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 16 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -8 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 732 652 937
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.26% 20.04% 15.54%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.95% 23.24% 19.55%
Number of salaries quoted 499 417 330
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £33,250 £29,250 £33,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% -10.00% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £58,750 £61,813
90th Percentile £67,750 £67,500 £77,750
England median annual salary £47,000 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.44% -14.29% -4.55%

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 6,124 2,806 4,794
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.14% 86.23% 79.52%
Number of salaries quoted 4,540 1,784 2,513
10th Percentile £31,650 £29,000 £28,822
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,688 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -7.26%

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 16 September 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 16 September 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 -8 266 £55,000 +22.22% 401
Staffordshire -6 99 £47,500 +5.56% 69
Warwickshire -6 75 £40,000 -27.27% 89
Worcestershire -5 66 £38,000 +24.59% 36
Shropshire +1 60 £45,000 -5.26% 52
Coventry -9 36 £42,000 +30.23% 56
Wolverhampton +5 16 £49,250 -24.23% 27
Solihull +3 16 £31,000 -8.82% 32
Herefordshire -24 9 £28,500 -12.31% 16
Tipton - 7 £33,500 - 4
Walsall 0 5 £37,500 -16.67% 8
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +46.15% 1
Willenhall -3 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Dudley - 4 £36,000 - 10
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 42 (5.74%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.96%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.37%) IIS
4 7 (0.96%) Confluence
5 5 (0.68%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.55%) CICS
7 3 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.41%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.41%) WordPress
8 2 (0.27%) Documentum
8 2 (0.27%) SAS
9 1 (0.14%) Apache
9 1 (0.14%) Appian
9 1 (0.14%) CMS
9 1 (0.14%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 62 (8.47%) Microsoft Office
2 41 (5.60%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.37%) Simulink
4 6 (0.82%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.68%) Fusion 360
5 5 (0.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.41%) AutoCAD
6 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.41%) OrCAD
7 2 (0.27%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.27%) Revit
8 1 (0.14%) EPLAN
8 1 (0.14%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.14%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
8 1 (0.14%) SketchUp
8 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.37%) NetSuite
1 10 (1.37%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.09%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.68%) Magento
3 5 (0.68%) Shopify
4 4 (0.55%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.55%) Line 50
4 4 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.55%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.55%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.41%) Oracle Cash Management
5 3 (0.41%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.41%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.41%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.41%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.27%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 1 (0.14%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.14%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.14%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.14%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 140 (19.13%) Azure
2 125 (17.08%) Microsoft 365
3 93 (12.70%) Power Platform
4 54 (7.38%) AWS
5 52 (7.10%) Entra ID
6 44 (6.01%) SaaS
7 26 (3.55%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (3.14%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.32%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.19%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (2.05%) GitHub
12 14 (1.91%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.78%) GCP
13 13 (1.78%) GitHub Actions
14 11 (1.50%) Microsoft Copilot
15 10 (1.37%) PaaS
16 7 (0.96%) Google Workspace
17 6 (0.82%) IaaS
18 5 (0.68%) Azure Monitor
18 5 (0.68%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 30 (4.10%) Firewall
2 23 (3.14%) TCP/IP
2 23 (3.14%) VPN
3 22 (3.01%) DNS
3 22 (3.01%) WAN
4 21 (2.87%) Wireless
5 17 (2.32%) LAN
6 15 (2.05%) Wi-Fi
7 14 (1.91%) DHCP
8 13 (1.78%) Network Security
9 12 (1.64%) VLAN
10 10 (1.37%) VoIP
11 8 (1.09%) Wireshark
12 6 (0.82%) Cisco IOS
12 6 (0.82%) SD-WAN
13 5 (0.68%) Internet
13 5 (0.68%) Skype
14 4 (0.55%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.41%) HTTP
15 3 (0.41%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 88 (12.02%) Power BI
2 28 (3.83%) SQL Server
3 25 (3.42%) Tableau
4 19 (2.60%) Data Warehouse
4 19 (2.60%) Power Query
4 19 (2.60%) Relational Database
5 12 (1.64%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 11 (1.50%) MySQL
7 10 (1.37%) Data Mining
8 9 (1.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 8 (1.09%) Electronic Patient Records
10 7 (0.96%) Azure SQL Database
10 7 (0.96%) Data Lake
11 6 (0.82%) Amazon Redshift
12 5 (0.68%) Amazon RDS
12 5 (0.68%) Big Data
12 5 (0.68%) Oracle BI EE
12 5 (0.68%) Oracle Reports
12 5 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
12 5 (0.68%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 27 (3.69%) Git
2 25 (3.42%) JIRA
3 24 (3.28%) Jenkins
4 8 (1.09%) Eclipse
5 7 (0.96%) Cucumber
6 6 (0.82%) GitLab
6 6 (0.82%) JMeter
6 6 (0.82%) Maven
6 6 (0.82%) Postman
6 6 (0.82%) Selenium
7 5 (0.68%) JUnit
7 5 (0.68%) SoapUI
7 5 (0.68%) Zephyr
8 3 (0.41%) Mockito
9 2 (0.27%) Ant
9 2 (0.27%) Apache Ivy
9 2 (0.27%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.14%) Bugzilla
10 1 (0.14%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio
General
1 351 (47.95%) Social Skills
2 185 (25.27%) Analytical Skills
3 116 (15.85%) Finance
4 112 (15.30%) Manufacturing
5 55 (7.51%) Organisational Skills
6 52 (7.10%) Public Sector
7 43 (5.87%) Retail
8 34 (4.64%) Marketing
9 27 (3.69%) Electronics
10 22 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 21 (2.87%) Law
12 20 (2.73%) Legal
13 18 (2.46%) Automotive
14 15 (2.05%) Documentation Skills
15 12 (1.64%) Telecoms
16 10 (1.37%) Banking
17 8 (1.09%) Billing
17 8 (1.09%) Fire and Rescue
17 8 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (1.09%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 86 (11.75%) Support Engineer
2 85 (11.61%) Analyst
3 70 (9.56%) Developer
4 68 (9.29%) Technical Support
5 60 (8.20%) Technical Engineer
6 58 (7.92%) Technical Support Engineer
7 56 (7.65%) Lead
8 54 (7.38%) IT Support
9 48 (6.56%) Consultant
9 48 (6.56%) Senior
10 37 (5.05%) IT Engineer
11 34 (4.64%) IT Manager
12 32 (4.37%) Support Analyst
13 26 (3.55%) IT Support Engineer
14 24 (3.28%) Administrator
15 19 (2.60%) Architect
16 16 (2.19%) 1st Line Support
16 16 (2.19%) 2nd Line Support
17 15 (2.05%) Data Analyst
17 15 (2.05%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.05%) REST
2 33 (4.51%) .NET
3 28 (3.83%) Spring
4 26 (3.55%) React
5 25 (3.42%) Spring Boot
6 15 (2.05%) RESTful
7 14 (1.91%) AngularJS
7 14 (1.91%) Playwright
8 13 (1.78%) CSS
8 13 (1.78%) HTML
9 12 (1.64%) ISPF
10 11 (1.50%) SOAP
10 11 (1.50%) Terraform
11 10 (1.37%) XML
12 8 (1.09%) LDAP
12 8 (1.09%) SAP Fiori
13 7 (0.96%) Node.js
14 6 (0.82%) JDBC
14 6 (0.82%) SAPUI5
14 6 (0.82%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 67 (9.15%) Driving Licence
2 42 (5.74%) Onboarding
3 39 (5.33%) Management Information System
3 39 (5.33%) Self-Motivation
4 35 (4.78%) Enterprise Software
5 19 (2.60%) Data Centre
5 19 (2.60%) NHS
6 17 (2.32%) Virtual Team
7 15 (2.05%) Analytical Mindset
8 12 (1.64%) Legacy Applications
8 12 (1.64%) Mainframe
8 12 (1.64%) Social Media
9 11 (1.50%) Data Structures
9 11 (1.50%) Public Cloud
10 10 (1.37%) Cloud Native
11 9 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
11 9 (1.23%) Hybrid Cloud
11 9 (1.23%) IoT
11 9 (1.23%) Mobile App
11 9 (1.23%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 114 (15.57%) Windows
2 39 (5.33%) Linux
3 37 (5.05%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.87%) Windows 10
5 14 (1.91%) Android
6 10 (1.37%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.23%) Unix
8 7 (0.96%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.55%) FreeRTOS
10 2 (0.27%) Solaris
10 2 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.14%) CentOS
11 1 (0.14%) Debian
11 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 222 (30.33%) Continuous Improvement
2 135 (18.44%) Customer Service
3 108 (14.75%) Agile
4 93 (12.70%) Decision-Making
5 92 (12.57%) Business Intelligence
6 88 (12.02%) Analytics
7 76 (10.38%) AI
7 76 (10.38%) Mentoring
8 72 (9.84%) ERP
9 69 (9.43%) Collaborative Working
10 61 (8.33%) Cybersecurity
11 59 (8.06%) Stakeholder Management
12 56 (7.65%) Collaborative Culture
12 56 (7.65%) CRM
13 54 (7.38%) CI/CD
13 54 (7.38%) ITIL
14 52 (7.10%) Project Management
14 52 (7.10%) Workflow
15 51 (6.97%) Root Cause Analysis
16 50 (6.83%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 116 (15.85%) SQL
2 65 (8.88%) Java
3 46 (6.28%) Python
4 27 (3.69%) PowerShell
5 26 (3.55%) JavaScript
6 25 (3.42%) C#
7 19 (2.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 19 (2.60%) Ladder Logic
8 16 (2.19%) C
8 16 (2.19%) Embedded C
9 13 (1.78%) TypeScript
10 12 (1.64%) COBOL
10 12 (1.64%) JCL
11 10 (1.37%) MATLAB
12 7 (0.96%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.96%) RPG
13 6 (0.82%) ABAP
13 6 (0.82%) PHP
13 6 (0.82%) R
14 5 (0.68%) Bash
Qualifications
1 111 (15.16%) Degree
2 81 (11.07%) Security Cleared
3 66 (9.02%) SC Cleared
4 22 (3.01%) Azure Certification
5 14 (1.91%) DBS Check
6 12 (1.64%) PMI Certification
7 11 (1.50%) Cisco Certification
7 11 (1.50%) Microsoft Certification
8 9 (1.23%) CCNA
8 9 (1.23%) HNC
8 9 (1.23%) HND
9 8 (1.09%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (0.96%) ACCA
11 6 (0.82%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (0.82%) CCNP
11 6 (0.82%) CIMA
11 6 (0.82%) ISTQB
11 6 (0.82%) PMP
12 5 (0.68%) ISEB
13 4 (0.55%) NVQ Level 3
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 46 (6.28%) Data Quality
2 36 (4.92%) QA
3 34 (4.64%) GDPR
4 24 (3.28%) Cyber Essentials
4 24 (3.28%) SLA
5 22 (3.01%) Accessibility
6 20 (2.73%) ISO 9001
6 20 (2.73%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.23%) ISO 14001
8 5 (0.68%) NIST
9 4 (0.55%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.41%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.41%) AQAP
10 3 (0.41%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 3 (0.41%) GMP
10 3 (0.41%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.41%) ISO 26262
10 3 (0.41%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.27%) Automotive SPICE
11 2 (0.27%) GRC
System Software
1 79 (10.79%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.14%) Hyper-V
3 15 (2.05%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (1.91%) Docker
4 14 (1.91%) Firmware
5 12 (1.64%) Embedded Firmware
6 7 (0.96%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.68%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.55%) vSphere
9 2 (0.27%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 30 (4.10%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (1.64%) Kubernetes
3 7 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.82%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.68%) SCCM
6 4 (0.55%) Ansible
7 3 (0.41%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.41%) Puppet
8 2 (0.27%) Grafana
8 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.27%) WSUS
9 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.14%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.14%) Nagios
Vendors
1 198 (27.05%) Microsoft
2 39 (5.33%) SAP
3 22 (3.01%) VMware
4 21 (2.87%) Cisco
4 21 (2.87%) Workday
5 18 (2.46%) Sage
6 14 (1.91%) Google
6 14 (1.91%) Oracle
7 13 (1.78%) ServiceNow
8 12 (1.64%) HubSpot
9 11 (1.50%) Salesforce
10 10 (1.37%) Dell
11 9 (1.23%) Apple
12 8 (1.09%) Broadcom
12 8 (1.09%) Databricks
12 8 (1.09%) Sophos
13 7 (0.96%) IBM
14 6 (0.82%) iManage
14 6 (0.82%) McAfee
14 6 (0.82%) Pega