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

6 months to
19 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 1,378 1,667 1,274
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 13.29% 17.52% 17.63%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 16.26% 20.06% 19.00%
Number of salaries quoted 924 766 707
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £27,800
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,813 £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 £66,069
90th Percentile £73,750 £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 8,475 8,308 6,706
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 81.76% 87.31% 92.79%
Number of salaries quoted 5,069 4,178 4,695
10th Percentile £27,500 £32,750 £30,500
25th Percentile £34,000 £43,750 £40,000
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 £73,812 £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 19 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 19 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 -1 567 £42,500 -26.09% 529
Berkshire +3 376 £42,500 -37.04% 275
Hampshire +2 327 £40,000 -20.00% 355
Surrey -14 180 £40,000 -27.27% 191
Kent -10 132 £31,500 -17.65% 175
Buckinghamshire -11 118 £48,250 -16.09% 154
West Sussex -1 76 £60,000 +26.32% 49
Oxfordshire -1 73 £40,250 -15.26% 102
East Sussex +1 52 £48,750 -2.50% 49
Middlesex -12 22 £41,250 +23.13% 23
Isle of Wight +1 15 £42,500 - 41
Sussex -2 3 £35,000 - 27
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 50 (3.63%) SharePoint
2 43 (3.12%) Microsoft Exchange
3 24 (1.74%) IIS
4 14 (1.02%) CMS
5 13 (0.94%) Confluence
6 10 (0.73%) WordPress
7 4 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
7 4 (0.29%) SAS
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Domino
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Notes
8 3 (0.22%) OpenStack
9 2 (0.15%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.15%) ArcGIS
9 2 (0.15%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.073%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 161 (11.68%) Microsoft Excel
2 145 (10.52%) Microsoft Office
3 17 (1.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.09%) Spreadsheet
5 11 (0.80%) Photoshop
6 10 (0.73%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.65%) Adobe Illustrator
7 9 (0.65%) Adobe Premiere
8 7 (0.51%) 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 (0.15%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.15%) AutoCAD
11 2 (0.15%) Elementor
12 1 (0.073%) Acrobat
12 1 (0.073%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.073%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 75 (5.44%) SAP S/4HANA
2 21 (1.52%) NetSuite
3 11 (0.80%) Dynamics CRM
4 10 (0.73%) SAP CO
5 8 (0.58%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.51%) SAP FI
6 7 (0.51%) SAP FI/CO
7 6 (0.44%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.44%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.44%) 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 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
10 2 (0.15%) IBM Planning Analytics
10 2 (0.15%) Q-Pulse
10 2 (0.15%) Sage 200
11 1 (0.073%) Raiser’s Edge
11 1 (0.073%) SAP IBP
Cloud Services
1 291 (21.12%) Azure
2 177 (12.84%) Microsoft 365
3 137 (9.94%) Power Platform
4 94 (6.82%) AWS
5 83 (6.02%) SaaS
6 52 (3.77%) Azure DevOps
7 51 (3.70%) Entra ID
8 44 (3.19%) GCP
9 15 (1.09%) Collibra
10 13 (0.94%) GitHub
11 12 (0.87%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 12 (0.87%) Google Workspace
11 12 (0.87%) Power Automate
12 11 (0.80%) Azure Data Factory
12 11 (0.80%) Dynamics 365
12 11 (0.80%) PaaS
13 10 (0.73%) Azure Logic Apps
13 10 (0.73%) Figma
13 10 (0.73%) IaaS
14 9 (0.65%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 88 (6.39%) DNS
2 77 (5.59%) Firewall
3 67 (4.86%) DHCP
4 59 (4.28%) TCP/IP
5 55 (3.99%) VPN
6 44 (3.19%) VLAN
7 25 (1.81%) Wi-Fi
8 21 (1.52%) Wireless
9 17 (1.23%) WAN
10 15 (1.09%) SAN
11 14 (1.02%) LAN
12 12 (0.87%) VoIP
13 9 (0.65%) Intranet
14 8 (0.58%) Wireshark
15 7 (0.51%) PuTTY
15 7 (0.51%) SSH
16 6 (0.44%) LTE
16 6 (0.44%) Network Security
16 6 (0.44%) Remote Desktop
17 5 (0.36%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (8.93%) Power BI
2 66 (4.79%) Data Lake
3 63 (4.57%) SAP BW
4 60 (4.35%) Relational Database
5 43 (3.12%) SQL Server
6 17 (1.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 16 (1.16%) NoSQL
8 14 (1.02%) Oracle Reports
9 13 (0.94%) Data Warehouse
10 11 (0.80%) Tableau
11 10 (0.73%) MySQL
11 10 (0.73%) PostgreSQL
12 9 (0.65%) Power Query
13 8 (0.58%) SQL Server Integration Services
14 7 (0.51%) PowerPivot
15 6 (0.44%) Big Data
15 6 (0.44%) Data Mining
15 6 (0.44%) OLTP
16 5 (0.36%) Azure SQL Database
16 5 (0.36%) Hadoop
Development Applications
1 65 (4.72%) Git
2 46 (3.34%) JIRA
3 22 (1.60%) Selenium
4 15 (1.09%) Robot Framework
5 13 (0.94%) Snyk
6 10 (0.73%) Jenkins
7 8 (0.58%) Visual Studio
8 6 (0.44%) GitLab
9 5 (0.36%) Rational DOORS
9 5 (0.36%) WebDriver
10 4 (0.29%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.15%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.15%) MSBuild
11 2 (0.15%) Octopus Deploy
11 2 (0.15%) Team Foundation Server
11 2 (0.15%) TestRail
12 1 (0.073%) Browser DevTools
12 1 (0.073%) Katalon Studio
12 1 (0.073%) Postman
12 1 (0.073%) REST Assured
General
1 834 (60.52%) Social Skills
2 343 (24.89%) Analytical Skills
3 302 (21.92%) Finance
4 137 (9.94%) Manufacturing
5 126 (9.14%) Marketing
6 91 (6.60%) Retail
7 71 (5.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 58 (4.21%) Organisational Skills
9 42 (3.05%) Electronics
10 40 (2.90%) Law
10 40 (2.90%) Telecoms
11 32 (2.32%) Legal
12 28 (2.03%) Public Sector
13 23 (1.67%) Influencing Skills
14 22 (1.60%) Documentation Skills
15 14 (1.02%) Pharmaceutical
16 13 (0.94%) Advertising
16 13 (0.94%) Automotive
17 11 (0.80%) Presentation Skills
18 10 (0.73%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 304 (22.06%) Analyst
2 249 (18.07%) Senior
3 198 (14.37%) IT Support
4 145 (10.52%) Lead
5 142 (10.30%) Support Engineer
6 117 (8.49%) Support Analyst
7 98 (7.11%) Technical Support
8 92 (6.68%) Developer
9 74 (5.37%) IT Analyst
10 70 (5.08%) IT Support Analyst
11 67 (4.86%) Senior Analyst
12 57 (4.14%) SAP Analyst
13 52 (3.77%) 2nd Line Support
14 50 (3.63%) Senior Manager
15 47 (3.41%) Applications Support
15 47 (3.41%) IT Engineer
16 45 (3.27%) Report Analyst
17 42 (3.05%) Project Engineer
17 42 (3.05%) Technical Engineer
18 41 (2.98%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 51 (3.70%) HTML
2 48 (3.48%) .NET
3 42 (3.05%) REST
4 40 (2.90%) React
5 39 (2.83%) CSS
6 33 (2.39%) SOAP
7 26 (1.89%) Node.js
8 24 (1.74%) RESTful
9 22 (1.60%) XML
10 19 (1.38%) .NET Framework
11 18 (1.31%) JSON
12 17 (1.23%) ASP.NET
13 13 (0.94%) Entity Framework
13 13 (0.94%) WinForms
14 11 (0.80%) EDI
15 10 (0.73%) DCOM
15 10 (0.73%) Web Services
16 8 (0.58%) AngularJS
16 8 (0.58%) Middleware
17 7 (0.51%) Bootstrap
Miscellaneous
1 134 (9.72%) Onboarding
2 76 (5.52%) Driving Licence
3 61 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
4 47 (3.41%) Analytical Mindset
5 43 (3.12%) Data Centre
6 41 (2.98%) Management Information System
7 27 (1.96%) Product Ownership
8 15 (1.09%) Social Media
9 13 (0.94%) Cloud Native
10 11 (0.80%) Algorithms
10 11 (0.80%) Distributed Systems
11 10 (0.73%) Security Operations Centre
12 9 (0.65%) Security Posture
12 9 (0.65%) Team-Oriented Environment
12 9 (0.65%) Video Conferencing
13 8 (0.58%) Enterprise Software
13 8 (0.58%) Low-Code
13 8 (0.58%) Robotics
14 7 (0.51%) Life Science
14 7 (0.51%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 271 (19.67%) Windows
2 82 (5.95%) Windows Server
3 56 (4.06%) Linux
4 51 (3.70%) Windows 10
5 14 (1.02%) Mac OS
6 13 (0.94%) Android
7 12 (0.87%) Windows Server 2012
8 11 (0.80%) Windows 7
9 10 (0.73%) Windows Server 2019
10 8 (0.58%) Apple iOS
11 7 (0.51%) VMS
12 4 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 3 (0.22%) CentOS
13 3 (0.22%) Unix
13 3 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 243 (17.63%) Continuous Improvement
2 196 (14.22%) Customer Service
3 189 (13.72%) Analytics
4 175 (12.70%) Agile
5 149 (10.81%) ERP
6 144 (10.45%) Business Intelligence
7 134 (9.72%) Data Modelling
8 109 (7.91%) DevOps
9 108 (7.84%) Data Analysis
10 103 (7.47%) Project Management
11 102 (7.40%) Technical Leadership
12 100 (7.26%) SAP Implementation
13 97 (7.04%) Cybersecurity
14 96 (6.97%) Mentoring
14 96 (6.97%) Stakeholder Management
15 95 (6.89%) Decision-Making
16 92 (6.68%) Logistics
16 92 (6.68%) Quality Management
17 85 (6.17%) CI/CD
18 77 (5.59%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 239 (17.34%) SQL
2 113 (8.20%) Python
3 75 (5.44%) PowerShell
4 70 (5.08%) C#
5 62 (4.50%) JavaScript
6 27 (1.96%) Java
7 19 (1.38%) T-SQL
8 18 (1.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 17 (1.23%) PHP
9 17 (1.23%) VBA
10 14 (1.02%) Kusto Query Language
11 11 (0.80%) TypeScript
12 10 (0.73%) R
13 9 (0.65%) Bash
14 8 (0.58%) Bicep
15 7 (0.51%) C++
15 7 (0.51%) DCL
15 7 (0.51%) Tcl
16 6 (0.44%) Apex Code
16 6 (0.44%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 351 (25.47%) Degree
2 101 (7.33%) Security Cleared
3 46 (3.34%) SC Cleared
4 42 (3.05%) Computer Science Degree
5 32 (2.32%) ACCA
6 31 (2.25%) Microsoft Certification
7 29 (2.10%) DV Cleared
8 24 (1.74%) CIMA
9 20 (1.45%) BPSS Clearance
9 20 (1.45%) DBS Check
10 17 (1.23%) Cisco Certification
11 15 (1.09%) A+ Certification
12 14 (1.02%) Master's Degree
13 12 (0.87%) HNC
13 12 (0.87%) ISTQB
13 12 (0.87%) MCP
14 11 (0.80%) CCNA
14 11 (0.80%) CEH
15 10 (0.73%) CISM
15 10 (0.73%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 131 (9.51%) Data Quality
2 82 (5.95%) QA
3 53 (3.85%) GDPR
4 32 (2.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 24 (1.74%) SLA
6 23 (1.67%) Accessibility
7 17 (1.23%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (0.80%) NIST
9 10 (0.73%) ISO 9001
10 7 (0.51%) Software Quality Assurance
11 5 (0.36%) ISO 13485
12 4 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
12 4 (0.29%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 3 (0.22%) HIPAA
13 3 (0.22%) ISO 31000
14 2 (0.15%) WCAG
15 1 (0.073%) GAAP
15 1 (0.073%) ISO 14001
15 1 (0.073%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 155 (11.25%) Active Directory
2 44 (3.19%) Hyper-V
3 40 (2.90%) Docker
4 31 (2.25%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (0.73%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (0.65%) Firmware
7 4 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.15%) KVM
8 2 (0.15%) RHEV
8 2 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.15%) Xen
9 1 (0.073%) Terminal Services
9 1 (0.073%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.073%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 69 (5.01%) Microsoft Intune
2 44 (3.19%) Terraform
3 34 (2.47%) Kubernetes
4 26 (1.89%) Ansible
5 16 (1.16%) SCCM
6 14 (1.02%) vCenter Server
7 10 (0.73%) ZABBIX
8 7 (0.51%) Grafana
8 7 (0.51%) Prometheus
9 6 (0.44%) Nagios
10 5 (0.36%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.22%) QRadar
12 2 (0.15%) Nessus
12 2 (0.15%) Proxmox
13 1 (0.073%) Control-M
13 1 (0.073%) Dell DRAC
13 1 (0.073%) Kibana
13 1 (0.073%) Netcool
13 1 (0.073%) Netcool/OMNIbus
Vendors
1 368 (26.71%) Microsoft
2 210 (15.24%) SAP
3 48 (3.48%) VMware
4 40 (2.90%) Oracle
5 39 (2.83%) Google
6 38 (2.76%) Cisco
7 37 (2.69%) NEC
8 31 (2.25%) Sage
9 27 (1.96%) Adobe
10 26 (1.89%) Databricks
10 26 (1.89%) Veeam
11 22 (1.60%) Salesforce
12 21 (1.52%) Meraki
13 19 (1.38%) HubSpot
14 17 (1.23%) ServiceNow
15 16 (1.16%) Workday
16 13 (0.94%) Black Duck
16 13 (0.94%) Coverity
16 13 (0.94%) SolarWinds
16 13 (0.94%) Xamarin