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

6 months to
22 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 3 6
Rank change year-on-year -19 +3 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 506 790 852
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.35% 20.49% 15.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.58% 21.91% 18.03%
Number of salaries quoted 379 334 683
10th Percentile £26,250 £31,250 £25,000
25th Percentile £30,250 £42,129 £30,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £55,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -22.73% +29.41% -16.50%
75th Percentile £58,750 £67,500 £57,500
90th Percentile £72,600 £100,000 £67,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -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 4,782 3,606 4,725
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 78.90% 93.52% 86.79%
Number of salaries quoted 2,586 1,654 3,849
10th Percentile £29,000 £32,500 £26,250
25th Percentile £38,500 £42,500 £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 £68,750 £63,750
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 22 February 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 22 February 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 -13 152 £47,085 -18.82% 91
Staffordshire -8 112 £31,500 -37.00% 25
Warwickshire -16 57 £32,500 -35.00% 52
Shropshire -10 39 £47,500 -13.64% 26
Worcestershire -16 32 £37,500 -42.31% 22
Herefordshire +3 24 £52,500 +4.48% 8
Solihull -3 17 £87,500 +59.09% 6
Coventry -14 16 £67,500 +12.50% 11
Halesowen -2 9 £32,500 - 1
Walsall +1 4 £44,500 +41.27% 2
Wednesbury -4 4 £42,500 -5.56%
Dudley -3 3 £75,000 +114.29% 5
Kingswinford -5 2 £45,250 +20.67%
Wolverhampton -23 2 £85,000 +88.89% 3
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 42 (8.30%) SharePoint
2 23 (4.55%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (2.17%) IIS
4 6 (1.19%) Apache
4 6 (1.19%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 5 (0.99%) Exchange Server 2007
5 5 (0.99%) Exchange Server 2010
5 5 (0.99%) Exchange Server 2013
6 1 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.20%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.20%) Confluence
6 1 (0.20%) NServiceBus
6 1 (0.20%) SAS
6 1 (0.20%) WebLogic
Applications
1 39 (7.71%) Microsoft Excel
2 33 (6.52%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (2.57%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.58%) AutoCAD
4 8 (1.58%) SOLIDWORKS
5 7 (1.38%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.99%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 4 (0.79%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.40%) Trello
9 1 (0.20%) Abaqus
9 1 (0.20%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 21 (4.15%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.38%) NetSuite
3 3 (0.59%) Dynamics NAV
3 3 (0.59%) SAP Business ByDesign
4 2 (0.40%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
4 2 (0.40%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.20%) Raiser’s Edge
5 1 (0.20%) Sage X3
5 1 (0.20%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 116 (22.92%) Azure
2 90 (17.79%) Microsoft 365
3 45 (8.89%) Power Platform
4 38 (7.51%) SaaS
5 35 (6.92%) AWS
6 28 (5.53%) Entra ID
7 23 (4.55%) Dynamics 365
8 16 (3.16%) Power Automate
9 15 (2.96%) PowerApps
10 10 (1.98%) OneDrive
11 9 (1.78%) Serverless
12 8 (1.58%) Azure Data Factory
12 8 (1.58%) GCP
12 8 (1.58%) Google Workspace
13 7 (1.38%) Azure DevOps
14 5 (0.99%) Amazon S3
14 5 (0.99%) AWS Lambda
14 5 (0.99%) Azure Sentinel
14 5 (0.99%) OCI
15 4 (0.79%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 34 (6.72%) VPN
2 28 (5.53%) Internet
3 26 (5.14%) DNS
4 24 (4.74%) DHCP
5 23 (4.55%) WAN
6 21 (4.15%) Wi-Fi
7 18 (3.56%) Firewall
8 17 (3.36%) LAN
9 11 (2.17%) VoIP
9 11 (2.17%) Wireless
10 9 (1.78%) ADSL
10 9 (1.78%) Ethernet
10 9 (1.78%) SD-WAN
10 9 (1.78%) VDSL
11 7 (1.38%) VLAN
12 6 (1.19%) Broadband
13 5 (0.99%) Network Security
13 5 (0.99%) PBX
13 5 (0.99%) TCP/IP
14 2 (0.40%) Bluetooth
Database & Business Intelligence
1 37 (7.31%) Power BI
2 29 (5.73%) SQL Server
3 14 (2.77%) Relational Database
4 12 (2.37%) MySQL
5 11 (2.17%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 10 (1.98%) Oracle Reports
7 9 (1.78%) PostgreSQL
7 9 (1.78%) Tableau
8 8 (1.58%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.99%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (0.99%) Crystal Reports
9 5 (0.99%) Data Warehouse
9 5 (0.99%) GIS
10 4 (0.79%) Metadata
11 3 (0.59%) Power Query
11 3 (0.59%) Redis
11 3 (0.59%) TimescaleDB
12 2 (0.40%) Data Lake
12 2 (0.40%) Data Mining
12 2 (0.40%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 18 (3.56%) JIRA
2 16 (3.16%) Git
3 7 (1.38%) JUnit
4 6 (1.19%) Maven
4 6 (1.19%) Mockito
5 5 (0.99%) GitLab
5 5 (0.99%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.59%) Appcelerator Titanium
7 2 (0.40%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.40%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.20%) Babel
8 1 (0.20%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.20%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.20%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.20%) MLflow
8 1 (0.20%) Selenium
8 1 (0.20%) Snyk
8 1 (0.20%) Vite
8 1 (0.20%) webpack
General
1 252 (49.80%) Social Skills
2 137 (27.08%) Analytical Skills
3 118 (23.32%) Finance
4 67 (13.24%) Manufacturing
5 39 (7.71%) Organisational Skills
6 36 (7.11%) Legal
7 35 (6.92%) Public Sector
8 34 (6.72%) Law
9 31 (6.13%) Retail
10 26 (5.14%) Marketing
11 16 (3.16%) Telecoms
12 13 (2.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 12 (2.37%) Presentation Skills
14 11 (2.17%) Banking
15 8 (1.58%) Automotive
15 8 (1.58%) Electronics
16 7 (1.38%) Aerospace
17 6 (1.19%) Advertising
18 4 (0.79%) Documentation Skills
18 4 (0.79%) Games
Job Titles
1 94 (18.58%) Support Engineer
2 78 (15.42%) Analyst
3 70 (13.83%) IT Support
4 53 (10.47%) IT Engineer
5 51 (10.08%) Lead
6 50 (9.88%) Developer
7 46 (9.09%) Technical Support
8 44 (8.70%) Technical Engineer
9 43 (8.50%) IT Support Engineer
9 43 (8.50%) Technical Support Engineer
10 39 (7.71%) Senior
11 29 (5.73%) Support Analyst
12 22 (4.35%) Architect
13 21 (4.15%) Business Analyst
14 20 (3.95%) Applications Support
15 17 (3.36%) Instructor
16 16 (3.16%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 15 (2.96%) Consultant
18 14 (2.77%) Administrator
18 14 (2.77%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.94%) .NET
2 23 (4.55%) REST
3 20 (3.95%) React
4 14 (2.77%) AngularJS
5 13 (2.57%) JSON
6 10 (1.98%) Razor View Engine
7 7 (1.38%) HTML
8 6 (1.19%) CSS
8 6 (1.19%) LAMP
8 6 (1.19%) Node.js
9 5 (0.99%) Vue
10 4 (0.79%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (0.79%) Web Services
10 4 (0.79%) WPF
11 3 (0.59%) .NET Framework
11 3 (0.59%) GraphQL
11 3 (0.59%) ODBC
11 3 (0.59%) React Native
11 3 (0.59%) RESTful
11 3 (0.59%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 44 (8.70%) Onboarding
2 39 (7.71%) Driving Licence
3 36 (7.11%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (4.35%) Management Information System
5 18 (3.56%) Social Media
6 15 (2.96%) FMCG
7 11 (2.17%) Operational Technology
7 11 (2.17%) Product Ownership
8 9 (1.78%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 9 (1.78%) IoT
8 9 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
10 7 (1.38%) Linux Command Line
11 6 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
11 6 (1.19%) PDA
12 5 (0.99%) Data Centre
12 5 (0.99%) Data Structures
12 5 (0.99%) EPoS
13 4 (0.79%) Mobile App
13 4 (0.79%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 70 (13.83%) Windows
2 18 (3.56%) Linux
3 16 (3.16%) Windows 10
4 10 (1.98%) Apple iOS
5 7 (1.38%) Windows Server
6 5 (0.99%) Windows 7
7 2 (0.40%) Android
7 2 (0.40%) Unix
8 1 (0.20%) CentOS
8 1 (0.20%) Debian
8 1 (0.20%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 96 (18.97%) Continuous Improvement
2 68 (13.44%) Agile
3 62 (12.25%) Project Management
4 55 (10.87%) Customer Service
4 55 (10.87%) ITIL
5 50 (9.88%) Decision-Making
6 48 (9.49%) Analytics
6 48 (9.49%) Business Intelligence
6 48 (9.49%) CRM
7 39 (7.71%) Mentoring
8 37 (7.31%) Customer Experience
8 37 (7.31%) Roadmaps
9 36 (7.11%) Migration
10 34 (6.72%) Computer Science
10 34 (6.72%) ERP
11 33 (6.52%) Service Delivery
12 30 (5.93%) Coaching
13 29 (5.73%) Stakeholder Management
13 29 (5.73%) Time Management
14 27 (5.34%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 93 (18.38%) SQL
2 37 (7.31%) Python
3 33 (6.52%) C#
4 31 (6.13%) JavaScript
5 23 (4.55%) PowerShell
6 22 (4.35%) Java
7 14 (2.77%) PHP
8 12 (2.37%) T-SQL
9 10 (1.98%) Bash
10 8 (1.58%) C
10 8 (1.58%) Ladder Logic
11 7 (1.38%) TypeScript
12 6 (1.19%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 6 (1.19%) PL/SQL
13 5 (0.99%) R
14 3 (0.59%) C++
14 3 (0.59%) Delphi
14 3 (0.59%) VB.NET
15 2 (0.40%) Google Apps Script
15 2 (0.40%) XAML
Qualifications
1 90 (17.79%) Degree
2 56 (11.07%) Security Cleared
3 38 (7.51%) SC Cleared
4 23 (4.55%) DBS Check
5 20 (3.95%) Microsoft Certification
6 19 (3.75%) Computer Science Degree
7 15 (2.96%) BPSS Clearance
8 10 (1.98%) Master's Degree
9 9 (1.78%) A+ Certification
10 8 (1.58%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 6 (1.19%) ACCA
11 6 (1.19%) CIMA
12 5 (0.99%) MCITP
12 5 (0.99%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 4 (0.79%) AWS Certification
13 4 (0.79%) CIPD
13 4 (0.79%) Cisco Certification
13 4 (0.79%) Oracle Certification
14 3 (0.59%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 3 (0.59%) AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (5.53%) Data Quality
2 21 (4.15%) QA
3 17 (3.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 14 (2.77%) GDPR
5 8 (1.58%) Cyber Essentials
5 8 (1.58%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 7 (1.38%) NIST
6 7 (1.38%) SLA
7 5 (0.99%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 3 (0.59%) Actionable Recommendations
8 3 (0.59%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.40%) Government Security Classifications
9 2 (0.40%) ISO 9001
9 2 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 1 (0.20%) COBIT
10 1 (0.20%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.20%) PMO
10 1 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.20%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.20%) WCAG
System Software
1 41 (8.10%) Active Directory
2 20 (3.95%) Docker
3 8 (1.58%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.59%) Firmware
5 2 (0.40%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 21 (4.15%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (3.95%) Kubernetes
3 11 (2.17%) Terraform
4 5 (0.99%) Ansible
5 3 (0.59%) Grafana
6 2 (0.40%) Nagios
6 2 (0.40%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.20%) Argo
7 1 (0.20%) AWS Copilot
7 1 (0.20%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.20%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.20%) Puppet
7 1 (0.20%) SCCM
7 1 (0.20%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 149 (29.45%) Microsoft
2 35 (6.92%) Oracle
3 28 (5.53%) SAP
4 16 (3.16%) Cisco
5 13 (2.57%) Salesforce
6 11 (2.17%) Google
7 9 (1.78%) Databricks
7 9 (1.78%) Sage
8 8 (1.58%) HP
8 8 (1.58%) VMware
9 7 (1.38%) Infor
9 7 (1.38%) Meraki
9 7 (1.38%) ServiceNow
10 5 (0.99%) Dell
10 5 (0.99%) Epicor
10 5 (0.99%) Panasonic
10 5 (0.99%) Samsung
10 5 (0.99%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.79%) Avaya
11 4 (0.79%) SolarWinds