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

6 months to
10 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,197 1,202 2,704
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 8.80% 17.81% 17.38%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.92% 19.80% 20.53%
Number of salaries quoted 912 676 1,702
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,344 £34,750 £31,813
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,967 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.71% +13.26% -13.46%
75th Percentile £62,500 £70,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -13.64% +10.00% -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 10,040 6,072 13,168
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 73.85% 89.96% 84.65%
Number of salaries quoted 6,474 3,286 9,686
10th Percentile £29,750 £29,375 £27,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £40,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £68,750 £70,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £78,750
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 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 10 April 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 10 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
Thames Valley -5 446 £47,500 -15.94% 227
Hampshire -5 251 £40,000 -20.00% 129
Berkshire -1 223 £45,000 -30.77% 110
Surrey -13 192 £40,000 -24.12% 74
Buckinghamshire -10 149 £51,750 +0.03% 68
Kent -12 123 £30,000 -11.11% 41
East Sussex 0 97 £80,000 +60.00% 26
Oxfordshire -10 74 £34,000 -20.00% 51
West Sussex 0 61 £57,500 +53.33% 25
Isle of Wight +2 12 £43,500 -20.91%
Middlesex 0 11 £47,500 -22.45% 10
Sussex -15 1 £30,000 +5.26% 13
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 33 (2.76%) SharePoint
2 30 (2.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (1.42%) CMS
4 14 (1.17%) IIS
5 9 (0.75%) Confluence
6 8 (0.67%) WordPress
7 4 (0.33%) Anypoint
7 4 (0.33%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.25%) govService
8 3 (0.25%) SAS
9 2 (0.17%) Apache
9 2 (0.17%) Gentran
10 1 (0.084%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.084%) nginx
Applications
1 89 (7.44%) Microsoft Excel
1 89 (7.44%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (1.17%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 10 (0.84%) Photoshop
4 9 (0.75%) Adobe Illustrator
4 9 (0.75%) MS Visio
5 7 (0.58%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 6 (0.50%) Spreadsheet
7 2 (0.17%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.17%) Adobe Captivate
7 2 (0.17%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.17%) Adobe XD
7 2 (0.17%) Elementor
7 2 (0.17%) InDesign
7 2 (0.17%) Microsoft Project
8 1 (0.084%) Acrobat
8 1 (0.084%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 10 (0.84%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.75%) NetSuite
2 9 (0.75%) SAP CO
3 4 (0.33%) Dynamics NAV
3 4 (0.33%) Magento
4 3 (0.25%) Sage X3
4 3 (0.25%) Salesforce CRM
4 3 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
5 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
5 2 (0.17%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.17%) Infor SunSystems
5 2 (0.17%) Q-Pulse
5 2 (0.17%) Sage 200
5 2 (0.17%) SAP Hybris
6 1 (0.084%) Elite 3E
6 1 (0.084%) HFM
6 1 (0.084%) PeopleSoft HRMS
6 1 (0.084%) Raiser’s Edge
6 1 (0.084%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.084%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 234 (19.55%) Azure
2 137 (11.45%) Microsoft 365
3 92 (7.69%) Power Platform
4 86 (7.18%) AWS
5 60 (5.01%) Azure DevOps
6 59 (4.93%) SaaS
7 35 (2.92%) GCP
8 30 (2.51%) PaaS
9 29 (2.42%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 29 (2.42%) IaaS
10 27 (2.26%) Entra ID
11 20 (1.67%) Dynamics 365
11 20 (1.67%) Google Workspace
12 19 (1.59%) Mimecast
13 18 (1.50%) GitHub
14 17 (1.42%) Azure Data Factory
14 17 (1.42%) Azure Logic Apps
15 15 (1.25%) OpenShift
16 13 (1.09%) Datadog
16 13 (1.09%) Figma
Communications & Networking
1 69 (5.76%) DNS
2 63 (5.26%) Firewall
3 41 (3.43%) DHCP
4 35 (2.92%) TCP/IP
5 32 (2.67%) VPN
6 26 (2.17%) Wireless
7 21 (1.75%) Broadband
8 18 (1.50%) WAN
9 16 (1.34%) LAN
10 14 (1.17%) VoIP
11 13 (1.09%) VLAN
12 11 (0.92%) HTTP
12 11 (0.92%) Intranet
13 9 (0.75%) SAN
14 7 (0.58%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (0.50%) PuTTY
15 6 (0.50%) SSH
15 6 (0.50%) Wi-Fi
16 3 (0.25%) LTE
16 3 (0.25%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 72 (6.02%) Power BI
2 49 (4.09%) SQL Server
3 35 (2.92%) Relational Database
4 25 (2.09%) Data Warehouse
5 18 (1.50%) Power Query
6 14 (1.17%) OLTP
7 13 (1.09%) NoSQL
7 13 (1.09%) Tableau
8 11 (0.92%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 10 (0.84%) MySQL
10 8 (0.67%) Data Lake
10 8 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
10 8 (0.67%) PowerPivot
11 6 (0.50%) Hadoop
12 5 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
12 5 (0.42%) Big Data
12 5 (0.42%) Data Mining
12 5 (0.42%) Looker
12 5 (0.42%) Metadata
13 4 (0.33%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 51 (4.26%) Git
2 43 (3.59%) JIRA
3 25 (2.09%) GitLab
4 17 (1.42%) Selenium
5 15 (1.25%) Rational DOORS
6 10 (0.84%) Robot Framework
7 8 (0.67%) Snyk
8 7 (0.58%) Jenkins
8 7 (0.58%) Visual Studio
9 4 (0.33%) Cypress.io
10 3 (0.25%) Postman
11 2 (0.17%) Appium
11 2 (0.17%) JMeter
11 2 (0.17%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.17%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.17%) TestRail
11 2 (0.17%) WebDriver
12 1 (0.084%) Artifactory
12 1 (0.084%) SonarQube
12 1 (0.084%) Zephyr
General
1 582 (48.62%) Social Skills
2 351 (29.32%) Analytical Skills
3 198 (16.54%) Finance
4 76 (6.35%) Organisational Skills
5 71 (5.93%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 69 (5.76%) Marketing
7 64 (5.35%) Retail
8 62 (5.18%) Manufacturing
9 49 (4.09%) Telecoms
10 45 (3.76%) Electronics
11 36 (3.01%) Law
11 36 (3.01%) Public Sector
12 34 (2.84%) Legal
13 23 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
14 15 (1.25%) Presentation Skills
15 12 (1.00%) Aerospace
15 12 (1.00%) Automotive
15 12 (1.00%) Influencing Skills
16 11 (0.92%) Pharmaceutical
17 8 (0.67%) Banking
Job Titles
1 171 (14.29%) Analyst
2 167 (13.95%) IT Support
3 162 (13.53%) Support Engineer
4 137 (11.45%) Senior
5 111 (9.27%) Developer
6 80 (6.68%) IT Engineer
7 77 (6.43%) Support Analyst
8 65 (5.43%) IT Support Engineer
9 63 (5.26%) Technical Support
10 52 (4.34%) 2nd Line Support
10 52 (4.34%) Lead
11 46 (3.84%) Technical Engineer
11 46 (3.84%) Technical Support Engineer
12 42 (3.51%) Architect
13 38 (3.17%) Software Engineer
14 37 (3.09%) IT Technician
14 37 (3.09%) Systems Engineer
15 36 (3.01%) IT Analyst
16 35 (2.92%) IT Support Analyst
17 34 (2.84%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (4.76%) .NET
2 49 (4.09%) HTML
3 35 (2.92%) SOAP
4 32 (2.67%) REST
5 26 (2.17%) React
6 25 (2.09%) CSS
7 23 (1.92%) XML
8 21 (1.75%) JSON
9 17 (1.42%) Middleware
10 14 (1.17%) ASP.NET
10 14 (1.17%) Laravel
11 13 (1.09%) .NET Framework
11 13 (1.09%) ARM Templates
11 13 (1.09%) Lightning Web Components
12 12 (1.00%) OAuth
12 12 (1.00%) Visualforce
13 11 (0.92%) OLE
13 11 (0.92%) RabbitMQ
14 9 (0.75%) Node.js
14 9 (0.75%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 83 (6.93%) Onboarding
2 73 (6.10%) Driving Licence
3 67 (5.60%) Self-Motivation
4 39 (3.26%) Management Information System
5 34 (2.84%) Product Ownership
6 26 (2.17%) Distributed Systems
7 24 (2.01%) Analytical Mindset
7 24 (2.01%) Cloud Native
8 20 (1.67%) Low-Code
8 20 (1.67%) Social Media
9 13 (1.09%) Enterprise Software
9 13 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
10 11 (0.92%) Video Editing
11 10 (0.84%) Life Science
12 9 (0.75%) Client/Server
12 9 (0.75%) IoT
12 9 (0.75%) NHS
12 9 (0.75%) Security Operations Centre
12 9 (0.75%) Video Conferencing
13 8 (0.67%) Data Centre
Operating Systems
1 199 (16.62%) Windows
2 91 (7.60%) Linux
3 61 (5.10%) Windows Server
4 23 (1.92%) Mac OS
5 18 (1.50%) CentOS
6 17 (1.42%) Android
7 16 (1.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 16 (1.34%) Windows 10
8 9 (0.75%) Ubuntu
8 9 (0.75%) VMS
9 8 (0.67%) Windows Server 2012
10 7 (0.58%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.50%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.50%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.33%) Unix
13 3 (0.25%) Debian
14 1 (0.084%) Embedded Linux
14 1 (0.084%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.084%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.084%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 246 (20.55%) Continuous Improvement
2 205 (17.13%) Customer Service
3 164 (13.70%) Agile
4 141 (11.78%) DevOps
5 118 (9.86%) Analytics
6 115 (9.61%) CI/CD
7 110 (9.19%) Decision-Making
8 106 (8.86%) Business Intelligence
9 97 (8.10%) Project Management
10 96 (8.02%) Computer Science
11 85 (7.10%) Mentoring
12 82 (6.85%) AI
13 77 (6.43%) Software Engineering
14 75 (6.27%) CRM
14 75 (6.27%) Stakeholder Management
15 73 (6.10%) Data Modelling
16 70 (5.85%) Cybersecurity
17 68 (5.68%) ITIL
18 66 (5.51%) Project Delivery
19 63 (5.26%) Collaborative Culture
Programming Languages
1 198 (16.54%) Python
2 187 (15.62%) SQL
3 73 (6.10%) C#
3 73 (6.10%) PowerShell
4 72 (6.02%) JavaScript
5 49 (4.09%) Java
6 28 (2.34%) PHP
7 27 (2.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 24 (2.01%) C++
9 22 (1.84%) Bash
9 22 (1.84%) C
10 17 (1.42%) PL/SQL
10 17 (1.42%) TypeScript
11 13 (1.09%) Apex Code
11 13 (1.09%) Bicep
12 12 (1.00%) Perl
13 9 (0.75%) Kusto Query Language
13 9 (0.75%) Rust
14 8 (0.67%) T-SQL
15 7 (0.58%) VBA
Qualifications
1 247 (20.63%) Degree
2 71 (5.93%) Security Cleared
3 51 (4.26%) ACCA
4 50 (4.18%) Computer Science Degree
5 43 (3.59%) CIMA
6 40 (3.34%) DBS Check
7 36 (3.01%) SC Cleared
8 30 (2.51%) BPSS Clearance
9 29 (2.42%) Microsoft Certification
10 22 (1.84%) HNC
11 20 (1.67%) DV Cleared
12 19 (1.59%) A+ Certification
12 19 (1.59%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 17 (1.42%) Chartered Engineer
14 14 (1.17%) Master's Degree
15 12 (1.00%) PMI Certification
16 10 (0.84%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 9 (0.75%) PMP
18 8 (0.67%) City & Guilds
18 8 (0.67%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 72 (6.02%) QA
2 64 (5.35%) Data Quality
3 47 (3.93%) GDPR
4 27 (2.26%) SLA
5 24 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 18 (1.50%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.25%) PCI DSS
8 13 (1.09%) NIST
9 6 (0.50%) SOC 2
10 5 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
10 5 (0.42%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.33%) ISO 26262
11 4 (0.33%) ITGC
12 2 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.17%) GRC
12 2 (0.17%) IFRS
13 1 (0.084%) GAAP
13 1 (0.084%) PMO
System Software
1 133 (11.11%) Active Directory
2 46 (3.84%) Docker
3 35 (2.92%) VMware Infrastructure
4 31 (2.59%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.84%) KVM
6 5 (0.42%) Firmware
6 5 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.42%) XenApp
7 3 (0.25%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 2 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.17%) vSphere
9 1 (0.084%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.084%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 57 (4.76%) Terraform
2 45 (3.76%) Kubernetes
3 34 (2.84%) Ansible
4 28 (2.34%) Microsoft Intune
5 17 (1.42%) Grafana
6 15 (1.25%) SCCM
7 13 (1.09%) Prometheus
8 9 (0.75%) Nagios
8 9 (0.75%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.75%) ZABBIX
9 4 (0.33%) Functional Safety
9 4 (0.33%) Nessus
9 4 (0.33%) Puppet
10 2 (0.17%) Netcool
10 2 (0.17%) Netcool/OMNIbus
11 1 (0.084%) Control-M
11 1 (0.084%) Kibana
11 1 (0.084%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
11 1 (0.084%) Oracle RMAN
11 1 (0.084%) Packer
Vendors
1 317 (26.48%) Microsoft
2 41 (3.43%) Databricks
2 41 (3.43%) VMware
3 36 (3.01%) Google
4 32 (2.67%) Adobe
5 31 (2.59%) Oracle
5 31 (2.59%) Salesforce
5 31 (2.59%) SAP
6 30 (2.51%) Veeam
7 23 (1.92%) Sage
8 20 (1.67%) NEC
9 17 (1.42%) HubSpot
10 16 (1.34%) Red Hat
10 16 (1.34%) ServiceNow
11 13 (1.09%) Dynatrace
12 12 (1.00%) MuleSoft
12 12 (1.00%) Splunk
13 11 (0.92%) Hootsuite
13 11 (0.92%) Instagram
13 11 (0.92%) SolarWinds