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

6 months to
17 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 2 4
Rank change year-on-year -8 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 595 685 1,184
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.42% 20.22% 15.13%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.80% 23.60% 18.86%
Number of salaries quoted 445 442 635
10th Percentile £27,716 £25,000 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £30,125 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £45,000 £43,072
Median % change year-on-year -5.56% +4.48% -13.86%
75th Percentile £56,875 £61,250 £58,750
90th Percentile £63,750 £68,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £48,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -2.06% -3.00% -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 5,509 2,903 6,277
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 68.69% 85.68% 80.21%
Number of salaries quoted 4,134 1,825 4,160
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,822 £27,300
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £36,250
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 £80,000
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 17 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 17 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 -16 190 £50,149 +4.48% 71
Staffordshire -2 100 £42,500 -17.74% 19
Warwickshire -2 73 £32,500 -31.58% 30
Worcestershire -4 53 £37,500 +22.95% 22
Shropshire +5 39 £44,500 +4.71% 23
Coventry -11 32 £42,000 -6.29% 9
Wolverhampton -13 12 £38,500 +18.46% 3
Solihull 0 11 £30,500 -44.55% 5
Herefordshire -23 11 £52,500 +68.00% 4
Walsall +4 9 £37,500 -15.73% 2
Tipton - 8 £33,500 - 1
Halesowen 0 5 £47,500 +26.67%
Dudley - 5 £26,100 - 1
Willenhall -2 4 £37,500 -16.67%
Sutton Coldfield - 3 £42,500 - 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 47 (7.90%) SharePoint
2 30 (5.04%) Microsoft Exchange
3 8 (1.34%) IIS
4 5 (0.84%) Skype for Business
5 4 (0.67%) Confluence
5 4 (0.67%) Exchange Server 2007
5 4 (0.67%) Exchange Server 2010
5 4 (0.67%) Exchange Server 2013
6 3 (0.50%) WordPress
7 1 (0.17%) Apache
7 1 (0.17%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.17%) Appian
7 1 (0.17%) Documentum
7 1 (0.17%) Jupyter
7 1 (0.17%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.17%) SAS
Applications
1 58 (9.75%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (6.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (2.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.84%) Fusion 360
5 4 (0.67%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.50%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.34%) Chatbot
8 1 (0.17%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.17%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.17%) Simulink
8 1 (0.17%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 11 (1.85%) SAP S/4HANA
2 6 (1.01%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.84%) Magento
3 5 (0.84%) Shopify
4 4 (0.67%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.67%) Line 50
4 4 (0.67%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.67%) Sage X3
5 2 (0.34%) JDE EnterpriseOne
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
6 1 (0.17%) SAP Business ByDesign
6 1 (0.17%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.17%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.17%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 123 (20.67%) Microsoft 365
2 108 (18.15%) Azure
3 70 (11.76%) Power Platform
4 56 (9.41%) Entra ID
5 35 (5.88%) AWS
6 33 (5.55%) SaaS
7 15 (2.52%) Dynamics 365
8 14 (2.35%) Microsoft Purview
8 14 (2.35%) Power Automate
8 14 (2.35%) PowerApps
9 9 (1.51%) Google Workspace
10 8 (1.34%) OneDrive
11 7 (1.18%) Azure Data Factory
11 7 (1.18%) GCP
11 7 (1.18%) Microsoft Copilot
12 5 (0.84%) PaaS
13 4 (0.67%) IaaS
14 3 (0.50%) Amazon S3
14 3 (0.50%) Serverless
14 3 (0.50%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 33 (5.55%) Firewall
2 24 (4.03%) WAN
3 22 (3.70%) VPN
4 21 (3.53%) DNS
5 20 (3.36%) LAN
5 20 (3.36%) Wi-Fi
6 17 (2.86%) Wireless
7 15 (2.52%) DHCP
8 14 (2.35%) TCP/IP
9 13 (2.18%) Network Security
10 10 (1.68%) VLAN
11 6 (1.01%) Internet
12 5 (0.84%) Cisco IOS
12 5 (0.84%) SD-WAN
12 5 (0.84%) Skype
12 5 (0.84%) VoIP
13 4 (0.67%) Bluetooth
13 4 (0.67%) SSL
14 3 (0.50%) HTTP
14 3 (0.50%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (10.92%) Power BI
2 22 (3.70%) SQL Server
3 17 (2.86%) Tableau
4 15 (2.52%) Power Query
5 12 (2.02%) Data Warehouse
6 11 (1.85%) MySQL
7 9 (1.51%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 9 (1.51%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 7 (1.18%) Relational Database
8 7 (1.18%) Star Schema
9 6 (1.01%) Amazon RDS
9 6 (1.01%) Data Mining
10 5 (0.84%) Azure SQL Database
11 4 (0.67%) Amazon Redshift
11 4 (0.67%) FileMaker
11 4 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
12 3 (0.50%) GIS
12 3 (0.50%) NoSQL
12 3 (0.50%) SQL Server Analysis Services
13 2 (0.34%) Redis
Development Applications
1 16 (2.69%) Git
2 12 (2.02%) JIRA
3 4 (0.67%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.67%) JUnit
4 3 (0.50%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.50%) GitLab
4 3 (0.50%) Maven
4 3 (0.50%) Mockito
4 3 (0.50%) Postman
4 3 (0.50%) SoapUI
5 2 (0.34%) JMeter
5 2 (0.34%) Selenium
5 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
5 2 (0.34%) Zephyr
6 1 (0.17%) Appium
6 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.17%) Bugzilla
6 1 (0.17%) TestRail
6 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.17%) Yeoman
General
1 276 (46.39%) Social Skills
2 155 (26.05%) Analytical Skills
3 95 (15.97%) Finance
4 86 (14.45%) Manufacturing
5 36 (6.05%) Organisational Skills
6 34 (5.71%) Public Sector
7 30 (5.04%) Retail
8 27 (4.54%) Marketing
9 24 (4.03%) Legal
10 20 (3.36%) Law
11 16 (2.69%) Electronics
12 14 (2.35%) Automotive
12 14 (2.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 12 (2.02%) Documentation Skills
14 11 (1.85%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.68%) Banking
16 9 (1.51%) Investment Banking
17 8 (1.34%) Games
18 6 (1.01%) Esports
18 6 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 104 (17.48%) Support Engineer
2 84 (14.12%) Analyst
3 66 (11.09%) Technical Support
4 65 (10.92%) IT Support
5 64 (10.76%) Technical Engineer
6 63 (10.59%) Technical Support Engineer
7 58 (9.75%) Developer
8 49 (8.24%) IT Engineer
9 42 (7.06%) Senior
10 39 (6.55%) IT Support Engineer
11 33 (5.55%) Lead
12 32 (5.38%) IT Manager
13 28 (4.71%) Support Analyst
14 22 (3.70%) Consultant
15 17 (2.86%) 1st Line Support
16 16 (2.69%) Programmer
17 15 (2.52%) 2nd Line Support
17 15 (2.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 15 (2.52%) IT Analyst
18 14 (2.35%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (5.38%) REST
2 21 (3.53%) React
3 18 (3.03%) .NET
4 16 (2.69%) Spring
5 13 (2.18%) Spring Boot
6 12 (2.02%) AngularJS
7 11 (1.85%) CSS
7 11 (1.85%) HTML
8 10 (1.68%) RESTful
9 8 (1.34%) Node.js
9 8 (1.34%) SOAP
10 7 (1.18%) SAP Fiori
11 6 (1.01%) JDBC
11 6 (1.01%) Middleware
11 6 (1.01%) OAuth
11 6 (1.01%) SAPUI5
12 5 (0.84%) Playwright
13 4 (0.67%) .NET Framework
13 4 (0.67%) COM
13 4 (0.67%) DCOM
Miscellaneous
1 49 (8.24%) Driving Licence
2 28 (4.71%) Management Information System
2 28 (4.71%) Self-Motivation
3 22 (3.70%) Onboarding
4 19 (3.19%) Enterprise Software
5 13 (2.18%) Social Media
6 11 (1.85%) Data Centre
6 11 (1.85%) Virtual Team
7 10 (1.68%) Analytical Mindset
7 10 (1.68%) NHS
8 9 (1.51%) Data Structures
8 9 (1.51%) IoT
8 9 (1.51%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (1.34%) Hybrid Cloud
9 8 (1.34%) Security Posture
10 7 (1.18%) AS400
10 7 (1.18%) Cyber Defence
10 7 (1.18%) iSeries
10 7 (1.18%) Mobile App
11 5 (0.84%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 100 (16.81%) Windows
2 31 (5.21%) Linux
3 29 (4.87%) Windows Server
4 27 (4.54%) Windows 10
5 15 (2.52%) Android
6 10 (1.68%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.84%) Unix
7 5 (0.84%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.67%) FreeRTOS
8 4 (0.67%) 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
1 165 (27.73%) Continuous Improvement
2 100 (16.81%) Customer Service
3 73 (12.27%) Agile
3 73 (12.27%) Analytics
4 70 (11.76%) Decision-Making
5 69 (11.60%) Collaborative Working
6 67 (11.26%) Business Intelligence
6 67 (11.26%) ITIL
6 67 (11.26%) Mentoring
7 60 (10.08%) AI
7 60 (10.08%) ERP
8 52 (8.74%) Cybersecurity
9 51 (8.57%) Customer Experience
10 46 (7.73%) Service Delivery
11 43 (7.23%) CRM
11 43 (7.23%) Root Cause Analysis
12 39 (6.55%) Stakeholder Management
13 36 (6.05%) Collaborative Culture
14 35 (5.88%) Validation
15 34 (5.71%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 92 (15.46%) SQL
2 39 (6.55%) Java
3 32 (5.38%) Python
4 22 (3.70%) PowerShell
5 19 (3.19%) C#
5 19 (3.19%) Ladder Logic
6 15 (2.52%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 12 (2.02%) JavaScript
8 11 (1.85%) PHP
9 9 (1.51%) TypeScript
10 8 (1.34%) C
11 7 (1.18%) Bash
11 7 (1.18%) RPG
12 6 (1.01%) ABAP
13 5 (0.84%) C++
13 5 (0.84%) Embedded C
14 4 (0.67%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.67%) RPG IV
14 4 (0.67%) RPG/400
15 3 (0.50%) RPG III
Qualifications
1 81 (13.61%) Degree
2 56 (9.41%) Security Cleared
3 44 (7.39%) SC Cleared
4 20 (3.36%) Microsoft Certification
5 19 (3.19%) DBS Check
6 17 (2.86%) Azure Certification
7 11 (1.85%) CISSP
8 10 (1.68%) CompTIA Security+
9 8 (1.34%) A+ Certification
9 8 (1.34%) BPSS Clearance
9 8 (1.34%) Cisco Certification
10 7 (1.18%) ACCA
10 7 (1.18%) CIMA
10 7 (1.18%) CISA
10 7 (1.18%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.18%) SSCP
11 5 (0.84%) CCNA
11 5 (0.84%) HND
11 5 (0.84%) MCITP
12 4 (0.67%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (5.55%) Data Quality
2 30 (5.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (4.71%) Cyber Essentials
4 25 (4.20%) GDPR
4 25 (4.20%) QA
5 17 (2.86%) ISO 9001
6 16 (2.69%) NIST
7 15 (2.52%) SLA
8 14 (2.35%) Accessibility
9 9 (1.51%) ISO 14001
10 7 (1.18%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.67%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.67%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 3 (0.50%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.50%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.50%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.34%) GRC
13 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
13 2 (0.34%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.34%) PMO
System Software
1 82 (13.78%) Active Directory
2 26 (4.37%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.53%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (1.85%) Docker
5 8 (1.34%) Firmware
6 5 (0.84%) Embedded Firmware
7 4 (0.67%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.50%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.34%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 38 (6.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 11 (1.85%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.51%) Terraform
4 5 (0.84%) Ansible
5 4 (0.67%) Functional Safety
5 4 (0.67%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.50%) Grafana
6 3 (0.50%) Nagios
6 3 (0.50%) SCCM
7 2 (0.34%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.34%) Puppet
8 1 (0.17%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.17%) Jamf Pro
8 1 (0.17%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 168 (28.24%) Microsoft
2 30 (5.04%) SAP
3 26 (4.37%) VMware
4 22 (3.70%) Cisco
5 14 (2.35%) Sage
6 12 (2.02%) Dell
7 11 (1.85%) Google
7 11 (1.85%) Salesforce
8 9 (1.51%) Oracle
9 7 (1.18%) HP
9 7 (1.18%) IBM
9 7 (1.18%) Meraki
10 6 (1.01%) Apple
10 6 (1.01%) HubSpot
10 6 (1.01%) iManage
10 6 (1.01%) McAfee
10 6 (1.01%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.01%) Sophos
11 5 (0.84%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.67%) Veeam