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

6 months to
6 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -10 +2 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 644 704 964
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.60% 20.63% 14.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.02% 24.29% 18.70%
Number of salaries quoted 463 458 448
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,500
25th Percentile £32,375 £29,750 £32,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% - -10.00%
75th Percentile £57,375 £61,250 £58,813
90th Percentile £63,750 £70,375 £73,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £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 5,846 2,898 5,156
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.02% 84.91% 78.73%
Number of salaries quoted 4,402 1,875 3,189
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £28,119
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,879 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £51,887 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +6.00% -1.17% -
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 6 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 6 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 -13 223 £52,500 +9.38% 112
Staffordshire -4 95 £47,500 -8.06% 49
Warwickshire -2 80 £34,000 -26.49% 57
Worcestershire -6 59 £37,500 +22.95% 25
Shropshire +9 47 £46,250 +8.82% 40
Coventry -11 33 £42,000 -0.34% 28
Wolverhampton -13 12 £38,500 +18.46% 14
Solihull -2 11 £30,500 -44.55% 16
Walsall +1 9 £37,500 -16.67% 11
Herefordshire -24 8 £40,500 +4.52% 16
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 5
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +46.15%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 1
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Sutton Coldfield - 3 £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 (5.59%) SharePoint
2 28 (4.35%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.40%) IIS
4 5 (0.78%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.62%) Confluence
6 3 (0.47%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2007
6 3 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2010
6 3 (0.47%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.47%) WordPress
7 2 (0.31%) CICS
7 2 (0.31%) SAS
8 1 (0.16%) Apache
8 1 (0.16%) Appian
8 1 (0.16%) Documentum
8 1 (0.16%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 55 (8.54%) Microsoft Office
2 37 (5.75%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.93%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.78%) Fusion 360
6 3 (0.47%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.31%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.16%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.16%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.16%) OrCAD
8 1 (0.16%) Simulink
8 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.71%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (0.93%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.78%) Magento
3 5 (0.78%) 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 (0.47%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.31%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 1 (0.16%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.16%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.16%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.16%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.16%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.16%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 122 (18.94%) Microsoft 365
2 121 (18.79%) Azure
3 80 (12.42%) Power Platform
4 54 (8.39%) Entra ID
5 52 (8.07%) AWS
6 41 (6.37%) SaaS
7 20 (3.11%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.02%) Microsoft Purview
9 12 (1.86%) Power Automate
10 11 (1.71%) Azure DevOps
10 11 (1.71%) PowerApps
11 10 (1.55%) GCP
11 10 (1.55%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.24%) GitHub
12 8 (1.24%) Google Workspace
13 6 (0.93%) GitHub Actions
14 5 (0.78%) IaaS
14 5 (0.78%) OneDrive
15 4 (0.62%) Amazon Kinesis
15 4 (0.62%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 31 (4.81%) Firewall
2 21 (3.26%) DNS
2 21 (3.26%) VPN
3 19 (2.95%) WAN
4 18 (2.80%) Wireless
5 17 (2.64%) TCP/IP
6 16 (2.48%) Wi-Fi
7 15 (2.33%) LAN
8 13 (2.02%) DHCP
8 13 (2.02%) Network Security
9 10 (1.55%) VLAN
10 7 (1.09%) VoIP
11 5 (0.78%) Cisco IOS
11 5 (0.78%) Internet
11 5 (0.78%) SD-WAN
11 5 (0.78%) Skype
12 4 (0.62%) Bluetooth
12 4 (0.62%) SSL
13 3 (0.47%) HTTP
13 3 (0.47%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 75 (11.65%) Power BI
2 24 (3.73%) SQL Server
3 21 (3.26%) Power Query
4 17 (2.64%) Tableau
5 16 (2.48%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.71%) MySQL
6 11 (1.71%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 10 (1.55%) Relational Database
8 9 (1.40%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 6 (0.93%) Amazon Redshift
9 6 (0.93%) Data Mining
10 5 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
10 5 (0.78%) Azure SQL Database
10 5 (0.78%) Electronic Patient Records
10 5 (0.78%) Star Schema
11 4 (0.62%) FileMaker
11 4 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
12 3 (0.47%) GIS
12 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
12 3 (0.47%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 24 (3.73%) Git
2 18 (2.80%) JIRA
3 15 (2.33%) Jenkins
4 6 (0.93%) Maven
5 5 (0.78%) Cucumber
5 5 (0.78%) JUnit
5 5 (0.78%) Postman
6 4 (0.62%) GitLab
6 4 (0.62%) JMeter
6 4 (0.62%) Selenium
6 4 (0.62%) SoapUI
7 3 (0.47%) Mockito
7 3 (0.47%) Zephyr
8 2 (0.31%) Ant
8 2 (0.31%) Apache Ivy
8 2 (0.31%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.16%) Bugzilla
9 1 (0.16%) Eclipse
9 1 (0.16%) Oracle Forms
9 1 (0.16%) Visual Studio
General
1 296 (45.96%) Social Skills
2 165 (25.62%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (17.70%) Finance
4 93 (14.44%) Manufacturing
5 44 (6.83%) Public Sector
6 38 (5.90%) Organisational Skills
7 34 (5.28%) Retail
8 25 (3.88%) Legal
8 25 (3.88%) Marketing
9 22 (3.42%) Law
10 18 (2.80%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 17 (2.64%) Electronics
12 14 (2.17%) Automotive
13 12 (1.86%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.71%) Telecoms
15 9 (1.40%) Banking
16 8 (1.24%) Games
16 8 (1.24%) Investment Banking
17 7 (1.09%) Fire and Rescue
17 7 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 95 (14.75%) Support Engineer
2 88 (13.66%) Analyst
3 68 (10.56%) Technical Support
4 63 (9.78%) Technical Engineer
5 62 (9.63%) Developer
6 61 (9.47%) Technical Support Engineer
7 60 (9.32%) IT Support
8 49 (7.61%) Senior
9 39 (6.06%) IT Engineer
9 39 (6.06%) Lead
10 37 (5.75%) IT Manager
11 35 (5.43%) Consultant
12 32 (4.97%) IT Support Engineer
13 30 (4.66%) Support Analyst
14 19 (2.95%) 1st Line Support
15 16 (2.48%) Programmer
16 15 (2.33%) Architect
16 15 (2.33%) IT Analyst
17 14 (2.17%) IT Technician
17 14 (2.17%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.75%) REST
2 25 (3.88%) React
3 23 (3.57%) .NET
4 21 (3.26%) Spring
5 18 (2.80%) Spring Boot
6 12 (1.86%) AngularJS
6 12 (1.86%) Playwright
6 12 (1.86%) RESTful
7 11 (1.71%) CSS
7 11 (1.71%) HTML
8 9 (1.40%) SOAP
9 7 (1.09%) Node.js
9 7 (1.09%) SAP Fiori
10 6 (0.93%) JDBC
10 6 (0.93%) Middleware
10 6 (0.93%) OAuth
10 6 (0.93%) SAPUI5
11 5 (0.78%) ISPF
11 5 (0.78%) JSON
11 5 (0.78%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 50 (7.76%) Driving Licence
2 32 (4.97%) Management Information System
3 28 (4.35%) Onboarding
4 27 (4.19%) Self-Motivation
5 23 (3.57%) Enterprise Software
6 16 (2.48%) NHS
7 12 (1.86%) Data Centre
7 12 (1.86%) Social Media
8 11 (1.71%) Data Structures
8 11 (1.71%) Virtual Team
9 10 (1.55%) Analytical Mindset
10 9 (1.40%) Mobile App
11 8 (1.24%) Cloud Native
11 8 (1.24%) Data Protection Act
11 8 (1.24%) IoT
11 8 (1.24%) Security Posture
12 7 (1.09%) AS400
12 7 (1.09%) iSeries
12 7 (1.09%) Legacy Applications
12 7 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 106 (16.46%) Windows
2 39 (6.06%) Linux
3 34 (5.28%) Windows Server
4 27 (4.19%) Windows 10
5 13 (2.02%) Android
6 10 (1.55%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.24%) Unix
8 6 (0.93%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.62%) FreeRTOS
9 4 (0.62%) Windows 7
10 2 (0.31%) CentOS
10 2 (0.31%) Debian
10 2 (0.31%) Solaris
10 2 (0.31%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.31%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 199 (30.90%) Continuous Improvement
2 108 (16.77%) Customer Service
3 96 (14.91%) Agile
4 83 (12.89%) Decision-Making
5 78 (12.11%) Analytics
5 78 (12.11%) Business Intelligence
6 76 (11.80%) Mentoring
7 75 (11.65%) AI
8 71 (11.02%) Collaborative Working
9 67 (10.40%) ERP
10 65 (10.09%) ITIL
11 57 (8.85%) Cybersecurity
12 50 (7.76%) Collaborative Culture
12 50 (7.76%) Customer Experience
13 48 (7.45%) CI/CD
14 47 (7.30%) Root Cause Analysis
14 47 (7.30%) Stakeholder Management
15 45 (6.99%) Service Delivery
16 43 (6.68%) CRM
17 41 (6.37%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 102 (15.84%) SQL
2 46 (7.14%) Java
3 39 (6.06%) Python
4 22 (3.42%) PowerShell
5 21 (3.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 20 (3.11%) C#
7 18 (2.80%) JavaScript
7 18 (2.80%) Ladder Logic
8 14 (2.17%) TypeScript
9 11 (1.71%) PHP
10 8 (1.24%) C
11 7 (1.09%) Bash
11 7 (1.09%) RPG
12 6 (0.93%) ABAP
12 6 (0.93%) Embedded C
13 5 (0.78%) COBOL
13 5 (0.78%) JCL
14 4 (0.62%) C++
14 4 (0.62%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.62%) RPG/400
Qualifications
1 90 (13.98%) Degree
2 67 (10.40%) Security Cleared
3 55 (8.54%) SC Cleared
4 19 (2.95%) Azure Certification
4 19 (2.95%) DBS Check
5 16 (2.48%) Microsoft Certification
6 11 (1.71%) CISSP
7 10 (1.55%) CompTIA Security+
8 9 (1.40%) PMI Certification
9 8 (1.24%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.09%) ACCA
10 7 (1.09%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.09%) CIMA
10 7 (1.09%) CISA
10 7 (1.09%) SSCP
11 6 (0.93%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (0.78%) A+ Certification
12 5 (0.78%) CCNA
12 5 (0.78%) HND
13 4 (0.62%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (5.59%) Data Quality
2 33 (5.12%) GDPR
3 30 (4.66%) QA
4 26 (4.04%) Cyber Essentials
4 26 (4.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (3.26%) SLA
6 19 (2.95%) Accessibility
7 17 (2.64%) ISO 9001
8 16 (2.48%) NIST
9 9 (1.40%) ISO 14001
10 4 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 4 (0.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.47%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.47%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.47%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
12 2 (0.31%) GRC
12 2 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.31%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.31%) PMO
System Software
1 80 (12.42%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.73%) Hyper-V
3 18 (2.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.48%) Docker
5 7 (1.09%) Firmware
6 5 (0.78%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.62%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.47%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.47%) vSphere
9 1 (0.16%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 31 (4.81%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (2.33%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.02%) Terraform
4 6 (0.93%) Ansible
5 5 (0.78%) SCCM
6 4 (0.62%) Functional Safety
6 4 (0.62%) Progress Chef
6 4 (0.62%) Puppet
7 3 (0.47%) Grafana
7 3 (0.47%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.31%) Nagios
8 2 (0.31%) WSUS
9 1 (0.16%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.16%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 178 (27.64%) Microsoft
2 32 (4.97%) SAP
3 24 (3.73%) VMware
4 21 (3.26%) Cisco
5 14 (2.17%) Sage
6 12 (1.86%) Dell
7 11 (1.71%) Salesforce
7 11 (1.71%) ServiceNow
8 10 (1.55%) Google
9 9 (1.40%) HubSpot
9 9 (1.40%) Oracle
10 8 (1.24%) Apple
11 7 (1.09%) IBM
11 7 (1.09%) Sophos
12 6 (0.93%) HP
12 6 (0.93%) iManage
12 6 (0.93%) McAfee
12 6 (0.93%) Workday
13 5 (0.78%) SolarWinds
14 4 (0.62%) Veeam