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

6 months to
9 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -10 +2 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 648 706 951
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.64% 20.53% 14.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.05% 24.19% 18.64%
Number of salaries quoted 462 463 442
10th Percentile £27,750 £25,000 £25,500
25th Percentile £32,750 £29,250 £32,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £45,595
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% -1.30% -8.81%
75th Percentile £57,500 £61,250 £59,375
90th Percentile £63,750 £70,000 £73,675
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +1.06% -6.00% -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 5,862 2,919 5,102
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.14% 84.88% 78.73%
Number of salaries quoted 4,399 1,891 3,149
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £28,119
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £51,800 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +6.18% -1.33% -
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -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 9 August 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 9 August 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 -14 225 £52,500 +10.53% 111
Staffordshire -4 93 £47,500 -3.99% 46
Warwickshire -2 79 £34,500 -25.41% 59
Worcestershire -6 59 £37,500 +22.95% 26
Shropshire +9 48 £46,250 +8.82% 39
Coventry -11 33 £42,000 +11.79% 28
Wolverhampton -13 12 £38,500 +18.46% 13
Solihull -1 11 £30,500 -44.55% 16
Walsall +1 9 £37,500 -16.67% 8
Herefordshire -24 8 £40,500 +24.62% 15
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 5
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +46.15%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 2
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Sutton Coldfield - 4 £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 36 (5.56%) SharePoint
2 27 (4.17%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.39%) IIS
4 5 (0.77%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.62%) Confluence
6 3 (0.46%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.46%) CICS
6 3 (0.46%) WordPress
7 2 (0.31%) Documentum
7 2 (0.31%) Exchange Server 2007
7 2 (0.31%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.31%) Exchange Server 2013
7 2 (0.31%) SAS
8 1 (0.15%) Apache
8 1 (0.15%) Appian
8 1 (0.15%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.15%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 51 (7.87%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (5.56%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.93%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.77%) Fusion 360
6 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.31%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.31%) OrCAD
7 2 (0.31%) Simulink
8 1 (0.15%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.15%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.15%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.70%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.08%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.77%) Magento
3 5 (0.77%) Shopify
4 4 (0.62%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.62%) Line 50
4 4 (0.62%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.62%) Sage X3
4 4 (0.62%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.46%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.31%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 1 (0.15%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.15%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.15%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.15%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.15%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.15%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 121 (18.67%) Azure
2 119 (18.36%) Microsoft 365
3 81 (12.50%) Power Platform
4 52 (8.02%) AWS
4 52 (8.02%) Entra ID
5 42 (6.48%) SaaS
6 20 (3.09%) Dynamics 365
7 14 (2.16%) Power Automate
8 13 (2.01%) Microsoft Purview
9 12 (1.85%) Azure DevOps
9 12 (1.85%) PowerApps
10 10 (1.54%) GCP
10 10 (1.54%) Microsoft Copilot
11 9 (1.39%) GitHub
12 8 (1.23%) Google Workspace
13 7 (1.08%) GitHub Actions
14 5 (0.77%) IaaS
15 4 (0.62%) Amazon Kinesis
15 4 (0.62%) OneDrive
15 4 (0.62%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 29 (4.48%) Firewall
2 21 (3.24%) DNS
3 20 (3.09%) VPN
4 18 (2.78%) WAN
4 18 (2.78%) Wireless
5 17 (2.62%) TCP/IP
6 15 (2.31%) Wi-Fi
7 14 (2.16%) LAN
8 13 (2.01%) DHCP
9 12 (1.85%) Network Security
10 10 (1.54%) VLAN
11 7 (1.08%) VoIP
12 5 (0.77%) Cisco IOS
12 5 (0.77%) Internet
12 5 (0.77%) SD-WAN
12 5 (0.77%) Skype
13 4 (0.62%) Bluetooth
13 4 (0.62%) SSL
14 3 (0.46%) HTTP
14 3 (0.46%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 76 (11.73%) Power BI
2 25 (3.86%) SQL Server
3 21 (3.24%) Power Query
4 17 (2.62%) Tableau
5 16 (2.47%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.70%) MySQL
6 11 (1.70%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.70%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 9 (1.39%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 6 (0.93%) Amazon Redshift
8 6 (0.93%) Data Mining
8 6 (0.93%) Electronic Patient Records
9 5 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
9 5 (0.77%) Azure SQL Database
9 5 (0.77%) Star Schema
10 4 (0.62%) FileMaker
10 4 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
11 3 (0.46%) Db2
11 3 (0.46%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.46%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 24 (3.70%) Git
2 18 (2.78%) JIRA
3 16 (2.47%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.93%) Maven
5 5 (0.77%) Cucumber
5 5 (0.77%) JUnit
5 5 (0.77%) Postman
6 4 (0.62%) GitLab
6 4 (0.62%) JMeter
6 4 (0.62%) Selenium
6 4 (0.62%) SoapUI
7 3 (0.46%) Mockito
7 3 (0.46%) Zephyr
8 2 (0.31%) Ant
8 2 (0.31%) Apache Ivy
8 2 (0.31%) Eclipse
8 2 (0.31%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.15%) Carbide.c++
9 1 (0.15%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.15%) Visual Studio
General
1 296 (45.68%) Social Skills
2 168 (25.93%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (17.59%) Finance
4 94 (14.51%) Manufacturing
5 45 (6.94%) Public Sector
6 37 (5.71%) Organisational Skills
7 34 (5.25%) Retail
8 25 (3.86%) Legal
8 25 (3.86%) Marketing
9 22 (3.40%) Law
10 19 (2.93%) Electronics
11 18 (2.78%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 14 (2.16%) Automotive
13 12 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.70%) Telecoms
15 9 (1.39%) Banking
16 8 (1.23%) Investment Banking
17 7 (1.08%) Fire and Rescue
17 7 (1.08%) Games
17 7 (1.08%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 93 (14.35%) Support Engineer
2 86 (13.27%) Analyst
3 69 (10.65%) Technical Support
4 66 (10.19%) Developer
5 63 (9.72%) Technical Engineer
6 61 (9.41%) Technical Support Engineer
7 57 (8.80%) IT Support
8 49 (7.56%) Senior
9 42 (6.48%) Lead
10 37 (5.71%) IT Engineer
10 37 (5.71%) IT Manager
11 35 (5.40%) Consultant
12 30 (4.63%) IT Support Engineer
12 30 (4.63%) Support Analyst
13 19 (2.93%) 1st Line Support
14 16 (2.47%) Programmer
15 15 (2.31%) Architect
16 14 (2.16%) IT Technician
16 14 (2.16%) Senior Analyst
17 13 (2.01%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (5.86%) REST
2 25 (3.86%) React
3 24 (3.70%) .NET
4 22 (3.40%) Spring
5 19 (2.93%) Spring Boot
6 13 (2.01%) RESTful
7 12 (1.85%) AngularJS
7 12 (1.85%) CSS
7 12 (1.85%) HTML
7 12 (1.85%) Playwright
8 9 (1.39%) SOAP
9 7 (1.08%) Node.js
9 7 (1.08%) SAP Fiori
10 6 (0.93%) ISPF
10 6 (0.93%) JDBC
10 6 (0.93%) Middleware
10 6 (0.93%) OAuth
10 6 (0.93%) SAPUI5
11 5 (0.77%) LDAP
11 5 (0.77%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 50 (7.72%) Driving Licence
2 33 (5.09%) Management Information System
3 28 (4.32%) Onboarding
4 26 (4.01%) Self-Motivation
5 25 (3.86%) Enterprise Software
6 17 (2.62%) NHS
7 12 (1.85%) Social Media
8 11 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
8 11 (1.70%) Data Structures
8 11 (1.70%) Virtual Team
9 9 (1.39%) Cloud Native
9 9 (1.39%) Data Centre
9 9 (1.39%) Mobile App
10 8 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
10 8 (1.23%) IoT
10 8 (1.23%) Legacy Applications
11 7 (1.08%) AS400
11 7 (1.08%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.08%) Greenfield Project
11 7 (1.08%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 106 (16.36%) Windows
2 40 (6.17%) Linux
3 33 (5.09%) Windows Server
4 26 (4.01%) Windows 10
5 13 (2.01%) Android
6 10 (1.54%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.39%) Unix
8 6 (0.93%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.62%) FreeRTOS
10 3 (0.46%) Windows 7
11 2 (0.31%) CentOS
11 2 (0.31%) Debian
11 2 (0.31%) Solaris
11 2 (0.31%) Ubuntu
11 2 (0.31%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 203 (31.33%) Continuous Improvement
2 109 (16.82%) Customer Service
3 97 (14.97%) Agile
4 84 (12.96%) Decision-Making
5 79 (12.19%) Analytics
5 79 (12.19%) Business Intelligence
6 75 (11.57%) AI
6 75 (11.57%) Mentoring
7 71 (10.96%) Collaborative Working
8 68 (10.49%) ERP
9 63 (9.72%) ITIL
10 55 (8.49%) Cybersecurity
11 51 (7.87%) Collaborative Culture
12 50 (7.72%) CI/CD
12 50 (7.72%) Customer Experience
13 49 (7.56%) Stakeholder Management
14 47 (7.25%) Root Cause Analysis
15 46 (7.10%) Service Delivery
16 45 (6.94%) CRM
17 42 (6.48%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 102 (15.74%) SQL
2 49 (7.56%) Java
3 40 (6.17%) Python
4 22 (3.40%) PowerShell
5 21 (3.24%) C#
5 21 (3.24%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 20 (3.09%) JavaScript
7 18 (2.78%) Ladder Logic
8 15 (2.31%) TypeScript
9 11 (1.70%) PHP
10 10 (1.54%) C
11 8 (1.23%) Embedded C
12 7 (1.08%) Bash
12 7 (1.08%) RPG
13 6 (0.93%) ABAP
13 6 (0.93%) COBOL
13 6 (0.93%) JCL
14 4 (0.62%) C++
14 4 (0.62%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.62%) RPG/400
Qualifications
1 92 (14.20%) Degree
2 68 (10.49%) Security Cleared
3 55 (8.49%) SC Cleared
4 19 (2.93%) Azure Certification
4 19 (2.93%) DBS Check
5 15 (2.31%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.70%) CISSP
7 10 (1.54%) CompTIA Security+
8 9 (1.39%) PMI Certification
9 8 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.08%) ACCA
10 7 (1.08%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.08%) CIMA
10 7 (1.08%) CISA
10 7 (1.08%) SSCP
11 6 (0.93%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (0.77%) CCNA
12 5 (0.77%) HND
13 4 (0.62%) A+ Certification
13 4 (0.62%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (5.56%) Data Quality
2 33 (5.09%) GDPR
3 30 (4.63%) QA
4 26 (4.01%) Cyber Essentials
5 25 (3.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 22 (3.40%) SLA
7 19 (2.93%) Accessibility
8 17 (2.62%) ISO 9001
9 16 (2.47%) NIST
10 9 (1.39%) ISO 14001
11 4 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.46%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.46%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.46%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.31%) GRC
13 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.31%) PMO
System Software
1 78 (12.04%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.70%) Hyper-V
3 17 (2.62%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.47%) Docker
5 8 (1.23%) Firmware
6 6 (0.93%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.62%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.46%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.46%) vSphere
9 1 (0.15%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 30 (4.63%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (2.31%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.01%) Terraform
4 6 (0.93%) Ansible
5 5 (0.77%) SCCM
6 4 (0.62%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.62%) Progress Chef
6 4 (0.62%) Puppet
7 3 (0.46%) Grafana
7 3 (0.46%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.31%) Nagios
8 2 (0.31%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.31%) WSUS
9 1 (0.15%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.15%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 175 (27.01%) Microsoft
2 32 (4.94%) SAP
3 23 (3.55%) VMware
4 20 (3.09%) Cisco
5 14 (2.16%) Sage
6 11 (1.70%) Dell
6 11 (1.70%) Salesforce
6 11 (1.70%) ServiceNow
7 10 (1.54%) Google
7 10 (1.54%) HubSpot
7 10 (1.54%) Oracle
8 8 (1.23%) Apple
9 7 (1.08%) IBM
9 7 (1.08%) Sophos
9 7 (1.08%) Workday
10 6 (0.93%) iManage
10 6 (0.93%) McAfee
11 5 (0.77%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.62%) Meraki
12 4 (0.62%) Xero