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

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 592 688 1,154
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.30% 20.24% 15.05%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.64% 23.65% 18.82%
Number of salaries quoted 442 446 614
10th Percentile £27,750 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,125 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £43,227
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +4.10% -13.55%
75th Percentile £57,188 £61,250 £58,750
90th Percentile £63,750 £69,375 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £48,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -1.04% -4.00% -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 5,564 2,909 6,133
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.65% 85.58% 80.00%
Number of salaries quoted 4,187 1,835 4,044
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £27,360
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -12.00%

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 20 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 20 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 -17 190 £50,298 +4.79% 75
Staffordshire -2 99 £47,500 -8.06% 22
Warwickshire -3 72 £32,500 -31.58% 38
Worcestershire -5 53 £37,500 +22.95% 21
Shropshire +6 39 £44,500 +4.71% 22
Coventry -11 32 £42,000 -6.29% 10
Solihull 0 11 £30,500 -44.55% 4
Wolverhampton -14 11 £38,500 +18.46% 2
Herefordshire -23 10 £52,500 +68.00% 5
Walsall +4 9 £37,500 -16.67% 4
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 1
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 2
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Sutton Coldfield - 3 £42,500 - 1
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 45 (7.60%) SharePoint
2 29 (4.90%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.35%) IIS
4 5 (0.84%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.51%) Confluence
6 3 (0.51%) WordPress
7 1 (0.17%) Apache
7 1 (0.17%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.17%) Appian
7 1 (0.17%) Documentum
7 1 (0.17%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.17%) SAS
Applications
1 58 (9.80%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (6.25%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (2.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.84%) Fusion 360
5 3 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.51%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.34%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.17%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.17%) LaTeX
7 1 (0.17%) Simulink
7 1 (0.17%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.86%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.01%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.84%) Magento
3 5 (0.84%) Shopify
4 4 (0.68%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.68%) Line 50
4 4 (0.68%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.68%) Sage X3
5 2 (0.34%) JDE EnterpriseOne
5 2 (0.34%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.17%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.17%) Raiser’s Edge
6 1 (0.17%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 1 (0.17%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.17%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.17%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 121 (20.44%) Microsoft 365
2 106 (17.91%) Azure
3 70 (11.82%) Power Platform
4 54 (9.12%) Entra ID
5 36 (6.08%) AWS
6 32 (5.41%) SaaS
7 15 (2.53%) Dynamics 365
8 14 (2.36%) Microsoft Purview
8 14 (2.36%) Power Automate
8 14 (2.36%) PowerApps
9 8 (1.35%) Google Workspace
9 8 (1.35%) OneDrive
10 7 (1.18%) GCP
10 7 (1.18%) Microsoft Copilot
11 6 (1.01%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.84%) PaaS
13 4 (0.68%) IaaS
14 3 (0.51%) Amazon S3
14 3 (0.51%) Serverless
15 2 (0.34%) Salesforce Service Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 33 (5.57%) Firewall
2 23 (3.89%) WAN
3 20 (3.38%) VPN
4 19 (3.21%) DNS
4 19 (3.21%) LAN
4 19 (3.21%) Wi-Fi
5 17 (2.87%) Wireless
6 13 (2.20%) DHCP
6 13 (2.20%) Network Security
6 13 (2.20%) TCP/IP
7 10 (1.69%) VLAN
8 5 (0.84%) Cisco IOS
8 5 (0.84%) Internet
8 5 (0.84%) SD-WAN
8 5 (0.84%) Skype
8 5 (0.84%) VoIP
9 4 (0.68%) Bluetooth
9 4 (0.68%) SSL
10 3 (0.51%) HTTP
10 3 (0.51%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (10.98%) Power BI
2 22 (3.72%) SQL Server
3 17 (2.87%) Tableau
4 15 (2.53%) Power Query
5 12 (2.03%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.86%) MySQL
7 9 (1.52%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 8 (1.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (1.18%) Relational Database
9 7 (1.18%) Star Schema
10 6 (1.01%) Amazon RDS
10 6 (1.01%) Data Mining
11 5 (0.84%) Azure SQL Database
11 5 (0.84%) PostgreSQL
12 4 (0.68%) Amazon Redshift
12 4 (0.68%) FileMaker
13 3 (0.51%) GIS
13 3 (0.51%) NoSQL
13 3 (0.51%) SQL Server Analysis Services
14 2 (0.34%) Redis
Development Applications
1 17 (2.87%) Git
2 11 (1.86%) JIRA
3 4 (0.68%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.68%) JUnit
4 3 (0.51%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.51%) GitLab
4 3 (0.51%) Maven
4 3 (0.51%) Mockito
4 3 (0.51%) Postman
4 3 (0.51%) SoapUI
5 2 (0.34%) JMeter
5 2 (0.34%) Selenium
5 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 2 (0.34%) Zephyr
6 1 (0.17%) Appium
6 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.17%) Bugzilla
6 1 (0.17%) Carbide.c++
6 1 (0.17%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.17%) Yeoman
General
1 274 (46.28%) Social Skills
2 154 (26.01%) Analytical Skills
3 94 (15.88%) Finance
4 87 (14.70%) Manufacturing
5 35 (5.91%) Organisational Skills
6 33 (5.57%) Public Sector
7 30 (5.07%) Retail
8 27 (4.56%) Marketing
9 24 (4.05%) Legal
10 20 (3.38%) Law
11 16 (2.70%) Electronics
12 14 (2.36%) Automotive
13 12 (2.03%) Documentation Skills
13 12 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 11 (1.86%) Telecoms
15 9 (1.52%) Banking
15 9 (1.52%) Investment Banking
16 8 (1.35%) Games
17 6 (1.01%) Esports
17 6 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 104 (17.57%) Support Engineer
2 83 (14.02%) Analyst
3 67 (11.32%) Technical Support
4 65 (10.98%) Technical Engineer
5 64 (10.81%) Technical Support Engineer
6 63 (10.64%) IT Support
7 59 (9.97%) Developer
8 47 (7.94%) IT Engineer
9 43 (7.26%) Senior
10 38 (6.42%) IT Support Engineer
11 33 (5.57%) IT Manager
12 31 (5.24%) Lead
13 27 (4.56%) Support Analyst
14 22 (3.72%) Consultant
15 17 (2.87%) 1st Line Support
16 16 (2.70%) Programmer
17 14 (2.36%) 2nd Line Support
17 14 (2.36%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 14 (2.36%) IT Analyst
17 14 (2.36%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (5.74%) REST
2 22 (3.72%) React
3 18 (3.04%) .NET
4 16 (2.70%) Spring
5 13 (2.20%) Spring Boot
6 12 (2.03%) AngularJS
7 11 (1.86%) CSS
7 11 (1.86%) HTML
8 10 (1.69%) RESTful
9 8 (1.35%) Node.js
9 8 (1.35%) SOAP
10 7 (1.18%) SAP Fiori
11 6 (1.01%) JDBC
11 6 (1.01%) Middleware
11 6 (1.01%) OAuth
11 6 (1.01%) Playwright
11 6 (1.01%) SAPUI5
12 4 (0.68%) .NET Framework
12 4 (0.68%) COM
12 4 (0.68%) DCOM
Miscellaneous
1 46 (7.77%) Driving Licence
2 28 (4.73%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (4.56%) Management Information System
4 22 (3.72%) Onboarding
5 19 (3.21%) Enterprise Software
6 12 (2.03%) Social Media
7 11 (1.86%) Data Centre
7 11 (1.86%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
8 10 (1.69%) NHS
9 9 (1.52%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.52%) IoT
9 9 (1.52%) Legacy Systems
10 8 (1.35%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (1.35%) Security Posture
11 7 (1.18%) AS400
11 7 (1.18%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.18%) iSeries
11 7 (1.18%) Mobile App
12 5 (0.84%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 97 (16.39%) Windows
2 32 (5.41%) Linux
3 29 (4.90%) Windows Server
4 26 (4.39%) Windows 10
5 15 (2.53%) Android
6 10 (1.69%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.84%) Unix
7 5 (0.84%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.68%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.68%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.34%) CentOS
9 2 (0.34%) Debian
9 2 (0.34%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 165 (27.87%) Continuous Improvement
2 98 (16.55%) Customer Service
3 73 (12.33%) Agile
3 73 (12.33%) Analytics
4 70 (11.82%) Decision-Making
5 68 (11.49%) Collaborative Working
6 67 (11.32%) Business Intelligence
6 67 (11.32%) Mentoring
7 66 (11.15%) ITIL
8 61 (10.30%) AI
9 60 (10.14%) ERP
10 51 (8.61%) Customer Experience
11 50 (8.45%) Cybersecurity
12 45 (7.60%) Service Delivery
13 43 (7.26%) Root Cause Analysis
14 42 (7.09%) CRM
15 38 (6.42%) Stakeholder Management
16 36 (6.08%) Collaborative Culture
17 35 (5.91%) Validation
18 34 (5.74%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 92 (15.54%) SQL
2 39 (6.59%) Java
3 33 (5.57%) Python
4 22 (3.72%) PowerShell
5 20 (3.38%) Ladder Logic
6 19 (3.21%) C#
7 15 (2.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 13 (2.20%) JavaScript
9 11 (1.86%) PHP
10 10 (1.69%) TypeScript
11 8 (1.35%) C
12 7 (1.18%) Bash
12 7 (1.18%) RPG
13 6 (1.01%) ABAP
14 5 (0.84%) C++
14 5 (0.84%) Embedded C
15 4 (0.68%) PL/SQL
15 4 (0.68%) RPG IV
15 4 (0.68%) RPG/400
16 3 (0.51%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 79 (13.34%) Degree
2 56 (9.46%) Security Cleared
3 44 (7.43%) SC Cleared
4 19 (3.21%) Microsoft Certification
5 18 (3.04%) DBS Check
6 17 (2.87%) Azure Certification
7 11 (1.86%) CISSP
8 10 (1.69%) CompTIA Security+
9 8 (1.35%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.18%) A+ Certification
10 7 (1.18%) ACCA
10 7 (1.18%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.18%) CIMA
10 7 (1.18%) CISA
10 7 (1.18%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.18%) SSCP
11 5 (0.84%) CCNA
11 5 (0.84%) HND
11 5 (0.84%) MCITP
12 4 (0.68%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (5.57%) Data Quality
2 29 (4.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 27 (4.56%) Cyber Essentials
4 26 (4.39%) QA
5 25 (4.22%) GDPR
6 17 (2.87%) ISO 9001
7 16 (2.70%) NIST
8 15 (2.53%) Accessibility
8 15 (2.53%) SLA
9 9 (1.52%) ISO 14001
10 6 (1.01%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.68%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.68%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.51%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.51%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.51%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.34%) GRC
13 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.34%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.34%) PMO
System Software
1 81 (13.68%) Active Directory
2 26 (4.39%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.55%) VMware Infrastructure
4 12 (2.03%) Docker
5 8 (1.35%) Firmware
6 5 (0.84%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.68%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.34%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 37 (6.25%) Microsoft Intune
2 11 (1.86%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.52%) Terraform
4 5 (0.84%) Ansible
5 4 (0.68%) Functional Safety
5 4 (0.68%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.51%) Grafana
6 3 (0.51%) Nagios
6 3 (0.51%) SCCM
7 2 (0.34%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.34%) Puppet
8 1 (0.17%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.17%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 165 (27.87%) Microsoft
2 29 (4.90%) SAP
3 26 (4.39%) VMware
4 21 (3.55%) Cisco
5 14 (2.36%) Sage
6 12 (2.03%) Dell
7 11 (1.86%) Salesforce
8 10 (1.69%) Google
9 9 (1.52%) Oracle
10 7 (1.18%) HP
10 7 (1.18%) IBM
11 6 (1.01%) Apple
11 6 (1.01%) HubSpot
11 6 (1.01%) iManage
11 6 (1.01%) McAfee
11 6 (1.01%) Meraki
11 6 (1.01%) ServiceNow
11 6 (1.01%) Sophos
12 5 (0.84%) SolarWinds
13 4 (0.68%) Veeam