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 11 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 26 2 3
Rank change year-on-year -24 +1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 512 696 1,160
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 6.09% 21.66% 15.72%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 8.34% 24.29% 18.97%
Number of salaries quoted 384 427 763
10th Percentile £26,000 £26,250 £25,000
25th Percentile £30,500 £35,000 £29,625
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £48,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -11.46% +12.94% -15.00%
75th Percentile £57,500 £62,875 £58,750
90th Percentile £65,640 £75,000 £71,380
England median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% +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 6,141 2,865 6,114
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 73.03% 89.17% 82.88%
Number of salaries quoted 3,679 1,690 4,561
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £38,313 £35,700
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -5.66%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £83,750 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -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 11 May 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 11 May 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 -14 173 £49,000 -10.91% 75
Staffordshire -14 98 £30,750 -38.50% 30
Warwickshire -17 63 £32,500 -7.14% 54
Worcestershire -16 40 £32,500 +6.56% 24
Shropshire -16 27 £50,000 +17.65% 19
Coventry -17 23 £42,000 -26.96% 13
Herefordshire -17 15 £52,500 +4.48% 3
Solihull -3 13 £87,500 +59.09% 8
Walsall +4 8 £40,750 -20.10% 3
Tipton -3 8 £33,500 -
Halesowen -4 7 £47,500 +26.67% 1
Dudley +1 4 - - 3
Wolverhampton -29 3 £80,000 +146.15% 5
Kingswinford -6 1 £30,500 -18.67%
Sutton Coldfield -7 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 49 (9.57%) SharePoint
2 31 (6.05%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (0.98%) Skype for Business
4 4 (0.78%) Exchange Server 2007
4 4 (0.78%) Exchange Server 2010
4 4 (0.78%) Exchange Server 2013
4 4 (0.78%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 3 (0.59%) WordPress
6 2 (0.39%) Confluence
7 1 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.20%) Appian
7 1 (0.20%) SAS
Applications
1 40 (7.81%) Microsoft Office
2 31 (6.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.73%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.98%) Fusion 360
6 4 (0.78%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.39%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.20%) Abaqus
8 1 (0.20%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.20%) Sketch
8 1 (0.20%) Trello
Business Applications
1 10 (1.95%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (0.98%) Magento
2 5 (0.98%) Shopify
3 4 (0.78%) Line 50
3 4 (0.78%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.59%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.39%) Sage 50
5 2 (0.39%) Sage X3
5 2 (0.39%) SAP Business One
5 2 (0.39%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.20%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.20%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.20%) Raiser’s Edge
Cloud Services
1 118 (23.05%) Microsoft 365
2 107 (20.90%) Azure
3 50 (9.77%) Power Platform
4 44 (8.59%) Entra ID
5 37 (7.23%) AWS
6 23 (4.49%) SaaS
7 14 (2.73%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.54%) Power Automate
9 12 (2.34%) PowerApps
10 11 (2.15%) OneDrive
11 9 (1.76%) Google Workspace
12 7 (1.37%) Azure Data Factory
12 7 (1.37%) Azure Sentinel
12 7 (1.37%) Microsoft Copilot
12 7 (1.37%) Serverless
13 6 (1.17%) GCP
14 4 (0.78%) AWS Lambda
14 4 (0.78%) IaaS
14 4 (0.78%) Microsoft Purview
14 4 (0.78%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 26 (5.08%) WAN
2 25 (4.88%) VPN
3 24 (4.69%) Firewall
4 20 (3.91%) DNS
4 20 (3.91%) Wi-Fi
5 19 (3.71%) Internet
6 17 (3.32%) LAN
7 16 (3.13%) DHCP
8 12 (2.34%) Wireless
9 11 (2.15%) SD-WAN
10 10 (1.95%) Network Security
10 10 (1.95%) VLAN
11 7 (1.37%) VoIP
12 5 (0.98%) Bluetooth
12 5 (0.98%) Skype
12 5 (0.98%) TCP/IP
13 3 (0.59%) SAN
14 2 (0.39%) Broadband
14 2 (0.39%) NAS
15 1 (0.20%) 4G
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (8.98%) Power BI
2 13 (2.54%) SQL Server
2 13 (2.54%) Tableau
3 11 (2.15%) Power Query
4 7 (1.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 7 (1.37%) Star Schema
5 6 (1.17%) Oracle Reports
6 5 (0.98%) MySQL
7 4 (0.78%) Data Mining
7 4 (0.78%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.78%) FileMaker
7 4 (0.78%) NoSQL
7 4 (0.78%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
8 3 (0.59%) GIS
8 3 (0.59%) PostgreSQL
8 3 (0.59%) Redis
8 3 (0.59%) TimescaleDB
9 2 (0.39%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.39%) MariaDB
Development Applications
1 16 (3.13%) Git
2 15 (2.93%) JIRA
3 5 (0.98%) JUnit
3 5 (0.98%) Maven
3 5 (0.98%) Mockito
4 4 (0.78%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.59%) GitLab
6 2 (0.39%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
7 1 (0.20%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.20%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.20%) Bugzilla
7 1 (0.20%) MLflow
7 1 (0.20%) Postman
7 1 (0.20%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.20%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.20%) Visual Studio
7 1 (0.20%) Yeoman
General
1 213 (41.60%) Social Skills
2 143 (27.93%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (19.34%) Finance
4 61 (11.91%) Manufacturing
5 36 (7.03%) Organisational Skills
6 30 (5.86%) Public Sector
7 28 (5.47%) Legal
8 23 (4.49%) Law
9 22 (4.30%) Marketing
10 20 (3.91%) Retail
11 16 (3.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (2.34%) Automotive
13 11 (2.15%) Banking
13 11 (2.15%) Telecoms
14 10 (1.95%) Electronics
14 10 (1.95%) Investment Banking
15 7 (1.37%) Presentation Skills
16 5 (0.98%) Documentation Skills
16 5 (0.98%) Influencing Skills
17 4 (0.78%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 88 (17.19%) Support Engineer
2 87 (16.99%) Analyst
3 73 (14.26%) IT Support
4 62 (12.11%) IT Engineer
5 50 (9.77%) IT Support Engineer
6 38 (7.42%) Lead
6 38 (7.42%) Senior
7 36 (7.03%) Technical Engineer
7 36 (7.03%) Technical Support
7 36 (7.03%) Technical Support Engineer
8 35 (6.84%) Developer
9 29 (5.66%) Support Analyst
10 20 (3.91%) 2nd Line Support
11 18 (3.52%) Consultant
12 17 (3.32%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 17 (3.32%) Instructor
13 16 (3.13%) Architect
14 15 (2.93%) Programmer
15 14 (2.73%) Business Analyst
15 14 (2.73%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (3.32%) REST
2 15 (2.93%) React
3 10 (1.95%) CSS
3 10 (1.95%) HTML
4 9 (1.76%) .NET
5 8 (1.56%) AngularJS
5 8 (1.56%) Spring
6 7 (1.37%) Spring Boot
7 5 (0.98%) RESTful
8 4 (0.78%) .NET Framework
8 4 (0.78%) Node.js
9 3 (0.59%) EDI
9 3 (0.59%) GraphQL
10 2 (0.39%) JSON
10 2 (0.39%) Playwright
10 2 (0.39%) WinForms
11 1 (0.20%) Oracle Fusion
11 1 (0.20%) WPF
11 1 (0.20%) XML
11 1 (0.20%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 48 (9.38%) Driving Licence
2 26 (5.08%) Self-Motivation
3 24 (4.69%) Onboarding
4 22 (4.30%) Management Information System
5 18 (3.52%) Social Media
6 13 (2.54%) FMCG
7 10 (1.95%) Enterprise Software
8 9 (1.76%) Data Centre
9 8 (1.56%) Virtual Team
10 7 (1.37%) Analytical Mindset
10 7 (1.37%) Cyber Defence
10 7 (1.37%) Legacy Systems
10 7 (1.37%) Product Ownership
11 6 (1.17%) Hybrid Cloud
12 5 (0.98%) iSeries
13 4 (0.78%) CCTV
13 4 (0.78%) Data Structures
13 4 (0.78%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
13 4 (0.78%) IoT
13 4 (0.78%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 88 (17.19%) Windows
2 26 (5.08%) Windows 10
3 21 (4.10%) Linux
4 17 (3.32%) Windows Server
5 11 (2.15%) Apple iOS
6 6 (1.17%) Android
7 5 (0.98%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.78%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.78%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.78%) Unix
9 2 (0.39%) CentOS
9 2 (0.39%) Debian
9 2 (0.39%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 101 (19.73%) Continuous Improvement
2 68 (13.28%) Agile
3 63 (12.30%) Customer Service
4 58 (11.33%) ITIL
5 57 (11.13%) Decision-Making
6 51 (9.96%) Analytics
7 46 (8.98%) Business Intelligence
7 46 (8.98%) Collaborative Working
8 44 (8.59%) Mentoring
9 43 (8.40%) ERP
10 42 (8.20%) Project Management
11 41 (8.01%) AI
12 39 (7.62%) CRM
13 36 (7.03%) Cybersecurity
14 35 (6.84%) Service Delivery
15 32 (6.25%) Coaching
15 32 (6.25%) Roadmaps
16 29 (5.66%) Customer Experience
17 28 (5.47%) Computer Science
18 27 (5.27%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 63 (12.30%) SQL
2 33 (6.45%) Python
3 22 (4.30%) Java
4 20 (3.91%) PowerShell
5 12 (2.34%) C
6 11 (2.15%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 10 (1.95%) Ladder Logic
7 10 (1.95%) PHP
8 9 (1.76%) Bash
8 9 (1.76%) JavaScript
9 8 (1.56%) C#
9 8 (1.56%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.98%) C++
10 5 (0.98%) PL/SQL
10 5 (0.98%) R
11 4 (0.78%) Embedded C
12 3 (0.59%) RPG
12 3 (0.59%) Rust
12 3 (0.59%) T-SQL
13 2 (0.39%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 67 (13.09%) Degree
2 43 (8.40%) Security Cleared
3 37 (7.23%) SC Cleared
4 21 (4.10%) DBS Check
4 21 (4.10%) Microsoft Certification
5 11 (2.15%) A+ Certification
6 10 (1.95%) CISSP
7 9 (1.76%) CompTIA Security+
7 9 (1.76%) Computer Science Degree
8 8 (1.56%) ACCA
8 8 (1.56%) BPSS Clearance
8 8 (1.56%) CIMA
9 7 (1.37%) CISA
9 7 (1.37%) SSCP
10 6 (1.17%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (1.17%) MCITP
11 5 (0.98%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 5 (0.98%) PMI Certification
12 4 (0.78%) AWS Certification
12 4 (0.78%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (6.05%) QA
2 29 (5.66%) Data Quality
3 22 (4.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 17 (3.32%) GDPR
4 17 (3.32%) NIST
5 16 (3.13%) Cyber Essentials
6 12 (2.34%) SLA
7 9 (1.76%) Accessibility
7 9 (1.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 6 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 5 (0.98%) HIPAA
9 5 (0.98%) ISO 14001
9 5 (0.98%) ISO 9001
10 3 (0.59%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 3 (0.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 3 (0.59%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.39%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.39%) PMO
12 1 (0.20%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 67 (13.09%) Active Directory
2 16 (3.13%) Docker
3 15 (2.93%) VMware Infrastructure
4 10 (1.95%) Hyper-V
5 7 (1.37%) Firmware
6 4 (0.78%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.39%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 28 (5.47%) Microsoft Intune
2 16 (3.13%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.54%) Terraform
4 6 (1.17%) Ansible
5 3 (0.59%) Nagios
5 3 (0.59%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.39%) Progress Chef
6 2 (0.39%) Puppet
6 2 (0.39%) SCCM
6 2 (0.39%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.20%) Functional Safety
7 1 (0.20%) Grafana
Vendors
1 139 (27.15%) Microsoft
2 20 (3.91%) Cisco
2 20 (3.91%) VMware
3 18 (3.52%) SAP
4 17 (3.32%) Oracle
5 11 (2.15%) Dell
5 11 (2.15%) Sage
6 9 (1.76%) Google
6 9 (1.76%) SolarWinds
7 8 (1.56%) Salesforce
8 7 (1.37%) HP
8 7 (1.37%) Meraki
8 7 (1.37%) Zscaler
9 6 (1.17%) Avaya
9 6 (1.17%) McAfee
9 6 (1.17%) Sophos
10 4 (0.78%) Adobe
10 4 (0.78%) Apple
11 3 (0.59%) Cognos
11 3 (0.59%) IBM