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

6 months to
1 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -4 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,229 1,299 2,338
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 10.51% 17.06% 17.90%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.61% 18.98% 20.83%
Number of salaries quoted 900 649 1,453
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,450 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £35,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £52,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -19.05% +16.67% -14.29%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £62,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £84,000 £73,750
England median annual salary £45,497 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -17.28% +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 9,030 6,845 11,224
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 77.23% 89.89% 85.94%
Number of salaries quoted 5,596 3,240 8,345
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £42,574 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +15.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £65,000 £73,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,625 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -11.29% +12.73% -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 1 March 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 1 March 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 -3 484 £45,000 -21.74% 317
Berkshire +5 270 £45,000 -32.08% 178
Hampshire 0 260 £35,000 -30.00% 192
Surrey -11 195 £40,000 -27.27% 119
Buckinghamshire -8 139 £51,750 -10.00% 82
Kent -11 118 £29,000 -14.71% 79
East Sussex 0 84 £57,500 +15.00% 43
Oxfordshire -4 75 £34,000 -15.00% 59
West Sussex -1 53 £60,000 +26.32% 46
Middlesex -9 17 £47,500 -20.83% 10
Isle of Wight +7 12 £43,500 +8.48% 19
Sussex -14 2 £35,000 +22.81% 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 37 (3.01%) SharePoint
2 33 (2.69%) Microsoft Exchange
3 21 (1.71%) IIS
4 14 (1.14%) CMS
5 10 (0.81%) WordPress
6 8 (0.65%) Confluence
7 4 (0.33%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.24%) govService
8 3 (0.24%) SAS
9 2 (0.16%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.16%) Apache
10 1 (0.081%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.081%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.081%) nginx
10 1 (0.081%) OpenStack
Applications
1 109 (8.87%) Microsoft Office
2 67 (5.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (1.55%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (0.81%) Photoshop
4 10 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
5 9 (0.73%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 9 (0.73%) Adobe Illustrator
6 7 (0.57%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe After Effects
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe XD
7 3 (0.24%) InDesign
8 2 (0.16%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.16%) Elementor
9 1 (0.081%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.081%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.081%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 42 (3.42%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.81%) NetSuite
3 9 (0.73%) SAP CO
4 7 (0.57%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (0.41%) SAP Hybris
6 4 (0.33%) Dynamics NAV
7 3 (0.24%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Assets
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Payables
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Receivables
7 3 (0.24%) Sage X3
8 2 (0.16%) Dynamics AX
8 2 (0.16%) IBM Planning Analytics
8 2 (0.16%) Q-Pulse
8 2 (0.16%) Sage 200
9 1 (0.081%) PeopleSoft HRMS
9 1 (0.081%) Raiser’s Edge
9 1 (0.081%) Salesforce CRM
9 1 (0.081%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.081%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 221 (17.98%) Azure
2 160 (13.02%) Microsoft 365
3 87 (7.08%) Power Platform
4 83 (6.75%) AWS
5 64 (5.21%) Azure DevOps
6 60 (4.88%) SaaS
7 39 (3.17%) GCP
8 37 (3.01%) Entra ID
9 20 (1.63%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 20 (1.63%) Mimecast
9 20 (1.63%) PaaS
10 19 (1.55%) Google Workspace
10 19 (1.55%) IaaS
11 17 (1.38%) Azure Logic Apps
11 17 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
11 17 (1.38%) GitHub
12 16 (1.30%) Figma
13 13 (1.06%) Collibra
14 12 (0.98%) Asana
15 11 (0.90%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 85 (6.92%) DNS
2 64 (5.21%) Firewall
3 54 (4.39%) DHCP
4 44 (3.58%) TCP/IP
5 41 (3.34%) VPN
6 25 (2.03%) Wireless
7 22 (1.79%) VLAN
8 17 (1.38%) WAN
9 15 (1.22%) Broadband
10 14 (1.14%) LAN
11 13 (1.06%) SAN
12 11 (0.90%) Intranet
13 10 (0.81%) Remote Desktop
14 9 (0.73%) HTTP
14 9 (0.73%) VoIP
15 7 (0.57%) Wi-Fi
16 6 (0.49%) PuTTY
16 6 (0.49%) SSH
17 3 (0.24%) Unified Communications
18 2 (0.16%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 65 (5.29%) Power BI
2 38 (3.09%) Relational Database
2 38 (3.09%) SQL Server
3 19 (1.55%) Data Warehouse
4 17 (1.38%) NoSQL
4 17 (1.38%) Power Query
5 16 (1.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 14 (1.14%) OLTP
7 10 (0.81%) Tableau
8 9 (0.73%) PostgreSQL
9 7 (0.57%) MySQL
9 7 (0.57%) PowerPivot
10 6 (0.49%) Big Data
10 6 (0.49%) Hadoop
11 5 (0.41%) Data Mining
12 4 (0.33%) Azure SQL Database
12 4 (0.33%) Metadata
13 3 (0.24%) Data Lake
13 3 (0.24%) Elasticsearch
13 3 (0.24%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 49 (3.99%) Git
2 38 (3.09%) JIRA
3 25 (2.03%) Selenium
4 17 (1.38%) GitLab
5 15 (1.22%) Robot Framework
6 13 (1.06%) Snyk
7 10 (0.81%) Rational DOORS
8 8 (0.65%) Visual Studio
9 7 (0.57%) Jenkins
10 5 (0.41%) Cypress.io
11 4 (0.33%) Postman
11 4 (0.33%) WebDriver
12 3 (0.24%) Appium
12 3 (0.24%) REST Assured
13 2 (0.16%) JMeter
13 2 (0.16%) LabVIEW
13 2 (0.16%) TestRail
14 1 (0.081%) Browser DevTools
14 1 (0.081%) Katalon Studio
14 1 (0.081%) MLflow
General
1 675 (54.92%) Social Skills
2 343 (27.91%) Analytical Skills
3 243 (19.77%) Finance
4 92 (7.49%) Manufacturing
5 90 (7.32%) Marketing
6 78 (6.35%) Retail
7 72 (5.86%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 69 (5.61%) Organisational Skills
9 42 (3.42%) Telecoms
10 41 (3.34%) Electronics
11 35 (2.85%) Public Sector
12 34 (2.77%) Legal
13 31 (2.52%) Law
14 26 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
15 16 (1.30%) Presentation Skills
16 14 (1.14%) Influencing Skills
17 11 (0.90%) Banking
17 11 (0.90%) Pharmaceutical
18 9 (0.73%) Automotive
19 7 (0.57%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 201 (16.35%) Analyst
2 191 (15.54%) IT Support
3 186 (15.13%) Senior
4 167 (13.59%) Support Engineer
5 111 (9.03%) Developer
6 95 (7.73%) Support Analyst
7 77 (6.27%) Technical Support
8 75 (6.10%) IT Engineer
9 69 (5.61%) Lead
10 64 (5.21%) IT Support Engineer
11 61 (4.96%) 2nd Line Support
12 56 (4.56%) IT Analyst
13 55 (4.48%) IT Support Analyst
14 45 (3.66%) Technical Engineer
14 45 (3.66%) Technical Support Engineer
15 39 (3.17%) Senior Manager
16 37 (3.01%) Project Engineer
17 36 (2.93%) Senior Analyst
18 34 (2.77%) Software Engineer
19 33 (2.69%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (4.72%) .NET
2 50 (4.07%) HTML
3 34 (2.77%) SOAP
4 29 (2.36%) React
4 29 (2.36%) REST
5 27 (2.20%) CSS
6 21 (1.71%) XML
7 19 (1.55%) .NET Framework
8 17 (1.38%) ASP.NET
9 15 (1.22%) Middleware
10 14 (1.14%) JSON
11 13 (1.06%) Entity Framework
11 13 (1.06%) Laravel
12 12 (0.98%) ARM Templates
12 12 (0.98%) WinForms
13 11 (0.90%) Lightning Web Components
14 10 (0.81%) OLE
14 10 (0.81%) Visualforce
15 9 (0.73%) Node.js
15 9 (0.73%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 100 (8.14%) Onboarding
2 81 (6.59%) Driving Licence
3 67 (5.45%) Self-Motivation
4 44 (3.58%) Management Information System
5 40 (3.25%) Analytical Mindset
6 30 (2.44%) Product Ownership
7 29 (2.36%) Data Centre
8 21 (1.71%) Low-Code
8 21 (1.71%) Social Media
9 20 (1.63%) Cloud Native
10 17 (1.38%) Distributed Systems
11 12 (0.98%) Video Editing
12 11 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.81%) Legacy Systems
13 10 (0.81%) Security Operations Centre
13 10 (0.81%) Video Conferencing
14 9 (0.73%) Life Science
15 8 (0.65%) Algorithms
15 8 (0.65%) FMCG
15 8 (0.65%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 237 (19.28%) Windows
2 79 (6.43%) Linux
3 74 (6.02%) Windows Server
4 26 (2.12%) Windows 10
5 25 (2.03%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.30%) Android
7 12 (0.98%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 12 (0.98%) Windows Server 2012
8 11 (0.90%) CentOS
9 10 (0.81%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.57%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.49%) VMS
12 5 (0.41%) Windows 7
13 4 (0.33%) Ubuntu
13 4 (0.33%) Unix
13 4 (0.33%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.081%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.081%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.081%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 258 (20.99%) Continuous Improvement
2 200 (16.27%) Customer Service
3 162 (13.18%) Agile
4 126 (10.25%) Analytics
5 122 (9.93%) DevOps
6 109 (8.87%) Project Management
7 96 (7.81%) Business Intelligence
8 93 (7.57%) Stakeholder Management
9 92 (7.49%) CI/CD
10 89 (7.24%) Computer Science
11 88 (7.16%) Decision-Making
12 86 (7.00%) ERP
13 82 (6.67%) Cybersecurity
13 82 (6.67%) Mentoring
14 76 (6.18%) Technical Leadership
15 75 (6.10%) AI
16 67 (5.45%) Software Engineering
17 65 (5.29%) Process Improvement
18 63 (5.13%) Data Modelling
18 63 (5.13%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 205 (16.68%) SQL
2 168 (13.67%) Python
3 78 (6.35%) C#
3 78 (6.35%) PowerShell
4 71 (5.78%) JavaScript
5 43 (3.50%) Java
6 27 (2.20%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 27 (2.20%) PHP
7 17 (1.38%) C++
7 17 (1.38%) PL/SQL
8 16 (1.30%) TypeScript
9 15 (1.22%) Bash
10 14 (1.14%) C
11 12 (0.98%) Bicep
11 12 (0.98%) T-SQL
12 11 (0.90%) Apex Code
13 9 (0.73%) Kusto Query Language
13 9 (0.73%) Perl
14 8 (0.65%) R
15 7 (0.57%) VBA
Qualifications
1 253 (20.59%) Degree
2 85 (6.92%) Security Cleared
3 50 (4.07%) Computer Science Degree
4 42 (3.42%) ACCA
5 39 (3.17%) SC Cleared
6 34 (2.77%) CIMA
7 30 (2.44%) Microsoft Certification
8 28 (2.28%) DBS Check
9 26 (2.12%) BPSS Clearance
10 22 (1.79%) DV Cleared
11 20 (1.63%) HNC
11 20 (1.63%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 18 (1.46%) A+ Certification
13 13 (1.06%) Master's Degree
14 11 (0.90%) Chartered Engineer
15 10 (0.81%) HND
16 8 (0.65%) MCSE
17 7 (0.57%) City & Guilds
17 7 (0.57%) ITIL Certification
17 7 (0.57%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (5.70%) QA
2 51 (4.15%) GDPR
3 47 (3.82%) Data Quality
4 26 (2.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (1.71%) Accessibility
5 21 (1.71%) SLA
6 11 (0.90%) PCI DSS
7 9 (0.73%) NIST
8 6 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials
8 6 (0.49%) ISO 9001
9 5 (0.41%) Actionable Recommendations
10 4 (0.33%) ITGC
11 3 (0.24%) ISO 13485
12 2 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.16%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.16%) WCAG
13 1 (0.081%) GAAP
13 1 (0.081%) IFRS
13 1 (0.081%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 1 (0.081%) PMO
System Software
1 160 (13.02%) Active Directory
2 39 (3.17%) Hyper-V
3 35 (2.85%) Docker
3 35 (2.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.73%) VMware ESXi
5 8 (0.65%) KVM
6 4 (0.33%) Firmware
7 3 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.16%) XenApp
9 1 (0.081%) RHEV
9 1 (0.081%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.081%) VMware NSX
9 1 (0.081%) Xen
Systems Management
1 52 (4.23%) Terraform
2 43 (3.50%) Microsoft Intune
3 30 (2.44%) Kubernetes
4 28 (2.28%) Ansible
5 17 (1.38%) SCCM
6 13 (1.06%) vCenter Server
7 11 (0.90%) ZABBIX
8 10 (0.81%) Grafana
8 10 (0.81%) Prometheus
9 9 (0.73%) Nagios
10 2 (0.16%) Nessus
10 2 (0.16%) Netcool
10 2 (0.16%) Netcool/OMNIbus
10 2 (0.16%) Proxmox
11 1 (0.081%) CASB
11 1 (0.081%) Control-M
11 1 (0.081%) Dell DRAC
11 1 (0.081%) Docker Swarm
11 1 (0.081%) Kibana
11 1 (0.081%) Podman
Vendors
1 323 (26.28%) Microsoft
2 78 (6.35%) SAP
3 50 (4.07%) VMware
4 40 (3.25%) Veeam
5 39 (3.17%) Google
6 36 (2.93%) Adobe
7 34 (2.77%) Databricks
8 32 (2.60%) Oracle
8 32 (2.60%) Sage
9 27 (2.20%) Salesforce
10 24 (1.95%) HubSpot
10 24 (1.95%) NEC
11 17 (1.38%) ServiceNow
12 16 (1.30%) SolarWinds
13 14 (1.14%) Xamarin
14 13 (1.06%) Black Duck
14 13 (1.06%) Coverity
15 12 (0.98%) Cisco
16 11 (0.90%) Hootsuite
16 11 (0.90%) Instagram