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 5 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 26 2 6
Rank change year-on-year -24 +4 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 523 729 1,030
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 7.16% 21.72% 15.16%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 9.49% 23.89% 18.17%
Number of salaries quoted 392 402 781
10th Percentile £26,025 £28,275 £25,000
25th Percentile £30,250 £36,250 £29,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £52,500 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -19.05% +23.53% -15.00%
75th Percentile £58,750 £65,000 £57,500
90th Percentile £72,950 £79,875 £70,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -13.64% +10.00% -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 5,511 3,051 5,670
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the West Midlands 75.48% 90.91% 83.48%
Number of salaries quoted 3,184 1,701 4,430
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,580 £26,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £53,688 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.21% +7.38% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £83,750 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.17% +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 5 April 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 5 April 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 -12 172 £49,000 -14.78% 97
Staffordshire -11 97 £30,750 -38.50% 39
Warwickshire -13 65 £32,500 -18.75% 40
Worcestershire -16 43 £37,500 +7.14% 25
Shropshire -17 30 £42,500 - 20
Herefordshire -8 25 £52,500 +4.48% 7
Coventry -14 24 £54,150 -5.83% 12
Solihull -6 14 £90,000 +63.64% 7
Walsall +1 6 £44,000 -13.73% 5
Dudley -2 6 £75,000 +114.29% 2
Halesowen -6 5 £40,000 -
Wednesbury -5 3 £42,500 -5.56%
Tipton -6 3 £34,000 - 2
Wolverhampton -28 3 £80,000 +146.15% 4
Kingswinford -5 2 £45,250 +20.67% 1
Sutton Coldfield -8 1 £28,000 -
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 46 (8.80%) SharePoint
2 27 (5.16%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (1.15%) Exchange Server 2007
3 6 (1.15%) Exchange Server 2010
3 6 (1.15%) Exchange Server 2013
4 5 (0.96%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 2 (0.38%) Apache
5 2 (0.38%) Confluence
5 2 (0.38%) IIS
5 2 (0.38%) Skype for Business
6 1 (0.19%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.19%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.19%) NServiceBus
6 1 (0.19%) SAS
6 1 (0.19%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.19%) WordPress
Applications
1 39 (7.46%) Microsoft Excel
1 39 (7.46%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (2.29%) Spreadsheet
3 7 (1.34%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 7 (1.34%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.76%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.57%) AutoCAD
5 3 (0.57%) Fusion 360
6 2 (0.38%) SOLIDWORKS
6 2 (0.38%) Trello
7 1 (0.19%) Abaqus
7 1 (0.19%) Sketch
Business Applications
1 18 (3.44%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (1.15%) NetSuite
3 4 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
4 3 (0.57%) Dynamics NAV
4 3 (0.57%) SAP Business ByDesign
5 2 (0.38%) SAP Business One
5 2 (0.38%) SAP MM
5 2 (0.38%) Shopify
6 1 (0.19%) Exchequer
6 1 (0.19%) Line 50
6 1 (0.19%) Magento
6 1 (0.19%) Raiser’s Edge
6 1 (0.19%) Sage X3
Cloud Services
1 122 (23.33%) Azure
2 107 (20.46%) Microsoft 365
3 45 (8.60%) Power Platform
4 40 (7.65%) Entra ID
5 35 (6.69%) AWS
6 33 (6.31%) SaaS
7 17 (3.25%) Dynamics 365
8 13 (2.49%) Power Automate
9 12 (2.29%) PowerApps
10 11 (2.10%) OneDrive
11 9 (1.72%) Azure Data Factory
11 9 (1.72%) Google Workspace
11 9 (1.72%) Serverless
12 6 (1.15%) Azure Sentinel
12 6 (1.15%) GCP
13 5 (0.96%) Amazon S3
13 5 (0.96%) AWS Lambda
13 5 (0.96%) Azure DevOps
13 5 (0.96%) OCI
14 4 (0.76%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 31 (5.93%) VPN
2 26 (4.97%) DNS
3 24 (4.59%) WAN
4 23 (4.40%) Internet
5 22 (4.21%) DHCP
5 22 (4.21%) Firewall
5 22 (4.21%) Wi-Fi
6 17 (3.25%) LAN
7 10 (1.91%) SD-WAN
8 8 (1.53%) VLAN
8 8 (1.53%) VoIP
9 6 (1.15%) Broadband
9 6 (1.15%) Network Security
10 5 (0.96%) Wireless
11 4 (0.76%) ADSL
11 4 (0.76%) Ethernet
11 4 (0.76%) TCP/IP
11 4 (0.76%) VDSL
12 2 (0.38%) Bluetooth
12 2 (0.38%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (7.65%) Power BI
2 16 (3.06%) SQL Server
3 10 (1.91%) MySQL
3 10 (1.91%) Oracle Reports
3 10 (1.91%) Tableau
4 9 (1.72%) PostgreSQL
4 9 (1.72%) Power Query
5 7 (1.34%) Relational Database
5 7 (1.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 7 (1.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 5 (0.96%) Amazon RDS
6 5 (0.96%) Data Warehouse
6 5 (0.96%) NoSQL
6 5 (0.96%) Star Schema
7 4 (0.76%) Metadata
7 4 (0.76%) Redis
8 3 (0.57%) Crystal Reports
8 3 (0.57%) Data Mining
8 3 (0.57%) GIS
8 3 (0.57%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 21 (4.02%) Git
2 20 (3.82%) JIRA
3 6 (1.15%) JUnit
4 5 (0.96%) GitLab
4 5 (0.96%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.96%) Maven
4 5 (0.96%) Mockito
5 3 (0.57%) Appcelerator Titanium
6 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
6 2 (0.38%) Visual Studio Code
7 1 (0.19%) Babel
7 1 (0.19%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.19%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.19%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.19%) MLflow
7 1 (0.19%) Postman
7 1 (0.19%) Snyk
7 1 (0.19%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.19%) Vite
7 1 (0.19%) webpack
General
1 241 (46.08%) Social Skills
2 163 (31.17%) Analytical Skills
3 116 (22.18%) Finance
4 59 (11.28%) Manufacturing
5 42 (8.03%) Legal
6 41 (7.84%) Organisational Skills
7 34 (6.50%) Public Sector
8 33 (6.31%) Law
9 25 (4.78%) Marketing
10 24 (4.59%) Retail
11 13 (2.49%) Banking
11 13 (2.49%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 12 (2.29%) Automotive
13 11 (2.10%) Presentation Skills
14 7 (1.34%) Telecoms
15 6 (1.15%) Advertising
15 6 (1.15%) Aerospace
15 6 (1.15%) Electronics
16 5 (0.96%) Games
16 5 (0.96%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 93 (17.78%) Analyst
2 85 (16.25%) Support Engineer
3 77 (14.72%) IT Support
4 58 (11.09%) IT Engineer
5 48 (9.18%) IT Support Engineer
6 46 (8.80%) Lead
7 42 (8.03%) Senior
8 40 (7.65%) Developer
9 37 (7.07%) Technical Support
10 34 (6.50%) Support Analyst
10 34 (6.50%) Technical Engineer
10 34 (6.50%) Technical Support Engineer
11 23 (4.40%) Architect
12 20 (3.82%) Senior Analyst
13 19 (3.63%) Business Analyst
14 18 (3.44%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 17 (3.25%) Instructor
16 16 (3.06%) Applications Support
16 16 (3.06%) Project Manager
17 15 (2.87%) 2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.87%) REST
2 14 (2.68%) React
3 12 (2.29%) .NET
4 9 (1.72%) CSS
4 9 (1.72%) HTML
5 7 (1.34%) Node.js
6 5 (0.96%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.96%) JSON
6 5 (0.96%) Vue
7 4 (0.76%) .NET Framework
7 4 (0.76%) Oracle Fusion
7 4 (0.76%) RESTful
7 4 (0.76%) Spring
8 3 (0.57%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.57%) Laravel
8 3 (0.57%) Next.js
8 3 (0.57%) React Native
8 3 (0.57%) Spring Boot
8 3 (0.57%) WinForms
8 3 (0.57%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 36 (6.88%) Driving Licence
2 31 (5.93%) Onboarding
3 26 (4.97%) Self-Motivation
4 22 (4.21%) Management Information System
5 19 (3.63%) Social Media
6 15 (2.87%) FMCG
7 11 (2.10%) Analytical Mindset
7 11 (2.10%) Product Ownership
8 10 (1.91%) Enterprise Software
8 10 (1.91%) Legacy Systems
9 8 (1.53%) IoT
10 7 (1.34%) Cyber Defence
10 7 (1.34%) Data Centre
10 7 (1.34%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 5 (0.96%) Data Structures
11 5 (0.96%) EPoS
12 4 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
12 4 (0.76%) Linux Command Line
12 4 (0.76%) Mobile App
12 4 (0.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 78 (14.91%) Windows
2 22 (4.21%) Windows 10
3 17 (3.25%) Linux
4 12 (2.29%) Apple iOS
4 12 (2.29%) Windows Server
5 6 (1.15%) Windows 7
6 4 (0.76%) Android
7 3 (0.57%) Unix
8 1 (0.19%) CentOS
8 1 (0.19%) Debian
8 1 (0.19%) FreeRTOS
8 1 (0.19%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (20.27%) Continuous Improvement
2 75 (14.34%) Agile
3 61 (11.66%) Customer Service
4 58 (11.09%) Project Management
5 57 (10.90%) ITIL
6 56 (10.71%) Decision-Making
7 53 (10.13%) Analytics
8 48 (9.18%) Mentoring
9 45 (8.60%) Business Intelligence
9 45 (8.60%) CRM
10 41 (7.84%) ERP
11 40 (7.65%) Roadmaps
12 39 (7.46%) Coaching
13 36 (6.88%) Migration
14 32 (6.12%) AI
14 32 (6.12%) Cybersecurity
14 32 (6.12%) Time Management
15 31 (5.93%) Project Delivery
15 31 (5.93%) Service Delivery
16 30 (5.74%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 71 (13.58%) SQL
2 30 (5.74%) Python
3 18 (3.44%) Java
4 17 (3.25%) JavaScript
4 17 (3.25%) PowerShell
5 12 (2.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 12 (2.29%) PHP
6 11 (2.10%) Ladder Logic
6 11 (2.10%) T-SQL
7 10 (1.91%) C
8 9 (1.72%) Bash
8 9 (1.72%) C#
9 7 (1.34%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.96%) C++
10 5 (0.96%) PL/SQL
10 5 (0.96%) R
11 3 (0.57%) Rust
12 2 (0.38%) Bicep
12 2 (0.38%) Go
12 2 (0.38%) Google Apps Script
Qualifications
1 83 (15.87%) Degree
2 47 (8.99%) Security Cleared
3 34 (6.50%) SC Cleared
4 21 (4.02%) DBS Check
5 19 (3.63%) Microsoft Certification
6 12 (2.29%) Computer Science Degree
7 11 (2.10%) A+ Certification
8 9 (1.72%) ACCA
8 9 (1.72%) BPSS Clearance
8 9 (1.72%) CIMA
8 9 (1.72%) CISSP
9 8 (1.53%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 7 (1.34%) CISA
10 7 (1.34%) CompTIA Security+
10 7 (1.34%) SSCP
11 6 (1.15%) MCITP
12 5 (0.96%) PMI Certification
13 4 (0.76%) AWS Certification
13 4 (0.76%) Oracle Certification
13 4 (0.76%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (6.31%) Data Quality
2 23 (4.40%) QA
3 22 (4.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (3.44%) NIST
5 17 (3.25%) GDPR
6 11 (2.10%) Cyber Essentials
7 10 (1.91%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 9 (1.72%) SLA
9 6 (1.15%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (0.96%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.96%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.57%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.57%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 3 (0.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (0.57%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 1 (0.19%) Government Security Classifications
13 1 (0.19%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.19%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.19%) PMO
System Software
1 58 (11.09%) Active Directory
2 19 (3.63%) Docker
3 12 (2.29%) VMware Infrastructure
4 7 (1.34%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.57%) Firmware
6 2 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.19%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 27 (5.16%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (3.44%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.49%) Terraform
4 5 (0.96%) Ansible
5 3 (0.57%) Grafana
5 3 (0.57%) Nagios
5 3 (0.57%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
7 1 (0.19%) Argo
7 1 (0.19%) AWS Copilot
7 1 (0.19%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.19%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.19%) Puppet
7 1 (0.19%) SCCM
7 1 (0.19%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 146 (27.92%) Microsoft
2 26 (4.97%) SAP
3 23 (4.40%) Oracle
4 19 (3.63%) Cisco
5 14 (2.68%) VMware
6 11 (2.10%) Google
7 10 (1.91%) Sage
8 9 (1.72%) Dell
8 9 (1.72%) HP
8 9 (1.72%) Salesforce
9 7 (1.34%) Databricks
9 7 (1.34%) Meraki
9 7 (1.34%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.15%) Zscaler
11 5 (0.96%) Avaya
11 5 (0.96%) SolarWinds
12 4 (0.76%) Epicor
12 4 (0.76%) Infor
13 3 (0.57%) McAfee
13 3 (0.57%) Sophos