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 1 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 568 631 1,294
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.25% 20.29% 15.34%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.54% 23.28% 19.07%
Number of salaries quoted 419 421 699
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,750 £29,000
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 £57,500
90th Percentile £64,800 £70,000 £72,500
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 5,387 2,710 6,785
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.76% 87.14% 80.43%
Number of salaries quoted 4,002 1,692 4,603
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 £80,000 £78,150
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 1 July 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 1 July 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 -15 182 £50,000 +4.17% 84
Staffordshire -3 96 £42,500 -17.39% 27
Warwickshire -1 74 £32,500 -29.73% 47
Worcestershire -7 44 £37,500 +22.95% 35
Shropshire -2 33 £50,000 +17.65% 26
Coventry -15 32 £42,000 -26.96% 11
Herefordshire -18 13 £52,500 -30.00% 6
Solihull -1 12 £30,500 -44.55% 4
Wolverhampton -15 10 £38,500 +18.46% 5
Walsall +3 9 £37,500 -14.77% 2
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 1
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 4
Willenhall -4 3 £37,500 -16.67% 3
Sutton Coldfield - 3 £42,500 - 2
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 (8.80%) SharePoint
2 32 (5.63%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.41%) IIS
4 5 (0.88%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.53%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 3 (0.53%) WordPress
7 2 (0.35%) Confluence
8 1 (0.18%) Appian
8 1 (0.18%) Documentum
8 1 (0.18%) SAS
Applications
1 53 (9.33%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (5.46%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.88%) Fusion 360
4 5 (0.88%) Spreadsheet
5 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.18%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.18%) Simulink
6 1 (0.18%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 8 (1.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.88%) Magento
3 5 (0.88%) Shopify
4 4 (0.70%) Line 50
4 4 (0.70%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.70%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.53%) Dynamics AX
5 3 (0.53%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 2 (0.35%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 2 (0.35%) SAP Business One
7 1 (0.18%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.18%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.18%) Raiser’s Edge
Cloud Services
1 121 (21.30%) Microsoft 365
2 113 (19.89%) Azure
3 63 (11.09%) Power Platform
4 57 (10.04%) Entra ID
5 36 (6.34%) AWS
6 28 (4.93%) SaaS
7 14 (2.46%) Dynamics 365
7 14 (2.46%) Power Automate
7 14 (2.46%) PowerApps
8 12 (2.11%) Microsoft Purview
9 10 (1.76%) OneDrive
10 9 (1.58%) Google Workspace
11 6 (1.06%) Azure Data Factory
12 5 (0.88%) GCP
12 5 (0.88%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (0.88%) PaaS
13 4 (0.70%) Amazon S3
13 4 (0.70%) Azure Sentinel
13 4 (0.70%) IaaS
13 4 (0.70%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 30 (5.28%) Firewall
2 25 (4.40%) VPN
3 24 (4.23%) WAN
4 21 (3.70%) DNS
5 20 (3.52%) LAN
5 20 (3.52%) Wi-Fi
6 19 (3.35%) DHCP
7 16 (2.82%) Wireless
8 14 (2.46%) TCP/IP
9 12 (2.11%) Network Security
10 11 (1.94%) VLAN
11 9 (1.58%) Internet
12 7 (1.23%) SD-WAN
12 7 (1.23%) VoIP
13 5 (0.88%) Skype
14 4 (0.70%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.53%) Cisco IOS
15 3 (0.53%) SAN
16 2 (0.35%) SNMP
16 2 (0.35%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 60 (10.56%) Power BI
2 19 (3.35%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.64%) Tableau
4 13 (2.29%) Power Query
5 11 (1.94%) MySQL
6 7 (1.23%) Amazon RDS
6 7 (1.23%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.23%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 7 (1.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 7 (1.23%) Star Schema
7 6 (1.06%) Data Mining
8 5 (0.88%) Azure SQL Database
9 4 (0.70%) FileMaker
9 4 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
10 3 (0.53%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.53%) GIS
10 3 (0.53%) NoSQL
10 3 (0.53%) Oracle Reports
10 3 (0.53%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 12 (2.11%) Git
2 10 (1.76%) JIRA
3 6 (1.06%) JUnit
4 5 (0.88%) Maven
4 5 (0.88%) Mockito
5 2 (0.35%) Jenkins
5 2 (0.35%) 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%) Eclipse
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
1 244 (42.96%) Social Skills
2 151 (26.58%) Analytical Skills
3 92 (16.20%) Finance
4 86 (15.14%) Manufacturing
5 34 (5.99%) Organisational Skills
5 34 (5.99%) Public Sector
6 27 (4.75%) Retail
7 25 (4.40%) Legal
7 25 (4.40%) Marketing
8 17 (2.99%) Law
9 16 (2.82%) Electronics
10 14 (2.46%) Automotive
10 14 (2.46%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 11 (1.94%) Banking
11 11 (1.94%) Documentation Skills
12 10 (1.76%) Investment Banking
12 10 (1.76%) Telecoms
13 6 (1.06%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (0.70%) Games
14 4 (0.70%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 107 (18.84%) Support Engineer
2 82 (14.44%) Analyst
3 67 (11.80%) IT Support
4 60 (10.56%) Technical Support
5 59 (10.39%) Technical Engineer
5 59 (10.39%) Technical Support Engineer
6 56 (9.86%) IT Engineer
7 55 (9.68%) Developer
8 46 (8.10%) IT Support Engineer
9 44 (7.75%) Senior
10 30 (5.28%) Lead
10 30 (5.28%) Support Analyst
11 28 (4.93%) IT Manager
12 20 (3.52%) Consultant
13 17 (2.99%) 2nd Line Support
14 16 (2.82%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 16 (2.82%) Programmer
15 15 (2.64%) IT Analyst
16 14 (2.46%) IT Technician
16 14 (2.46%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (5.28%) REST
2 21 (3.70%) React
3 17 (2.99%) .NET
4 13 (2.29%) Spring
5 12 (2.11%) AngularJS
6 11 (1.94%) CSS
6 11 (1.94%) HTML
7 10 (1.76%) Spring Boot
8 9 (1.58%) RESTful
9 6 (1.06%) Middleware
9 6 (1.06%) Node.js
10 4 (0.70%) COM
10 4 (0.70%) DCOM
10 4 (0.70%) EDI
10 4 (0.70%) JDBC
10 4 (0.70%) LDAP
10 4 (0.70%) OAuth
10 4 (0.70%) SAP Fiori
10 4 (0.70%) SAPUI5
10 4 (0.70%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 47 (8.27%) Driving Licence
2 30 (5.28%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (4.75%) Onboarding
4 26 (4.58%) Management Information System
5 18 (3.17%) Enterprise Software
6 11 (1.94%) Social Media
6 11 (1.94%) Virtual Team
7 10 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
8 9 (1.58%) Analytical Mindset
8 9 (1.58%) Data Structures
9 8 (1.41%) Data Centre
9 8 (1.41%) Hybrid Cloud
9 8 (1.41%) NHS
9 8 (1.41%) Security Posture
10 7 (1.23%) AS400
10 7 (1.23%) Cyber Defence
10 7 (1.23%) FMCG
10 7 (1.23%) IoT
10 7 (1.23%) iSeries
10 7 (1.23%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 97 (17.08%) Windows
2 31 (5.46%) Windows 10
3 30 (5.28%) Windows Server
4 27 (4.75%) Linux
5 13 (2.29%) Android
6 10 (1.76%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.88%) Unix
7 5 (0.88%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.70%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.70%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.35%) CentOS
9 2 (0.35%) Debian
9 2 (0.35%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (25.70%) Continuous Improvement
2 88 (15.49%) Customer Service
3 69 (12.15%) Agile
4 66 (11.62%) ITIL
5 65 (11.44%) Decision-Making
6 64 (11.27%) Analytics
6 64 (11.27%) Mentoring
7 61 (10.74%) Business Intelligence
7 61 (10.74%) Collaborative Working
8 59 (10.39%) ERP
9 54 (9.51%) AI
10 53 (9.33%) Cybersecurity
11 46 (8.10%) Customer Experience
12 45 (7.92%) Service Delivery
13 42 (7.39%) Root Cause Analysis
14 39 (6.87%) CRM
15 32 (5.63%) Computer Science
15 32 (5.63%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 31 (5.46%) Coaching
16 31 (5.46%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 88 (15.49%) SQL
2 34 (5.99%) Java
3 32 (5.63%) Python
4 23 (4.05%) PowerShell
5 18 (3.17%) C#
6 17 (2.99%) Ladder Logic
7 13 (2.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 12 (2.11%) JavaScript
9 11 (1.94%) PHP
10 10 (1.76%) C
11 9 (1.58%) Bash
11 9 (1.58%) TypeScript
12 7 (1.23%) RPG
13 6 (1.06%) PL/SQL
14 5 (0.88%) C++
14 5 (0.88%) Embedded C
15 4 (0.70%) ABAP
15 4 (0.70%) RPG IV
15 4 (0.70%) RPG/400
16 3 (0.53%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 74 (13.03%) Degree
2 58 (10.21%) Security Cleared
3 45 (7.92%) SC Cleared
4 20 (3.52%) Microsoft Certification
5 17 (2.99%) DBS Check
6 15 (2.64%) Azure Certification
7 11 (1.94%) CISSP
8 10 (1.76%) A+ Certification
8 10 (1.76%) CompTIA Security+
9 8 (1.41%) BPSS Clearance
10 7 (1.23%) ACCA
10 7 (1.23%) CIMA
10 7 (1.23%) CISA
10 7 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.23%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.23%) SSCP
11 5 (0.88%) HND
11 5 (0.88%) MCITP
12 4 (0.70%) CCNA
12 4 (0.70%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (5.46%) Data Quality
2 30 (5.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 26 (4.58%) Cyber Essentials
3 26 (4.58%) QA
4 25 (4.40%) GDPR
5 18 (3.17%) NIST
6 15 (2.64%) ISO 9001
7 14 (2.46%) Accessibility
8 13 (2.29%) SLA
9 9 (1.58%) ISO 14001
10 7 (1.23%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.70%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 4 (0.70%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.53%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.53%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.53%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.35%) GRC
13 2 (0.35%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.35%) PMO
System Software
1 84 (14.79%) Active Directory
2 24 (4.23%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.70%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (2.29%) Docker
5 8 (1.41%) Firmware
6 5 (0.88%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.70%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.53%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.35%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 37 (6.51%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (2.29%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.58%) Terraform
4 6 (1.06%) Ansible
5 4 (0.70%) 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 (0.35%) Grafana
7 2 (0.35%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.35%) Puppet
8 1 (0.18%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.18%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 161 (28.35%) Microsoft
2 26 (4.58%) VMware
3 24 (4.23%) SAP
4 21 (3.70%) Cisco
5 16 (2.82%) Sage
6 13 (2.29%) Oracle
7 12 (2.11%) Dell
7 12 (2.11%) Salesforce
8 10 (1.76%) Google
9 7 (1.23%) HP
9 7 (1.23%) IBM
9 7 (1.23%) SolarWinds
10 6 (1.06%) Apple
10 6 (1.06%) McAfee
10 6 (1.06%) Meraki
10 6 (1.06%) Sophos
11 4 (0.70%) HubSpot
11 4 (0.70%) iManage
11 4 (0.70%) Xero
11 4 (0.70%) Zscaler