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

6 months to
19 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,282 1,405 2,240
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 11.20% 17.36% 18.13%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.32% 19.38% 21.09%
Number of salaries quoted 918 643 1,351
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,500 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,000 £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 £73,750 £85,000 £73,750
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +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 8,953 7,248 10,620
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 78.24% 89.57% 85.94%
Number of salaries quoted 5,537 3,326 7,851
10th Percentile £28,000 £32,000 £27,965
25th Percentile £35,000 £43,750 £37,000
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 £75,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 19 February 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 19 February 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 -2 519 £45,000 -21.74% 216
Berkshire +4 307 £45,000 -33.33% 107
Hampshire 0 273 £37,500 -25.00% 146
Surrey -11 197 £39,250 -31.74% 99
Buckinghamshire -7 135 £50,000 -13.04% 61
Kent -10 121 £29,000 -14.71% 61
East Sussex +1 82 £56,500 +13.00% 19
Oxfordshire -5 77 £34,000 -20.00% 50
West Sussex -3 54 £60,000 +26.32% 31
Middlesex -9 17 £47,500 -17.39% 18
Isle of Wight +5 13 £43,500 +8.48% 3
Sussex -9 3 £35,000 -54.84% 3
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 39 (3.04%) SharePoint
2 33 (2.57%) Microsoft Exchange
3 21 (1.64%) IIS
4 14 (1.09%) CMS
5 9 (0.70%) WordPress
6 8 (0.62%) Confluence
7 4 (0.31%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.23%) govService
8 3 (0.23%) SAS
9 2 (0.16%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.16%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.078%) Apache
10 1 (0.078%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.078%) HCL Domino
10 1 (0.078%) HCL Notes
10 1 (0.078%) nginx
10 1 (0.078%) OpenStack
10 1 (0.078%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 112 (8.74%) Microsoft Office
2 89 (6.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (1.48%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (0.94%) Spreadsheet
5 11 (0.86%) Photoshop
6 10 (0.78%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.70%) Adobe Illustrator
8 8 (0.62%) MS Visio
9 6 (0.47%) Adobe Premiere
10 4 (0.31%) Adobe After Effects
11 3 (0.23%) Adobe XD
11 3 (0.23%) InDesign
12 2 (0.16%) Adobe Captivate
12 2 (0.16%) Elementor
13 1 (0.078%) Acrobat
13 1 (0.078%) AutoCAD
13 1 (0.078%) OrCAD
13 1 (0.078%) Revit
Business Applications
1 52 (4.06%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.86%) NetSuite
3 10 (0.78%) SAP CO
4 7 (0.55%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (0.39%) SAP Hybris
6 4 (0.31%) Dynamics NAV
7 3 (0.23%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 3 (0.23%) Oracle Assets
7 3 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
7 3 (0.23%) Oracle Receivables
7 3 (0.23%) 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 (0.078%) PeopleSoft HRMS
9 1 (0.078%) SAP FI
9 1 (0.078%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.078%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.078%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 238 (18.56%) Azure
2 166 (12.95%) Microsoft 365
3 103 (8.03%) Power Platform
4 83 (6.47%) AWS
5 63 (4.91%) SaaS
6 62 (4.84%) Azure DevOps
7 40 (3.12%) GCP
8 37 (2.89%) Entra ID
9 19 (1.48%) Google Workspace
9 19 (1.48%) PaaS
10 18 (1.40%) Azure Logic Apps
10 18 (1.40%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 18 (1.40%) IaaS
10 18 (1.40%) Mimecast
11 16 (1.25%) Collibra
11 16 (1.25%) Dynamics 365
11 16 (1.25%) Figma
12 15 (1.17%) GitHub
13 12 (0.94%) Power Automate
14 10 (0.78%) Stripe
Communications & Networking
1 85 (6.63%) DNS
2 67 (5.23%) Firewall
3 55 (4.29%) DHCP
4 46 (3.59%) TCP/IP
5 45 (3.51%) VPN
6 27 (2.11%) Wireless
7 24 (1.87%) VLAN
8 18 (1.40%) WAN
9 15 (1.17%) LAN
10 13 (1.01%) Broadband
10 13 (1.01%) SAN
11 10 (0.78%) Intranet
12 8 (0.62%) HTTP
12 8 (0.62%) Wi-Fi
13 7 (0.55%) Remote Desktop
13 7 (0.55%) VoIP
14 6 (0.47%) PuTTY
14 6 (0.47%) SSH
15 4 (0.31%) MPLS
16 3 (0.23%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 81 (6.32%) Power BI
2 42 (3.28%) Relational Database
3 38 (2.96%) SQL Server
4 20 (1.56%) Data Lake
5 18 (1.40%) Data Warehouse
5 18 (1.40%) SAP BW
6 17 (1.33%) NoSQL
6 17 (1.33%) Power Query
7 16 (1.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 13 (1.01%) OLTP
9 9 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
10 8 (0.62%) Tableau
11 7 (0.55%) PowerPivot
12 6 (0.47%) Big Data
12 6 (0.47%) Hadoop
12 6 (0.47%) MySQL
13 5 (0.39%) Data Mining
14 4 (0.31%) Azure SQL Database
14 4 (0.31%) Metadata
15 3 (0.23%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 46 (3.59%) Git
2 40 (3.12%) JIRA
3 24 (1.87%) Selenium
4 15 (1.17%) Robot Framework
5 14 (1.09%) GitLab
6 13 (1.01%) Snyk
7 10 (0.78%) Rational DOORS
8 8 (0.62%) Jenkins
8 8 (0.62%) Visual Studio
9 4 (0.31%) Cypress.io
9 4 (0.31%) WebDriver
10 3 (0.23%) Postman
11 2 (0.16%) Appium
11 2 (0.16%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.16%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.16%) TestRail
12 1 (0.078%) JMeter
12 1 (0.078%) JUnit
12 1 (0.078%) NUnit
12 1 (0.078%) TestNG
General
1 717 (55.93%) Social Skills
2 350 (27.30%) Analytical Skills
3 270 (21.06%) Finance
4 105 (8.19%) Manufacturing
5 94 (7.33%) Marketing
6 80 (6.24%) Retail
7 75 (5.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 69 (5.38%) Organisational Skills
9 45 (3.51%) Electronics
10 40 (3.12%) Telecoms
11 34 (2.65%) Legal
11 34 (2.65%) Public Sector
12 31 (2.42%) Law
13 26 (2.03%) Documentation Skills
14 15 (1.17%) Presentation Skills
15 13 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
16 11 (0.86%) Automotive
16 11 (0.86%) Banking
16 11 (0.86%) Pharmaceutical
17 8 (0.62%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 229 (17.86%) Analyst
2 204 (15.91%) Senior
3 198 (15.44%) IT Support
4 164 (12.79%) Support Engineer
5 111 (8.66%) Developer
6 102 (7.96%) Support Analyst
7 89 (6.94%) Lead
8 82 (6.40%) Technical Support
9 72 (5.62%) IT Engineer
10 66 (5.15%) IT Analyst
11 63 (4.91%) IT Support Analyst
12 62 (4.84%) IT Support Engineer
13 56 (4.37%) 2nd Line Support
14 45 (3.51%) Project Engineer
15 43 (3.35%) Senior Manager
15 43 (3.35%) Technical Engineer
15 43 (3.35%) Technical Support Engineer
16 42 (3.28%) Senior Analyst
17 33 (2.57%) Applications Support
17 33 (2.57%) Report Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (4.52%) .NET
2 48 (3.74%) HTML
3 36 (2.81%) SOAP
4 34 (2.65%) REST
5 30 (2.34%) React
6 27 (2.11%) CSS
7 21 (1.64%) XML
8 19 (1.48%) .NET Framework
9 18 (1.40%) ASP.NET
10 15 (1.17%) Middleware
11 14 (1.09%) JSON
12 13 (1.01%) Entity Framework
12 13 (1.01%) Laravel
12 13 (1.01%) WinForms
13 11 (0.86%) ARM Templates
13 11 (0.86%) Lightning Web Components
14 10 (0.78%) OLE
14 10 (0.78%) Visualforce
15 9 (0.70%) Node.js
15 9 (0.70%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 109 (8.50%) Onboarding
2 76 (5.93%) Driving Licence
3 63 (4.91%) Self-Motivation
4 45 (3.51%) Analytical Mindset
5 44 (3.43%) Management Information System
6 38 (2.96%) Data Centre
7 28 (2.18%) Product Ownership
8 21 (1.64%) Low-Code
9 19 (1.48%) Cloud Native
10 17 (1.33%) Social Media
11 15 (1.17%) Distributed Systems
12 11 (0.86%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.78%) Legacy Systems
13 10 (0.78%) Security Operations Centre
13 10 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
13 10 (0.78%) Video Editing
14 9 (0.70%) Algorithms
14 9 (0.70%) Life Science
15 8 (0.62%) FMCG
15 8 (0.62%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 234 (18.25%) Windows
2 74 (5.77%) Linux
3 70 (5.46%) Windows Server
4 27 (2.11%) Windows 10
5 24 (1.87%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.25%) Android
7 12 (0.94%) Windows Server 2012
8 10 (0.78%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 10 (0.78%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (0.70%) CentOS
10 7 (0.55%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.47%) VMS
12 5 (0.39%) Windows 7
13 4 (0.31%) Unix
13 4 (0.31%) Windows Server 2016
14 3 (0.23%) Ubuntu
15 1 (0.078%) FreeBSD
15 1 (0.078%) OpenBSD
15 1 (0.078%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 257 (20.05%) Continuous Improvement
2 203 (15.83%) Customer Service
3 164 (12.79%) Agile
4 143 (11.15%) Analytics
5 118 (9.20%) DevOps
6 112 (8.74%) Business Intelligence
6 112 (8.74%) Project Management
7 109 (8.50%) ERP
8 103 (8.03%) Stakeholder Management
9 93 (7.25%) Decision-Making
10 89 (6.94%) Computer Science
11 88 (6.86%) CI/CD
11 88 (6.86%) Data Modelling
12 87 (6.79%) Cybersecurity
13 85 (6.63%) Mentoring
14 82 (6.40%) Technical Leadership
15 75 (5.85%) AI
16 73 (5.69%) Logistics
17 67 (5.23%) Software Engineering
18 66 (5.15%) CRM
Programming Languages
1 204 (15.91%) SQL
2 163 (12.71%) Python
3 80 (6.24%) C#
4 78 (6.08%) PowerShell
5 69 (5.38%) JavaScript
6 43 (3.35%) Java
7 27 (2.11%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 27 (2.11%) PHP
8 17 (1.33%) C++
9 16 (1.25%) PL/SQL
10 15 (1.17%) TypeScript
11 12 (0.94%) Bash
11 12 (0.94%) Bicep
11 12 (0.94%) C
11 12 (0.94%) T-SQL
12 11 (0.86%) Apex Code
13 9 (0.70%) Kusto Query Language
14 8 (0.62%) Perl
14 8 (0.62%) R
15 7 (0.55%) VBA
Qualifications
1 289 (22.54%) Degree
2 94 (7.33%) Security Cleared
3 50 (3.90%) Computer Science Degree
4 44 (3.43%) SC Cleared
5 39 (3.04%) ACCA
6 31 (2.42%) CIMA
6 31 (2.42%) Microsoft Certification
7 28 (2.18%) DBS Check
8 26 (2.03%) DV Cleared
9 24 (1.87%) BPSS Clearance
10 20 (1.56%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 19 (1.48%) A+ Certification
12 18 (1.40%) HNC
13 16 (1.25%) Master's Degree
14 11 (0.86%) Chartered Engineer
15 9 (0.70%) HND
16 8 (0.62%) MCSE
17 7 (0.55%) CCNA
17 7 (0.55%) Cisco Certification
17 7 (0.55%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 72 (5.62%) QA
2 65 (5.07%) Data Quality
3 52 (4.06%) GDPR
4 28 (2.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (1.64%) Accessibility
6 19 (1.48%) SLA
7 11 (0.86%) PCI DSS
8 9 (0.70%) NIST
9 8 (0.62%) ISO 9001
10 6 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
11 5 (0.39%) ISO 13485
12 3 (0.23%) ITGC
13 2 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.16%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.16%) WCAG
14 1 (0.078%) GAAP
14 1 (0.078%) IFRS
14 1 (0.078%) ISO 19650
14 1 (0.078%) PMO
System Software
1 160 (12.48%) Active Directory
2 39 (3.04%) Hyper-V
3 35 (2.73%) VMware Infrastructure
4 32 (2.50%) Docker
5 9 (0.70%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (0.62%) KVM
7 4 (0.31%) Firmware
8 3 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.16%) RHEV
9 2 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.16%) Xen
10 1 (0.078%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.078%) VMware NSX
10 1 (0.078%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 51 (3.98%) Terraform
2 43 (3.35%) Microsoft Intune
3 27 (2.11%) Ansible
3 27 (2.11%) Kubernetes
4 16 (1.25%) SCCM
5 13 (1.01%) vCenter Server
6 9 (0.70%) Grafana
6 9 (0.70%) Nagios
6 9 (0.70%) Prometheus
6 9 (0.70%) ZABBIX
7 3 (0.23%) FortiGate
7 3 (0.23%) Proxmox
8 2 (0.16%) Nessus
8 2 (0.16%) Netcool
8 2 (0.16%) Netcool/OMNIbus
9 1 (0.078%) Control-M
9 1 (0.078%) Dell DRAC
9 1 (0.078%) Kibana
9 1 (0.078%) Podman
9 1 (0.078%) Puppet
Vendors
1 331 (25.82%) Microsoft
2 113 (8.81%) SAP
3 50 (3.90%) VMware
4 42 (3.28%) Google
5 38 (2.96%) Veeam
6 35 (2.73%) Adobe
7 33 (2.57%) Databricks
8 32 (2.50%) NEC
8 32 (2.50%) Oracle
9 31 (2.42%) Salesforce
10 30 (2.34%) Sage
11 24 (1.87%) HubSpot
12 17 (1.33%) ServiceNow
13 15 (1.17%) Cisco
13 15 (1.17%) SolarWinds
14 14 (1.09%) Xamarin
15 13 (1.01%) Black Duck
15 13 (1.01%) Coverity
16 11 (0.86%) Zoho
17 10 (0.78%) MuleSoft