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 24 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 4 4 7
Rank change year-on-year 0 +3 -2
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,666 1,835 1,296
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 18.50% 16.03% 16.08%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 21.02% 19.71% 17.21%
Number of salaries quoted 906 796 725
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £37,500 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% - -
75th Percentile £60,000 £67,500 £69,500
90th Percentile £74,250 £83,750 £82,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

All Process and 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 7,926 9,310 7,532
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 88.03% 81.34% 93.43%
Number of salaries quoted 4,324 4,937 5,206
10th Percentile £27,000 £32,750 £31,250
25th Percentile £32,750 £42,500 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% - -
75th Percentile £65,000 £70,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £81,775 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -

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 24 October 2025.

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 24 October 2025. 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 +1 765 £40,000 -20.00% 763
Berkshire +4 437 £41,000 -34.40% 548
Hampshire +5 332 £40,000 -20.00% 190
Buckinghamshire -2 246 £37,500 -31.82% 133
Surrey -2 171 £40,000 -23.81% 130
East Sussex +11 142 £41,500 -30.83% 56
Kent +7 121 £35,000 -12.50% 95
Oxfordshire -4 82 £42,500 -10.53% 89
West Sussex -2 78 £53,500 +12.63% 68
Middlesex -10 26 £37,500 +11.94% 31
Isle of Wight -8 17 £41,000 - 6
Sussex +5 8 £42,500 - 53
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 83 (4.98%) SharePoint
2 58 (3.48%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.08%) CMS
3 18 (1.08%) IIS
4 15 (0.90%) Confluence
5 9 (0.54%) WordPress
6 3 (0.18%) HCL Domino
6 3 (0.18%) HCL Notes
7 2 (0.12%) Anypoint
7 2 (0.12%) ArcGIS
7 2 (0.12%) OpenStack
7 2 (0.12%) SAS
7 2 (0.12%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.060%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.060%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.060%) Appian
8 1 (0.060%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.060%) Umbraco
Applications
1 172 (10.32%) Microsoft Excel
2 147 (8.82%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (0.84%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 14 (0.84%) Spreadsheet
4 10 (0.60%) Mathcad
4 10 (0.60%) Simulink
5 8 (0.48%) Photoshop
6 7 (0.42%) Adobe Premiere
7 6 (0.36%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 6 (0.36%) Adobe Illustrator
8 5 (0.30%) MS Visio
9 3 (0.18%) Adobe After Effects
9 3 (0.18%) Adobe XD
9 3 (0.18%) InDesign
9 3 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
9 3 (0.18%) Notion
10 2 (0.12%) AutoCAD
11 1 (0.060%) EPLAN
11 1 (0.060%) MicroStation
11 1 (0.060%) Revit
Business Applications
1 75 (4.50%) SAP S/4HANA
2 31 (1.86%) NetSuite
3 17 (1.02%) Dynamics CRM
4 11 (0.66%) Sage 200
4 11 (0.66%) Sage CRM
5 8 (0.48%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.42%) SAP CO
6 7 (0.42%) SAP FI
6 7 (0.42%) SAP FI/CO
7 6 (0.36%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.36%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.36%) Oracle Receivables
8 5 (0.30%) SAP Hybris
8 5 (0.30%) Shopify
9 4 (0.24%) Dynamics GP
9 4 (0.24%) Sage 1000
9 4 (0.24%) Unit4 Business World
10 2 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
11 1 (0.060%) Payment Gateway
11 1 (0.060%) SAP EWM
Cloud Services
1 327 (19.63%) Azure
2 185 (11.10%) Microsoft 365
3 125 (7.50%) Power Platform
4 99 (5.94%) AWS
5 85 (5.10%) SaaS
6 56 (3.36%) Entra ID
7 48 (2.88%) GCP
8 46 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
9 18 (1.08%) IaaS
10 15 (0.90%) Collibra
10 15 (0.90%) PaaS
10 15 (0.90%) Vertex AI
11 14 (0.84%) Salsify
12 11 (0.66%) Azure Service Bus
13 10 (0.60%) Azure Cosmos DB
13 10 (0.60%) Google Analytics
13 10 (0.60%) Nutanix
13 10 (0.60%) OCI
14 9 (0.54%) GitHub
14 9 (0.54%) SonarCloud
Communications & Networking
1 94 (5.64%) Firewall
2 83 (4.98%) DNS
3 63 (3.78%) DHCP
3 63 (3.78%) TCP/IP
4 58 (3.48%) VPN
5 45 (2.70%) VLAN
6 28 (1.68%) Wi-Fi
7 23 (1.38%) LAN
7 23 (1.38%) WAN
8 16 (0.96%) SAN
8 16 (0.96%) Wireless
9 12 (0.72%) VoIP
10 11 (0.66%) IP Telephony
10 11 (0.66%) SNMP
11 9 (0.54%) Network Security
12 8 (0.48%) Wireshark
13 7 (0.42%) Broadband
14 6 (0.36%) Internet
14 6 (0.36%) Remote Desktop
15 5 (0.30%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 118 (7.08%) Power BI
2 105 (6.30%) Data Lake
3 63 (3.78%) SAP BW
4 62 (3.72%) SQL Server
5 44 (2.64%) Relational Database
6 19 (1.14%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 17 (1.02%) Metadata
8 15 (0.90%) Data Mining
9 14 (0.84%) Oracle Reports
9 14 (0.84%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 14 (0.84%) Tableau
10 13 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
11 12 (0.72%) MySQL
12 11 (0.66%) NoSQL
12 11 (0.66%) PostgreSQL
13 10 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
14 7 (0.42%) Data Warehouse
15 6 (0.36%) OLTP
16 5 (0.30%) MongoDB
17 4 (0.24%) GIS
Development Applications
1 61 (3.66%) Git
2 50 (3.00%) JIRA
3 16 (0.96%) Selenium
4 11 (0.66%) Octopus Deploy
4 11 (0.66%) Visual Studio
5 10 (0.60%) Jenkins
5 10 (0.60%) Robot Framework
6 9 (0.54%) MSBuild
6 9 (0.54%) Snyk
6 9 (0.54%) Team Foundation Server
7 4 (0.24%) WebDriver
8 3 (0.18%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.18%) GitLab
9 2 (0.12%) Rational DOORS
9 2 (0.12%) Spock
9 2 (0.12%) TeamCity
10 1 (0.060%) Appium
10 1 (0.060%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.060%) SpecFlow
10 1 (0.060%) TestNG
General
1 896 (53.78%) Social Skills
2 418 (25.09%) Analytical Skills
3 374 (22.45%) Manufacturing
4 364 (21.85%) Retail
5 316 (18.97%) Finance
6 139 (8.34%) Marketing
7 101 (6.06%) Law
8 64 (3.84%) Dutch Language
8 64 (3.84%) Finnish Language
8 64 (3.84%) Norwegian Language
9 60 (3.60%) Influencing Skills
10 49 (2.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 44 (2.64%) Organisational Skills
12 38 (2.28%) Legal
13 36 (2.16%) Telecoms
14 32 (1.92%) Electronics
15 24 (1.44%) Automotive
16 19 (1.14%) Public Sector
17 17 (1.02%) Documentation Skills
18 16 (0.96%) Catalan Language
Job Titles
1 339 (20.35%) Analyst
2 298 (17.89%) Senior
3 240 (14.41%) Trainer
4 179 (10.74%) Lead
5 174 (10.44%) IT Support
6 144 (8.64%) Support Analyst
7 103 (6.18%) Support Engineer
8 98 (5.88%) Technical Support
9 69 (4.14%) IT Analyst
10 66 (3.96%) Senior Analyst
11 64 (3.84%) Developer
11 64 (3.84%) IT Support Analyst
12 61 (3.66%) Applications Support
13 57 (3.42%) SAP Analyst
14 54 (3.24%) Senior Manager
15 51 (3.06%) 2nd Line Support
16 37 (2.22%) IT Engineer
16 37 (2.22%) Support Technician
17 34 (2.04%) Business Analyst
17 34 (2.04%) Report Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (3.18%) HTML
2 48 (2.88%) CSS
3 46 (2.76%) .NET
4 39 (2.34%) REST
5 32 (1.92%) XML
6 30 (1.80%) SOAP
7 29 (1.74%) React
8 27 (1.62%) JSON
9 26 (1.56%) Node.js
10 24 (1.44%) ASP.NET
11 23 (1.38%) RESTful
12 12 (0.72%) Bootstrap
12 12 (0.72%) WinForms
13 11 (0.66%) .NET Framework
13 11 (0.66%) Entity Framework
13 11 (0.66%) Web Services
14 9 (0.54%) EDI
14 9 (0.54%) gRPC
15 8 (0.48%) Kafka
15 8 (0.48%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 251 (15.07%) Robotics
2 122 (7.32%) Onboarding
3 95 (5.70%) Analytical Mindset
4 85 (5.10%) Driving Licence
5 66 (3.96%) Self-Motivation
6 63 (3.78%) Management Information System
7 53 (3.18%) Data Centre
8 22 (1.32%) Algorithms
8 22 (1.32%) Product Ownership
9 15 (0.90%) Social Media
10 14 (0.84%) Taxonomies
11 13 (0.78%) Virtual Team
12 12 (0.72%) Security Posture
13 10 (0.60%) Security Operations Centre
14 9 (0.54%) Cloud Native
15 8 (0.48%) Public Cloud
16 7 (0.42%) IoT
16 7 (0.42%) PKI
16 7 (0.42%) SCADA
17 6 (0.36%) FMCG
Operating Systems
1 281 (16.87%) Windows
2 95 (5.70%) Windows Server
3 54 (3.24%) Windows 10
4 46 (2.76%) Linux
5 19 (1.14%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.02%) Windows 7
7 11 (0.66%) Windows Server 2012
8 10 (0.60%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (0.54%) Unix
10 5 (0.30%) Android
10 5 (0.30%) Apple iOS
11 4 (0.24%) VMS
11 4 (0.24%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.060%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 320 (19.21%) AI
2 312 (18.73%) Machine Learning
3 269 (16.15%) Generative AI
4 255 (15.31%) LLM
5 240 (14.41%) Red Team
6 237 (14.23%) Continuous Improvement
7 236 (14.17%) Analytics
8 232 (13.93%) Agile
9 215 (12.91%) Customer Service
10 196 (11.76%) Data Privacy
11 178 (10.68%) ERP
12 144 (8.64%) Business Intelligence
13 121 (7.26%) DevOps
14 118 (7.08%) Data Modelling
15 117 (7.02%) Cybersecurity
15 117 (7.02%) Roadmaps
16 111 (6.66%) Mentoring
17 110 (6.60%) Data Analysis
18 106 (6.36%) Technical Leadership
19 103 (6.18%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 252 (15.13%) SQL
2 89 (5.34%) Python
3 70 (4.20%) C#
4 68 (4.08%) PowerShell
5 54 (3.24%) JavaScript
6 28 (1.68%) Java
7 24 (1.44%) T-SQL
8 16 (0.96%) VBA
9 12 (0.72%) Bash
10 10 (0.60%) MATLAB
11 9 (0.54%) TypeScript
12 7 (0.42%) PHP
13 6 (0.36%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 6 (0.36%) Kusto Query Language
13 6 (0.36%) PL/SQL
13 6 (0.36%) R
14 5 (0.30%) C++
14 5 (0.30%) VB.NET
15 4 (0.24%) DCL
15 4 (0.24%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 579 (34.75%) Degree
2 110 (6.60%) Security Cleared
3 52 (3.12%) SC Cleared
4 45 (2.70%) Computer Science Degree
5 42 (2.52%) DV Cleared
6 33 (1.98%) Microsoft Certification
7 22 (1.32%) Cisco Certification
8 21 (1.26%) BPSS Clearance
9 18 (1.08%) A+ Certification
9 18 (1.08%) MCP
10 17 (1.02%) ACCA
11 16 (0.96%) DBS Check
12 15 (0.90%) CCNA
12 15 (0.90%) CCNP
13 14 (0.84%) CIMA
13 14 (0.84%) ISTQB
14 13 (0.78%) Master's Degree
15 12 (0.72%) CEH
15 12 (0.72%) CISM
15 12 (0.72%) CISSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 122 (7.32%) Data Quality
2 71 (4.26%) QA
3 63 (3.78%) GDPR
4 31 (1.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 27 (1.62%) SLA
6 20 (1.20%) Cyber Essentials
7 17 (1.02%) Accessibility
8 12 (0.72%) NIST
9 10 (0.60%) Software Quality Assurance
10 9 (0.54%) ISO 9001
10 9 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 5 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 5 (0.30%) ISO 13485
11 5 (0.30%) ISO 31000
12 4 (0.24%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.18%) PCI DSS
14 2 (0.12%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 2 (0.12%) Good Clinical Practice
14 2 (0.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 2 (0.12%) WCAG
System Software
1 144 (8.64%) Active Directory
2 45 (2.70%) Hyper-V
3 42 (2.52%) Docker
4 23 (1.38%) VMware Infrastructure
5 17 (1.02%) VMware ESXi
6 11 (0.66%) Firmware
7 10 (0.60%) Virtual Machines
8 9 (0.54%) Terminal Services
9 3 (0.18%) GPFS
9 3 (0.18%) Lustre
9 3 (0.18%) NFS
10 2 (0.12%) KVM
10 2 (0.12%) RHEV
10 2 (0.12%) Xen
10 2 (0.12%) XenApp
11 1 (0.060%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.060%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 76 (4.56%) Microsoft Intune
2 44 (2.64%) Terraform
3 37 (2.22%) Kubernetes
4 23 (1.38%) Ansible
5 14 (0.84%) SCCM
5 14 (0.84%) vCenter Server
6 10 (0.60%) ZABBIX
7 9 (0.54%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (0.48%) Prometheus
9 7 (0.42%) Grafana
10 6 (0.36%) Nagios
11 5 (0.30%) QRadar
12 4 (0.24%) FortiGate
13 2 (0.12%) Proxmox
14 1 (0.060%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 1 (0.060%) ArcSight ESM
14 1 (0.060%) Nessus
14 1 (0.060%) Netcool
14 1 (0.060%) Netcool/OMNIbus
14 1 (0.060%) PaperCut
Vendors
1 410 (24.61%) Microsoft
2 287 (17.23%) Google
3 255 (15.31%) Adobe
4 247 (14.83%) Databricks
5 203 (12.18%) SAP
6 48 (2.88%) Oracle
7 47 (2.82%) Cisco
8 45 (2.70%) VMware
9 44 (2.64%) Sage
10 25 (1.50%) Meraki
11 23 (1.38%) Workday
12 22 (1.32%) Veeam
13 21 (1.26%) NEC
13 21 (1.26%) Salesforce
14 16 (0.96%) OpenAI
15 15 (0.90%) HubSpot
16 14 (0.84%) Fortinet
16 14 (0.84%) ServiceNow
17 13 (0.78%) Guidewire
18 12 (0.72%) SolarWinds