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

6 months to
24 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 563 626 1,310
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.24% 20.67% 15.20%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.51% 23.47% 19.01%
Number of salaries quoted 417 417 714
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,750 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +5.88% -15.00%
75th Percentile £57,500 £61,250 £58,000
90th Percentile £65,000 £70,500 £71,725
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -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 5,357 2,667 6,890
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.93% 88.05% 79.96%
Number of salaries quoted 3,971 1,642 4,743
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £26,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £36,000
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 £78,750 £77,500
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 24 June 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 24 June 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 -16 184 £50,000 +4.17% 58
Staffordshire -3 94 £42,500 -17.74% 28
Warwickshire +1 75 £32,500 -27.78% 44
Worcestershire -5 44 £37,500 +22.95% 27
Shropshire -2 33 £50,000 +17.65% 20
Coventry -10 33 £42,000 -26.96% 11
Herefordshire -18 14 £52,500 -2.33% 4
Solihull -3 11 £30,500 -44.55% 4
Walsall +5 9 £37,500 -10.71% 3
Tipton - 8 £33,500 -
Wolverhampton -19 7 £38,500 +18.46% 5
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 4
Willenhall -4 2 £37,500 -16.67% 3
Sutton Coldfield - 2 £35,250 - 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 50 (8.88%) SharePoint
2 32 (5.68%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.42%) IIS
4 5 (0.89%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.71%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.71%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.71%) Exchange Server 2013
5 4 (0.71%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.53%) WordPress
7 2 (0.36%) Confluence
8 1 (0.18%) Appian
8 1 (0.18%) SAS
Applications
1 52 (9.24%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (5.68%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.95%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (1.24%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.89%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.71%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.18%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.18%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 7 (1.24%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.07%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.89%) Magento
3 5 (0.89%) Shopify
4 4 (0.71%) Line 50
4 4 (0.71%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.71%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.53%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 2 (0.36%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.36%) SAP Business One
7 1 (0.18%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.18%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 1 (0.18%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.18%) Raiser’s Edge
Cloud Services
1 118 (20.96%) Microsoft 365
2 114 (20.25%) Azure
3 60 (10.66%) Power Platform
4 55 (9.77%) Entra ID
5 36 (6.39%) AWS
6 27 (4.80%) SaaS
7 14 (2.49%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.31%) Power Automate
8 13 (2.31%) PowerApps
9 11 (1.95%) Microsoft Purview
10 10 (1.78%) OneDrive
11 9 (1.60%) Google Workspace
12 6 (1.07%) Azure Data Factory
12 6 (1.07%) Azure Sentinel
13 5 (0.89%) Microsoft Copilot
13 5 (0.89%) PaaS
14 4 (0.71%) Amazon S3
14 4 (0.71%) GCP
14 4 (0.71%) IaaS
14 4 (0.71%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 29 (5.15%) Firewall
2 25 (4.44%) VPN
3 24 (4.26%) WAN
4 20 (3.55%) DNS
5 19 (3.37%) Wi-Fi
6 18 (3.20%) DHCP
6 18 (3.20%) LAN
7 15 (2.66%) Wireless
8 13 (2.31%) TCP/IP
9 12 (2.13%) VLAN
10 11 (1.95%) Internet
10 11 (1.95%) Network Security
11 9 (1.60%) SD-WAN
12 7 (1.24%) VoIP
13 5 (0.89%) Skype
14 4 (0.71%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.53%) SAN
16 2 (0.36%) Cisco IOS
16 2 (0.36%) SNMP
16 2 (0.36%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 57 (10.12%) Power BI
2 17 (3.02%) SQL Server
3 14 (2.49%) Tableau
4 13 (2.31%) Power Query
5 10 (1.78%) MySQL
6 7 (1.24%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.24%) Star Schema
7 6 (1.07%) Amazon RDS
7 6 (1.07%) Data Warehouse
7 6 (1.07%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 5 (0.89%) Data Mining
8 5 (0.89%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
9 4 (0.71%) FileMaker
9 4 (0.71%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.53%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.53%) GIS
10 3 (0.53%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.53%) Oracle Reports
11 2 (0.36%) MariaDB
Development Applications
1 11 (1.95%) Git
2 10 (1.78%) JIRA
3 7 (1.24%) JUnit
4 6 (1.07%) Maven
4 6 (1.07%) Mockito
5 2 (0.36%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.36%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.18%) Appium
6 1 (0.18%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.18%) Bugzilla
6 1 (0.18%) Carbide.c++
6 1 (0.18%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.18%) Oracle Forms
6 1 (0.18%) Postman
6 1 (0.18%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.18%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.18%) TestRail
6 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.18%) Yeoman
General
1 243 (43.16%) Social Skills
2 150 (26.64%) Analytical Skills
3 96 (17.05%) Finance
4 82 (14.56%) Manufacturing
5 36 (6.39%) Organisational Skills
6 33 (5.86%) Public Sector
7 26 (4.62%) Retail
8 25 (4.44%) Legal
9 24 (4.26%) Marketing
10 15 (2.66%) Electronics
10 15 (2.66%) Law
11 14 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 13 (2.31%) Automotive
13 11 (1.95%) Banking
14 10 (1.78%) Documentation Skills
14 10 (1.78%) Investment Banking
14 10 (1.78%) Telecoms
15 6 (1.07%) Influencing Skills
16 4 (0.71%) Games
16 4 (0.71%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 107 (19.01%) Support Engineer
2 81 (14.39%) Analyst
3 66 (11.72%) IT Support
4 58 (10.30%) Technical Engineer
4 58 (10.30%) Technical Support
4 58 (10.30%) Technical Support Engineer
5 56 (9.95%) IT Engineer
6 52 (9.24%) Developer
7 47 (8.35%) IT Support Engineer
8 44 (7.82%) Senior
9 30 (5.33%) Lead
10 28 (4.97%) Support Analyst
11 27 (4.80%) IT Manager
12 20 (3.55%) Consultant
13 17 (3.02%) 2nd Line Support
14 16 (2.84%) Programmer
15 15 (2.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 14 (2.49%) IT Analyst
16 14 (2.49%) IT Technician
16 14 (2.49%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (4.80%) REST
2 20 (3.55%) React
3 15 (2.66%) .NET
4 13 (2.31%) Spring
5 11 (1.95%) AngularJS
6 10 (1.78%) CSS
6 10 (1.78%) HTML
6 10 (1.78%) Spring Boot
7 9 (1.60%) RESTful
8 6 (1.07%) Middleware
9 5 (0.89%) Node.js
10 4 (0.71%) .NET Framework
10 4 (0.71%) COM
10 4 (0.71%) DCOM
10 4 (0.71%) EDI
10 4 (0.71%) LDAP
11 3 (0.53%) JDBC
11 3 (0.53%) OAuth
11 3 (0.53%) SAP Fiori
11 3 (0.53%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 47 (8.35%) Driving Licence
2 30 (5.33%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (4.80%) Onboarding
4 26 (4.62%) Management Information System
5 15 (2.66%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (2.31%) Social Media
7 11 (1.95%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.78%) Legacy Systems
9 9 (1.60%) Data Structures
10 8 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
10 8 (1.42%) Data Centre
10 8 (1.42%) FMCG
10 8 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.24%) AS400
11 7 (1.24%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.24%) iSeries
11 7 (1.24%) Mobile App
11 7 (1.24%) NHS
11 7 (1.24%) Security Posture
12 5 (0.89%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 95 (16.87%) Windows
2 31 (5.51%) Windows 10
3 29 (5.15%) Windows Server
4 26 (4.62%) Linux
5 12 (2.13%) Android
6 10 (1.78%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.89%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.71%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.71%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.71%) Unix
9 2 (0.36%) CentOS
9 2 (0.36%) Debian
9 2 (0.36%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (25.75%) Continuous Improvement
2 85 (15.10%) Customer Service
3 71 (12.61%) Agile
4 64 (11.37%) Decision-Making
5 63 (11.19%) ITIL
5 63 (11.19%) Mentoring
6 62 (11.01%) Analytics
7 58 (10.30%) Business Intelligence
8 56 (9.95%) Collaborative Working
8 56 (9.95%) ERP
9 53 (9.41%) AI
10 49 (8.70%) Cybersecurity
11 45 (7.99%) Service Delivery
12 44 (7.82%) Customer Experience
13 41 (7.28%) Root Cause Analysis
14 37 (6.57%) CRM
15 33 (5.86%) Process Improvement
15 33 (5.86%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 32 (5.68%) Coaching
17 31 (5.51%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 87 (15.45%) SQL
2 32 (5.68%) Python
3 31 (5.51%) Java
4 23 (4.09%) PowerShell
5 16 (2.84%) C#
5 16 (2.84%) Ladder Logic
6 13 (2.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 11 (1.95%) JavaScript
7 11 (1.95%) PHP
8 10 (1.78%) Bash
8 10 (1.78%) C
9 9 (1.60%) TypeScript
10 7 (1.24%) PL/SQL
10 7 (1.24%) RPG
11 5 (0.89%) C++
12 4 (0.71%) Embedded C
12 4 (0.71%) R
12 4 (0.71%) RPG IV
12 4 (0.71%) RPG/400
13 3 (0.53%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 73 (12.97%) Degree
2 59 (10.48%) Security Cleared
3 45 (7.99%) SC Cleared
4 20 (3.55%) Microsoft Certification
5 19 (3.37%) DBS Check
6 14 (2.49%) Azure Certification
7 10 (1.78%) A+ Certification
7 10 (1.78%) CISSP
8 9 (1.60%) CompTIA Security+
9 8 (1.42%) ACCA
9 8 (1.42%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (1.42%) CIMA
10 7 (1.24%) CISA
10 7 (1.24%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.24%) SSCP
11 6 (1.07%) Cisco Certification
12 5 (0.89%) HND
12 5 (0.89%) MCITP
12 5 (0.89%) PMI Certification
13 4 (0.71%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (5.51%) Data Quality
2 29 (5.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 29 (5.15%) QA
3 24 (4.26%) Cyber Essentials
3 24 (4.26%) GDPR
4 18 (3.20%) NIST
5 14 (2.49%) Accessibility
5 14 (2.49%) ISO 9001
6 13 (2.31%) SLA
7 9 (1.60%) ISO 14001
8 7 (1.24%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 6 (1.07%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 4 (0.71%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.71%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.53%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.53%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.53%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.36%) GRC
12 2 (0.36%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.36%) PMO
System Software
1 81 (14.39%) Active Directory
2 22 (3.91%) Hyper-V
3 20 (3.55%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (2.49%) Docker
5 7 (1.24%) Firmware
6 4 (0.71%) Embedded Firmware
6 4 (0.71%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.36%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 36 (6.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 14 (2.49%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.60%) Terraform
4 6 (1.07%) Ansible
5 4 (0.71%) Functional Safety
6 3 (0.53%) Nagios
6 3 (0.53%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.53%) SCCM
6 3 (0.53%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.36%) Grafana
7 2 (0.36%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.36%) Puppet
8 1 (0.18%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.18%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 157 (27.89%) Microsoft
2 25 (4.44%) VMware
3 23 (4.09%) SAP
4 21 (3.73%) Cisco
5 17 (3.02%) Sage
6 15 (2.66%) Oracle
7 12 (2.13%) Dell
7 12 (2.13%) Salesforce
8 9 (1.60%) Google
8 9 (1.60%) SolarWinds
9 7 (1.24%) HP
9 7 (1.24%) IBM
10 6 (1.07%) Apple
10 6 (1.07%) Avaya
10 6 (1.07%) McAfee
10 6 (1.07%) Sophos
10 6 (1.07%) Zscaler
11 5 (0.89%) Meraki
12 4 (0.71%) Adobe
12 4 (0.71%) Xero