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

6 months to
30 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 4 6
Rank change year-on-year -8 +2 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,155 1,228 2,705
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 7.97% 17.27% 16.62%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.95% 19.24% 19.69%
Number of salaries quoted 867 679 1,747
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £32,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +11.11% -14.29%
75th Percentile £62,500 £68,500 £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 10,549 6,382 13,740
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 72.75% 89.74% 84.44%
Number of salaries quoted 6,785 3,366 9,857
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £27,500
25th Percentile £38,500 £37,500 £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 £70,000 £70,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £77,750
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 30 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 30 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 -7 446 £47,500 -9.52% 159
Hampshire -6 244 £40,000 -20.00% 128
Berkshire -1 224 £45,000 -29.69% 66
Surrey -14 182 £40,000 -23.81% 54
Buckinghamshire -12 140 £52,500 +3.01% 57
Kent -16 117 £29,000 -6.45% 50
East Sussex -1 100 £60,250 +30.27% 14
Oxfordshire -10 82 £34,000 -22.37% 39
West Sussex -3 52 £57,500 +23.66% 23
Isle of Wight -5 7 £43,500 -20.91%
Middlesex +5 3 £47,500 -22.45% 15
Sussex -15 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 30 (2.60%) SharePoint
2 28 (2.42%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.39%) CMS
4 11 (0.95%) IIS
5 6 (0.52%) Confluence
5 6 (0.52%) WordPress
6 4 (0.35%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.26%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.26%) Apache
7 3 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.26%) govService
8 2 (0.17%) Gentran
8 2 (0.17%) SAS
9 1 (0.087%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.087%) nginx
9 1 (0.087%) Tomcat
Applications
1 88 (7.62%) Microsoft Excel
2 81 (7.01%) Microsoft Office
3 12 (1.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.78%) MS Visio
5 7 (0.61%) Photoshop
5 7 (0.61%) Spreadsheet
6 6 (0.52%) Adobe Illustrator
7 4 (0.35%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
9 1 (0.087%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.087%) Adobe After Effects
9 1 (0.087%) Adobe Captivate
9 1 (0.087%) Adobe Premiere
9 1 (0.087%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.087%) Elementor
Business Applications
1 12 (1.04%) NetSuite
2 10 (0.87%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.78%) SAP CO
4 4 (0.35%) Dynamics NAV
4 4 (0.35%) Magento
5 3 (0.26%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.26%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.17%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.17%) Infor SunSystems
6 2 (0.17%) Q-Pulse
6 2 (0.17%) Sage 200
6 2 (0.17%) SAP S/4HANA
7 1 (0.087%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.087%) HFM
7 1 (0.087%) PeopleSoft HRMS
7 1 (0.087%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.087%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 233 (20.17%) Azure
2 117 (10.13%) Microsoft 365
3 91 (7.88%) Power Platform
4 86 (7.45%) AWS
5 58 (5.02%) SaaS
6 49 (4.24%) Azure DevOps
7 32 (2.77%) GCP
8 30 (2.60%) IaaS
8 30 (2.60%) PaaS
9 28 (2.42%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 21 (1.82%) Entra ID
11 20 (1.73%) Dynamics 365
11 20 (1.73%) Google Workspace
12 19 (1.65%) Mimecast
13 17 (1.47%) Azure Data Factory
13 17 (1.47%) Azure Logic Apps
14 15 (1.30%) Datadog
14 15 (1.30%) OpenShift
15 14 (1.21%) GitHub
16 12 (1.04%) Asana
Communications & Networking
1 64 (5.54%) Firewall
2 57 (4.94%) DNS
3 30 (2.60%) DHCP
4 27 (2.34%) TCP/IP
5 23 (1.99%) VPN
6 22 (1.90%) Wireless
7 21 (1.82%) Broadband
8 18 (1.56%) WAN
9 16 (1.39%) LAN
10 14 (1.21%) VoIP
11 12 (1.04%) HTTP
12 11 (0.95%) Intranet
13 8 (0.69%) SAN
14 7 (0.61%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (0.52%) PuTTY
15 6 (0.52%) SSH
15 6 (0.52%) VLAN
15 6 (0.52%) Wi-Fi
16 4 (0.35%) SSL
17 3 (0.26%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 71 (6.15%) Power BI
2 56 (4.85%) SQL Server
3 29 (2.51%) Relational Database
4 25 (2.16%) Data Warehouse
5 15 (1.30%) OLTP
5 15 (1.30%) Power Query
6 14 (1.21%) PostgreSQL
7 13 (1.13%) NoSQL
7 13 (1.13%) Tableau
8 12 (1.04%) MySQL
9 8 (0.69%) Data Lake
10 7 (0.61%) Looker
10 7 (0.61%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 5 (0.43%) Big Data
11 5 (0.43%) Data Mining
11 5 (0.43%) Hadoop
11 5 (0.43%) Metadata
11 5 (0.43%) PowerPivot
11 5 (0.43%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 4 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
Development Applications
1 48 (4.16%) Git
2 36 (3.12%) JIRA
3 26 (2.25%) GitLab
4 19 (1.65%) Rational DOORS
5 8 (0.69%) Selenium
6 6 (0.52%) Jenkins
7 4 (0.35%) Visual Studio
8 3 (0.26%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.26%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.26%) Postman
8 3 (0.26%) Robot Framework
9 2 (0.17%) Appium
9 2 (0.17%) JMeter
9 2 (0.17%) LabVIEW
9 2 (0.17%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.17%) Snyk
10 1 (0.087%) Artifactory
10 1 (0.087%) Bitbucket
10 1 (0.087%) SonarQube
10 1 (0.087%) Zephyr
General
1 538 (46.58%) Social Skills
2 339 (29.35%) Analytical Skills
3 188 (16.28%) Finance
4 72 (6.23%) Organisational Skills
5 65 (5.63%) Marketing
6 59 (5.11%) Manufacturing
7 55 (4.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 46 (3.98%) Telecoms
9 45 (3.90%) Retail
10 41 (3.55%) Electronics
11 32 (2.77%) Public Sector
12 28 (2.42%) Law
13 26 (2.25%) Legal
14 21 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
15 20 (1.73%) Aerospace
16 15 (1.30%) Presentation Skills
17 13 (1.13%) Automotive
17 13 (1.13%) Pharmaceutical
18 8 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
18 8 (0.69%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 170 (14.72%) Analyst
2 139 (12.03%) IT Support
3 132 (11.43%) Senior
3 132 (11.43%) Support Engineer
4 109 (9.44%) Developer
5 73 (6.32%) Support Analyst
6 67 (5.80%) IT Engineer
7 56 (4.85%) Technical Support
8 50 (4.33%) IT Support Engineer
9 48 (4.16%) 2nd Line Support
10 47 (4.07%) Lead
11 46 (3.98%) Systems Engineer
12 43 (3.72%) Architect
13 42 (3.64%) Technical Engineer
13 42 (3.64%) Technical Support Engineer
14 38 (3.29%) IT Technician
14 38 (3.29%) Support Technician
15 34 (2.94%) Software Engineer
16 32 (2.77%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 32 (2.77%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (4.68%) .NET
2 49 (4.24%) HTML
3 42 (3.64%) SOAP
4 38 (3.29%) REST
5 28 (2.42%) XML
6 26 (2.25%) CSS
6 26 (2.25%) JSON
7 25 (2.16%) Middleware
8 21 (1.82%) React
9 15 (1.30%) Laravel
9 15 (1.30%) OAuth
10 14 (1.21%) RabbitMQ
11 12 (1.04%) ARM Templates
12 11 (0.95%) Lightning Web Components
12 11 (0.95%) Visualforce
13 10 (0.87%) CSS3
13 10 (0.87%) HTML5
14 9 (0.78%) jQuery
14 9 (0.78%) RESTful
14 9 (0.78%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 77 (6.67%) Onboarding
2 62 (5.37%) Driving Licence
2 62 (5.37%) Self-Motivation
3 44 (3.81%) Management Information System
4 36 (3.12%) Product Ownership
5 29 (2.51%) Analytical Mindset
5 29 (2.51%) Distributed Systems
6 26 (2.25%) Cloud Native
7 19 (1.65%) Low-Code
8 18 (1.56%) Social Media
9 15 (1.30%) Legacy Systems
10 11 (0.95%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (0.95%) Life Science
10 11 (0.95%) Video Editing
11 10 (0.87%) Algorithms
11 10 (0.87%) Hybrid Cloud
11 10 (0.87%) Security Operations Centre
12 9 (0.78%) Client/Server
12 9 (0.78%) NHS
12 9 (0.78%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 165 (14.29%) Windows
2 90 (7.79%) Linux
3 55 (4.76%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.82%) Mac OS
5 20 (1.73%) Android
6 18 (1.56%) CentOS
7 16 (1.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (0.78%) Ubuntu
8 9 (0.78%) VMS
9 7 (0.61%) Windows Server 2012
10 6 (0.52%) Apple iOS
10 6 (0.52%) Windows 10
10 6 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
11 5 (0.43%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.26%) Debian
12 3 (0.26%) Unix
13 1 (0.087%) Embedded Linux
13 1 (0.087%) FreeBSD
13 1 (0.087%) OpenBSD
13 1 (0.087%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 241 (20.87%) Continuous Improvement
2 206 (17.84%) Customer Service
3 157 (13.59%) Agile
4 136 (11.77%) DevOps
5 121 (10.48%) CI/CD
6 120 (10.39%) Analytics
7 110 (9.52%) Decision-Making
8 105 (9.09%) Business Intelligence
9 100 (8.66%) Computer Science
10 96 (8.31%) Project Management
11 86 (7.45%) CRM
12 82 (7.10%) Software Engineering
13 81 (7.01%) AI
14 79 (6.84%) Data Modelling
15 71 (6.15%) Project Delivery
16 70 (6.06%) Cybersecurity
16 70 (6.06%) Mentoring
17 69 (5.97%) ITIL
17 69 (5.97%) Stakeholder Management
18 67 (5.80%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 196 (16.97%) Python
2 180 (15.58%) SQL
3 70 (6.06%) PowerShell
4 69 (5.97%) JavaScript
5 67 (5.80%) C#
6 52 (4.50%) Java
7 29 (2.51%) PHP
8 24 (2.08%) C++
9 23 (1.99%) Bash
9 23 (1.99%) C
10 22 (1.90%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 18 (1.56%) PL/SQL
12 13 (1.13%) TypeScript
13 12 (1.04%) Perl
14 11 (0.95%) Apex Code
14 11 (0.95%) Bicep
15 9 (0.78%) Rust
16 8 (0.69%) Kusto Query Language
17 7 (0.61%) R
17 7 (0.61%) Scala
Qualifications
1 231 (20.00%) Degree
2 72 (6.23%) Security Cleared
3 50 (4.33%) DBS Check
4 48 (4.16%) Computer Science Degree
5 46 (3.98%) ACCA
6 40 (3.46%) CIMA
6 40 (3.46%) SC Cleared
7 36 (3.12%) Microsoft Certification
8 33 (2.86%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.08%) A+ Certification
9 24 (2.08%) HNC
10 21 (1.82%) Chartered Engineer
11 18 (1.56%) DV Cleared
11 18 (1.56%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 13 (1.13%) Master's Degree
13 12 (1.04%) PMI Certification
14 10 (0.87%) HND
14 10 (0.87%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
15 9 (0.78%) PMP
16 8 (0.69%) City & Guilds
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 68 (5.89%) Data Quality
1 68 (5.89%) QA
2 44 (3.81%) GDPR
3 30 (2.60%) SLA
4 23 (1.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 15 (1.30%) PCI DSS
6 13 (1.13%) Accessibility
7 12 (1.04%) NIST
8 7 (0.61%) SOC 2
9 6 (0.52%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.35%) ISO 26262
11 4 (0.35%) ITGC
12 2 (0.17%) GRC
12 2 (0.17%) IFRS
13 1 (0.087%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.087%) PMO
System Software
1 107 (9.26%) Active Directory
2 48 (4.16%) Docker
3 33 (2.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 26 (2.25%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.87%) KVM
6 5 (0.43%) Virtual Desktop
6 5 (0.43%) XenApp
7 4 (0.35%) Firmware
7 4 (0.35%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.17%) vSphere
10 1 (0.087%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.087%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.087%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 53 (4.59%) Terraform
2 48 (4.16%) Kubernetes
3 28 (2.42%) Ansible
4 20 (1.73%) Microsoft Intune
5 15 (1.30%) Grafana
5 15 (1.30%) SCCM
6 12 (1.04%) Prometheus
7 8 (0.69%) Nagios
8 7 (0.61%) ZABBIX
9 6 (0.52%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.35%) Functional Safety
10 4 (0.35%) Puppet
11 3 (0.26%) Graylog
11 3 (0.26%) Nessus
12 2 (0.17%) Kibana
13 1 (0.087%) FortiGate
13 1 (0.087%) Netcool
13 1 (0.087%) Netcool/OMNIbus
13 1 (0.087%) Oracle RMAN
13 1 (0.087%) Packer
Vendors
1 313 (27.10%) Microsoft
2 41 (3.55%) Databricks
3 37 (3.20%) VMware
4 36 (3.12%) Oracle
5 34 (2.94%) Google
6 30 (2.60%) Salesforce
7 28 (2.42%) Veeam
8 26 (2.25%) Adobe
8 26 (2.25%) SAP
9 16 (1.39%) HubSpot
9 16 (1.39%) Red Hat
9 16 (1.39%) Sage
10 13 (1.13%) Dynatrace
10 13 (1.13%) Splunk
11 12 (1.04%) ServiceNow
12 11 (0.95%) Hootsuite
12 11 (0.95%) Instagram
12 11 (0.95%) Wrike
13 10 (0.87%) MuleSoft
13 10 (0.87%) SolarWinds