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

6 months to
11 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -4 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,732 1,781 2,000
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.47% 19.61% 15.36%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.23% 22.33% 19.05%
Number of salaries quoted 1,247 874 974
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,750
25th Percentile £31,000 £31,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - -15.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £57,500 £60,000 £66,000
90th Percentile £69,250 £77,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £47,022 £45,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +4.49% -14.29% -4.55%

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 13,092 7,977 10,501
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.55% 87.85% 80.65%
Number of salaries quoted 9,410 4,234 6,059
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £40,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £54,125
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -7.62% -1.59%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -8.00%

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 11 September 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 11 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
Thames Valley -6 652 £43,000 +1.18% 399
Hampshire -1 443 £40,000 -11.11% 230
Berkshire -5 293 £43,000 +1.18% 194
Surrey -1 265 £40,000 - 133
Buckinghamshire -5 194 £42,500 +13.33% 110
Kent -4 179 £35,000 +7.69% 64
Oxfordshire +3 165 £44,000 +1.15% 100
East Sussex -3 95 £50,000 - 48
West Sussex -8 74 £46,250 -8.42% 55
Middlesex +3 12 £35,000 -6.67% 14
Sussex -11 5 £65,000 +52.94% 17
Isle of Wight -14 2 £42,500 -3.41% 8
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 81 (4.68%) SharePoint
2 59 (3.41%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.04%) Confluence
4 16 (0.92%) IIS
5 14 (0.81%) CMS
6 7 (0.40%) OpenEdge
7 6 (0.35%) Apache
8 5 (0.29%) nginx
8 5 (0.29%) WordPress
9 3 (0.17%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.17%) OpenStack
9 3 (0.17%) SAS
10 2 (0.12%) Gentran
10 2 (0.12%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.12%) Tomcat
Applications
1 122 (7.04%) Microsoft Office
2 114 (6.58%) Microsoft Excel
3 18 (1.04%) AutoCAD
4 16 (0.92%) Microsoft Project
5 14 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
6 10 (0.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 9 (0.52%) Revit
8 8 (0.46%) MS Visio
9 5 (0.29%) Lightworks
10 4 (0.23%) Simulink
11 3 (0.17%) EPLAN
11 3 (0.17%) SOLIDWORKS
12 2 (0.12%) Chatbot
12 2 (0.12%) Mathematica
12 2 (0.12%) Photoshop
13 1 (0.058%) Mathcad
13 1 (0.058%) OrCAD
13 1 (0.058%) PTC Creo
13 1 (0.058%) Siemens NX
13 1 (0.058%) Solid Edge
Business Applications
1 24 (1.39%) NetSuite
2 17 (0.98%) Shopify
3 16 (0.92%) Dynamics CRM
4 6 (0.35%) Magento
4 6 (0.35%) Primavera
4 6 (0.35%) Raiser’s Edge
5 3 (0.17%) Infor SunSystems
5 3 (0.17%) Payment Gateway
5 3 (0.17%) Sage X3
6 2 (0.12%) Academy Housing
6 2 (0.12%) Eloqua
6 2 (0.12%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.12%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.12%) Siebel CRM
6 2 (0.12%) Workday HCM
7 1 (0.058%) Adobe Campaign
7 1 (0.058%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.058%) HFM
Cloud Services
1 379 (21.88%) Azure
2 231 (13.34%) Microsoft 365
3 173 (9.99%) AWS
4 97 (5.60%) Power Platform
5 80 (4.62%) Entra ID
6 71 (4.10%) SaaS
7 48 (2.77%) GCP
8 42 (2.42%) Azure DevOps
9 34 (1.96%) GitHub
10 31 (1.79%) Serverless
11 30 (1.73%) Google Workspace
12 18 (1.04%) Anthropic Claude
12 18 (1.04%) Dynamics 365
12 18 (1.04%) IaaS
12 18 (1.04%) PaaS
13 17 (0.98%) Google Tag Manager
14 16 (0.92%) OneDrive
15 15 (0.87%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 14 (0.81%) Amazon ECS
16 14 (0.81%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 154 (8.89%) Firewall
2 84 (4.85%) DNS
3 68 (3.93%) VPN
4 64 (3.70%) TCP/IP
5 61 (3.52%) DHCP
6 56 (3.23%) VLAN
7 52 (3.00%) WAN
8 51 (2.94%) Wi-Fi
9 50 (2.89%) LAN
9 50 (2.89%) Wireless
10 36 (2.08%) Network Security
10 36 (2.08%) VoIP
11 18 (1.04%) SSL
12 14 (0.81%) Internet
13 10 (0.58%) MQTT
14 9 (0.52%) Broadband
14 9 (0.52%) LTE
15 8 (0.46%) 5G
15 8 (0.46%) HTTP
16 7 (0.40%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 126 (7.27%) SQL Server
2 81 (4.68%) Power BI
3 36 (2.08%) Relational Database
4 30 (1.73%) MySQL
5 29 (1.67%) PostgreSQL
6 24 (1.39%) NoSQL
7 17 (0.98%) Data Warehouse
8 14 (0.81%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 12 (0.69%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 11 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
11 10 (0.58%) Tableau
12 9 (0.52%) MongoDB
13 7 (0.40%) Azure SQL Database
13 7 (0.40%) Data Lake
13 7 (0.40%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.40%) GIS
13 7 (0.40%) Looker
13 7 (0.40%) OLTP
14 6 (0.35%) Metadata
15 5 (0.29%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 66 (3.81%) Git
2 62 (3.58%) JIRA
3 19 (1.10%) GitLab
4 17 (0.98%) Rational DOORS
5 14 (0.81%) Claude Code
6 11 (0.64%) Oracle Forms
6 11 (0.64%) Team Foundation Server
7 5 (0.29%) Eclipse
7 5 (0.29%) Eclipse RCP
7 5 (0.29%) Jenkins
7 5 (0.29%) Selenium
7 5 (0.29%) Visual Studio
8 4 (0.23%) Postman
8 4 (0.23%) Terragrunt
9 3 (0.17%) PetaLinux
9 3 (0.17%) PHPUnit
9 3 (0.17%) SpecFlow
10 2 (0.12%) Android Studio
10 2 (0.12%) Cucumber
10 2 (0.12%) Mocha
General
1 883 (50.98%) Social Skills
2 477 (27.54%) Analytical Skills
3 267 (15.42%) Finance
4 154 (8.89%) Manufacturing
5 150 (8.66%) Organisational Skills
6 118 (6.81%) Aerospace
7 101 (5.83%) Electronics
8 91 (5.25%) Retail
9 65 (3.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 56 (3.23%) Marketing
11 51 (2.94%) Telecoms
12 49 (2.83%) Influencing Skills
13 48 (2.77%) Legal
14 42 (2.42%) Military
15 40 (2.31%) Law
16 39 (2.25%) Public Sector
17 26 (1.50%) Aviation
17 26 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
18 22 (1.27%) Advertising
19 19 (1.10%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 242 (13.97%) Analyst
2 178 (10.28%) Senior
3 166 (9.58%) IT Support
4 158 (9.12%) Developer
5 127 (7.33%) Support Analyst
6 125 (7.22%) Support Engineer
7 93 (5.37%) IT Engineer
8 78 (4.50%) Lead
9 75 (4.33%) Technical Support
10 74 (4.27%) Support Technician
10 74 (4.27%) Systems Engineer
11 70 (4.04%) Software Engineer
12 63 (3.64%) IT Support Engineer
13 55 (3.18%) Technical Engineer
14 54 (3.12%) 2nd Line Support
15 53 (3.06%) IT Technician
15 53 (3.06%) Technical Support Engineer
16 52 (3.00%) Architect
17 50 (2.89%) Consultant
18 49 (2.83%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 118 (6.81%) .NET
2 79 (4.56%) Terraform
3 73 (4.21%) HTML
4 65 (3.75%) REST
5 54 (3.12%) CSS
6 53 (3.06%) ASP.NET
7 52 (3.00%) React
8 51 (2.94%) SOAP
9 35 (2.02%) ASP.NET Core
10 31 (1.79%) OAuth
11 30 (1.73%) AngularJS
12 29 (1.67%) RESTful
13 28 (1.62%) JSON
13 28 (1.62%) Vue
14 27 (1.56%) ModSecurity
15 26 (1.50%) XML
16 22 (1.27%) ASP.NET Web API
16 22 (1.27%) jQuery
17 21 (1.21%) LESS
18 19 (1.10%) ASP.NET Web Forms
Miscellaneous
1 134 (7.74%) Driving Licence
2 121 (6.99%) Onboarding
3 92 (5.31%) Management Information System
4 88 (5.08%) Self-Motivation
5 63 (3.64%) Cloud Native
6 50 (2.89%) Product Ownership
7 41 (2.37%) Data Centre
8 30 (1.73%) Enterprise Software
8 30 (1.73%) Robotics
8 30 (1.73%) Social Media
9 28 (1.62%) Legacy Systems
10 25 (1.44%) CCTV
10 25 (1.44%) Distributed Systems
11 24 (1.39%) Analogue Electronics
11 24 (1.39%) Analytical Mindset
12 19 (1.10%) EPoS
13 18 (1.04%) Mobile App
14 16 (0.92%) Cyber Threat
14 16 (0.92%) Security Operations Centre
15 15 (0.87%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 283 (16.34%) Windows
2 109 (6.29%) Linux
3 100 (5.77%) Windows Server
4 26 (1.50%) Android
5 19 (1.10%) Mac OS
5 19 (1.10%) Windows 10
5 19 (1.10%) Windows Server 2019
6 17 (0.98%) Apple iOS
7 12 (0.69%) Ubuntu
8 10 (0.58%) CentOS
8 10 (0.58%) Windows Server 2016
9 9 (0.52%) Debian
9 9 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 6 (0.35%) Rocky
11 5 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.17%) FreeRTOS
12 3 (0.17%) Gentoo
12 3 (0.17%) Unix
12 3 (0.17%) VMS
12 3 (0.17%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 374 (21.59%) Continuous Improvement
2 323 (18.65%) Customer Service
3 230 (13.28%) Agile
4 212 (12.24%) Decision-Making
5 180 (10.39%) Project Management
5 180 (10.39%) Stakeholder Management
6 177 (10.22%) AI
7 174 (10.05%) Project Delivery
8 167 (9.64%) Software Engineering
9 160 (9.24%) ITIL
10 159 (9.18%) CI/CD
11 154 (8.89%) Collaborative Working
12 145 (8.37%) DevOps
13 144 (8.31%) Mentoring
14 142 (8.20%) Cybersecurity
15 137 (7.91%) Validation
16 134 (7.74%) CRM
17 122 (7.04%) Computer Science
18 119 (6.87%) Analytics
19 113 (6.52%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 226 (13.05%) SQL
2 198 (11.43%) Python
3 135 (7.79%) C#
4 111 (6.41%) JavaScript
5 95 (5.48%) PowerShell
6 64 (3.70%) TypeScript
7 62 (3.58%) C++
8 59 (3.41%) Java
9 28 (1.62%) C
10 26 (1.50%) Bash
11 22 (1.27%) Ruby
12 20 (1.15%) T-SQL
13 18 (1.04%) PHP
14 16 (0.92%) VB.NET
15 12 (0.69%) MATLAB
16 10 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 9 (0.52%) PL/SQL
17 9 (0.52%) Rust
18 8 (0.46%) Perl
19 7 (0.40%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 347 (20.03%) Degree
2 190 (10.97%) Security Cleared
3 133 (7.68%) SC Cleared
4 113 (6.52%) DBS Check
5 64 (3.70%) Computer Science Degree
6 61 (3.52%) DV Cleared
7 60 (3.46%) Microsoft Certification
8 57 (3.29%) BPSS Clearance
8 57 (3.29%) HNC
9 52 (3.00%) Azure Certification
10 51 (2.94%) HND
11 32 (1.85%) CISSP
11 32 (1.85%) PMI Certification
12 28 (1.62%) A+ Certification
12 28 (1.62%) CISM
13 27 (1.56%) Chartered Engineer
13 27 (1.56%) Master's Degree
14 26 (1.50%) PMP
15 22 (1.27%) CompTIA Security+
16 21 (1.21%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 146 (8.43%) QA
2 71 (4.10%) GDPR
3 57 (3.29%) Data Quality
4 45 (2.60%) SLA
5 40 (2.31%) Accessibility
6 39 (2.25%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 24 (1.39%) NIST
8 19 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
9 18 (1.04%) Good Clinical Practice
9 18 (1.04%) PCI DSS
10 16 (0.92%) PMO
11 15 (0.87%) DO-254
12 12 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 9 (0.52%) GMP
13 9 (0.52%) SOC 2
14 8 (0.46%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 8 (0.46%) GLP
14 8 (0.46%) GxP
15 5 (0.29%) ISO 9001
16 4 (0.23%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 156 (9.01%) Active Directory
2 83 (4.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 62 (3.58%) Docker
3 62 (3.58%) Hyper-V
4 12 (0.69%) Firmware
5 9 (0.52%) VMware ESXi
5 9 (0.52%) vSphere
6 7 (0.40%) Virtual Desktop
7 6 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.29%) ClearTrust
8 5 (0.29%) Squid
9 4 (0.23%) Embedded Firmware
9 4 (0.23%) KVM
10 3 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 3 (0.17%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.12%) XenApp
12 1 (0.058%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.058%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.058%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 71 (4.10%) Kubernetes
2 58 (3.35%) Microsoft Intune
3 33 (1.91%) Ansible
4 23 (1.33%) SCCM
5 17 (0.98%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (0.81%) Jamf Pro
7 10 (0.58%) Grafana
8 8 (0.46%) Podman
9 7 (0.40%) Failover Clustering
9 7 (0.40%) Prometheus
9 7 (0.40%) Puppet
10 6 (0.35%) Graylog
10 6 (0.35%) Nagios
11 4 (0.23%) Docker Swarm
11 4 (0.23%) Functional Safety
11 4 (0.23%) vCenter Server
12 3 (0.17%) BMC PATROL
12 3 (0.17%) ZABBIX
13 2 (0.12%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
13 2 (0.12%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 533 (30.77%) Microsoft
2 99 (5.72%) VMware
3 79 (4.56%) Google
4 53 (3.06%) Oracle
5 41 (2.37%) SAP
6 39 (2.25%) Cisco
6 39 (2.25%) Fortinet
6 39 (2.25%) SonicWALL
7 37 (2.14%) Veeam
8 33 (1.91%) ServiceNow
9 30 (1.73%) Salesforce
10 25 (1.44%) Sage
11 19 (1.10%) Palo Alto
12 18 (1.04%) Apple
13 16 (0.92%) Aruba
14 15 (0.87%) Databricks
14 15 (0.87%) Mentor Graphics
15 14 (0.81%) CA Agile Central
16 12 (0.69%) Datto
16 12 (0.69%) Okta