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 5 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 3 6
Rank change year-on-year -20 +3 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 504 770 882
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.91% 20.83% 15.58%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.14% 22.10% 18.15%
Number of salaries quoted 377 352 701
10th Percentile £26,250 £31,250 £25,250
25th Percentile £30,250 £41,250 £30,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £55,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -22.73% +29.41% -16.50%
75th Percentile £58,750 £67,500 £58,750
90th Percentile £72,700 £97,250 £67,500
England median annual salary £45,497 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -17.28% +10.00% -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 4,970 3,484 4,860
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 78.05% 94.24% 85.85%
Number of salaries quoted 2,708 1,674 3,909
10th Percentile £29,750 £31,650 £26,250
25th Percentile £39,000 £41,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £67,500 £68,750 £63,750
90th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 5 March 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 5 March 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 -12 154 £47,500 -20.07% 75
Staffordshire -10 104 £30,750 -38.50% 32
Warwickshire -16 60 £32,500 -35.00% 55
Shropshire -11 37 £47,500 -5.00% 27
Worcestershire -18 34 £37,500 -25.00% 29
Herefordshire 0 24 £52,500 +4.48% 6
Solihull -4 16 £90,000 +63.64% 6
Coventry -16 16 £67,500 +12.50% 18
Halesowen -2 9 £32,500 -
Dudley -3 4 £75,000 +114.29% 3
Wednesbury -5 4 £42,500 -5.56%
Walsall -3 3 £44,000 +19.73% 2
Kingswinford -5 2 £45,250 +20.67%
Wolverhampton -25 2 £85,000 +161.54% 10
Sutton Coldfield -8 1 £28,000 - 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 40 (7.94%) SharePoint
2 24 (4.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.98%) IIS
4 6 (1.19%) Apache
4 6 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2007
4 6 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2010
4 6 (1.19%) Exchange Server 2013
4 6 (1.19%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 1 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.20%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.20%) Confluence
5 1 (0.20%) NServiceBus
5 1 (0.20%) SAS
5 1 (0.20%) WebLogic
Applications
1 38 (7.54%) Microsoft Excel
2 35 (6.94%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (2.58%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.59%) AutoCAD
4 8 (1.59%) SOLIDWORKS
5 7 (1.39%) Microsoft Project
6 6 (1.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 4 (0.79%) MS Visio
8 2 (0.40%) Trello
9 1 (0.20%) Abaqus
9 1 (0.20%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 21 (4.17%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (1.39%) NetSuite
3 3 (0.60%) Dynamics NAV
3 3 (0.60%) SAP Business ByDesign
4 2 (0.40%) Infor CloudSuite Industrial (formerly SyteLine)
4 2 (0.40%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
5 1 (0.20%) Raiser’s Edge
5 1 (0.20%) Sage X3
5 1 (0.20%) SAP Business One
5 1 (0.20%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 120 (23.81%) Azure
2 94 (18.65%) Microsoft 365
3 46 (9.13%) Power Platform
4 39 (7.74%) SaaS
5 36 (7.14%) AWS
6 32 (6.35%) Entra ID
7 23 (4.56%) Dynamics 365
8 17 (3.37%) Power Automate
9 16 (3.17%) PowerApps
10 11 (2.18%) OneDrive
11 10 (1.98%) Serverless
12 9 (1.79%) Google Workspace
13 8 (1.59%) Azure Data Factory
13 8 (1.59%) GCP
14 7 (1.39%) Azure DevOps
15 5 (0.99%) Amazon S3
15 5 (0.99%) AWS Lambda
15 5 (0.99%) Azure Logic Apps
15 5 (0.99%) Azure Sentinel
15 5 (0.99%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 34 (6.75%) VPN
2 27 (5.36%) Internet
3 26 (5.16%) DNS
4 24 (4.76%) DHCP
4 24 (4.76%) WAN
5 19 (3.77%) Wi-Fi
6 18 (3.57%) Firewall
6 18 (3.57%) LAN
7 10 (1.98%) VoIP
8 9 (1.79%) SD-WAN
8 9 (1.79%) Wireless
9 8 (1.59%) ADSL
9 8 (1.59%) Ethernet
9 8 (1.59%) VDSL
10 7 (1.39%) VLAN
11 6 (1.19%) Broadband
12 5 (0.99%) Network Security
12 5 (0.99%) TCP/IP
13 4 (0.79%) PBX
14 2 (0.40%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 38 (7.54%) Power BI
2 28 (5.56%) SQL Server
3 12 (2.38%) MySQL
3 12 (2.38%) Relational Database
4 11 (2.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 10 (1.98%) Oracle Reports
5 10 (1.98%) PostgreSQL
6 8 (1.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 8 (1.59%) Tableau
7 5 (0.99%) Amazon RDS
7 5 (0.99%) Crystal Reports
7 5 (0.99%) Data Warehouse
8 4 (0.79%) Metadata
8 4 (0.79%) Power Query
8 4 (0.79%) Redis
8 4 (0.79%) TimescaleDB
9 3 (0.60%) GIS
10 2 (0.40%) BusinessObjects
10 2 (0.40%) Data Mining
10 2 (0.40%) MS Access
Development Applications
1 18 (3.57%) JIRA
2 16 (3.17%) Git
3 7 (1.39%) JUnit
4 6 (1.19%) Maven
4 6 (1.19%) Mockito
5 5 (0.99%) GitLab
5 5 (0.99%) Jenkins
6 3 (0.60%) Appcelerator Titanium
7 2 (0.40%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 2 (0.40%) Visual Studio Code
8 1 (0.20%) Babel
8 1 (0.20%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.20%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.20%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.20%) MLflow
8 1 (0.20%) Selenium
8 1 (0.20%) Snyk
8 1 (0.20%) Vite
8 1 (0.20%) webpack
General
1 250 (49.60%) Social Skills
2 143 (28.37%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (22.62%) Finance
4 62 (12.30%) Manufacturing
5 41 (8.13%) Organisational Skills
6 37 (7.34%) Legal
7 35 (6.94%) Law
8 31 (6.15%) Public Sector
9 30 (5.95%) Retail
10 23 (4.56%) Marketing
11 13 (2.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (2.38%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (2.38%) Telecoms
13 11 (2.18%) Banking
14 9 (1.79%) Automotive
15 7 (1.39%) Aerospace
16 6 (1.19%) Advertising
17 5 (0.99%) Games
18 4 (0.79%) Documentation Skills
18 4 (0.79%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 93 (18.45%) Support Engineer
2 82 (16.27%) Analyst
3 74 (14.68%) IT Support
4 56 (11.11%) IT Engineer
5 48 (9.52%) Developer
5 48 (9.52%) Lead
6 46 (9.13%) IT Support Engineer
7 44 (8.73%) Technical Support
8 41 (8.13%) Senior
8 41 (8.13%) Technical Engineer
8 41 (8.13%) Technical Support Engineer
9 30 (5.95%) Support Analyst
10 22 (4.37%) Architect
11 21 (4.17%) Business Analyst
12 20 (3.97%) Applications Support
13 18 (3.57%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 17 (3.37%) Instructor
15 16 (3.17%) Senior Analyst
16 15 (2.98%) Consultant
17 14 (2.78%) Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (4.76%) .NET
2 22 (4.37%) REST
3 19 (3.77%) React
4 12 (2.38%) AngularJS
5 11 (2.18%) JSON
6 8 (1.59%) Razor View Engine
7 7 (1.39%) HTML
7 7 (1.39%) Node.js
8 6 (1.19%) CSS
8 6 (1.19%) LAMP
9 5 (0.99%) Vue
10 4 (0.79%) GraphQL
10 4 (0.79%) Oracle Fusion
10 4 (0.79%) Web Services
10 4 (0.79%) WPF
11 3 (0.60%) .NET Framework
11 3 (0.60%) Laravel
11 3 (0.60%) ODBC
11 3 (0.60%) RESTful
11 3 (0.60%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 41 (8.13%) Onboarding
2 37 (7.34%) Driving Licence
3 33 (6.55%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (4.37%) Management Information System
5 19 (3.77%) Social Media
6 15 (2.98%) FMCG
7 11 (2.18%) Product Ownership
8 9 (1.79%) Enterprise Software
8 9 (1.79%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
8 9 (1.79%) IoT
8 9 (1.79%) Operational Technology
9 8 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (1.39%) Linux Command Line
11 6 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
12 5 (0.99%) Data Centre
13 4 (0.79%) Data Structures
13 4 (0.79%) EPoS
13 4 (0.79%) Hybrid Cloud
13 4 (0.79%) Mobile App
13 4 (0.79%) Web Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 71 (14.09%) Windows
2 19 (3.77%) Linux
3 18 (3.57%) Windows 10
4 10 (1.98%) Apple iOS
5 8 (1.59%) Windows Server
6 6 (1.19%) Windows 7
7 2 (0.40%) Android
7 2 (0.40%) Unix
8 1 (0.20%) CentOS
8 1 (0.20%) Debian
8 1 (0.20%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (19.25%) Continuous Improvement
2 71 (14.09%) Agile
3 63 (12.50%) Project Management
4 55 (10.91%) Customer Service
4 55 (10.91%) ITIL
5 52 (10.32%) Decision-Making
6 49 (9.72%) Analytics
7 48 (9.52%) CRM
8 46 (9.13%) Business Intelligence
9 42 (8.33%) Mentoring
10 37 (7.34%) Customer Experience
10 37 (7.34%) ERP
10 37 (7.34%) Roadmaps
11 36 (7.14%) Migration
12 33 (6.55%) Coaching
12 33 (6.55%) Computer Science
13 31 (6.15%) Time Management
14 30 (5.95%) Stakeholder Management
15 29 (5.75%) Service Delivery
16 26 (5.16%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 90 (17.86%) SQL
2 37 (7.34%) Python
3 30 (5.95%) JavaScript
4 29 (5.75%) C#
5 23 (4.56%) PowerShell
6 22 (4.37%) Java
7 13 (2.58%) PHP
7 13 (2.58%) T-SQL
8 10 (1.98%) Bash
9 8 (1.59%) C
9 8 (1.59%) Ladder Logic
9 8 (1.59%) TypeScript
10 7 (1.39%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 6 (1.19%) PL/SQL
11 6 (1.19%) R
12 4 (0.79%) C++
13 3 (0.60%) Delphi
13 3 (0.60%) VB.NET
14 2 (0.40%) Google Apps Script
14 2 (0.40%) XAML
Qualifications
1 90 (17.86%) Degree
2 52 (10.32%) Security Cleared
3 37 (7.34%) SC Cleared
4 23 (4.56%) DBS Check
5 21 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (3.57%) Computer Science Degree
7 14 (2.78%) BPSS Clearance
8 10 (1.98%) A+ Certification
9 9 (1.79%) Master's Degree
10 8 (1.59%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 6 (1.19%) ACCA
11 6 (1.19%) CIMA
11 6 (1.19%) MCITP
12 5 (0.99%) CISSP
12 5 (0.99%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
13 4 (0.79%) AWS Certification
13 4 (0.79%) Cisco Certification
13 4 (0.79%) Oracle Certification
14 3 (0.60%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 3 (0.60%) AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (5.75%) Data Quality
2 21 (4.17%) QA
3 17 (3.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (2.58%) GDPR
5 9 (1.79%) Cyber Essentials
5 9 (1.79%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 9 (1.79%) NIST
6 7 (1.39%) SLA
7 5 (0.99%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 3 (0.60%) Actionable Recommendations
8 3 (0.60%) HIPAA
9 2 (0.40%) ISO/IEC 19770
10 1 (0.20%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.20%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 1 (0.20%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.20%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.20%) PMO
10 1 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.20%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.20%) WCAG
System Software
1 45 (8.93%) Active Directory
2 20 (3.97%) Docker
3 9 (1.79%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.60%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.40%) Virtual Machines
6 1 (0.20%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 24 (4.76%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (3.97%) Kubernetes
3 12 (2.38%) Terraform
4 6 (1.19%) Ansible
5 3 (0.60%) Grafana
5 3 (0.60%) Nagios
5 3 (0.60%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.20%) Argo
7 1 (0.20%) AWS Copilot
7 1 (0.20%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.20%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.20%) Puppet
7 1 (0.20%) SCCM
7 1 (0.20%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 151 (29.96%) Microsoft
2 34 (6.75%) Oracle
3 25 (4.96%) SAP
4 16 (3.17%) Cisco
5 13 (2.58%) Salesforce
6 12 (2.38%) Google
7 9 (1.79%) Databricks
7 9 (1.79%) HP
7 9 (1.79%) Sage
7 9 (1.79%) VMware
8 7 (1.39%) Infor
8 7 (1.39%) Meraki
8 7 (1.39%) ServiceNow
9 6 (1.19%) Dell
10 5 (0.99%) Epicor
10 5 (0.99%) Zscaler
11 4 (0.79%) Avaya
11 4 (0.79%) Panasonic
11 4 (0.79%) Samsung
11 4 (0.79%) SolarWinds