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

6 months to
7 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 4 6
Rank change year-on-year -16 +2 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 535 832 546
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 10.07% 19.65% 15.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.24% 21.61% 17.54%
Number of salaries quoted 401 325 460
10th Percentile £26,250 £32,250 £26,750
25th Percentile £30,250 £41,250 £31,476
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,735 £55,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -22.30% +15.79% -5.00%
75th Percentile £58,750 £66,250 £60,000
90th Percentile £73,750 £93,500 £70,000
England median annual salary £45,497 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -17.28% - -

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 4,371 3,850 3,112
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 82.30% 90.91% 87.44%
Number of salaries quoted 2,266 1,714 2,612
10th Percentile £29,000 £32,500 £26,500
25th Percentile £38,500 £41,250 £35,000
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 £82,500 £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 January 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 7 January 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 -7 164 £47,500 -18.10% 51
Staffordshire -9 101 £38,000 -24.00% 22
Warwickshire -11 59 £41,500 -17.00% 43
Worcestershire -13 38 £31,500 -51.54% 24
Herefordshire +6 33 £43,000 +64.12% 7
Shropshire -14 32 £47,500 -17.39% 22
Solihull 0 23 £87,500 +40.00% 4
Coventry -9 18 £55,200 -1.43% 14
Halesowen +1 14 £32,500 -
Walsall 0 11 £45,000 +42.86% 4
Wednesbury -3 5 £42,500 -5.56%
Kingswinford -5 2 £45,250 +20.67%
Dudley -6 2 £75,000 +114.29% 3
Wolverhampton -18 2 £72,500 +61.11% 7
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 24 (4.49%) SharePoint
2 13 (2.43%) IIS
3 12 (2.24%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (1.12%) Apache
5 5 (0.93%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 2 (0.37%) Confluence
6 2 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2007
6 2 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2010
6 2 (0.37%) Exchange Server 2013
7 1 (0.19%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.19%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.19%) Appian
7 1 (0.19%) HCL Notes
7 1 (0.19%) NServiceBus
7 1 (0.19%) SAS
7 1 (0.19%) WebLogic
Applications
1 68 (12.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 30 (5.61%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (2.06%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.50%) AutoCAD
4 8 (1.50%) SOLIDWORKS
5 6 (1.12%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 4 (0.75%) MS Visio
8 3 (0.56%) Trello
9 1 (0.19%) Abaqus
9 1 (0.19%) Revit
9 1 (0.19%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 21 (3.93%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.31%) NetSuite
3 4 (0.75%) SAP FI
4 3 (0.56%) Dynamics NAV
5 2 (0.37%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
5 2 (0.37%) iTrent
5 2 (0.37%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS R12
6 1 (0.19%) Sage X3
6 1 (0.19%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 102 (19.07%) Azure
2 65 (12.15%) Microsoft 365
3 53 (9.91%) Power Platform
4 35 (6.54%) SaaS
5 34 (6.36%) AWS
6 20 (3.74%) Dynamics 365
7 12 (2.24%) Power Automate
8 11 (2.06%) PowerApps
9 10 (1.87%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.87%) GCP
10 8 (1.50%) Entra ID
11 6 (1.12%) Serverless
12 5 (0.93%) Amazon S3
12 5 (0.93%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.93%) Azure Sentinel
12 5 (0.93%) OCI
13 4 (0.75%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 4 (0.75%) Amazon EC2
13 4 (0.75%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 4 (0.75%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 23 (4.30%) WAN
2 21 (3.93%) VPN
3 19 (3.55%) DNS
3 19 (3.55%) Internet
4 18 (3.36%) Firewall
5 17 (3.18%) LAN
5 17 (3.18%) Wi-Fi
6 15 (2.80%) DHCP
7 12 (2.24%) Wireless
8 9 (1.68%) ADSL
8 9 (1.68%) Ethernet
8 9 (1.68%) VDSL
8 9 (1.68%) VoIP
9 8 (1.50%) SD-WAN
10 7 (1.31%) Broadband
11 6 (1.12%) VLAN
12 5 (0.93%) Bluetooth
12 5 (0.93%) PBX
13 4 (0.75%) Remote Desktop
14 3 (0.56%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (8.60%) Power BI
2 36 (6.73%) SQL Server
3 18 (3.36%) Relational Database
4 16 (2.99%) MySQL
5 14 (2.62%) GIS
6 10 (1.87%) Oracle Reports
6 10 (1.87%) PostgreSQL
6 10 (1.87%) Tableau
7 9 (1.68%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 6 (1.12%) Crystal Reports
9 5 (0.93%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (0.93%) BusinessObjects
10 4 (0.75%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.75%) Metadata
10 4 (0.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 3 (0.56%) Azure SQL Database
11 3 (0.56%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.56%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.37%) MongoDB
12 2 (0.37%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 19 (3.55%) JIRA
2 16 (2.99%) Git
3 6 (1.12%) JUnit
4 5 (0.93%) GitLab
4 5 (0.93%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.93%) Maven
4 5 (0.93%) Mockito
5 3 (0.56%) Appcelerator Titanium
6 2 (0.37%) Subversion
6 2 (0.37%) Vagrant
6 2 (0.37%) Visual Studio Code
7 1 (0.19%) Babel
7 1 (0.19%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.19%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.19%) Cypress.io
7 1 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
7 1 (0.19%) Selenium
7 1 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.19%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.19%) webpack
General
1 266 (49.72%) Social Skills
2 152 (28.41%) Finance
3 133 (24.86%) Analytical Skills
4 73 (13.64%) Manufacturing
5 45 (8.41%) Retail
6 38 (7.10%) Legal
7 34 (6.36%) Law
8 32 (5.98%) Organisational Skills
8 32 (5.98%) Public Sector
9 30 (5.61%) Marketing
10 20 (3.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 16 (2.99%) Digital Health
12 14 (2.62%) Fire and Rescue
13 13 (2.43%) Presentation Skills
13 13 (2.43%) Telecoms
14 10 (1.87%) Banking
15 9 (1.68%) Electronics
16 7 (1.31%) Aerospace
16 7 (1.31%) Automotive
17 5 (0.93%) Games
Job Titles
1 80 (14.95%) Support Engineer
2 74 (13.83%) Analyst
3 58 (10.84%) IT Support
4 55 (10.28%) Developer
5 50 (9.35%) Technical Support
6 49 (9.16%) Technical Engineer
7 47 (8.79%) Technical Support Engineer
8 45 (8.41%) Lead
9 44 (8.22%) Senior
10 27 (5.05%) IT Engineer
11 24 (4.49%) Architect
12 22 (4.11%) Support Analyst
13 20 (3.74%) Applications Support
14 19 (3.55%) 2nd Line Support
14 19 (3.55%) IT Support Engineer
15 18 (3.36%) Business Analyst
16 17 (3.18%) Network Engineer
17 16 (2.99%) Administrator
18 14 (2.62%) Senior Analyst
19 11 (2.06%) Applications Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (5.42%) .NET
2 23 (4.30%) REST
3 21 (3.93%) React
4 15 (2.80%) AngularJS
4 15 (2.80%) JSON
5 11 (2.06%) HTML
5 11 (2.06%) Razor View Engine
6 7 (1.31%) CSS
7 6 (1.12%) EDI
7 6 (1.12%) LAMP
8 5 (0.93%) Node.js
8 5 (0.93%) RESTful
8 5 (0.93%) Vue
9 4 (0.75%) .NET Framework
9 4 (0.75%) Oracle Fusion
9 4 (0.75%) Spring
9 4 (0.75%) Web Services
9 4 (0.75%) WPF
9 4 (0.75%) XML
10 3 (0.56%) ODBC
Miscellaneous
1 37 (6.92%) Onboarding
2 33 (6.17%) Self-Motivation
3 30 (5.61%) Driving Licence
4 26 (4.86%) FMCG
5 15 (2.80%) Management Information System
6 14 (2.62%) SCADA
7 12 (2.24%) Analytical Mindset
8 11 (2.06%) Operational Technology
8 11 (2.06%) Product Ownership
9 10 (1.87%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
9 10 (1.87%) Legacy Systems
9 10 (1.87%) Social Media
10 8 (1.50%) IoT
11 7 (1.31%) Data Centre
11 7 (1.31%) Linux Command Line
12 6 (1.12%) PDA
12 6 (1.12%) Virtual Team
13 5 (0.93%) Embedded Systems
13 5 (0.93%) EPoS
14 4 (0.75%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 59 (11.03%) Windows
2 21 (3.93%) Linux
3 15 (2.80%) Windows 10
4 9 (1.68%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.37%) Unix
5 2 (0.37%) VMS
5 2 (0.37%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.19%) Android
6 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.19%) Windows Mobile
6 1 (0.19%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 118 (22.06%) Continuous Improvement
2 74 (13.83%) Agile
3 69 (12.90%) Project Management
4 56 (10.47%) Business Intelligence
5 53 (9.91%) Customer Service
5 53 (9.91%) Decision-Making
6 52 (9.72%) ITIL
7 45 (8.41%) Analytics
8 41 (7.66%) Roadmaps
9 40 (7.48%) CRM
10 37 (6.92%) ERP
11 35 (6.54%) Data Analysis
12 34 (6.36%) Mentoring
12 34 (6.36%) Process Improvement
13 32 (5.98%) Migration
14 31 (5.79%) Computer Science
14 31 (5.79%) Logistics
15 30 (5.61%) Customer Experience
16 28 (5.23%) Service Delivery
17 26 (4.86%) AI
Programming Languages
1 102 (19.07%) SQL
2 51 (9.53%) Python
3 40 (7.48%) C#
4 32 (5.98%) JavaScript
5 26 (4.86%) Java
6 21 (3.93%) PowerShell
7 16 (2.99%) PHP
8 12 (2.24%) T-SQL
9 8 (1.50%) Bash
10 7 (1.31%) C++
10 7 (1.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 6 (1.12%) C
11 6 (1.12%) R
11 6 (1.12%) TypeScript
12 5 (0.93%) Ladder Logic
12 5 (0.93%) PL/SQL
13 3 (0.56%) Delphi
13 3 (0.56%) Go
13 3 (0.56%) VB.NET
14 2 (0.37%) Perl
Qualifications
1 103 (19.25%) Degree
2 58 (10.84%) Security Cleared
3 38 (7.10%) SC Cleared
4 22 (4.11%) Computer Science Degree
5 17 (3.18%) ACCA
5 17 (3.18%) BPSS Clearance
5 17 (3.18%) CIMA
6 14 (2.62%) DBS Check
7 12 (2.24%) Microsoft Certification
8 10 (1.87%) Master's Degree
9 9 (1.68%) DV Cleared
10 8 (1.50%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 6 (1.12%) AAT
12 5 (0.93%) AWS Certification
12 5 (0.93%) CISSP
12 5 (0.93%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 4 (0.75%) CIPD
13 4 (0.75%) Cisco Certification
13 4 (0.75%) CISM
13 4 (0.75%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.93%) Data Quality
2 19 (3.55%) QA
3 10 (1.87%) GDPR
3 10 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 9 (1.68%) SLA
5 6 (1.12%) NIST
6 4 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials
6 4 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 4 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 3 (0.56%) Actionable Recommendations
8 2 (0.37%) COBIT
8 2 (0.37%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.37%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.37%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 19770
8 2 (0.37%) PMO
9 1 (0.19%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.19%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.19%) WCAG
System Software
1 28 (5.23%) Active Directory
2 17 (3.18%) Docker
3 6 (1.12%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.37%) Firmware
4 2 (0.37%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.19%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (2.99%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.06%) Terraform
3 9 (1.68%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.56%) Ansible
4 3 (0.56%) Nagios
5 2 (0.37%) FortiGate
5 2 (0.37%) Grafana
5 2 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.19%) Argo
6 1 (0.19%) AWS Copilot
6 1 (0.19%) HP Quality Center
6 1 (0.19%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.19%) SCCM
6 1 (0.19%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 148 (27.66%) Microsoft
2 39 (7.29%) Oracle
3 29 (5.42%) SAP
4 12 (2.24%) Cisco
4 12 (2.24%) Databricks
5 10 (1.87%) Sage
5 10 (1.87%) Salesforce
6 9 (1.68%) ServiceNow
7 7 (1.31%) Google
7 7 (1.31%) Infor
8 6 (1.12%) VMware
9 5 (0.93%) Dell
9 5 (0.93%) Epicor
9 5 (0.93%) Meraki
9 5 (0.93%) Panasonic
9 5 (0.93%) Samsung
9 5 (0.93%) Zscaler
10 3 (0.56%) Avaya
10 3 (0.56%) Juniper
10 3 (0.56%) SolarWinds