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 12 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 3 4 8
Rank change year-on-year +1 +4 +1
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 633 860 568
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 18.03% 15.83% 16.67%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 21.40% 19.12% 17.93%
Number of salaries quoted 420 284 469
10th Percentile £26,250 £32,250 £28,500
25th Percentile £30,750 £43,227 £33,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £53,300 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year -20.26% +8.78% +4.26%
75th Percentile £57,500 £65,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £70,250 £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 2,958 4,497 3,168
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 84.27% 82.77% 92.96%
Number of salaries quoted 1,918 2,033 2,515
10th Percentile £29,000 £31,250 £26,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £40,988 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,500 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.18% +10.00% -0.34%
75th Percentile £67,500 £70,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £81,250 £81,250 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -0.50%

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 12 November 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 12 November 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 0 168 £45,000 -22.41% 117
Staffordshire +6 147 £42,500 -15.00% 57
Warwickshire +7 74 £55,000 +10.00% 60
Worcestershire -2 57 £31,500 -45.69% 26
Herefordshire +6 34 £37,500 +43.12% 13
Coventry +7 30 £50,000 -4.76% 24
Shropshire -3 30 £47,500 -15.56% 50
Solihull 0 23 £55,000 -15.38% 17
Walsall +2 14 £45,000 +42.86% 3
Halesowen +1 12 £32,500 - 1
Wednesbury -1 6 £42,500 +13.33% 1
Dudley -3 2 £75,000 - 6
Kingswinford -2 1 £60,000 - 1
West Bromwich -3 1 £26,000 - 2
Wolverhampton -10 1 £65,000 +18.18% 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 18 (2.84%) SharePoint
2 15 (2.37%) IIS
3 9 (1.42%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (0.95%) Apache
5 2 (0.32%) CMS
5 2 (0.32%) Confluence
5 2 (0.32%) Exchange Server 2007
5 2 (0.32%) Exchange Server 2010
5 2 (0.32%) Exchange Server 2013
5 2 (0.32%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Solr
6 1 (0.16%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.16%) Appian
6 1 (0.16%) HCL Notes
6 1 (0.16%) nginx
6 1 (0.16%) NServiceBus
6 1 (0.16%) WebLogic
Applications
1 77 (12.16%) Microsoft Excel
2 33 (5.21%) Microsoft Office
3 9 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.26%) AutoCAD
4 8 (1.26%) SOLIDWORKS
5 5 (0.79%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.47%) MS Visio
6 3 (0.47%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.32%) Trello
8 1 (0.16%) Revit
Business Applications
1 20 (3.16%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.11%) NetSuite
3 4 (0.63%) SAP FI
4 3 (0.47%) Dynamics NAV
4 3 (0.47%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
4 3 (0.47%) iTrent
5 1 (0.16%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.16%) Infor CloudSuite
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS R12
5 1 (0.16%) Oracle SCM
5 1 (0.16%) Sage X3
5 1 (0.16%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 102 (16.11%) Azure
2 59 (9.32%) Microsoft 365
2 59 (9.32%) Power Platform
3 36 (5.69%) SaaS
4 24 (3.79%) AWS
5 20 (3.16%) Dynamics 365
6 11 (1.74%) Cloud Computing
6 11 (1.74%) GCP
6 11 (1.74%) Power Automate
6 11 (1.74%) PowerApps
7 10 (1.58%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (1.42%) Entra ID
9 7 (1.11%) Azure Data Factory
10 6 (0.95%) GitHub
10 6 (0.95%) OCI
11 5 (0.79%) Snowflake
12 4 (0.63%) Azure Key Vault
12 4 (0.63%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 4 (0.63%) Serverless
13 3 (0.47%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 34 (5.37%) Firewall
2 33 (5.21%) WAN
3 32 (5.06%) LAN
4 24 (3.79%) Wi-Fi
5 21 (3.32%) VPN
6 17 (2.69%) DNS
7 14 (2.21%) DHCP
8 13 (2.05%) TCP/IP
9 11 (1.74%) Internet
9 11 (1.74%) Wireless
10 9 (1.42%) ADSL
10 9 (1.42%) Ethernet
10 9 (1.42%) VDSL
10 9 (1.42%) VoIP
11 8 (1.26%) Broadband
11 8 (1.26%) Remote Desktop
12 7 (1.11%) Network Security
13 5 (0.79%) PBX
14 4 (0.63%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.47%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 52 (8.21%) Power BI
2 39 (6.16%) SQL Server
3 19 (3.00%) MySQL
3 19 (3.00%) Relational Database
4 14 (2.21%) GIS
5 11 (1.74%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 9 (1.42%) Metadata
6 9 (1.42%) PostgreSQL
6 9 (1.42%) Tableau
7 7 (1.11%) BusinessObjects
7 7 (1.11%) Crystal Reports
8 6 (0.95%) Oracle Reports
9 5 (0.79%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.63%) Amazon RDS
10 4 (0.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 3 (0.47%) Azure SQL Database
11 3 (0.47%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.47%) Data Warehouse
11 3 (0.47%) MS Access
12 2 (0.32%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 15 (2.37%) JIRA
2 14 (2.21%) Git
3 3 (0.47%) Appcelerator Titanium
3 3 (0.47%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.47%) JUnit
4 2 (0.32%) GitLab
4 2 (0.32%) Maven
4 2 (0.32%) Mockito
4 2 (0.32%) Subversion
4 2 (0.32%) Vagrant
4 2 (0.32%) Visual Studio
4 2 (0.32%) Visual Studio Code
5 1 (0.16%) Babel
5 1 (0.16%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.16%) ERwin
5 1 (0.16%) Postman
5 1 (0.16%) Selenium
5 1 (0.16%) Snyk
5 1 (0.16%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.16%) TestComplete
General
1 290 (45.81%) Social Skills
2 167 (26.38%) Finance
3 135 (21.33%) Analytical Skills
3 135 (21.33%) Manufacturing
4 121 (19.12%) Retail
5 37 (5.85%) Legal
6 32 (5.06%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 28 (4.42%) Marketing
7 28 (4.42%) Public Sector
8 27 (4.27%) Digital Health
9 26 (4.11%) Law
10 24 (3.79%) Organisational Skills
11 14 (2.21%) Dutch Language
11 14 (2.21%) Finnish Language
11 14 (2.21%) Fire and Rescue
11 14 (2.21%) Norwegian Language
11 14 (2.21%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.90%) Telecoms
13 11 (1.74%) Banking
14 9 (1.42%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 82 (12.95%) Support Engineer
2 80 (12.64%) Analyst
3 69 (10.90%) IT Support
4 68 (10.74%) Trainer
5 65 (10.27%) Developer
6 61 (9.64%) Technical Support
7 59 (9.32%) Technical Engineer
8 57 (9.00%) Technical Support Engineer
9 45 (7.11%) Senior
10 31 (4.90%) 2nd Line Support
11 28 (4.42%) Lead
12 23 (3.63%) Applications Support
13 21 (3.32%) Architect
13 21 (3.32%) Support Analyst
14 16 (2.53%) Network Engineer
15 14 (2.21%) Applications Support Analyst
15 14 (2.21%) Support Technician
16 13 (2.05%) Administrator
17 12 (1.90%) IT Engineer
18 11 (1.74%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (5.53%) .NET
2 27 (4.27%) React
3 21 (3.32%) REST
4 18 (2.84%) HTML
5 16 (2.53%) AngularJS
6 15 (2.37%) JSON
7 14 (2.21%) CSS
8 13 (2.05%) Razor View Engine
9 7 (1.11%) .NET Framework
10 6 (0.95%) EDI
10 6 (0.95%) LAMP
10 6 (0.95%) Vue
10 6 (0.95%) Web Services
11 5 (0.79%) Entity Framework
12 4 (0.63%) jQuery
12 4 (0.63%) Laravel
12 4 (0.63%) Node.js
12 4 (0.63%) Oracle Fusion
12 4 (0.63%) WPF
12 4 (0.63%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 63 (9.95%) Robotics
2 42 (6.64%) Onboarding
3 34 (5.37%) Driving Licence
4 32 (5.06%) Self-Motivation
5 30 (4.74%) FMCG
6 19 (3.00%) Analytical Mindset
7 16 (2.53%) SCADA
8 15 (2.37%) Management Information System
8 15 (2.37%) Operational Technology
9 11 (1.74%) Data Centre
10 10 (1.58%) EPoS
11 9 (1.42%) Legacy Systems
11 9 (1.42%) Product Ownership
12 8 (1.26%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
12 8 (1.26%) Linux Command Line
12 8 (1.26%) Security Posture
13 7 (1.11%) Cyber Threat
13 7 (1.11%) Data Structures
13 7 (1.11%) IoT
13 7 (1.11%) iPad
Operating Systems
1 78 (12.32%) Windows
2 34 (5.37%) Windows 10
3 21 (3.32%) Linux
4 4 (0.63%) Apple iOS
4 4 (0.63%) Unix
4 4 (0.63%) Windows Server
5 2 (0.32%) VMS
5 2 (0.32%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.16%) Android
6 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
6 1 (0.16%) Windows Mobile
Processes & Methodologies
1 143 (22.59%) Continuous Improvement
2 87 (13.74%) AI
3 80 (12.64%) Customer Service
4 70 (11.06%) Agile
4 70 (11.06%) Machine Learning
5 64 (10.11%) Project Management
6 63 (9.95%) Generative AI
6 63 (9.95%) LLM
6 63 (9.95%) Red Team
7 59 (9.32%) Business Intelligence
8 55 (8.69%) Data Privacy
9 54 (8.53%) Decision-Making
10 50 (7.90%) ITIL
11 46 (7.27%) Analytics
12 41 (6.48%) Logistics
13 40 (6.32%) Mentoring
14 38 (6.00%) CRM
14 38 (6.00%) Data Analysis
15 36 (5.69%) Cybersecurity
16 35 (5.53%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 105 (16.59%) SQL
2 47 (7.42%) Python
3 46 (7.27%) C#
4 42 (6.64%) JavaScript
5 22 (3.48%) Java
6 19 (3.00%) PHP
6 19 (3.00%) PowerShell
7 14 (2.21%) T-SQL
8 8 (1.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 6 (0.95%) C++
9 6 (0.95%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.79%) Bash
10 5 (0.79%) Ladder Logic
11 4 (0.63%) R
12 3 (0.47%) Delphi
12 3 (0.47%) Go
12 3 (0.47%) VB.NET
13 2 (0.32%) C
13 2 (0.32%) PL/SQL
13 2 (0.32%) VB
Qualifications
1 166 (26.22%) Degree
2 50 (7.90%) Security Cleared
3 30 (4.74%) SC Cleared
4 24 (3.79%) Computer Science Degree
5 16 (2.53%) ACCA
5 16 (2.53%) CIMA
6 15 (2.37%) BPSS Clearance
7 10 (1.58%) CISSP
7 10 (1.58%) DV Cleared
8 9 (1.42%) Master's Degree
8 9 (1.42%) Microsoft Certification
9 8 (1.26%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.11%) AAT
11 6 (0.95%) DBS Check
12 5 (0.79%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 5 (0.79%) CCSP
12 5 (0.79%) CISM
12 5 (0.79%) ITIL Certification
13 4 (0.63%) A+ Certification
13 4 (0.63%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.16%) Data Quality
2 15 (2.37%) SLA
3 11 (1.74%) GDPR
4 10 (1.58%) QA
5 7 (1.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 6 (0.95%) NIST
7 5 (0.79%) PMO
8 4 (0.63%) Actionable Recommendations
8 4 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials
9 3 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.32%) COBIT
10 2 (0.32%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.32%) ISO 9001
10 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 19770
11 1 (0.16%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.16%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 1 (0.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.16%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.16%) WCAG
System Software
1 35 (5.53%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.05%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.58%) Docker
4 2 (0.32%) Firmware
4 2 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.16%) VMware ESXi
5 1 (0.16%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 11 (1.74%) Kubernetes
2 8 (1.26%) Microsoft Intune
2 8 (1.26%) Terraform
3 3 (0.47%) Ansible
3 3 (0.47%) FortiGate
4 2 (0.32%) Grafana
4 2 (0.32%) Nagios
4 2 (0.32%) SCCM
5 1 (0.16%) AirWatch
5 1 (0.16%) Argo
5 1 (0.16%) AWS Copilot
5 1 (0.16%) HP Quality Center
5 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
5 1 (0.16%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 151 (23.85%) Microsoft
2 80 (12.64%) Databricks
3 70 (11.06%) Google
4 63 (9.95%) Adobe
5 32 (5.06%) SAP
6 28 (4.42%) Oracle
7 17 (2.69%) Cisco
8 14 (2.21%) Salesforce
8 14 (2.21%) VMware
9 11 (1.74%) Dell
10 10 (1.58%) Juniper
11 9 (1.42%) McAfee
11 9 (1.42%) ServiceNow
12 8 (1.26%) Infor
12 8 (1.26%) Sage
13 7 (1.11%) Apple
14 5 (0.79%) Epicor
14 5 (0.79%) Panasonic
14 5 (0.79%) Samsung
15 4 (0.63%) Guidewire