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 31 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -6 +1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,191 1,459 2,839
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 8.26% 18.65% 16.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.44% 20.56% 19.85%
Number of salaries quoted 891 693 1,769
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -14.29%
75th Percentile £61,375 £62,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £77,500 £83,500 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -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 10,412 7,096 14,302
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 72.18% 90.68% 83.06%
Number of salaries quoted 7,163 3,322 10,048
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,375 £27,750
25th Percentile £39,000 £36,000 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,500 £78,311
England median annual salary £60,000 £59,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +1.69% +7.27% -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 31 May 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 31 May 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 -10 437 £47,500 -5.00% 185
Hampshire -4 277 £40,000 -5.88% 121
Berkshire -7 207 £45,500 -9.00% 79
Surrey -4 197 £42,043 +3.18% 70
Buckinghamshire -11 139 £47,750 -4.50% 62
Kent -3 124 £30,000 -3.23% 49
East Sussex -4 93 £57,500 +15.00% 11
Oxfordshire -3 91 £36,250 -34.09% 46
West Sussex -6 53 £56,465 +21.43% 19
Isle of Wight -13 3 £41,500 -24.55%
Middlesex +2 2 £35,000 -44.00% 21
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 35 (2.94%) SharePoint
2 30 (2.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.34%) CMS
4 11 (0.92%) Confluence
5 10 (0.84%) IIS
6 7 (0.59%) OpenEdge
7 5 (0.42%) SAS
7 5 (0.42%) WordPress
8 3 (0.25%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.25%) Apache
8 3 (0.25%) govService
8 3 (0.25%) OpenStack
9 2 (0.17%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.17%) Gentran
10 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.084%) nginx
10 1 (0.084%) Tomcat
Applications
1 89 (7.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 67 (5.63%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (0.67%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.67%) Spreadsheet
5 6 (0.50%) Photoshop
6 5 (0.42%) Adobe Illustrator
7 3 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.17%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 2 (0.17%) Chatbot
9 1 (0.084%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.084%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.084%) Lightworks
Business Applications
1 10 (0.84%) Dynamics CRM
1 10 (0.84%) NetSuite
2 9 (0.76%) SAP CO
3 4 (0.34%) Dynamics NAV
3 4 (0.34%) Magento
3 4 (0.34%) Salesforce CRM
4 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
4 2 (0.17%) IBM Planning Analytics
4 2 (0.17%) Infor SunSystems
4 2 (0.17%) Q-Pulse
4 2 (0.17%) Sage 200
4 2 (0.17%) Shopify
5 1 (0.084%) Elite 3E
5 1 (0.084%) HFM
5 1 (0.084%) PeopleSoft HRMS
5 1 (0.084%) Raiser’s Edge
5 1 (0.084%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.084%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 273 (22.92%) Azure
2 126 (10.58%) Microsoft 365
3 110 (9.24%) AWS
4 81 (6.80%) Power Platform
5 54 (4.53%) Azure DevOps
5 54 (4.53%) SaaS
6 36 (3.02%) GCP
7 30 (2.52%) IaaS
7 30 (2.52%) PaaS
8 27 (2.27%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 23 (1.93%) Entra ID
10 20 (1.68%) Google Workspace
11 19 (1.60%) Serverless
12 18 (1.51%) Dynamics 365
13 16 (1.34%) Azure Logic Apps
13 16 (1.34%) GitHub
14 15 (1.26%) Azure Data Factory
14 15 (1.26%) Datadog
14 15 (1.26%) Mimecast
14 15 (1.26%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 79 (6.63%) Firewall
2 63 (5.29%) DNS
3 37 (3.11%) DHCP
4 36 (3.02%) TCP/IP
5 29 (2.43%) VPN
6 25 (2.10%) WAN
7 24 (2.02%) Wireless
8 22 (1.85%) LAN
9 20 (1.68%) Broadband
10 15 (1.26%) Wi-Fi
11 14 (1.18%) VLAN
11 14 (1.18%) VoIP
12 12 (1.01%) Network Security
13 11 (0.92%) HTTP
14 8 (0.67%) SSL
15 7 (0.59%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.50%) PuTTY
16 6 (0.50%) SAN
16 6 (0.50%) SSH
17 5 (0.42%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 77 (6.47%) SQL Server
2 62 (5.21%) Power BI
3 24 (2.02%) Data Warehouse
4 21 (1.76%) PostgreSQL
5 20 (1.68%) Relational Database
6 18 (1.51%) OLTP
7 16 (1.34%) NoSQL
8 12 (1.01%) MySQL
8 12 (1.01%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 12 (1.01%) Tableau
9 11 (0.92%) Power Query
10 7 (0.59%) Data Lake
10 7 (0.59%) Looker
10 7 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 6 (0.50%) GIS
12 5 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
12 5 (0.42%) Big Data
12 5 (0.42%) Data Mining
12 5 (0.42%) Hadoop
13 3 (0.25%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 58 (4.87%) Git
2 40 (3.36%) JIRA
3 28 (2.35%) GitLab
4 23 (1.93%) Rational DOORS
5 7 (0.59%) Selenium
6 5 (0.42%) Visual Studio
7 3 (0.25%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.25%) Cypress.io
7 3 (0.25%) Postman
8 2 (0.17%) Appium
8 2 (0.17%) Jenkins
8 2 (0.17%) JMeter
8 2 (0.17%) JUnit
8 2 (0.17%) LabVIEW
8 2 (0.17%) REST Assured
8 2 (0.17%) Robot Framework
8 2 (0.17%) Snyk
8 2 (0.17%) Terragrunt
9 1 (0.084%) Artifactory
9 1 (0.084%) SonarQube
General
1 582 (48.87%) Social Skills
2 346 (29.05%) Analytical Skills
3 185 (15.53%) Finance
4 80 (6.72%) Organisational Skills
5 61 (5.12%) Marketing
6 59 (4.95%) Manufacturing
7 50 (4.20%) Telecoms
8 48 (4.03%) Electronics
9 47 (3.95%) Retail
10 42 (3.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 31 (2.60%) Aerospace
12 30 (2.52%) Public Sector
13 29 (2.43%) Law
14 22 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
15 20 (1.68%) Legal
16 17 (1.43%) Local Government
17 14 (1.18%) Military
17 14 (1.18%) Presentation Skills
18 13 (1.09%) Pharmaceutical
19 12 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 157 (13.18%) Analyst
2 134 (11.25%) IT Support
3 128 (10.75%) Developer
4 124 (10.41%) Senior
5 115 (9.66%) Support Engineer
6 71 (5.96%) IT Engineer
7 67 (5.63%) Support Analyst
8 62 (5.21%) Systems Engineer
9 51 (4.28%) Technical Support
10 50 (4.20%) Support Technician
11 48 (4.03%) IT Support Engineer
11 48 (4.03%) Software Engineer
12 46 (3.86%) Lead
13 45 (3.78%) 2nd Line Support
14 44 (3.69%) Architect
15 38 (3.19%) IT Technician
16 37 (3.11%) Technical Engineer
16 37 (3.11%) Technical Support Engineer
17 36 (3.02%) Infrastructure Engineer
18 33 (2.77%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 73 (6.13%) .NET
2 56 (4.70%) HTML
3 49 (4.11%) SOAP
4 40 (3.36%) REST
5 34 (2.85%) XML
6 33 (2.77%) CSS
6 33 (2.77%) JSON
7 26 (2.18%) React
8 21 (1.76%) Middleware
9 18 (1.51%) OAuth
10 16 (1.34%) Laravel
11 15 (1.26%) ASP.NET
11 15 (1.26%) CSS3
11 15 (1.26%) HTML5
11 15 (1.26%) RabbitMQ
12 14 (1.18%) jQuery
12 14 (1.18%) RESTful
13 13 (1.09%) Ajax
13 13 (1.09%) Sass
14 12 (1.01%) LESS
Miscellaneous
1 72 (6.05%) Driving Licence
2 60 (5.04%) Self-Motivation
3 57 (4.79%) Onboarding
4 54 (4.53%) Management Information System
5 38 (3.19%) Product Ownership
6 37 (3.11%) Cloud Native
7 33 (2.77%) Distributed Systems
8 25 (2.10%) Analytical Mindset
9 22 (1.85%) Low-Code
10 17 (1.43%) Social Media
11 16 (1.34%) NHS
12 14 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
12 14 (1.18%) Robotics
13 11 (0.92%) Enterprise Software
13 11 (0.92%) Video Editing
14 10 (0.84%) Algorithms
14 10 (0.84%) Client/Server
15 9 (0.76%) EPoS
15 9 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
15 9 (0.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 179 (15.03%) Windows
2 101 (8.48%) Linux
3 64 (5.37%) Windows Server
4 22 (1.85%) Android
5 19 (1.60%) CentOS
6 18 (1.51%) Mac OS
7 17 (1.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 14 (1.18%) Windows Server 2019
9 12 (1.01%) Ubuntu
10 9 (0.76%) VMS
10 9 (0.76%) Windows Server 2016
11 8 (0.67%) Apple iOS
12 7 (0.59%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.25%) Debian
14 2 (0.17%) Unix
14 2 (0.17%) Windows 10
15 1 (0.084%) Embedded Linux
15 1 (0.084%) FreeBSD
15 1 (0.084%) OpenBSD
15 1 (0.084%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 232 (19.48%) Continuous Improvement
2 206 (17.30%) Customer Service
3 170 (14.27%) Agile
4 141 (11.84%) DevOps
5 140 (11.75%) CI/CD
6 121 (10.16%) Decision-Making
7 117 (9.82%) Software Engineering
8 110 (9.24%) Computer Science
9 108 (9.07%) Analytics
10 107 (8.98%) AI
11 97 (8.14%) Project Management
12 93 (7.81%) Business Intelligence
13 90 (7.56%) Mentoring
14 86 (7.22%) Project Delivery
15 85 (7.14%) Cybersecurity
16 82 (6.88%) CRM
17 80 (6.72%) Data Modelling
18 77 (6.47%) ITIL
19 74 (6.21%) Stakeholder Management
20 73 (6.13%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 206 (17.30%) Python
2 193 (16.20%) SQL
3 97 (8.14%) C#
4 85 (7.14%) JavaScript
5 65 (5.46%) PowerShell
6 53 (4.45%) Java
7 37 (3.11%) C++
8 30 (2.52%) PHP
9 27 (2.27%) C
10 26 (2.18%) TypeScript
11 25 (2.10%) Bash
12 21 (1.76%) PL/SQL
13 15 (1.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 11 (0.92%) Perl
14 11 (0.92%) Rust
15 9 (0.76%) Ruby
16 8 (0.67%) Apex Code
17 7 (0.59%) Bicep
17 7 (0.59%) R
17 7 (0.59%) Scala
Qualifications
1 240 (20.15%) Degree
2 85 (7.14%) Security Cleared
3 61 (5.12%) DBS Check
4 55 (4.62%) SC Cleared
5 50 (4.20%) Computer Science Degree
6 38 (3.19%) Microsoft Certification
7 33 (2.77%) ACCA
7 33 (2.77%) BPSS Clearance
8 32 (2.69%) CIMA
9 29 (2.43%) HNC
10 25 (2.10%) Chartered Engineer
11 23 (1.93%) A+ Certification
12 17 (1.43%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 16 (1.34%) Master's Degree
14 15 (1.26%) PMI Certification
15 14 (1.18%) DV Cleared
16 13 (1.09%) Azure Certification
17 12 (1.01%) PMP
18 10 (0.84%) HND
18 10 (0.84%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 89 (7.47%) QA
2 59 (4.95%) Data Quality
3 46 (3.86%) GDPR
4 39 (3.27%) SLA
5 23 (1.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 18 (1.51%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.26%) PCI DSS
8 11 (0.92%) NIST
9 8 (0.67%) SOC 2
10 7 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials
11 6 (0.50%) ISO 9001
11 6 (0.50%) PMO
12 5 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
12 5 (0.42%) Good Clinical Practice
13 4 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 4 (0.34%) Def Stans
13 4 (0.34%) ISO 26262
13 4 (0.34%) ITGC
14 2 (0.17%) GRC
14 2 (0.17%) IFRS
System Software
1 101 (8.48%) Active Directory
2 51 (4.28%) Docker
3 46 (3.86%) VMware Infrastructure
4 35 (2.94%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.84%) KVM
6 7 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
7 5 (0.42%) Firmware
7 5 (0.42%) XenApp
8 4 (0.34%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.25%) ClearTrust
9 3 (0.25%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.17%) VMware NSX
10 2 (0.17%) vSphere
11 1 (0.084%) Embedded Firmware
11 1 (0.084%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.084%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.084%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 63 (5.29%) Terraform
2 62 (5.21%) Kubernetes
3 31 (2.60%) Ansible
4 27 (2.27%) Microsoft Intune
5 17 (1.43%) SCCM
6 15 (1.26%) Grafana
7 12 (1.01%) Prometheus
8 11 (0.92%) Nagios
9 7 (0.59%) vCenter Server
9 7 (0.59%) ZABBIX
10 4 (0.34%) Docker Swarm
10 4 (0.34%) Functional Safety
10 4 (0.34%) Graylog
10 4 (0.34%) Podman
11 3 (0.25%) Failover Clustering
11 3 (0.25%) Jamf Pro
11 3 (0.25%) Puppet
12 2 (0.17%) Nessus
13 1 (0.084%) Netcool
13 1 (0.084%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 320 (26.87%) Microsoft
2 51 (4.28%) VMware
3 44 (3.69%) Oracle
4 39 (3.27%) Google
5 38 (3.19%) Databricks
6 27 (2.27%) Salesforce
7 25 (2.10%) Veeam
8 20 (1.68%) SAP
9 18 (1.51%) Adobe
9 18 (1.51%) Cisco
9 18 (1.51%) Instagram
10 15 (1.26%) Red Hat
11 13 (1.09%) Fortinet
11 13 (1.09%) Splunk
12 12 (1.01%) Sage
12 12 (1.01%) SolarWinds
12 12 (1.01%) SonicWALL
13 11 (0.92%) Dynatrace
13 11 (0.92%) Hootsuite
13 11 (0.92%) Wrike