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 20 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,565 1,706 2,065
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.07% 19.13% 14.96%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.70% 21.75% 18.53%
Number of salaries quoted 1,145 860 1,197
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,300
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £43,000 £42,500 £48,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.18% -11.46% -6.66%
75th Percentile £58,750 £61,250 £63,750
90th Percentile £72,500 £78,750 £79,661
England median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.56% -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 12,327 7,844 11,145
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.40% 87.98% 80.76%
Number of salaries quoted 8,815 4,194 7,159
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,788 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,982 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £86,500 £81,250 £81,250
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,465
% change year-on-year +9.09% -0.84% -11.26%

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 20 August 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 20 August 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 -6 572 £43,000 +1.18% 390
Hampshire -2 412 £42,500 -5.56% 222
Berkshire -4 254 £44,250 +4.12% 160
Surrey -1 248 £41,585 +3.96% 144
Buckinghamshire -7 178 £42,500 +13.33% 135
Kent -5 153 £38,750 +15.67% 102
Oxfordshire +1 140 £42,491 -3.98% 97
East Sussex -4 97 £50,000 - 61
West Sussex -8 70 £50,000 -0.99% 58
Middlesex +2 8 £50,000 +33.33% 34
Isle of Wight -8 2 £42,500 -9.57% 20
Sussex -13 1 - - 18
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 55 (3.51%) SharePoint
2 44 (2.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.15%) Confluence
4 17 (1.09%) CMS
5 13 (0.83%) IIS
6 7 (0.45%) Apache
6 7 (0.45%) OpenEdge
6 7 (0.45%) WordPress
7 5 (0.32%) nginx
8 3 (0.19%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.19%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.19%) SAS
9 2 (0.13%) Gentran
9 2 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 101 (6.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 91 (5.81%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (0.89%) Microsoft Project
4 12 (0.77%) Spreadsheet
5 10 (0.64%) AutoCAD
6 7 (0.45%) MS Visio
7 6 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 6 (0.38%) Revit
8 5 (0.32%) Lightworks
9 4 (0.26%) Photoshop
9 4 (0.26%) Simulink
10 3 (0.19%) Adobe Illustrator
10 3 (0.19%) EPLAN
11 2 (0.13%) Chatbot
12 1 (0.064%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.064%) OrCAD
12 1 (0.064%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 16 (1.02%) NetSuite
2 13 (0.83%) Shopify
3 12 (0.77%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.45%) Magento
5 6 (0.38%) Primavera
5 6 (0.38%) Raiser’s Edge
6 3 (0.19%) Infor SunSystems
6 3 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
6 3 (0.19%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.13%) Academy Housing
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
7 2 (0.13%) Siebel CRM
7 2 (0.13%) Workday HCM
8 1 (0.064%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.064%) HFM
8 1 (0.064%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 370 (23.64%) Azure
2 180 (11.50%) Microsoft 365
3 169 (10.80%) AWS
4 85 (5.43%) Power Platform
5 66 (4.22%) SaaS
6 63 (4.03%) Entra ID
7 49 (3.13%) GCP
8 44 (2.81%) Azure DevOps
9 38 (2.43%) GitHub
10 31 (1.98%) Serverless
11 20 (1.28%) Google Workspace
11 20 (1.28%) IaaS
11 20 (1.28%) PaaS
12 19 (1.21%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 17 (1.09%) Datadog
14 16 (1.02%) Anthropic Claude
14 16 (1.02%) Dynamics 365
14 16 (1.02%) GitHub Actions
14 16 (1.02%) Google Tag Manager
15 15 (0.96%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 133 (8.50%) Firewall
2 69 (4.41%) DNS
3 56 (3.58%) TCP/IP
4 55 (3.51%) VPN
5 48 (3.07%) DHCP
5 48 (3.07%) WAN
6 46 (2.94%) LAN
7 43 (2.75%) Wi-Fi
8 41 (2.62%) Wireless
9 35 (2.24%) VLAN
10 31 (1.98%) Network Security
10 31 (1.98%) VoIP
11 16 (1.02%) SSL
12 14 (0.89%) Internet
13 10 (0.64%) Broadband
13 10 (0.64%) HTTP
13 10 (0.64%) MQTT
14 9 (0.58%) LTE
15 6 (0.38%) WLAN
16 5 (0.32%) VSAT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 122 (7.80%) SQL Server
2 71 (4.54%) Power BI
3 36 (2.30%) Relational Database
4 32 (2.04%) MySQL
5 29 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
6 24 (1.53%) NoSQL
7 18 (1.15%) Data Warehouse
8 14 (0.89%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 12 (0.77%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 11 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
10 11 (0.70%) Tableau
11 10 (0.64%) Data Lake
12 9 (0.58%) MongoDB
12 9 (0.58%) OLTP
13 7 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
13 7 (0.45%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.45%) GIS
13 7 (0.45%) Looker
14 5 (0.32%) Electronic Patient Records
15 4 (0.26%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 75 (4.79%) Git
2 59 (3.77%) JIRA
3 26 (1.66%) GitLab
4 18 (1.15%) Rational DOORS
5 11 (0.70%) Claude Code
6 8 (0.51%) Oracle Forms
6 8 (0.51%) Team Foundation Server
7 6 (0.38%) Selenium
8 5 (0.32%) Eclipse
8 5 (0.32%) Eclipse RCP
8 5 (0.32%) Jenkins
8 5 (0.32%) Postman
8 5 (0.32%) Visual Studio
9 4 (0.26%) PHPUnit
9 4 (0.26%) Terragrunt
10 3 (0.19%) PetaLinux
10 3 (0.19%) SpecFlow
11 2 (0.13%) Android Studio
11 2 (0.13%) Mocha
11 2 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 775 (49.52%) Social Skills
2 452 (28.88%) Analytical Skills
3 230 (14.70%) Finance
4 125 (7.99%) Manufacturing
5 115 (7.35%) Organisational Skills
6 95 (6.07%) Aerospace
7 91 (5.81%) Electronics
8 71 (4.54%) Retail
9 61 (3.90%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 50 (3.19%) Telecoms
11 43 (2.75%) Marketing
12 41 (2.62%) Influencing Skills
13 40 (2.56%) Legal
14 38 (2.43%) Law
14 38 (2.43%) Military
15 37 (2.36%) Public Sector
16 28 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
17 22 (1.41%) Aviation
18 21 (1.34%) Local Government
19 16 (1.02%) Banking
Job Titles
1 213 (13.61%) Analyst
2 169 (10.80%) Senior
3 155 (9.90%) Developer
4 144 (9.20%) IT Support
5 113 (7.22%) Support Engineer
6 103 (6.58%) Support Analyst
7 84 (5.37%) IT Engineer
8 71 (4.54%) Lead
9 70 (4.47%) Systems Engineer
10 69 (4.41%) Software Engineer
11 67 (4.28%) Support Technician
12 66 (4.22%) Technical Support
13 53 (3.39%) Architect
14 52 (3.32%) 2nd Line Support
14 52 (3.32%) IT Support Engineer
15 48 (3.07%) IT Technician
16 46 (2.94%) Technical Engineer
16 46 (2.94%) Technical Support Engineer
17 45 (2.88%) Consultant
18 41 (2.62%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 112 (7.16%) .NET
2 86 (5.50%) Terraform
3 76 (4.86%) HTML
4 61 (3.90%) REST
5 56 (3.58%) CSS
6 52 (3.32%) React
7 49 (3.13%) ASP.NET
7 49 (3.13%) SOAP
8 36 (2.30%) OAuth
9 34 (2.17%) ASP.NET Core
10 30 (1.92%) AngularJS
11 29 (1.85%) JSON
11 29 (1.85%) RESTful
12 28 (1.79%) Vue
13 27 (1.73%) XML
14 24 (1.53%) ModSecurity
15 21 (1.34%) SAML
16 19 (1.21%) ASP.NET Web API
16 19 (1.21%) jQuery
17 18 (1.15%) LESS
Miscellaneous
1 115 (7.35%) Driving Licence
2 98 (6.26%) Onboarding
3 78 (4.98%) Management Information System
4 74 (4.73%) Self-Motivation
5 65 (4.15%) Cloud Native
6 43 (2.75%) Product Ownership
7 35 (2.24%) Data Centre
8 32 (2.04%) Social Media
9 29 (1.85%) Distributed Systems
10 28 (1.79%) Analytical Mindset
10 28 (1.79%) Enterprise Software
11 27 (1.73%) Robotics
12 26 (1.66%) Legacy Systems
13 20 (1.28%) Analogue Electronics
14 18 (1.15%) EPoS
15 17 (1.09%) CCTV
15 17 (1.09%) NHS
16 16 (1.02%) Mobile App
17 15 (0.96%) Renewable Energy
18 14 (0.89%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 247 (15.78%) Windows
2 111 (7.09%) Linux
3 88 (5.62%) Windows Server
4 22 (1.41%) Android
5 17 (1.09%) Windows Server 2019
6 15 (0.96%) Mac OS
7 13 (0.83%) Apple iOS
7 13 (0.83%) CentOS
8 12 (0.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 12 (0.77%) Ubuntu
8 12 (0.77%) Windows 10
9 10 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
10 9 (0.58%) Debian
11 4 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.19%) FreeRTOS
12 3 (0.19%) Gentoo
12 3 (0.19%) Rocky
12 3 (0.19%) Unix
12 3 (0.19%) VMS
12 3 (0.19%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 340 (21.73%) Continuous Improvement
2 271 (17.32%) Customer Service
3 215 (13.74%) Agile
4 197 (12.59%) Decision-Making
5 168 (10.73%) CI/CD
6 167 (10.67%) AI
7 163 (10.42%) Project Management
8 161 (10.29%) Software Engineering
9 154 (9.84%) Project Delivery
9 154 (9.84%) Stakeholder Management
10 153 (9.78%) DevOps
11 148 (9.46%) ITIL
12 134 (8.56%) Mentoring
13 131 (8.37%) Cybersecurity
14 130 (8.31%) Validation
15 122 (7.80%) Collaborative Working
16 121 (7.73%) Computer Science
17 119 (7.60%) Analytics
18 108 (6.90%) Logistics
19 104 (6.65%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 223 (14.25%) SQL
2 210 (13.42%) Python
3 128 (8.18%) C#
4 109 (6.96%) JavaScript
5 92 (5.88%) PowerShell
6 60 (3.83%) TypeScript
7 59 (3.77%) C++
8 57 (3.64%) Java
9 34 (2.17%) Bash
10 30 (1.92%) C
11 21 (1.34%) PHP
12 17 (1.09%) T-SQL
13 15 (0.96%) Ruby
14 13 (0.83%) VB.NET
15 11 (0.70%) PL/SQL
15 11 (0.70%) Rust
16 10 (0.64%) Perl
17 8 (0.51%) MATLAB
18 7 (0.45%) Bicep
19 6 (0.38%) Embedded C
Qualifications
1 309 (19.74%) Degree
2 168 (10.73%) Security Cleared
3 120 (7.67%) SC Cleared
4 100 (6.39%) DBS Check
5 64 (4.09%) Computer Science Degree
6 56 (3.58%) DV Cleared
7 55 (3.51%) BPSS Clearance
8 51 (3.26%) Microsoft Certification
9 46 (2.94%) Azure Certification
10 45 (2.88%) HNC
11 36 (2.30%) HND
12 32 (2.04%) PMI Certification
13 30 (1.92%) CISSP
14 26 (1.66%) PMP
15 25 (1.60%) Chartered Engineer
15 25 (1.60%) CISM
15 25 (1.60%) Master's Degree
16 20 (1.28%) CompTIA Security+
16 20 (1.28%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 19 (1.21%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 133 (8.50%) QA
2 55 (3.51%) Data Quality
2 55 (3.51%) GDPR
3 44 (2.81%) SLA
4 33 (2.11%) Accessibility
5 31 (1.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 20 (1.28%) NIST
7 18 (1.15%) Good Clinical Practice
7 18 (1.15%) PCI DSS
8 17 (1.09%) Cyber Essentials
9 14 (0.89%) PMO
10 12 (0.77%) DO-254
11 10 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 9 (0.58%) GMP
12 9 (0.58%) SOC 2
13 8 (0.51%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 8 (0.51%) GLP
13 8 (0.51%) GxP
14 7 (0.45%) ISO 9001
15 4 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 129 (8.24%) Active Directory
2 72 (4.60%) Docker
3 71 (4.54%) VMware Infrastructure
4 56 (3.58%) Hyper-V
5 11 (0.70%) Firmware
6 9 (0.58%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (0.58%) vSphere
7 6 (0.38%) KVM
8 5 (0.32%) ClearTrust
8 5 (0.32%) Squid
8 5 (0.32%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.26%) XenApp
10 3 (0.19%) Embedded Firmware
10 3 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.064%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.064%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.064%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.064%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 81 (5.18%) Kubernetes
2 50 (3.19%) Microsoft Intune
3 37 (2.36%) Ansible
4 23 (1.47%) SCCM
5 16 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (0.89%) Grafana
7 11 (0.70%) Prometheus
8 10 (0.64%) Jamf Pro
9 9 (0.58%) Nagios
10 8 (0.51%) Podman
11 7 (0.45%) Failover Clustering
11 7 (0.45%) Puppet
12 6 (0.38%) Graylog
13 5 (0.32%) ZABBIX
14 4 (0.26%) Docker Swarm
14 4 (0.26%) Functional Safety
14 4 (0.26%) vCenter Server
15 2 (0.13%) BMC PATROL
15 2 (0.13%) Nessus
15 2 (0.13%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 456 (29.14%) Microsoft
2 80 (5.11%) VMware
3 64 (4.09%) Google
4 53 (3.39%) Oracle
5 37 (2.36%) Cisco
6 36 (2.30%) SAP
7 34 (2.17%) Fortinet
8 33 (2.11%) SonicWALL
9 30 (1.92%) ServiceNow
9 30 (1.92%) Veeam
10 24 (1.53%) Salesforce
11 20 (1.28%) Sage
12 18 (1.15%) Databricks
13 16 (1.02%) Aruba
13 16 (1.02%) Palo Alto
14 13 (0.83%) Splunk
15 12 (0.77%) ForgeRock
15 12 (0.77%) Instagram
15 12 (0.77%) Mentor Graphics
15 12 (0.77%) Okta