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

6 months to
12 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 715 661 932
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.13% 20.00% 15.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.78% 23.44% 19.40%
Number of salaries quoted 494 425 340
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £25,725
25th Percentile £33,250 £29,250 £33,716
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £44,543 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.59% -10.91% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £58,750 £60,000
90th Percentile £67,125 £67,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £47,085 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.63% -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 6,071 2,820 4,805
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.04% 85.33% 79.06%
Number of salaries quoted 4,525 1,791 2,589
10th Percentile £31,350 £29,000 £28,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £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% -8.00%

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 12 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 12 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 -8 256 £55,000 +22.22% 213
Staffordshire -7 95 £47,500 +5.56% 51
Warwickshire -5 75 £40,000 -27.27% 69
Worcestershire -4 70 £40,000 +31.15% 27
Shropshire +4 58 £45,000 -5.26% 49
Coventry -12 35 £42,000 +27.27% 36
Wolverhampton +1 16 £38,500 -21.03% 25
Solihull +1 14 £30,750 -9.56% 21
Herefordshire -22 9 £28,500 -12.31% 10
Tipton - 7 £33,500 - 3
Walsall 0 6 £37,500 -16.67% 7
Halesowen -3 5 £47,500 +46.15% 1
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Dudley - 4 £31,050 - 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 (5.87%) SharePoint
2 29 (4.06%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.40%) IIS
4 8 (1.12%) Confluence
5 5 (0.70%) Skype for Business
6 4 (0.56%) CICS
7 3 (0.42%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.42%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.42%) WordPress
8 2 (0.28%) Documentum
8 2 (0.28%) 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 59 (8.25%) Microsoft Office
2 40 (5.59%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.26%) Simulink
4 6 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.84%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.70%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.56%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.42%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.28%) Chatbot
8 2 (0.28%) OrCAD
8 2 (0.28%) Revit
9 1 (0.14%) EPLAN
9 1 (0.14%) LaTeX
9 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
9 1 (0.14%) Navisworks
9 1 (0.14%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.14%) SketchUp
9 1 (0.14%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.40%) NetSuite
1 10 (1.40%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.26%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.70%) Magento
3 5 (0.70%) Shopify
4 4 (0.56%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.56%) Line 50
4 4 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.56%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.56%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.42%) Oracle Cash Management
5 3 (0.42%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.42%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.42%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.42%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.28%) 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
1 139 (19.44%) Azure
2 124 (17.34%) Microsoft 365
3 91 (12.73%) Power Platform
4 55 (7.69%) AWS
5 52 (7.27%) Entra ID
6 44 (6.15%) SaaS
7 24 (3.36%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (3.22%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.38%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.24%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (2.10%) GitHub
12 14 (1.96%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.82%) GitHub Actions
14 12 (1.68%) GCP
15 11 (1.54%) Microsoft Copilot
16 10 (1.40%) PaaS
17 7 (0.98%) Google Workspace
18 6 (0.84%) IaaS
19 4 (0.56%) Amazon Kinesis
19 4 (0.56%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 29 (4.06%) Firewall
2 23 (3.22%) DNS
2 23 (3.22%) TCP/IP
3 22 (3.08%) VPN
4 21 (2.94%) WAN
4 21 (2.94%) Wireless
5 17 (2.38%) LAN
6 16 (2.24%) Wi-Fi
7 15 (2.10%) DHCP
8 13 (1.82%) Network Security
9 12 (1.68%) VLAN
10 10 (1.40%) VoIP
11 7 (0.98%) Wireshark
12 6 (0.84%) Cisco IOS
12 6 (0.84%) SD-WAN
13 5 (0.70%) Skype
14 4 (0.56%) Bluetooth
15 3 (0.42%) HTTP
15 3 (0.42%) Internet
15 3 (0.42%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 86 (12.03%) Power BI
2 27 (3.78%) SQL Server
3 24 (3.36%) Tableau
4 21 (2.94%) Relational Database
5 19 (2.66%) Data Warehouse
6 18 (2.52%) Power Query
7 13 (1.82%) MySQL
8 12 (1.68%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 11 (1.54%) Data Mining
10 9 (1.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 8 (1.12%) Electronic Patient Records
12 7 (0.98%) Data Lake
13 6 (0.84%) Amazon Redshift
13 6 (0.84%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
14 5 (0.70%) Big Data
14 5 (0.70%) Oracle BI EE
14 5 (0.70%) Oracle Reports
14 5 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
14 5 (0.70%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 31 (4.34%) Git
2 26 (3.64%) JIRA
3 24 (3.36%) Jenkins
4 7 (0.98%) Cucumber
4 7 (0.98%) Eclipse
5 6 (0.84%) GitLab
5 6 (0.84%) JMeter
5 6 (0.84%) Maven
5 6 (0.84%) Postman
5 6 (0.84%) Selenium
6 5 (0.70%) JUnit
6 5 (0.70%) SoapUI
6 5 (0.70%) Zephyr
7 3 (0.42%) Mockito
8 2 (0.28%) Ant
8 2 (0.28%) Apache Ivy
8 2 (0.28%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.14%) Claude Code
9 1 (0.14%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.14%) TestRail
General
1 340 (47.55%) Social Skills
2 182 (25.45%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (15.94%) Finance
4 105 (14.69%) Manufacturing
5 52 (7.27%) Organisational Skills
6 50 (6.99%) Public Sector
7 44 (6.15%) Retail
8 32 (4.48%) Marketing
9 26 (3.64%) Electronics
10 21 (2.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 21 (2.94%) Legal
11 20 (2.80%) Law
12 18 (2.52%) Automotive
13 15 (2.10%) Documentation Skills
14 12 (1.68%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.40%) Banking
16 8 (1.12%) Billing
16 8 (1.12%) Fire and Rescue
16 8 (1.12%) Influencing Skills
16 8 (1.12%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 87 (12.17%) Support Engineer
2 80 (11.19%) Analyst
3 73 (10.21%) Developer
4 69 (9.65%) Technical Support
5 61 (8.53%) Technical Engineer
6 59 (8.25%) Technical Support Engineer
7 55 (7.69%) Lead
8 54 (7.55%) IT Support
9 47 (6.57%) Consultant
10 46 (6.43%) Senior
11 36 (5.03%) IT Engineer
12 34 (4.76%) IT Manager
13 32 (4.48%) Support Analyst
14 26 (3.64%) IT Support Engineer
15 24 (3.36%) Administrator
16 19 (2.66%) Architect
17 16 (2.24%) Project Manager
18 15 (2.10%) 1st Line Support
18 15 (2.10%) 2nd Line Support
19 14 (1.96%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (5.17%) REST
2 33 (4.62%) .NET
3 28 (3.92%) Spring
4 27 (3.78%) React
5 25 (3.50%) Spring Boot
6 15 (2.10%) CSS
6 15 (2.10%) HTML
6 15 (2.10%) RESTful
7 14 (1.96%) AngularJS
7 14 (1.96%) Playwright
8 12 (1.68%) ISPF
9 11 (1.54%) SOAP
9 11 (1.54%) XML
10 10 (1.40%) Terraform
11 8 (1.12%) LDAP
12 7 (0.98%) JSON
12 7 (0.98%) Node.js
12 7 (0.98%) SAP Fiori
13 6 (0.84%) OAuth
13 6 (0.84%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 64 (8.95%) Driving Licence
2 42 (5.87%) Onboarding
3 39 (5.45%) Self-Motivation
4 38 (5.31%) Management Information System
5 34 (4.76%) Enterprise Software
6 19 (2.66%) Data Centre
6 19 (2.66%) NHS
7 17 (2.38%) Virtual Team
8 16 (2.24%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (1.96%) Legacy Applications
10 12 (1.68%) Mainframe
11 11 (1.54%) Public Cloud
12 10 (1.40%) Cloud Native
12 10 (1.40%) Data Structures
13 9 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.26%) IoT
13 9 (1.26%) Mobile App
13 9 (1.26%) Social Media
13 9 (1.26%) SystemC
14 8 (1.12%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 113 (15.80%) Windows
2 39 (5.45%) Linux
3 38 (5.31%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.94%) Windows 10
5 14 (1.96%) Android
6 10 (1.40%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.26%) Unix
8 7 (0.98%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.56%) FreeRTOS
10 3 (0.42%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.28%) Solaris
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) Debian
12 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.14%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 222 (31.05%) Continuous Improvement
2 129 (18.04%) Customer Service
3 107 (14.97%) Agile
4 91 (12.73%) Decision-Making
5 89 (12.45%) Business Intelligence
6 84 (11.75%) Analytics
7 77 (10.77%) AI
8 74 (10.35%) Mentoring
9 72 (10.07%) ERP
10 68 (9.51%) Collaborative Working
11 59 (8.25%) Stakeholder Management
12 58 (8.11%) Cybersecurity
13 57 (7.97%) Collaborative Culture
14 56 (7.83%) CI/CD
15 55 (7.69%) ITIL
16 53 (7.41%) CRM
17 52 (7.27%) Workflow
18 51 (7.13%) Project Management
19 50 (6.99%) Root Cause Analysis
20 49 (6.85%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 111 (15.52%) SQL
2 66 (9.23%) Java
3 45 (6.29%) Python
4 30 (4.20%) JavaScript
5 27 (3.78%) PowerShell
6 25 (3.50%) C#
7 19 (2.66%) Ladder Logic
8 18 (2.52%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 16 (2.24%) C
10 15 (2.10%) Embedded C
11 14 (1.96%) TypeScript
12 12 (1.68%) COBOL
12 12 (1.68%) JCL
13 9 (1.26%) MATLAB
13 9 (1.26%) PHP
14 7 (0.98%) PL/SQL
14 7 (0.98%) RPG
15 6 (0.84%) ABAP
15 6 (0.84%) R
16 5 (0.70%) Bash
Qualifications
1 110 (15.38%) Degree
2 80 (11.19%) Security Cleared
3 65 (9.09%) SC Cleared
4 21 (2.94%) Azure Certification
5 13 (1.82%) DBS Check
5 13 (1.82%) PMI Certification
6 12 (1.68%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (1.54%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (1.26%) CCNA
8 9 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.12%) HND
10 7 (0.98%) ACCA
10 7 (0.98%) CIMA
10 7 (0.98%) HNC
10 7 (0.98%) PMP
11 6 (0.84%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (0.84%) CCNP
11 6 (0.84%) ISTQB
12 5 (0.70%) ISEB
13 4 (0.56%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (6.29%) Data Quality
2 35 (4.90%) QA
3 33 (4.62%) GDPR
4 24 (3.36%) Cyber Essentials
4 24 (3.36%) SLA
5 23 (3.22%) Accessibility
6 20 (2.80%) ISO 9001
6 20 (2.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (1.26%) ISO 14001
8 5 (0.70%) NIST
9 4 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.42%) AQAP
10 3 (0.42%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 3 (0.42%) GMP
10 3 (0.42%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.42%) ISO 26262
10 3 (0.42%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.28%) Automotive SPICE
11 2 (0.28%) GRC
System Software
1 80 (11.19%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.36%) Hyper-V
3 16 (2.24%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (2.10%) Docker
5 13 (1.82%) Firmware
6 11 (1.54%) Embedded Firmware
7 7 (0.98%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.70%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.56%) vSphere
10 2 (0.28%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 29 (4.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (1.82%) Kubernetes
3 6 (0.84%) Functional Safety
3 6 (0.84%) Single Sign-On
4 5 (0.70%) SCCM
5 4 (0.56%) Ansible
6 3 (0.42%) Progress Chef
6 3 (0.42%) Puppet
7 2 (0.28%) Grafana
7 2 (0.28%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.28%) WSUS
8 1 (0.14%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.14%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.14%) Nagios
Vendors
1 193 (26.99%) Microsoft
2 39 (5.45%) SAP
3 23 (3.22%) VMware
4 21 (2.94%) Cisco
5 18 (2.52%) Sage
6 17 (2.38%) Workday
7 14 (1.96%) Oracle
8 13 (1.82%) ServiceNow
9 12 (1.68%) HubSpot
10 11 (1.54%) Google
10 11 (1.54%) Salesforce
11 10 (1.40%) Dell
12 9 (1.26%) Apple
13 8 (1.12%) Broadcom
13 8 (1.12%) Databricks
13 8 (1.12%) Sophos
14 7 (0.98%) IBM
15 6 (0.84%) iManage
15 6 (0.84%) McAfee
15 6 (0.84%) Pega