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 2 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 812 631 933
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.98% 19.36% 16.00%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.92% 22.23% 19.78%
Number of salaries quoted 543 399 311
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £26,250
25th Percentile £33,000 £29,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - -15.00% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £57,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £67,500 £67,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £46,500 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +3.33% -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 6,283 2,839 4,716
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.45% 87.11% 80.86%
Number of salaries quoted 4,595 1,739 2,314
10th Percentile £31,250 £29,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,099 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -9.09% +5.42%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -2.44%

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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -4 293 £55,000 +22.22% 317
Staffordshire -2 111 £46,000 +2.22% 74
Warwickshire -4 83 £40,000 -27.27% 89
Shropshire +1 71 £42,500 -10.53% 50
Worcestershire -3 66 £40,000 +31.15% 52
Coventry -7 39 £42,000 +33.33% 65
Wolverhampton +7 17 £49,250 -24.23% 28
Solihull +2 16 £31,000 -6.77% 34
Herefordshire -22 10 £29,750 -15.00% 22
Walsall -2 7 £37,500 -16.67% 5
Dudley - 7 £34,500 - 8
Halesowen -5 5 £47,500 +46.15%
Sutton Coldfield - 5 £42,500 -
Tipton - 5 £33,500 - 10
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67% 2
Smethwick - 1 £37,500 - 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 44 (5.42%) SharePoint
2 31 (3.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.23%) IIS
4 7 (0.86%) Confluence
5 6 (0.74%) CICS
6 5 (0.62%) WordPress
7 3 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.37%) CMS
7 3 (0.37%) Oracle Workflow
7 3 (0.37%) Skype for Business
8 2 (0.25%) Documentum
8 2 (0.25%) SAS
9 1 (0.12%) Apache
9 1 (0.12%) Appian
9 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
9 1 (0.12%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 68 (8.37%) Microsoft Office
2 56 (6.90%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.35%) Simulink
4 7 (0.86%) OrCAD
5 6 (0.74%) Spreadsheet
6 5 (0.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 3 (0.37%) AutoCAD
7 3 (0.37%) Fusion 360
7 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.25%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.25%) Chatbot
8 2 (0.25%) EPLAN
8 2 (0.25%) Revit
8 2 (0.25%) SOLIDWORKS
9 1 (0.12%) LaTeX
9 1 (0.12%) MS Visio
9 1 (0.12%) Navisworks
9 1 (0.12%) Siemens NX
9 1 (0.12%) SketchUp
9 1 (0.12%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.23%) NetSuite
2 9 (1.11%) SAP S/4HANA
3 7 (0.86%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.86%) Magento
3 7 (0.86%) Shopify
4 4 (0.49%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.49%) Line 50
4 4 (0.49%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.49%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.49%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.37%) Oracle Cash Management
5 3 (0.37%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.37%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.37%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.25%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 2 (0.25%) SAP Business One
7 1 (0.12%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.12%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.12%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.12%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 159 (19.58%) Azure
2 135 (16.63%) Microsoft 365
3 98 (12.07%) Power Platform
4 62 (7.64%) Entra ID
5 54 (6.65%) AWS
6 46 (5.67%) SaaS
7 31 (3.82%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (2.83%) Dynamics 365
9 19 (2.34%) GitHub
10 17 (2.09%) GitHub Actions
10 17 (2.09%) Microsoft Purview
11 16 (1.97%) Power Automate
12 14 (1.72%) GCP
13 13 (1.60%) PowerApps
14 11 (1.35%) PaaS
15 10 (1.23%) Google Workspace
15 10 (1.23%) Microsoft Copilot
16 9 (1.11%) OneDrive
17 8 (0.99%) Google Analytics
18 7 (0.86%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 30 (3.69%) Firewall
2 29 (3.57%) DNS
2 29 (3.57%) VPN
3 25 (3.08%) TCP/IP
3 25 (3.08%) WAN
4 21 (2.59%) LAN
4 21 (2.59%) Wireless
5 20 (2.46%) DHCP
6 16 (1.97%) Wi-Fi
7 13 (1.60%) Network Security
8 12 (1.48%) VLAN
9 9 (1.11%) VoIP
9 9 (1.11%) Wireshark
10 6 (0.74%) Cisco IOS
10 6 (0.74%) Internet
11 5 (0.62%) SD-WAN
12 4 (0.49%) Bluetooth
13 3 (0.37%) Ethernet
13 3 (0.37%) HTTP
13 3 (0.37%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 93 (11.45%) Power BI
2 33 (4.06%) SQL Server
3 23 (2.83%) Data Warehouse
3 23 (2.83%) Tableau
4 22 (2.71%) Relational Database
5 18 (2.22%) Power Query
6 14 (1.72%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 11 (1.35%) Azure SQL Database
7 11 (1.35%) MySQL
7 11 (1.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 10 (1.23%) Data Mining
9 9 (1.11%) Data Lake
10 8 (0.99%) Electronic Patient Records
11 7 (0.86%) Oracle Reports
11 7 (0.86%) PostgreSQL
12 6 (0.74%) Amazon Redshift
12 6 (0.74%) Db2
13 5 (0.62%) Amazon RDS
13 5 (0.62%) Big Data
13 5 (0.62%) Oracle BI EE
Development Applications
1 30 (3.69%) Git
2 28 (3.45%) Jenkins
3 25 (3.08%) JIRA
4 9 (1.11%) Eclipse
5 8 (0.99%) GitLab
6 7 (0.86%) Cucumber
7 6 (0.74%) JMeter
7 6 (0.74%) Maven
7 6 (0.74%) Postman
7 6 (0.74%) Selenium
8 5 (0.62%) JUnit
8 5 (0.62%) SoapUI
8 5 (0.62%) Zephyr
9 3 (0.37%) Mockito
10 2 (0.25%) Ant
10 2 (0.25%) Apache Ivy
10 2 (0.25%) IBM UrbanCode
11 1 (0.12%) Claude Code
11 1 (0.12%) REST Assured
11 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio
General
1 400 (49.26%) Social Skills
2 213 (26.23%) Analytical Skills
3 128 (15.76%) Manufacturing
4 127 (15.64%) Finance
5 73 (8.99%) Organisational Skills
6 59 (7.27%) Public Sector
7 58 (7.14%) Retail
8 40 (4.93%) Marketing
9 35 (4.31%) Electronics
10 23 (2.83%) Automotive
11 22 (2.71%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 21 (2.59%) Law
13 20 (2.46%) Legal
14 16 (1.97%) Documentation Skills
15 15 (1.85%) Telecoms
16 10 (1.23%) Billing
16 10 (1.23%) Fire and Rescue
17 9 (1.11%) Influencing Skills
18 8 (0.99%) Banking
18 8 (0.99%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 95 (11.70%) Support Engineer
2 85 (10.47%) Analyst
3 72 (8.87%) Developer
4 68 (8.37%) Technical Support
5 66 (8.13%) IT Support
6 63 (7.76%) Lead
7 60 (7.39%) Technical Engineer
8 58 (7.14%) Technical Support Engineer
9 54 (6.65%) Consultant
10 53 (6.53%) Senior
11 46 (5.67%) IT Engineer
12 34 (4.19%) IT Support Engineer
13 33 (4.06%) IT Manager
14 29 (3.57%) Administrator
15 28 (3.45%) Support Analyst
16 22 (2.71%) Architect
17 18 (2.22%) Electronics Engineer
18 17 (2.09%) Infrastructure Engineer
19 16 (1.97%) 2nd Line Support
19 16 (1.97%) Applications Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (4.93%) .NET
2 39 (4.80%) REST
3 30 (3.69%) Spring
4 27 (3.33%) Spring Boot
5 24 (2.96%) React
6 16 (1.97%) ISPF
7 15 (1.85%) RESTful
8 14 (1.72%) Playwright
9 13 (1.60%) CSS
9 13 (1.60%) HTML
9 13 (1.60%) SOAP
10 12 (1.48%) AngularJS
10 12 (1.48%) Terraform
11 10 (1.23%) XML
12 8 (0.99%) LDAP
12 8 (0.99%) SAP Fiori
12 8 (0.99%) Web Services
13 7 (0.86%) Node.js
14 6 (0.74%) OAuth
14 6 (0.74%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 76 (9.36%) Driving Licence
2 47 (5.79%) Onboarding
3 43 (5.30%) Enterprise Software
4 42 (5.17%) Self-Motivation
5 41 (5.05%) Management Information System
6 19 (2.34%) NHS
7 17 (2.09%) Data Centre
8 16 (1.97%) Legacy Applications
8 16 (1.97%) Mainframe
8 16 (1.97%) Virtual Team
9 15 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
9 15 (1.85%) Social Media
10 13 (1.60%) Cloud Native
11 12 (1.48%) Data Structures
12 11 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
12 11 (1.35%) Hybrid Cloud
12 11 (1.35%) Mobile App
12 11 (1.35%) Public Cloud
12 11 (1.35%) Robotics
13 10 (1.23%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 132 (16.26%) Windows
2 46 (5.67%) Windows Server
3 40 (4.93%) Linux
4 21 (2.59%) Windows 10
5 12 (1.48%) Android
6 9 (1.11%) Unix
7 8 (0.99%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.86%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.49%) FreeRTOS
10 3 (0.37%) Solaris
10 3 (0.37%) Windows Server 2016
11 2 (0.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.12%) AIX
12 1 (0.12%) CentOS
12 1 (0.12%) Debian
12 1 (0.12%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 1 (0.12%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.12%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 237 (29.19%) Continuous Improvement
2 159 (19.58%) Customer Service
3 119 (14.66%) Agile
4 99 (12.19%) Business Intelligence
4 99 (12.19%) Decision-Making
5 96 (11.82%) Analytics
6 82 (10.10%) Mentoring
7 77 (9.48%) AI
8 76 (9.36%) Collaborative Working
8 76 (9.36%) ERP
9 73 (8.99%) Stakeholder Management
10 64 (7.88%) CI/CD
11 63 (7.76%) Cybersecurity
12 62 (7.64%) CRM
13 61 (7.51%) Collaborative Culture
14 60 (7.39%) Project Delivery
15 58 (7.14%) Customer Experience
16 57 (7.02%) Project Management
16 57 (7.02%) Root Cause Analysis
16 57 (7.02%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 132 (16.26%) SQL
2 68 (8.37%) Java
3 55 (6.77%) Python
4 29 (3.57%) PowerShell
5 26 (3.20%) C#
5 26 (3.20%) JavaScript
6 20 (2.46%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 17 (2.09%) C
7 17 (2.09%) Embedded C
7 17 (2.09%) Ladder Logic
8 16 (1.97%) COBOL
8 16 (1.97%) JCL
9 13 (1.60%) TypeScript
10 11 (1.35%) MATLAB
11 8 (0.99%) R
12 7 (0.86%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.86%) RPG
13 6 (0.74%) ABAP
13 6 (0.74%) PHP
14 5 (0.62%) Bash
Qualifications
1 124 (15.27%) Degree
2 80 (9.85%) Security Cleared
3 65 (8.00%) SC Cleared
4 22 (2.71%) Azure Certification
5 18 (2.22%) HNC
6 16 (1.97%) DBS Check
6 16 (1.97%) HND
7 12 (1.48%) PMI Certification
8 11 (1.35%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.35%) Microsoft Certification
9 10 (1.23%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (1.11%) CCNA
11 8 (0.99%) BPSS Clearance
12 7 (0.86%) ACCA
13 6 (0.74%) CCNP
13 6 (0.74%) CIMA
13 6 (0.74%) ISTQB
14 5 (0.62%) ISEB
14 5 (0.62%) NVQ Level 3
14 5 (0.62%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 50 (6.16%) Data Quality
2 38 (4.68%) QA
3 34 (4.19%) GDPR
4 25 (3.08%) Cyber Essentials
5 23 (2.83%) SLA
6 20 (2.46%) Accessibility
6 20 (2.46%) ISO 9001
7 17 (2.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 9 (1.11%) ISO 14001
9 5 (0.62%) PCI DSS
10 4 (0.49%) GMP
10 4 (0.49%) PMO
11 3 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.37%) AQAP
11 3 (0.37%) ISO 26262
11 3 (0.37%) NIST
12 2 (0.25%) Automotive SPICE
12 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.25%) GRC
12 2 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 89 (10.96%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.08%) Hyper-V
3 18 (2.22%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (1.97%) Docker
5 15 (1.85%) Firmware
6 13 (1.60%) Embedded Firmware
7 8 (0.99%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.62%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.49%) vSphere
10 2 (0.25%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 33 (4.06%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (1.48%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.11%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.74%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.62%) SCCM
6 4 (0.49%) Ansible
7 3 (0.37%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.37%) Puppet
8 2 (0.25%) Backup Exec
8 2 (0.25%) Grafana
8 2 (0.25%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.25%) WSUS
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.12%) Nagios
9 1 (0.12%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 234 (28.82%) Microsoft
2 37 (4.56%) SAP
3 29 (3.57%) Workday
4 24 (2.96%) VMware
5 20 (2.46%) Google
6 19 (2.34%) Cisco
7 18 (2.22%) Oracle
7 18 (2.22%) Sage
8 14 (1.72%) ServiceNow
9 11 (1.35%) HubSpot
9 11 (1.35%) Salesforce
10 10 (1.23%) Apple
10 10 (1.23%) Broadcom
10 10 (1.23%) Databricks
11 8 (0.99%) EMC
12 7 (0.86%) Dell
12 7 (0.86%) IBM
13 6 (0.74%) Adobe
13 6 (0.74%) iManage
13 6 (0.74%) Sophos