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

6 months to
11 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -9 +1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,139 1,333 2,807
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 7.93% 17.25% 17.08%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.99% 19.08% 20.28%
Number of salaries quoted 861 693 1,760
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £50,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +11.11% -14.29%
75th Percentile £62,500 £67,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% +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 10,363 6,985 13,843
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 72.14% 90.40% 84.21%
Number of salaries quoted 7,003 3,431 9,846
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £39,328 £36,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year - +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £68,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £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 11 May 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 May 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 -9 424 £47,500 -9.52% 220
Hampshire -5 251 £40,000 -15.79% 151
Berkshire -5 209 £47,500 -20.83% 99
Surrey -4 185 £40,000 -20.00% 75
Buckinghamshire -12 131 £50,000 -1.90% 71
Kent -4 122 £29,000 -6.45% 60
East Sussex -3 96 £70,750 +52.15% 14
Oxfordshire -4 84 £34,000 -32.00% 53
West Sussex -4 52 £57,500 +23.66% 19
Isle of Wight -10 3 £41,500 -24.55%
Middlesex +1 2 £35,000 -44.00% 18
Sussex -16 1 £30,000 +5.26% 4
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 31 (2.72%) SharePoint
2 28 (2.46%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.40%) CMS
4 10 (0.88%) IIS
5 7 (0.61%) Confluence
6 5 (0.44%) WordPress
7 4 (0.35%) OpenEdge
7 4 (0.35%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.26%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.26%) Apache
8 3 (0.26%) govService
9 2 (0.18%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.18%) Gentran
9 2 (0.18%) SAS
10 1 (0.088%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.088%) nginx
10 1 (0.088%) Tomcat
Applications
1 88 (7.73%) Microsoft Excel
2 71 (6.23%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.79%) MS Visio
5 8 (0.70%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (0.53%) Photoshop
7 5 (0.44%) Adobe Illustrator
8 3 (0.26%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
9 1 (0.088%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.088%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 11 (0.97%) NetSuite
2 10 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.79%) SAP CO
4 4 (0.35%) Dynamics NAV
4 4 (0.35%) Magento
5 3 (0.26%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.18%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.18%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.18%) Infor SunSystems
6 2 (0.18%) Q-Pulse
6 2 (0.18%) Sage 200
6 2 (0.18%) Shopify
7 1 (0.088%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.088%) HFM
7 1 (0.088%) PeopleSoft HRMS
7 1 (0.088%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.088%) Sage X3
7 1 (0.088%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.088%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 247 (21.69%) Azure
2 117 (10.27%) Microsoft 365
3 97 (8.52%) AWS
4 85 (7.46%) Power Platform
5 54 (4.74%) SaaS
6 49 (4.30%) Azure DevOps
7 34 (2.99%) GCP
8 30 (2.63%) IaaS
8 30 (2.63%) PaaS
9 27 (2.37%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 19 (1.67%) Dynamics 365
10 19 (1.67%) Google Workspace
11 18 (1.58%) Entra ID
11 18 (1.58%) Mimecast
12 17 (1.49%) Azure Logic Apps
13 16 (1.40%) Azure Data Factory
14 15 (1.32%) Datadog
14 15 (1.32%) GitHub
14 15 (1.32%) OpenShift
15 14 (1.23%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 62 (5.44%) Firewall
2 56 (4.92%) DNS
3 31 (2.72%) DHCP
4 29 (2.55%) TCP/IP
5 23 (2.02%) VPN
6 20 (1.76%) Broadband
7 19 (1.67%) Wireless
8 17 (1.49%) WAN
9 15 (1.32%) LAN
10 12 (1.05%) VoIP
11 10 (0.88%) HTTP
12 8 (0.70%) Intranet
12 8 (0.70%) SAN
13 7 (0.61%) Remote Desktop
14 6 (0.53%) PuTTY
14 6 (0.53%) SSH
14 6 (0.53%) VLAN
14 6 (0.53%) Wi-Fi
15 4 (0.35%) Network Security
15 4 (0.35%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 66 (5.79%) Power BI
2 65 (5.71%) SQL Server
3 24 (2.11%) Data Warehouse
4 23 (2.02%) Relational Database
5 21 (1.84%) PostgreSQL
6 17 (1.49%) OLTP
7 13 (1.14%) Power Query
8 12 (1.05%) MySQL
8 12 (1.05%) NoSQL
8 12 (1.05%) Tableau
9 10 (0.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 8 (0.70%) Data Lake
11 7 (0.61%) Looker
11 7 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 5 (0.44%) Big Data
12 5 (0.44%) Data Mining
12 5 (0.44%) Hadoop
13 4 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
14 3 (0.26%) PowerPivot
14 3 (0.26%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 55 (4.83%) Git
2 35 (3.07%) JIRA
3 28 (2.46%) GitLab
4 20 (1.76%) Rational DOORS
5 7 (0.61%) Selenium
6 5 (0.44%) Jenkins
7 4 (0.35%) Visual Studio
8 3 (0.26%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.26%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.26%) Postman
9 2 (0.18%) Appium
9 2 (0.18%) JMeter
9 2 (0.18%) LabVIEW
9 2 (0.18%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.18%) Robot Framework
9 2 (0.18%) Snyk
10 1 (0.088%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.088%) JUnit
10 1 (0.088%) SonarQube
10 1 (0.088%) Zephyr
General
1 531 (46.62%) Social Skills
2 330 (28.97%) Analytical Skills
3 188 (16.51%) Finance
4 69 (6.06%) Organisational Skills
5 61 (5.36%) Marketing
6 59 (5.18%) Manufacturing
7 53 (4.65%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 47 (4.13%) Telecoms
9 44 (3.86%) Retail
10 42 (3.69%) Electronics
11 29 (2.55%) Public Sector
12 27 (2.37%) Legal
13 25 (2.19%) Law
14 22 (1.93%) Aerospace
15 20 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
16 15 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
17 14 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
18 13 (1.14%) Automotive
19 10 (0.88%) Local Government
20 9 (0.79%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 164 (14.40%) Analyst
2 132 (11.59%) IT Support
3 126 (11.06%) Senior
4 118 (10.36%) Developer
5 116 (10.18%) Support Engineer
6 71 (6.23%) Support Analyst
7 66 (5.79%) IT Engineer
8 53 (4.65%) Systems Engineer
8 53 (4.65%) Technical Support
9 47 (4.13%) Lead
10 44 (3.86%) IT Support Engineer
11 43 (3.78%) 2nd Line Support
12 42 (3.69%) Architect
13 39 (3.42%) Support Technician
13 39 (3.42%) Technical Engineer
13 39 (3.42%) Technical Support Engineer
14 38 (3.34%) IT Technician
15 37 (3.25%) Software Engineer
16 34 (2.99%) Infrastructure Engineer
17 30 (2.63%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (5.27%) .NET
2 53 (4.65%) HTML
3 44 (3.86%) SOAP
4 37 (3.25%) REST
5 31 (2.72%) XML
6 30 (2.63%) CSS
7 28 (2.46%) JSON
8 24 (2.11%) Middleware
9 23 (2.02%) React
10 16 (1.40%) OAuth
11 15 (1.32%) Laravel
11 15 (1.32%) RabbitMQ
12 13 (1.14%) CSS3
12 13 (1.14%) HTML5
13 12 (1.05%) ARM Templates
13 12 (1.05%) jQuery
14 11 (0.97%) Ajax
14 11 (0.97%) Sass
15 10 (0.88%) LESS
15 10 (0.88%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 62 (5.44%) Onboarding
2 61 (5.36%) Self-Motivation
3 60 (5.27%) Driving Licence
4 45 (3.95%) Management Information System
5 37 (3.25%) Product Ownership
6 33 (2.90%) Cloud Native
6 33 (2.90%) Distributed Systems
7 28 (2.46%) Analytical Mindset
8 19 (1.67%) Low-Code
9 17 (1.49%) Social Media
10 15 (1.32%) Legacy Systems
11 13 (1.14%) NHS
12 11 (0.97%) Enterprise Software
12 11 (0.97%) Video Editing
13 10 (0.88%) Algorithms
13 10 (0.88%) Client/Server
13 10 (0.88%) Hybrid Cloud
14 8 (0.70%) FMCG
14 8 (0.70%) IoT
14 8 (0.70%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 162 (14.22%) Windows
2 93 (8.17%) Linux
3 54 (4.74%) Windows Server
4 19 (1.67%) Android
4 19 (1.67%) Mac OS
5 17 (1.49%) CentOS
6 15 (1.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 10 (0.88%) Ubuntu
8 9 (0.79%) VMS
9 8 (0.70%) Windows Server 2016
9 8 (0.70%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.61%) Windows Server 2012
11 6 (0.53%) Apple iOS
12 3 (0.26%) Debian
12 3 (0.26%) Unix
12 3 (0.26%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.088%) Embedded Linux
13 1 (0.088%) FreeBSD
13 1 (0.088%) OpenBSD
13 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 241 (21.16%) Continuous Improvement
2 194 (17.03%) Customer Service
3 160 (14.05%) Agile
4 135 (11.85%) DevOps
5 129 (11.33%) CI/CD
6 114 (10.01%) Analytics
6 114 (10.01%) Decision-Making
7 106 (9.31%) Computer Science
8 100 (8.78%) Business Intelligence
9 95 (8.34%) Software Engineering
10 94 (8.25%) Project Management
11 88 (7.73%) AI
12 80 (7.02%) CRM
13 79 (6.94%) Data Modelling
14 76 (6.67%) Project Delivery
15 75 (6.58%) Mentoring
16 71 (6.23%) ERP
17 70 (6.15%) Stakeholder Management
18 69 (6.06%) Cybersecurity
19 67 (5.88%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 195 (17.12%) Python
2 182 (15.98%) SQL
3 77 (6.76%) C#
4 76 (6.67%) JavaScript
5 64 (5.62%) PowerShell
6 50 (4.39%) Java
7 30 (2.63%) PHP
8 29 (2.55%) C++
9 24 (2.11%) Bash
9 24 (2.11%) C
10 20 (1.76%) PL/SQL
11 19 (1.67%) TypeScript
12 18 (1.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 12 (1.05%) Perl
14 10 (0.88%) Bicep
15 9 (0.79%) Apex Code
15 9 (0.79%) Rust
16 7 (0.61%) R
16 7 (0.61%) Ruby
16 7 (0.61%) Scala
Qualifications
1 232 (20.37%) Degree
2 74 (6.50%) Security Cleared
3 52 (4.57%) Computer Science Degree
3 52 (4.57%) DBS Check
4 43 (3.78%) SC Cleared
5 41 (3.60%) ACCA
6 40 (3.51%) Microsoft Certification
7 36 (3.16%) CIMA
8 34 (2.99%) BPSS Clearance
9 26 (2.28%) A+ Certification
10 25 (2.19%) HNC
11 22 (1.93%) Chartered Engineer
12 18 (1.58%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 17 (1.49%) DV Cleared
14 14 (1.23%) Master's Degree
15 13 (1.14%) PMI Certification
16 11 (0.97%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 10 (0.88%) Azure Certification
17 10 (0.88%) HND
17 10 (0.88%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 75 (6.58%) QA
2 64 (5.62%) Data Quality
3 46 (4.04%) GDPR
4 34 (2.99%) SLA
5 20 (1.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 15 (1.32%) Accessibility
6 15 (1.32%) PCI DSS
7 10 (0.88%) NIST
8 8 (0.70%) SOC 2
9 6 (0.53%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.44%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.35%) ISO 26262
11 4 (0.35%) ITGC
12 2 (0.18%) Def Stans
12 2 (0.18%) GRC
12 2 (0.18%) IFRS
13 1 (0.088%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.088%) Good Clinical Practice
13 1 (0.088%) PMO
System Software
1 96 (8.43%) Active Directory
2 49 (4.30%) Docker
3 35 (3.07%) VMware Infrastructure
4 25 (2.19%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.88%) KVM
6 5 (0.44%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.44%) XenApp
7 4 (0.35%) Firmware
7 4 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
7 4 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.18%) vSphere
10 1 (0.088%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.088%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 56 (4.92%) Kubernetes
2 55 (4.83%) Terraform
3 30 (2.63%) Ansible
4 21 (1.84%) Microsoft Intune
5 15 (1.32%) Grafana
5 15 (1.32%) SCCM
6 12 (1.05%) Prometheus
7 9 (0.79%) Nagios
8 7 (0.61%) ZABBIX
9 6 (0.53%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.35%) Functional Safety
10 4 (0.35%) Puppet
11 3 (0.26%) Graylog
12 2 (0.18%) Docker Swarm
12 2 (0.18%) Failover Clustering
12 2 (0.18%) Nessus
12 2 (0.18%) Podman
13 1 (0.088%) CASB
13 1 (0.088%) Dell DRAC
13 1 (0.088%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 308 (27.04%) Microsoft
2 42 (3.69%) Oracle
3 39 (3.42%) VMware
4 38 (3.34%) Databricks
5 34 (2.99%) Google
6 27 (2.37%) Salesforce
7 25 (2.19%) Veeam
8 23 (2.02%) Adobe
9 22 (1.93%) SAP
10 16 (1.40%) Red Hat
11 15 (1.32%) Instagram
12 13 (1.14%) Sage
12 13 (1.14%) Splunk
13 12 (1.05%) Dynatrace
14 11 (0.97%) Hootsuite
14 11 (0.97%) HubSpot
14 11 (0.97%) Wrike
15 10 (0.88%) ServiceNow
15 10 (0.88%) SolarWinds
16 9 (0.79%) Braze