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 14 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 6 3 6
Rank change year-on-year -3 +3 0
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,386 1,703 1,271
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 13.58% 17.35% 17.41%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 16.53% 20.08% 18.77%
Number of salaries quoted 936 791 714
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,500 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,000 £50,967 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -19.56% +1.93% -4.76%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £85,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -

All Process and 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 8,386 8,481 6,773
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 82.14% 86.43% 92.77%
Number of salaries quoted 5,024 4,338 4,729
10th Percentile £27,500 £32,750 £30,500
25th Percentile £34,000 £43,750 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £54,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +5.50% -0.91%
75th Percentile £65,000 £73,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 14 December 2025.

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 14 December 2025. 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 -1 573 £42,500 -24.79% 366
Berkshire +3 381 £42,500 -34.62% 182
Hampshire +2 335 £40,000 -20.00% 192
Surrey -13 179 £40,000 -27.27% 131
Kent -11 128 £31,500 -18.18% 112
Buckinghamshire -11 119 £48,000 -16.52% 120
West Sussex -1 76 £60,000 +26.32% 45
Oxfordshire 0 73 £42,500 -10.53% 66
East Sussex +2 52 £45,000 -10.00% 46
Middlesex -13 21 £41,250 +23.13% 19
Isle of Wight -1 15 £42,500 - 21
Sussex -2 3 £35,000 - 6
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 52 (3.75%) SharePoint
2 44 (3.17%) Microsoft Exchange
3 21 (1.52%) IIS
4 15 (1.08%) CMS
5 13 (0.94%) Confluence
6 11 (0.79%) WordPress
7 4 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Domino
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.22%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.22%) SAS
9 2 (0.14%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.14%) ArcGIS
9 2 (0.14%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.072%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 157 (11.33%) Microsoft Excel
2 146 (10.53%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.08%) Spreadsheet
4 14 (1.01%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (0.79%) Photoshop
6 10 (0.72%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.65%) Adobe Illustrator
7 9 (0.65%) Adobe Premiere
8 6 (0.43%) MS Visio
9 5 (0.36%) Adobe After Effects
10 3 (0.22%) Adobe XD
10 3 (0.22%) InDesign
10 3 (0.22%) Microsoft Project
10 3 (0.22%) Notion
11 2 (0.14%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.14%) AutoCAD
11 2 (0.14%) Elementor
12 1 (0.072%) Acrobat
12 1 (0.072%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.072%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 75 (5.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 21 (1.52%) NetSuite
3 11 (0.79%) Dynamics CRM
4 9 (0.65%) SAP CO
5 8 (0.58%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.51%) SAP FI
6 7 (0.51%) SAP FI/CO
7 6 (0.43%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.43%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.43%) Oracle Receivables
8 5 (0.36%) SAP Hybris
9 3 (0.22%) Sage X3
9 3 (0.22%) Salesforce CRM
9 3 (0.22%) Shopify
10 2 (0.14%) Dynamics AX
10 2 (0.14%) IBM Planning Analytics
10 2 (0.14%) Q-Pulse
10 2 (0.14%) Sage 200
11 1 (0.072%) SAP IBP
11 1 (0.072%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 299 (21.57%) Azure
2 181 (13.06%) Microsoft 365
3 136 (9.81%) Power Platform
4 97 (7.00%) AWS
5 89 (6.42%) SaaS
6 53 (3.82%) Azure DevOps
7 52 (3.75%) Entra ID
8 50 (3.61%) GCP
9 16 (1.15%) PaaS
10 15 (1.08%) Collibra
10 15 (1.08%) IaaS
11 13 (0.94%) GitHub
12 12 (0.87%) Power Automate
13 11 (0.79%) Azure Data Factory
13 11 (0.79%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 11 (0.79%) Dynamics 365
13 11 (0.79%) Google Workspace
14 10 (0.72%) Figma
15 9 (0.65%) Azure Logic Apps
15 9 (0.65%) Vertex AI
Communications & Networking
1 87 (6.28%) DNS
2 77 (5.56%) Firewall
3 66 (4.76%) DHCP
4 58 (4.18%) TCP/IP
5 55 (3.97%) VPN
6 44 (3.17%) VLAN
7 25 (1.80%) Wi-Fi
8 20 (1.44%) Wireless
9 18 (1.30%) WAN
10 17 (1.23%) LAN
11 15 (1.08%) SAN
12 12 (0.87%) VoIP
13 9 (0.65%) Intranet
14 8 (0.58%) Wireshark
15 6 (0.43%) LTE
15 6 (0.43%) Network Security
15 6 (0.43%) PuTTY
15 6 (0.43%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (0.43%) SSH
16 5 (0.36%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (8.87%) Power BI
2 67 (4.83%) Data Lake
3 63 (4.55%) SAP BW
4 60 (4.33%) Relational Database
5 44 (3.17%) SQL Server
6 16 (1.15%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 14 (1.01%) Oracle Reports
8 12 (0.87%) Data Warehouse
8 12 (0.87%) NoSQL
9 10 (0.72%) Data Mining
9 10 (0.72%) MySQL
9 10 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
10 9 (0.65%) Tableau
11 8 (0.58%) Power Query
11 8 (0.58%) SQL Server Integration Services
12 7 (0.51%) PowerPivot
13 6 (0.43%) OLTP
14 5 (0.36%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
15 4 (0.29%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 64 (4.62%) Git
2 49 (3.54%) JIRA
3 21 (1.52%) Selenium
4 15 (1.08%) Robot Framework
5 13 (0.94%) Snyk
6 10 (0.72%) Jenkins
7 9 (0.65%) Visual Studio
8 6 (0.43%) GitLab
9 4 (0.29%) Rational DOORS
9 4 (0.29%) WebDriver
10 3 (0.22%) Cypress.io
10 3 (0.22%) MSBuild
10 3 (0.22%) Octopus Deploy
10 3 (0.22%) Team Foundation Server
11 2 (0.14%) TestRail
12 1 (0.072%) Browser DevTools
12 1 (0.072%) Katalon Studio
12 1 (0.072%) MLflow
12 1 (0.072%) Postman
12 1 (0.072%) REST Assured
General
1 836 (60.32%) Social Skills
2 343 (24.75%) Analytical Skills
3 297 (21.43%) Finance
4 135 (9.74%) Manufacturing
5 123 (8.87%) Marketing
6 102 (7.36%) Retail
7 70 (5.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 58 (4.18%) Organisational Skills
9 46 (3.32%) Law
10 42 (3.03%) Electronics
11 40 (2.89%) Telecoms
12 32 (2.31%) Legal
13 29 (2.09%) Public Sector
14 23 (1.66%) Influencing Skills
15 22 (1.59%) Documentation Skills
16 14 (1.01%) Advertising
17 13 (0.94%) Automotive
18 11 (0.79%) Aviation
18 11 (0.79%) Presentation Skills
19 9 (0.65%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 303 (21.86%) Analyst
2 252 (18.18%) Senior
3 198 (14.29%) IT Support
4 157 (11.33%) Lead
5 141 (10.17%) Support Engineer
6 117 (8.44%) Support Analyst
7 99 (7.14%) Technical Support
8 88 (6.35%) Developer
9 73 (5.27%) IT Analyst
10 69 (4.98%) IT Support Analyst
11 66 (4.76%) Senior Analyst
12 57 (4.11%) SAP Analyst
13 52 (3.75%) 2nd Line Support
14 48 (3.46%) Applications Support
15 47 (3.39%) IT Engineer
16 46 (3.32%) Senior Manager
17 45 (3.25%) Report Analyst
18 42 (3.03%) Project Engineer
18 42 (3.03%) Technical Engineer
19 41 (2.96%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 53 (3.82%) HTML
2 48 (3.46%) .NET
3 42 (3.03%) REST
4 41 (2.96%) CSS
5 40 (2.89%) React
6 33 (2.38%) SOAP
7 26 (1.88%) Node.js
8 24 (1.73%) RESTful
9 23 (1.66%) XML
10 19 (1.37%) JSON
11 18 (1.30%) .NET Framework
11 18 (1.30%) ASP.NET
12 13 (0.94%) Entity Framework
12 13 (0.94%) WinForms
13 11 (0.79%) EDI
14 10 (0.72%) DCOM
14 10 (0.72%) Web Services
15 8 (0.58%) AngularJS
15 8 (0.58%) Bootstrap
15 8 (0.58%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 135 (9.74%) Onboarding
2 78 (5.63%) Driving Licence
3 57 (4.11%) Self-Motivation
4 48 (3.46%) Analytical Mindset
5 44 (3.17%) Data Centre
6 38 (2.74%) Management Information System
7 27 (1.95%) Product Ownership
8 17 (1.23%) Algorithms
9 16 (1.15%) Social Media
10 13 (0.94%) Cloud Native
11 10 (0.72%) Security Operations Centre
11 10 (0.72%) Security Posture
12 8 (0.58%) Distributed Systems
12 8 (0.58%) Robotics
12 8 (0.58%) Team-Oriented Environment
12 8 (0.58%) Video Conferencing
13 7 (0.51%) Low-Code
13 7 (0.51%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.43%) Digital Signage
14 6 (0.43%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 274 (19.77%) Windows
2 82 (5.92%) Windows Server
3 55 (3.97%) Linux
4 51 (3.68%) Windows 10
5 15 (1.08%) Mac OS
6 12 (0.87%) Android
6 12 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
7 11 (0.79%) Windows 7
8 10 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
9 7 (0.51%) Apple iOS
10 6 (0.43%) VMS
11 4 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 3 (0.22%) CentOS
12 3 (0.22%) Unix
12 3 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 253 (18.25%) Continuous Improvement
2 199 (14.36%) Customer Service
3 187 (13.49%) Analytics
4 182 (13.13%) Agile
5 148 (10.68%) ERP
6 140 (10.10%) Business Intelligence
7 133 (9.60%) Data Modelling
8 118 (8.51%) DevOps
9 105 (7.58%) Data Analysis
10 103 (7.43%) Technical Leadership
11 100 (7.22%) SAP Implementation
12 98 (7.07%) Cybersecurity
13 97 (7.00%) Mentoring
14 96 (6.93%) Project Management
14 96 (6.93%) Stakeholder Management
15 92 (6.64%) Quality Management
16 91 (6.57%) Logistics
17 86 (6.20%) Decision-Making
18 84 (6.06%) CI/CD
18 84 (6.06%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 233 (16.81%) SQL
2 111 (8.01%) Python
3 77 (5.56%) PowerShell
4 68 (4.91%) C#
5 62 (4.47%) JavaScript
6 23 (1.66%) Java
7 19 (1.37%) T-SQL
8 18 (1.30%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 17 (1.23%) PHP
9 17 (1.23%) VBA
10 14 (1.01%) Kusto Query Language
11 11 (0.79%) TypeScript
12 9 (0.65%) Bash
13 8 (0.58%) Bicep
14 7 (0.51%) C++
14 7 (0.51%) R
15 6 (0.43%) Apex Code
15 6 (0.43%) DCL
15 6 (0.43%) PL/SQL
15 6 (0.43%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 344 (24.82%) Degree
2 108 (7.79%) Security Cleared
3 48 (3.46%) SC Cleared
4 42 (3.03%) Computer Science Degree
5 35 (2.53%) DV Cleared
6 32 (2.31%) ACCA
6 32 (2.31%) Microsoft Certification
7 24 (1.73%) CIMA
8 19 (1.37%) BPSS Clearance
8 19 (1.37%) DBS Check
9 17 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
10 16 (1.15%) A+ Certification
11 12 (0.87%) HNC
11 12 (0.87%) ISTQB
11 12 (0.87%) Master's Degree
11 12 (0.87%) MCP
12 11 (0.79%) CCNA
12 11 (0.79%) CEH
13 10 (0.72%) CISM
13 10 (0.72%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 129 (9.31%) Data Quality
2 81 (5.84%) QA
3 56 (4.04%) GDPR
4 32 (2.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 26 (1.88%) SLA
6 21 (1.52%) Accessibility
7 17 (1.23%) Cyber Essentials
8 12 (0.87%) NIST
9 10 (0.72%) ISO 9001
10 7 (0.51%) Software Quality Assurance
11 5 (0.36%) ISO 13485
12 4 (0.29%) ISO 31000
12 4 (0.29%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 3 (0.22%) HIPAA
14 2 (0.14%) WCAG
15 1 (0.072%) GAAP
15 1 (0.072%) ISO 14001
15 1 (0.072%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 1 (0.072%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 155 (11.18%) Active Directory
2 44 (3.17%) Hyper-V
3 41 (2.96%) Docker
4 30 (2.16%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (0.72%) Firmware
5 10 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (0.58%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.22%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.14%) KVM
8 2 (0.14%) RHEV
8 2 (0.14%) Terminal Services
8 2 (0.14%) Xen
9 1 (0.072%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.072%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 71 (5.12%) Microsoft Intune
2 46 (3.32%) Terraform
3 34 (2.45%) Kubernetes
4 28 (2.02%) Ansible
5 16 (1.15%) SCCM
6 14 (1.01%) vCenter Server
7 10 (0.72%) ZABBIX
8 7 (0.51%) Grafana
8 7 (0.51%) Prometheus
9 6 (0.43%) Nagios
10 5 (0.36%) Single Sign-On
11 4 (0.29%) FortiGate
12 3 (0.22%) QRadar
13 2 (0.14%) Nessus
13 2 (0.14%) Proxmox
14 1 (0.072%) Control-M
14 1 (0.072%) Kibana
14 1 (0.072%) Netcool
14 1 (0.072%) Netcool/OMNIbus
14 1 (0.072%) Puppet
Vendors
1 378 (27.27%) Microsoft
2 209 (15.08%) SAP
3 47 (3.39%) VMware
4 46 (3.32%) Google
5 40 (2.89%) Oracle
6 39 (2.81%) Cisco
7 37 (2.67%) NEC
8 32 (2.31%) Sage
9 27 (1.95%) Adobe
10 26 (1.88%) Veeam
11 23 (1.66%) Salesforce
12 22 (1.59%) Databricks
13 21 (1.52%) Meraki
14 20 (1.44%) HubSpot
15 17 (1.23%) ServiceNow
16 16 (1.15%) Workday
17 13 (0.94%) Black Duck
17 13 (0.94%) Coverity
17 13 (0.94%) SolarWinds
17 13 (0.94%) Xamarin