 (1.24%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.53%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.53%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.53%) Trello
6 1 (0.18%) Revit
Business Applications
1 21 (3.73%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.07%) NetSuite
3 4 (0.71%) SAP FI
4 3 (0.53%) Dynamics NAV
5 2 (0.36%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
5 2 (0.36%) iTrent
5 2 (0.36%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.18%) Elite 3E
6 1 (0.18%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.18%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.18%) Sage X3
6 1 (0.18%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 104 (18.47%) Azure
2 71 (12.61%) Microsoft 365
3 56 (9.95%) Power Platform
4 36 (6.39%) SaaS
5 28 (4.97%) AWS
6 19 (3.37%) Dynamics 365
7 12 (2.13%) Power Automate
8 11 (1.95%) Azure DevOps
8 11 (1.95%) GCP
9 10 (1.78%) PowerApps
10 8 (1.42%) Entra ID
11 7 (1.24%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.89%) Cloud Computing
12 5 (0.89%) GitHub
12 5 (0.89%) OCI
12 5 (0.89%) Serverless
12 5 (0.89%) Snowflake
13 4 (0.71%) Amazon S3
13 4 (0.71%) Azure Synapse Analytics
14 3 (0.53%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 30 (5.33%) Firewall
1 30 (5.33%) WAN
2 27 (4.80%) LAN
3 22 (3.91%) VPN
4 18 (3.20%) DNS
4 18 (3.20%) Wi-Fi
5 15 (2.66%) DHCP
6 12 (2.13%) Wireless
7 11 (1.95%) Internet
8 10 (1.78%) TCP/IP
9 9 (1.60%) ADSL
9 9 (1.60%) Ethernet
9 9 (1.60%) VDSL
9 9 (1.60%) VoIP
10 7 (1.24%) Broadband
10 7 (1.24%) Remote Desktop
11 5 (0.89%) Network Security
11 5 (0.89%) PBX
12 4 (0.71%) Bluetooth
12 4 (0.71%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (8.88%) Power BI
2 38 (6.75%) SQL Server
3 19 (3.37%) Relational Database
4 16 (2.84%) MySQL
5 14 (2.49%) GIS
6 10 (1.78%) PostgreSQL
6 10 (1.78%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 10 (1.78%) Tableau
7 9 (1.60%) Metadata
8 7 (1.24%) Oracle Reports
9 6 (1.07%) Crystal Reports
10 5 (0.89%) BusinessObjects
10 5 (0.89%) Data Mining
11 4 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
11 4 (0.71%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 3 (0.53%) Azure SQL Database
12 3 (0.53%) Data Lake
12 3 (0.53%) Data Warehouse
13 2 (0.36%) MS Access
13 2 (0.36%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 19 (3.37%) JIRA
2 14 (2.49%) Git
3 4 (0.71%) GitLab
3 4 (0.71%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.53%) Appcelerator Titanium
4 3 (0.53%) JUnit
5 2 (0.36%) Maven
5 2 (0.36%) Mockito
5 2 (0.36%) Subversion
5 2 (0.36%) Vagrant
5 2 (0.36%) Visual Studio Code
6 1 (0.18%) Babel
6 1 (0.18%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.18%) MLflow
6 1 (0.18%) Postman
6 1 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.18%) Snyk
6 1 (0.18%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.18%) webpack
General
1 293 (52.04%) Social Skills
2 159 (28.24%) Finance
3 141 (25.04%) Analytical Skills
4 75 (13.32%) Manufacturing
5 58 (10.30%) Retail
6 39 (6.93%) Legal
7 33 (5.86%) Law
8 32 (5.68%) Public Sector
9 30 (5.33%) Marketing
9 30 (5.33%) Organisational Skills
10 27 (4.80%) Digital Health
11 25 (4.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (2.49%) Fire and Rescue
13 13 (2.31%) Presentation Skills
13 13 (2.31%) Telecoms
14 10 (1.78%) Electronics
15 9 (1.60%) Banking
16 8 (1.42%) Aerospace
17 7 (1.24%) Automotive
18 6 (1.07%) Games
Job Titles
1 87 (15.45%) Support Engineer
2 75 (13.32%) Analyst
3 69 (12.26%) IT Support
4 59 (10.48%) Technical Support
5 57 (10.12%) Technical Engineer
6 55 (9.77%) Technical Support Engineer
7 54 (9.59%) Developer
8 45 (7.99%) Senior
9 39 (6.93%) Lead
10 27 (4.80%) 2nd Line Support
11 24 (4.26%) Architect
12 22 (3.91%) IT Engineer
13 21 (3.73%) Applications Support
14 20 (3.55%) Support Analyst
15 18 (3.20%) Administrator
16 15 (2.66%) IT Support Engineer
16 15 (2.66%) Network Engineer
17 14 (2.49%) Support Technician
18 13 (2.31%) Business Analyst
19 12 (2.13%) Applications Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (5.33%) .NET
2 21 (3.73%) React
3 20 (3.55%) REST
4 15 (2.66%) AngularJS
4 15 (2.66%) JSON
5 11 (1.95%) HTML
5 11 (1.95%) Razor View Engine
6 7 (1.24%) CSS
7 6 (1.07%) EDI
7 6 (1.07%) LAMP
8 5 (0.89%) .NET Framework
8 5 (0.89%) Node.js
8 5 (0.89%) RESTful
8 5 (0.89%) Vue
9 4 (0.71%) Oracle Fusion
9 4 (0.71%) Spring
9 4 (0.71%) Web Services
9 4 (0.71%) WPF
9 4 (0.71%) XML
10 3 (0.53%) ODBC
Miscellaneous
1 43 (7.64%) Onboarding
2 36 (6.39%) Driving Licence
3 34 (6.04%) FMCG
4 30 (5.33%) Self-Motivation
5 16 (2.84%) Analytical Mindset
5 16 (2.84%) SCADA
6 15 (2.66%) Operational Technology
7 14 (2.49%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.95%) Data Centre
9 10 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
9 10 (1.78%) Product Ownership
10 9 (1.60%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 8 (1.42%) IoT
12 7 (1.24%) EPoS
12 7 (1.24%) iPad
12 7 (1.24%) Linux Command Line
12 7 (1.24%) Security Posture
13 6 (1.07%) Data Structures
13 6 (1.07%) PDA
14 5 (0.89%) Embedded Systems
Operating Systems
1 72 (12.79%) Windows
2 28 (4.97%) Windows 10
3 19 (3.37%) Linux
4 9 (1.60%) Apple iOS
5 3 (0.53%) Unix
5 3 (0.53%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.36%) VMS
6 2 (0.36%) Windows 7
7 1 (0.18%) Android
7 1 (0.18%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.18%) Windows Mobile
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (23.62%) Continuous Improvement
2 69 (12.26%) Agile
3 68 (12.08%) Customer Service
3 68 (12.08%) Project Management
4 59 (10.48%) Business Intelligence
5 53 (9.41%) Decision-Making
6 49 (8.70%) ITIL
7 48 (8.53%) Analytics
8 42 (7.46%) Logistics
9 41 (7.28%) CRM
10 37 (6.57%) Data Analysis
10 37 (6.57%) ERP
11 36 (6.39%) Mentoring
12 32 (5.68%) Cybersecurity
12 32 (5.68%) Roadmaps
13 31 (5.51%) Customer Experience
14 30 (5.33%) Process Improvement
15 29 (5.15%) Computer Science
16 28 (4.97%) Data Modelling
16 28 (4.97%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 98 (17.41%) SQL
2 51 (9.06%) Python
3 41 (7.28%) C#
4 33 (5.86%) JavaScript
5 23 (4.09%) Java
6 21 (3.73%) PowerShell
7 16 (2.84%) PHP
8 13 (2.31%) T-SQL
9 8 (1.42%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 7 (1.24%) C++
11 6 (1.07%) TypeScript
12 5 (0.89%) Bash
12 5 (0.89%) Ladder Logic
13 4 (0.71%) Go
13 4 (0.71%) R
14 3 (0.53%) C
14 3 (0.53%) Delphi
14 3 (0.53%) VB.NET
15 2 (0.36%) PL/SQL
15 2 (0.36%) VB
Qualifications
1 105 (18.65%) Degree
2 53 (9.41%) Security Cleared
3 33 (5.86%) SC Cleared
4 22 (3.91%) Computer Science Degree
5 16 (2.84%) ACCA
5 16 (2.84%) CIMA
6 15 (2.66%) BPSS Clearance
7 11 (1.95%) Master's Degree
8 10 (1.78%) DV Cleared
9 8 (1.42%) CISSP
9 8 (1.42%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 8 (1.42%) Microsoft Certification
10 7 (1.24%) AAT
11 6 (1.07%) Cisco Certification
11 6 (1.07%) DBS Check
12 5 (0.89%) CISM
12 5 (0.89%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 4 (0.71%) CCSP
13 4 (0.71%) CIPD
13 4 (0.71%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (4.62%) Data Quality
2 15 (2.66%) SLA
3 14 (2.49%) QA
4 8 (1.42%) GDPR
5 7 (1.24%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 5 (0.89%) NIST
6 5 (0.89%) PMO
7 3 (0.53%) Actionable Recommendations
7 3 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
7 3 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 2 (0.36%) COBIT
8 2 (0.36%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.36%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 19770
9 1 (0.18%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.18%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.18%) WCAG
System Software
1 34 (6.04%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.31%) Docker
3 12 (2.13%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.36%) Firmware
4 2 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.18%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.18%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 12 (2.13%) Kubernetes
2 9 (1.60%) Terraform
3 7 (1.24%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.53%) FortiGate
4 3 (0.53%) Nagios
5 2 (0.36%) Ansible
5 2 (0.36%) Grafana
6 1 (0.18%) Argo
6 1 (0.18%) AWS Copilot
6 1 (0.18%) HP Quality Center
6 1 (0.18%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.18%) SCCM
6 1 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.18%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 159 (28.24%) Microsoft
2 30 (5.33%) SAP
3 29 (5.15%) Oracle
4 17 (3.02%) Databricks
5 15 (2.66%) Cisco
6 13 (2.31%) Salesforce
6 13 (2.31%) VMware
7 10 (1.78%) Dell
8 8 (1.42%) Juniper
8 8 (1.42%) McAfee
8 8 (1.42%) Sage
8 8 (1.42%) ServiceNow
9 7 (1.24%) Apple
9 7 (1.24%) Infor
10 6 (1.07%) Google
11 5 (0.89%) Epicor
11 5 (0.89%) Panasonic
11 5 (0.89%) Samsung
12 4 (0.71%) Meraki
13 3 (0.53%) Cognos