Problem-Solving Job Trends in the South East

Problem Solving
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Problem-Solving skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 7 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,521 1,605 2,046
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.04% 18.42% 14.74%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.61% 20.90% 18.24%
Number of salaries quoted 1,122 821 1,222
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £42,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -10.53% -7.50%
75th Percentile £58,750 £62,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £72,500 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -9.09%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

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 South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 12,058 7,680 11,218
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.68% 88.16% 80.83%
Number of salaries quoted 8,595 4,144 7,358
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,349
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.49% -4.82%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £81,250 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -12.00%

Problem-Solving
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Problem-Solving relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Problem-Solving job vacancy trend in the South East

Problem-Solving
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Problem-Solving.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Problem-Solving

Problem-Solving
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Problem-Solving in the South East over the 6 months to 7 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Problem-Solving in the South East

Problem-Solving
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Problem-Solving within the South East region over the 6 months to 7 August 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
Thames Valley -6 558 £43,000 +1.18% 320
Hampshire -1 390 £42,500 -5.56% 201
Surrey +1 258 £42,500 +6.25% 110
Berkshire -2 248 £45,000 +5.88% 145
Buckinghamshire -5 177 £42,500 +13.33% 104
Kent -7 139 £35,000 +11.11% 77
Oxfordshire +2 133 £42,241 -12.45% 77
East Sussex -4 92 £50,000 - 49
West Sussex -7 72 £50,000 +5.26% 48
Middlesex +7 7 £65,000 +73.33% 13
Isle of Wight -11 2 £42,500 -22.73% 3
Problem-Solving
England

Problem-Solving
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 50 (3.29%) SharePoint
2 43 (2.83%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (1.25%) CMS
3 19 (1.25%) Confluence
4 9 (0.59%) IIS
5 7 (0.46%) Apache
5 7 (0.46%) OpenEdge
5 7 (0.46%) WordPress
6 5 (0.33%) nginx
7 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.20%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.20%) SAS
8 2 (0.13%) Gentran
8 2 (0.13%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.066%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 106 (6.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 87 (5.72%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (0.79%) Spreadsheet
4 11 (0.72%) Microsoft Project
5 9 (0.59%) MS Visio
6 8 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 7 (0.46%) AutoCAD
8 5 (0.33%) Lightworks
8 5 (0.33%) Photoshop
9 4 (0.26%) Adobe Illustrator
9 4 (0.26%) Revit
10 3 (0.20%) EPLAN
10 3 (0.20%) Simulink
11 2 (0.13%) Chatbot
12 1 (0.066%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.066%) OrCAD
12 1 (0.066%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 14 (0.92%) NetSuite
2 10 (0.66%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.46%) Magento
3 7 (0.46%) Shopify
4 6 (0.39%) Raiser’s Edge
5 3 (0.20%) Infor SunSystems
5 3 (0.20%) Payment Gateway
5 3 (0.20%) Primavera
5 3 (0.20%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.13%) Academy Housing
6 2 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.13%) Workday HCM
7 1 (0.066%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.066%) HFM
7 1 (0.066%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.066%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 358 (23.54%) Azure
2 172 (11.31%) Microsoft 365
3 168 (11.05%) AWS
4 83 (5.46%) Power Platform
5 64 (4.21%) SaaS
6 54 (3.55%) Entra ID
7 51 (3.35%) GCP
8 44 (2.89%) Azure DevOps
9 34 (2.24%) GitHub
10 32 (2.10%) Serverless
11 21 (1.38%) IaaS
11 21 (1.38%) PaaS
12 19 (1.25%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 19 (1.25%) Datadog
12 19 (1.25%) Dynamics 365
12 19 (1.25%) Google Workspace
13 17 (1.12%) GitHub Actions
14 15 (0.99%) Amazon ECS
14 15 (0.99%) OpenShift
15 14 (0.92%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 130 (8.55%) Firewall
2 66 (4.34%) DNS
3 55 (3.62%) TCP/IP
3 55 (3.62%) VPN
4 49 (3.22%) WAN
5 47 (3.09%) LAN
6 43 (2.83%) DHCP
7 40 (2.63%) Wi-Fi
7 40 (2.63%) Wireless
8 31 (2.04%) VLAN
9 30 (1.97%) VoIP
10 27 (1.78%) Network Security
11 15 (0.99%) SSL
12 13 (0.85%) Broadband
12 13 (0.85%) Internet
13 11 (0.72%) HTTP
14 10 (0.66%) MQTT
15 9 (0.59%) LTE
16 6 (0.39%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.39%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 111 (7.30%) SQL Server
2 70 (4.60%) Power BI
3 33 (2.17%) Relational Database
4 28 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
5 27 (1.78%) MySQL
6 24 (1.58%) NoSQL
7 18 (1.18%) Data Warehouse
8 15 (0.99%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 13 (0.85%) Tableau
10 12 (0.79%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 11 (0.72%) Amazon RDS
12 10 (0.66%) Data Lake
12 10 (0.66%) OLTP
13 8 (0.53%) DynamoDB
13 8 (0.53%) MongoDB
14 7 (0.46%) GIS
14 7 (0.46%) Looker
15 5 (0.33%) Azure SQL Database
15 5 (0.33%) Power Query
16 4 (0.26%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 76 (5.00%) Git
2 59 (3.88%) JIRA
3 32 (2.10%) GitLab
4 20 (1.31%) Rational DOORS
5 9 (0.59%) Claude Code
6 7 (0.46%) Selenium
7 6 (0.39%) Oracle Forms
7 6 (0.39%) Team Foundation Server
8 5 (0.33%) Eclipse
8 5 (0.33%) Eclipse RCP
8 5 (0.33%) Jenkins
8 5 (0.33%) Postman
9 4 (0.26%) PHPUnit
9 4 (0.26%) Terragrunt
9 4 (0.26%) Visual Studio
10 3 (0.20%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.20%) PetaLinux
10 3 (0.20%) SpecFlow
11 2 (0.13%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.13%) JMeter
General
1 737 (48.45%) Social Skills
2 441 (28.99%) Analytical Skills
3 221 (14.53%) Finance
4 119 (7.82%) Manufacturing
5 111 (7.30%) Organisational Skills
6 82 (5.39%) Electronics
7 74 (4.87%) Aerospace
8 62 (4.08%) Retail
9 57 (3.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 54 (3.55%) Telecoms
11 42 (2.76%) Marketing
12 39 (2.56%) Influencing Skills
12 39 (2.56%) Law
13 36 (2.37%) Legal
14 35 (2.30%) Public Sector
15 33 (2.17%) Documentation Skills
16 29 (1.91%) Military
17 23 (1.51%) Local Government
18 18 (1.18%) Aviation
18 18 (1.18%) Banking
Job Titles
1 211 (13.87%) Analyst
2 161 (10.59%) Senior
3 150 (9.86%) IT Support
4 144 (9.47%) Developer
5 121 (7.96%) Support Engineer
6 96 (6.31%) Support Analyst
7 89 (5.85%) IT Engineer
8 72 (4.73%) Lead
9 71 (4.67%) Software Engineer
10 70 (4.60%) Systems Engineer
11 67 (4.40%) Technical Support
12 63 (4.14%) Support Technician
13 56 (3.68%) IT Support Engineer
14 54 (3.55%) 2nd Line Support
15 49 (3.22%) Technical Engineer
15 49 (3.22%) Technical Support Engineer
16 46 (3.02%) Architect
17 45 (2.96%) IT Technician
18 39 (2.56%) Consultant
19 38 (2.50%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 102 (6.71%) .NET
2 69 (4.54%) HTML
3 57 (3.75%) REST
4 51 (3.35%) CSS
5 48 (3.16%) React
5 48 (3.16%) SOAP
6 43 (2.83%) ASP.NET
7 33 (2.17%) OAuth
8 31 (2.04%) ASP.NET Core
8 31 (2.04%) JSON
9 28 (1.84%) RESTful
10 27 (1.78%) Vue
11 26 (1.71%) AngularJS
11 26 (1.71%) XML
12 18 (1.18%) SAML
13 17 (1.12%) ASP.NET Web API
13 17 (1.12%) jQuery
13 17 (1.12%) RabbitMQ
14 16 (1.05%) HTML5
14 16 (1.05%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 107 (7.03%) Driving Licence
2 84 (5.52%) Onboarding
3 78 (5.13%) Self-Motivation
4 75 (4.93%) Management Information System
5 61 (4.01%) Cloud Native
6 42 (2.76%) Product Ownership
7 30 (1.97%) Distributed Systems
8 29 (1.91%) Analytical Mindset
8 29 (1.91%) Data Centre
9 28 (1.84%) Social Media
10 24 (1.58%) Legacy Systems
11 23 (1.51%) Robotics
12 21 (1.38%) Enterprise Software
13 18 (1.18%) NHS
14 16 (1.05%) EPoS
15 15 (0.99%) Analogue Electronics
15 15 (0.99%) CCTV
15 15 (0.99%) Security Posture
16 14 (0.92%) Mobile App
16 14 (0.92%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 241 (15.84%) Windows
2 120 (7.89%) Linux
3 88 (5.79%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.38%) Android
5 20 (1.31%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.12%) Windows Server 2019
7 16 (1.05%) CentOS
8 15 (0.99%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 13 (0.85%) Ubuntu
10 11 (0.72%) Apple iOS
11 10 (0.66%) Windows 10
12 9 (0.59%) Debian
12 9 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.20%) FreeRTOS
13 3 (0.20%) Gentoo
13 3 (0.20%) Unix
13 3 (0.20%) VMS
13 3 (0.20%) Windows 7
14 2 (0.13%) Rocky
14 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 325 (21.37%) Continuous Improvement
2 260 (17.09%) Customer Service
3 212 (13.94%) Agile
4 183 (12.03%) Decision-Making
5 172 (11.31%) CI/CD
6 169 (11.11%) AI
7 158 (10.39%) Software Engineering
8 157 (10.32%) DevOps
8 157 (10.32%) Project Management
9 146 (9.60%) Project Delivery
10 138 (9.07%) ITIL
11 137 (9.01%) Stakeholder Management
12 131 (8.61%) Cybersecurity
13 129 (8.48%) Mentoring
14 123 (8.09%) Validation
15 119 (7.82%) Computer Science
16 116 (7.63%) Collaborative Working
17 111 (7.30%) Analytics
18 101 (6.64%) Logistics
19 100 (6.57%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 217 (14.27%) Python
2 216 (14.20%) SQL
3 116 (7.63%) C#
4 100 (6.57%) JavaScript
5 94 (6.18%) PowerShell
6 62 (4.08%) C++
7 58 (3.81%) Java
8 56 (3.68%) TypeScript
9 39 (2.56%) Bash
10 33 (2.17%) C
11 24 (1.58%) PHP
12 15 (0.99%) Ruby
13 14 (0.92%) T-SQL
14 13 (0.85%) Rust
15 11 (0.72%) Perl
15 11 (0.72%) PL/SQL
15 11 (0.72%) VB.NET
16 7 (0.46%) Bicep
16 7 (0.46%) MATLAB
17 6 (0.39%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 298 (19.59%) Degree
2 148 (9.73%) Security Cleared
3 107 (7.03%) SC Cleared
4 98 (6.44%) DBS Check
5 65 (4.27%) Computer Science Degree
6 50 (3.29%) BPSS Clearance
7 49 (3.22%) Microsoft Certification
8 43 (2.83%) HNC
9 41 (2.70%) DV Cleared
10 35 (2.30%) Azure Certification
11 30 (1.97%) PMI Certification
12 28 (1.84%) HND
13 27 (1.78%) Chartered Engineer
14 26 (1.71%) PMP
15 25 (1.64%) ACCA
16 24 (1.58%) CIMA
17 22 (1.45%) Master's Degree
18 21 (1.38%) CISSP
19 20 (1.31%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
20 18 (1.18%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 132 (8.68%) QA
2 53 (3.48%) Data Quality
3 51 (3.35%) GDPR
4 42 (2.76%) SLA
5 30 (1.97%) Accessibility
6 28 (1.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 20 (1.31%) PCI DSS
8 18 (1.18%) Good Clinical Practice
9 17 (1.12%) NIST
10 16 (1.05%) Cyber Essentials
11 14 (0.92%) PMO
12 11 (0.72%) SOC 2
13 9 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 9 (0.59%) GMP
14 8 (0.53%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 8 (0.53%) DO-254
14 8 (0.53%) GLP
14 8 (0.53%) GxP
14 8 (0.53%) ISO 9001
15 4 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 122 (8.02%) Active Directory
2 76 (5.00%) Docker
3 70 (4.60%) VMware Infrastructure
4 56 (3.68%) Hyper-V
5 9 (0.59%) Firmware
5 9 (0.59%) KVM
5 9 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
5 9 (0.59%) vSphere
6 5 (0.33%) ClearTrust
6 5 (0.33%) Squid
6 5 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.33%) XenApp
7 4 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.20%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
9 2 (0.13%) VMware NSX
10 1 (0.066%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.066%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.066%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 88 (5.79%) Terraform
2 85 (5.59%) Kubernetes
3 49 (3.22%) Microsoft Intune
4 40 (2.63%) Ansible
5 23 (1.51%) SCCM
6 16 (1.05%) Grafana
7 13 (0.85%) Prometheus
8 11 (0.72%) Nagios
9 10 (0.66%) Single Sign-On
10 9 (0.59%) Podman
11 8 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
12 7 (0.46%) Failover Clustering
12 7 (0.46%) Puppet
13 6 (0.39%) ZABBIX
14 5 (0.33%) Docker Swarm
14 5 (0.33%) Graylog
15 4 (0.26%) Functional Safety
15 4 (0.26%) vCenter Server
16 2 (0.13%) Nessus
16 2 (0.13%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 433 (28.47%) Microsoft
2 78 (5.13%) VMware
3 57 (3.75%) Google
4 49 (3.22%) Oracle
5 37 (2.43%) Cisco
6 32 (2.10%) Fortinet
7 30 (1.97%) SonicWALL
8 29 (1.91%) Veeam
9 28 (1.84%) Salesforce
9 28 (1.84%) SAP
10 26 (1.71%) ServiceNow
11 20 (1.31%) Databricks
11 20 (1.31%) Sage
12 16 (1.05%) Aruba
13 15 (0.99%) Palo Alto
13 15 (0.99%) Red Hat
13 15 (0.99%) Splunk
14 14 (0.92%) Instagram
15 13 (0.85%) Dynatrace
16 10 (0.66%) Meraki