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

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 770 647 949
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 8.53% 19.93% 15.76%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.32% 23.15% 19.73%
Number of salaries quoted 522 416 340
10th Percentile £28,250 £25,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £33,250 £29,250 £34,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £44,772 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.07% -10.46% -
75th Percentile £57,500 £57,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £68,625 £67,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £46,901 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.22% -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 6,251 2,795 4,810
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 69.27% 86.11% 79.87%
Number of salaries quoted 4,599 1,780 2,504
10th Percentile £31,250 £29,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,009 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,750
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -5.21% +0.48%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £66,650
90th Percentile £85,000 £80,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,560
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.45% -7.90%

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 21 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 21 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 -6 280 £55,000 +22.22% 394
Staffordshire -3 103 £47,500 +5.56% 75
Warwickshire -6 79 £38,750 -29.55% 88
Worcestershire -5 66 £39,000 +27.87% 40
Shropshire +2 62 £45,000 -5.26% 53
Coventry -7 37 £42,000 +30.23% 54
Wolverhampton +4 17 £49,250 -24.23% 28
Solihull +5 16 £31,000 -8.82% 32
Herefordshire -23 10 £29,750 -8.46% 15
Tipton - 7 £33,500 - 3
Walsall -1 6 £37,500 -16.67% 7
Halesowen -4 5 £47,500 +46.15% 1
Dudley - 5 £34,500 - 9
Willenhall -3 4 £37,500 -16.67%
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 43 (5.58%) SharePoint
2 30 (3.90%) Microsoft Exchange
3 10 (1.30%) IIS
4 7 (0.91%) Confluence
5 4 (0.52%) CICS
5 4 (0.52%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.39%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.39%) Oracle Workflow
6 3 (0.39%) WordPress
7 2 (0.26%) Documentum
7 2 (0.26%) SAS
8 1 (0.13%) Apache
8 1 (0.13%) Appian
8 1 (0.13%) CMS
8 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 65 (8.44%) Microsoft Office
2 48 (6.23%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.43%) Simulink
4 6 (0.78%) Spreadsheet
5 5 (0.65%) Fusion 360
5 5 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.65%) OrCAD
6 3 (0.39%) AutoCAD
6 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.26%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.26%) EPLAN
7 2 (0.26%) Revit
7 2 (0.26%) SOLIDWORKS
8 1 (0.13%) LaTeX
8 1 (0.13%) MS Visio
8 1 (0.13%) Navisworks
8 1 (0.13%) Siemens NX
8 1 (0.13%) SketchUp
8 1 (0.13%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 10 (1.30%) NetSuite
1 10 (1.30%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.04%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.65%) Magento
3 5 (0.65%) Shopify
4 4 (0.52%) Dynamics AX
4 4 (0.52%) Line 50
4 4 (0.52%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.52%) Sage 50
4 4 (0.52%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.39%) Oracle Cash Management
5 3 (0.39%) Oracle Payables
5 3 (0.39%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 3 (0.39%) SAP Business One
5 3 (0.39%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.26%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 1 (0.13%) Exchequer
7 1 (0.13%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.13%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.13%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 147 (19.09%) Azure
2 130 (16.88%) Microsoft 365
3 96 (12.47%) Power Platform
4 55 (7.14%) Entra ID
5 54 (7.01%) AWS
6 44 (5.71%) SaaS
7 26 (3.38%) Azure DevOps
8 24 (3.12%) Dynamics 365
9 17 (2.21%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.08%) Microsoft Purview
11 15 (1.95%) GitHub
12 14 (1.82%) PowerApps
13 13 (1.69%) GCP
13 13 (1.69%) GitHub Actions
14 11 (1.43%) Microsoft Copilot
15 10 (1.30%) PaaS
16 9 (1.17%) Google Workspace
17 6 (0.78%) IaaS
17 6 (0.78%) OneDrive
18 5 (0.65%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 29 (3.77%) Firewall
2 25 (3.25%) VPN
3 24 (3.12%) DNS
3 24 (3.12%) WAN
4 23 (2.99%) TCP/IP
5 21 (2.73%) Wireless
6 19 (2.47%) LAN
7 16 (2.08%) DHCP
7 16 (2.08%) Wi-Fi
8 13 (1.69%) Network Security
9 12 (1.56%) VLAN
10 9 (1.17%) VoIP
10 9 (1.17%) Wireshark
11 6 (0.78%) Cisco IOS
11 6 (0.78%) SD-WAN
12 5 (0.65%) Internet
13 4 (0.52%) Bluetooth
13 4 (0.52%) Skype
14 3 (0.39%) 5G
14 3 (0.39%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 91 (11.82%) Power BI
2 31 (4.03%) SQL Server
3 25 (3.25%) Tableau
4 21 (2.73%) Data Warehouse
5 19 (2.47%) Power Query
5 19 (2.47%) Relational Database
6 13 (1.69%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 11 (1.43%) MySQL
8 10 (1.30%) Azure SQL Database
8 10 (1.30%) Data Mining
8 10 (1.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 8 (1.04%) Data Lake
9 8 (1.04%) Electronic Patient Records
10 6 (0.78%) Amazon Redshift
10 6 (0.78%) Oracle Reports
10 6 (0.78%) PostgreSQL
11 5 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
11 5 (0.65%) Big Data
11 5 (0.65%) Oracle BI EE
11 5 (0.65%) QlikView
Development Applications
1 28 (3.64%) Git
2 25 (3.25%) JIRA
3 24 (3.12%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.17%) Eclipse
5 7 (0.91%) Cucumber
5 7 (0.91%) GitLab
6 6 (0.78%) JMeter
6 6 (0.78%) Maven
6 6 (0.78%) Postman
6 6 (0.78%) Selenium
7 5 (0.65%) JUnit
7 5 (0.65%) SoapUI
7 5 (0.65%) Zephyr
8 3 (0.39%) Mockito
9 2 (0.26%) Ant
9 2 (0.26%) Apache Ivy
9 2 (0.26%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.13%) Bugzilla
10 1 (0.13%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
General
1 370 (48.05%) Social Skills
2 200 (25.97%) Analytical Skills
3 123 (15.97%) Finance
4 120 (15.58%) Manufacturing
5 62 (8.05%) Organisational Skills
6 55 (7.14%) Public Sector
7 49 (6.36%) Retail
8 35 (4.55%) Marketing
9 30 (3.90%) Electronics
10 22 (2.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 21 (2.73%) Law
12 20 (2.60%) Automotive
12 20 (2.60%) Legal
13 15 (1.95%) Documentation Skills
14 13 (1.69%) Telecoms
15 10 (1.30%) Banking
16 9 (1.17%) Billing
16 9 (1.17%) Fire and Rescue
16 9 (1.17%) Influencing Skills
17 8 (1.04%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 91 (11.82%) Support Engineer
2 84 (10.91%) Analyst
3 72 (9.35%) Developer
4 68 (8.83%) Technical Support
5 60 (7.79%) Technical Engineer
6 59 (7.66%) IT Support
7 58 (7.53%) Lead
7 58 (7.53%) Technical Support Engineer
8 52 (6.75%) Senior
9 50 (6.49%) Consultant
10 42 (5.45%) IT Engineer
11 33 (4.29%) IT Manager
12 30 (3.90%) IT Support Engineer
12 30 (3.90%) Support Analyst
13 26 (3.38%) Administrator
14 21 (2.73%) Architect
15 16 (2.08%) 2nd Line Support
15 16 (2.08%) Electronics Engineer
16 15 (1.95%) 1st Line Support
16 15 (1.95%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 39 (5.06%) REST
2 34 (4.42%) .NET
3 28 (3.64%) Spring
4 26 (3.38%) React
5 25 (3.25%) Spring Boot
6 15 (1.95%) RESTful
7 14 (1.82%) AngularJS
7 14 (1.82%) Playwright
8 13 (1.69%) CSS
8 13 (1.69%) HTML
9 12 (1.56%) ISPF
9 12 (1.56%) SOAP
10 11 (1.43%) Terraform
11 10 (1.30%) XML
12 8 (1.04%) LDAP
12 8 (1.04%) SAP Fiori
13 7 (0.91%) Node.js
13 7 (0.91%) Web Services
14 6 (0.78%) JDBC
14 6 (0.78%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 71 (9.22%) Driving Licence
2 44 (5.71%) Onboarding
3 42 (5.45%) Self-Motivation
4 40 (5.19%) Management Information System
5 36 (4.68%) Enterprise Software
6 19 (2.47%) NHS
7 18 (2.34%) Data Centre
8 17 (2.21%) Analytical Mindset
8 17 (2.21%) Virtual Team
9 13 (1.69%) Social Media
10 12 (1.56%) Legacy Applications
10 12 (1.56%) Mainframe
11 11 (1.43%) Data Structures
11 11 (1.43%) Public Cloud
12 10 (1.30%) Cloud Native
12 10 (1.30%) Data Protection Act
12 10 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
12 10 (1.30%) IoT
12 10 (1.30%) Mobile App
13 9 (1.17%) SystemC
Operating Systems
1 121 (15.71%) Windows
2 41 (5.32%) Windows Server
3 38 (4.94%) Linux
4 22 (2.86%) Windows 10
5 14 (1.82%) Android
6 10 (1.30%) Apple iOS
7 9 (1.17%) Unix
8 7 (0.91%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.52%) FreeRTOS
10 2 (0.26%) Solaris
10 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) Debian
11 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.13%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 228 (29.61%) Continuous Improvement
2 147 (19.09%) Customer Service
3 115 (14.94%) Agile
4 98 (12.73%) Decision-Making
5 96 (12.47%) Business Intelligence
6 91 (11.82%) Analytics
7 80 (10.39%) Mentoring
8 77 (10.00%) AI
9 76 (9.87%) ERP
10 73 (9.48%) Collaborative Working
11 63 (8.18%) Stakeholder Management
12 61 (7.92%) Cybersecurity
13 58 (7.53%) CRM
14 57 (7.40%) CI/CD
14 57 (7.40%) Collaborative Culture
15 55 (7.14%) Project Management
16 54 (7.01%) ITIL
16 54 (7.01%) Root Cause Analysis
17 53 (6.88%) Project Delivery
18 52 (6.75%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 124 (16.10%) SQL
2 66 (8.57%) Java
3 49 (6.36%) Python
4 28 (3.64%) PowerShell
5 26 (3.38%) C#
5 26 (3.38%) JavaScript
6 19 (2.47%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 18 (2.34%) Ladder Logic
8 17 (2.21%) C
8 17 (2.21%) Embedded C
9 13 (1.69%) TypeScript
10 12 (1.56%) COBOL
10 12 (1.56%) JCL
11 11 (1.43%) MATLAB
12 7 (0.91%) PL/SQL
12 7 (0.91%) RPG
13 6 (0.78%) ABAP
13 6 (0.78%) PHP
13 6 (0.78%) R
14 5 (0.65%) Bash
Qualifications
1 118 (15.32%) Degree
2 80 (10.39%) Security Cleared
3 65 (8.44%) SC Cleared
4 22 (2.86%) Azure Certification
5 15 (1.95%) DBS Check
6 13 (1.69%) HNC
7 12 (1.56%) HND
7 12 (1.56%) PMI Certification
8 11 (1.43%) Cisco Certification
8 11 (1.43%) Microsoft Certification
9 9 (1.17%) CCNA
9 9 (1.17%) Computer Science Degree
10 8 (1.04%) ACCA
11 7 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
11 7 (0.91%) CIMA
12 6 (0.78%) CCNP
12 6 (0.78%) ISTQB
12 6 (0.78%) PMP
13 5 (0.65%) ISEB
14 4 (0.52%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 49 (6.36%) Data Quality
2 38 (4.94%) QA
3 33 (4.29%) GDPR
4 24 (3.12%) SLA
5 23 (2.99%) Cyber Essentials
6 22 (2.86%) Accessibility
7 20 (2.60%) ISO 9001
8 17 (2.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 9 (1.17%) ISO 14001
10 4 (0.52%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.39%) AQAP
11 3 (0.39%) GMP
11 3 (0.39%) ISO 26262
11 3 (0.39%) NIST
11 3 (0.39%) PMO
12 2 (0.26%) Automotive SPICE
12 2 (0.26%) GRC
12 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 83 (10.78%) Active Directory
2 25 (3.25%) Hyper-V
3 18 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (1.95%) Docker
4 15 (1.95%) Firmware
5 13 (1.69%) Embedded Firmware
6 7 (0.91%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.65%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.52%) vSphere
9 2 (0.26%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 31 (4.03%) Microsoft Intune
2 12 (1.56%) Kubernetes
3 7 (0.91%) Single Sign-On
4 6 (0.78%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.65%) SCCM
6 4 (0.52%) Ansible
7 3 (0.39%) Progress Chef
7 3 (0.39%) Puppet
8 2 (0.26%) Grafana
8 2 (0.26%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.26%) WSUS
9 1 (0.13%) Backup Exec
9 1 (0.13%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.13%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.13%) Nagios
Vendors
1 213 (27.66%) Microsoft
2 39 (5.06%) SAP
3 24 (3.12%) VMware
3 24 (3.12%) Workday
4 20 (2.60%) Cisco
5 18 (2.34%) Sage
6 16 (2.08%) Google
6 16 (2.08%) Oracle
7 14 (1.82%) ServiceNow
8 12 (1.56%) HubSpot
9 11 (1.43%) Salesforce
10 9 (1.17%) Apple
10 9 (1.17%) Databricks
10 9 (1.17%) Dell
11 8 (1.04%) Broadcom
12 7 (0.91%) IBM
12 7 (0.91%) Sophos
13 6 (0.78%) iManage
13 6 (0.78%) Pega
14 5 (0.65%) SolarWinds