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

6 months to
9 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 585 659 1,249
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.40% 19.97% 15.22%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.75% 23.11% 18.82%
Number of salaries quoted 438 429 682
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,000 £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 £57,438 £61,250 £57,875
90th Percentile £63,750 £70,250 £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 5,444 2,852 6,636
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.83% 86.42% 80.86%
Number of salaries quoted 4,070 1,791 4,482
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 £78,750
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 9 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 9 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 -15 186 £50,000 +4.17% 73
Staffordshire -4 99 £42,500 -17.39% 26
Warwickshire -3 74 £32,500 -29.73% 36
Worcestershire -6 50 £37,500 +22.95% 26
Shropshire +4 36 £44,500 +4.71% 22
Coventry -14 32 £42,000 -11.58% 10
Wolverhampton -13 12 £38,500 +18.46% 3
Solihull 0 11 £30,500 -44.55% 3
Herefordshire -23 11 £52,500 +61.54% 8
Walsall +4 9 £37,500 -14.77% 3
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 1
Halesowen -1 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 1
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
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 48 (8.21%) SharePoint
2 31 (5.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.37%) IIS
4 5 (0.85%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.68%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.51%) Confluence
6 3 (0.51%) WordPress
7 2 (0.34%) Oracle SOA Suite
8 1 (0.17%) Appian
8 1 (0.17%) Documentum
8 1 (0.17%) SAS
Applications
1 56 (9.57%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (5.30%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (1.03%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.85%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.68%) Microsoft Project
7 1 (0.17%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.17%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.17%) Simulink
7 1 (0.17%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 9 (1.54%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.03%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.85%) Magento
3 5 (0.85%) Shopify
4 4 (0.68%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.68%) Line 50
4 4 (0.68%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.68%) Sage X3
5 2 (0.34%) JDE EnterpriseOne
5 2 (0.34%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.34%) SAP Business One
6 1 (0.17%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.17%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.17%) Raiser’s Edge
Cloud Services
1 123 (21.03%) Microsoft 365
2 112 (19.15%) Azure
3 67 (11.45%) Power Platform
4 57 (9.74%) Entra ID
5 36 (6.15%) AWS
6 32 (5.47%) SaaS
7 14 (2.39%) Dynamics 365
7 14 (2.39%) Microsoft Purview
7 14 (2.39%) Power Automate
7 14 (2.39%) PowerApps
8 9 (1.54%) Google Workspace
8 9 (1.54%) OneDrive
9 6 (1.03%) Azure Data Factory
9 6 (1.03%) GCP
9 6 (1.03%) Microsoft Copilot
10 5 (0.85%) PaaS
11 4 (0.68%) Amazon S3
11 4 (0.68%) IaaS
11 4 (0.68%) Serverless
12 3 (0.51%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 32 (5.47%) Firewall
2 24 (4.10%) VPN
2 24 (4.10%) WAN
3 23 (3.93%) DNS
4 20 (3.42%) LAN
4 20 (3.42%) Wi-Fi
5 17 (2.91%) DHCP
6 16 (2.74%) Wireless
7 15 (2.56%) TCP/IP
8 12 (2.05%) Network Security
9 10 (1.71%) VLAN
10 9 (1.54%) Internet
11 6 (1.03%) SD-WAN
11 6 (1.03%) VoIP
12 5 (0.85%) Cisco IOS
12 5 (0.85%) Skype
13 4 (0.68%) Bluetooth
13 4 (0.68%) SSL
14 3 (0.51%) HTTP
14 3 (0.51%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 63 (10.77%) Power BI
2 22 (3.76%) SQL Server
3 16 (2.74%) Tableau
4 14 (2.39%) Power Query
5 11 (1.88%) MySQL
6 9 (1.54%) Data Warehouse
7 8 (1.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 8 (1.37%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 7 (1.20%) Amazon RDS
8 7 (1.20%) Relational Database
8 7 (1.20%) Star Schema
9 6 (1.03%) Data Mining
10 5 (0.85%) Azure SQL Database
11 4 (0.68%) FileMaker
11 4 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
12 3 (0.51%) Amazon Redshift
12 3 (0.51%) GIS
12 3 (0.51%) NoSQL
12 3 (0.51%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 2 (0.34%) Redis
Development Applications
1 15 (2.56%) Git
2 11 (1.88%) JIRA
3 5 (0.85%) JUnit
4 4 (0.68%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.68%) Maven
4 4 (0.68%) Mockito
5 2 (0.34%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.34%) GitLab
5 2 (0.34%) Postman
5 2 (0.34%) SoapUI
5 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 1 (0.17%) Appium
6 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.17%) Carbide.c++
6 1 (0.17%) Selenium
6 1 (0.17%) TeamCity
6 1 (0.17%) TestRail
6 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.17%) Yeoman
6 1 (0.17%) Zephyr
General
1 265 (45.30%) Social Skills
2 152 (25.98%) Analytical Skills
3 91 (15.56%) Finance
4 85 (14.53%) Manufacturing
5 35 (5.98%) Organisational Skills
5 35 (5.98%) Public Sector
6 29 (4.96%) Retail
7 27 (4.62%) Marketing
8 25 (4.27%) Legal
9 18 (3.08%) Law
10 16 (2.74%) Electronics
11 14 (2.39%) Automotive
11 14 (2.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (2.05%) Documentation Skills
13 11 (1.88%) Banking
14 10 (1.71%) Investment Banking
14 10 (1.71%) Telecoms
15 6 (1.03%) Games
15 6 (1.03%) Influencing Skills
16 4 (0.68%) Esports
Job Titles
1 107 (18.29%) Support Engineer
2 82 (14.02%) Analyst
3 66 (11.28%) IT Support
4 65 (11.11%) Technical Support
5 64 (10.94%) Technical Engineer
6 63 (10.77%) Technical Support Engineer
7 57 (9.74%) Developer
8 52 (8.89%) IT Engineer
9 44 (7.52%) Senior
10 42 (7.18%) IT Support Engineer
11 31 (5.30%) IT Manager
11 31 (5.30%) Lead
12 29 (4.96%) Support Analyst
13 21 (3.59%) Consultant
14 16 (2.74%) 2nd Line Support
14 16 (2.74%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 16 (2.74%) Programmer
15 15 (2.56%) 1st Line Support
15 15 (2.56%) IT Analyst
16 14 (2.39%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (5.47%) REST
2 21 (3.59%) React
3 18 (3.08%) .NET
4 15 (2.56%) Spring
5 12 (2.05%) AngularJS
5 12 (2.05%) Spring Boot
6 11 (1.88%) CSS
6 11 (1.88%) HTML
7 10 (1.71%) RESTful
8 7 (1.20%) Node.js
9 6 (1.03%) Middleware
9 6 (1.03%) SOAP
10 5 (0.85%) JDBC
10 5 (0.85%) OAuth
10 5 (0.85%) SAP Fiori
10 5 (0.85%) SAPUI5
11 4 (0.68%) .NET Framework
11 4 (0.68%) COM
11 4 (0.68%) DCOM
11 4 (0.68%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 48 (8.21%) Driving Licence
2 28 (4.79%) Self-Motivation
3 27 (4.62%) Management Information System
4 25 (4.27%) Onboarding
5 19 (3.25%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (2.22%) Social Media
7 11 (1.88%) Virtual Team
8 10 (1.71%) Data Centre
8 10 (1.71%) Legacy Systems
9 9 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
9 9 (1.54%) Data Structures
9 9 (1.54%) IoT
9 9 (1.54%) NHS
10 8 (1.37%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (1.37%) Security Posture
11 7 (1.20%) AS400
11 7 (1.20%) Cyber Defence
11 7 (1.20%) iSeries
11 7 (1.20%) Mobile App
12 5 (0.85%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 101 (17.26%) Windows
2 32 (5.47%) Linux
3 30 (5.13%) Windows Server
4 29 (4.96%) Windows 10
5 15 (2.56%) Android
6 10 (1.71%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.85%) Unix
7 5 (0.85%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.68%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.68%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.34%) CentOS
9 2 (0.34%) Debian
9 2 (0.34%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 156 (26.67%) Continuous Improvement
2 94 (16.07%) Customer Service
3 69 (11.79%) Agile
3 69 (11.79%) Analytics
4 68 (11.62%) ITIL
5 67 (11.45%) Mentoring
6 66 (11.28%) Collaborative Working
6 66 (11.28%) Decision-Making
7 64 (10.94%) Business Intelligence
8 59 (10.09%) ERP
9 57 (9.74%) AI
10 52 (8.89%) Cybersecurity
11 49 (8.38%) Customer Experience
12 46 (7.86%) Service Delivery
13 43 (7.35%) Root Cause Analysis
14 41 (7.01%) CRM
15 33 (5.64%) Collaborative Culture
16 32 (5.47%) Stakeholder Management
16 32 (5.47%) Validation
17 31 (5.30%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 90 (15.38%) SQL
2 37 (6.32%) Java
3 31 (5.30%) Python
4 22 (3.76%) PowerShell
5 19 (3.25%) C#
6 18 (3.08%) Ladder Logic
7 14 (2.39%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 12 (2.05%) JavaScript
9 11 (1.88%) PHP
10 9 (1.54%) C
10 9 (1.54%) TypeScript
11 8 (1.37%) Bash
12 7 (1.20%) RPG
13 5 (0.85%) ABAP
13 5 (0.85%) C++
13 5 (0.85%) Embedded C
13 5 (0.85%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.68%) RPG IV
14 4 (0.68%) RPG/400
15 3 (0.51%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 76 (12.99%) Degree
2 59 (10.09%) Security Cleared
3 46 (7.86%) SC Cleared
4 20 (3.42%) Microsoft Certification
5 19 (3.25%) DBS Check
6 17 (2.91%) Azure Certification
7 11 (1.88%) CISSP
8 10 (1.71%) CompTIA Security+
9 9 (1.54%) A+ Certification
10 8 (1.37%) BPSS Clearance
11 7 (1.20%) CISA
11 7 (1.20%) Cisco Certification
11 7 (1.20%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (1.20%) SSCP
12 6 (1.03%) ACCA
12 6 (1.03%) CIMA
13 5 (0.85%) HND
13 5 (0.85%) MCITP
14 4 (0.68%) CCNA
14 4 (0.68%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (5.47%) Data Quality
2 31 (5.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (4.79%) Cyber Essentials
4 26 (4.44%) QA
5 25 (4.27%) GDPR
6 17 (2.91%) ISO 9001
6 17 (2.91%) NIST
7 14 (2.39%) Accessibility
7 14 (2.39%) SLA
8 9 (1.54%) ISO 14001
9 7 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 4 (0.68%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.68%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.51%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.51%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 3 (0.51%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.34%) GRC
12 2 (0.34%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.34%) PMO
System Software
1 84 (14.36%) Active Directory
2 26 (4.44%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.59%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (2.22%) Docker
5 8 (1.37%) Firmware
6 5 (0.85%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.68%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.51%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.34%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 38 (6.50%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (2.22%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.54%) Terraform
4 6 (1.03%) Ansible
5 4 (0.68%) Functional Safety
5 4 (0.68%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.51%) Grafana
6 3 (0.51%) Nagios
6 3 (0.51%) SCCM
7 2 (0.34%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.34%) Puppet
7 2 (0.34%) Single Sign-On
8 1 (0.17%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 167 (28.55%) Microsoft
2 26 (4.44%) SAP
2 26 (4.44%) VMware
3 22 (3.76%) Cisco
4 14 (2.39%) Sage
5 12 (2.05%) Dell
5 12 (2.05%) Salesforce
6 10 (1.71%) Google
6 10 (1.71%) Oracle
7 7 (1.20%) HP
7 7 (1.20%) IBM
8 6 (1.03%) Apple
8 6 (1.03%) McAfee
8 6 (1.03%) Meraki
8 6 (1.03%) SolarWinds
8 6 (1.03%) Sophos
9 5 (0.85%) HubSpot
9 5 (0.85%) iManage
10 4 (0.68%) ServiceNow
10 4 (0.68%) Xero