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

6 months to
26 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 1,358 1,646 1,339
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 12.94% 17.59% 17.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 16.00% 20.10% 19.14%
Number of salaries quoted 897 759 731
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,450 £27,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £38,125 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,000 £50,967 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -19.56% +1.93% -5.95%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £64,500
90th Percentile £73,750 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £45,497 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -17.28% - -

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 8,489 8,189 6,995
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 80.89% 87.54% 90.34%
Number of salaries quoted 5,071 4,082 4,914
10th Percentile £27,750 £32,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £34,914 £43,790 £39,085
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £53,760
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +6.96% -2.25%
75th Percentile £65,000 £75,000 £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 26 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 26 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 -1 561 £42,500 -26.09% 838
Berkshire +3 376 £42,500 -37.04% 508
Hampshire +2 320 £38,500 -23.00% 332
Surrey -13 176 £40,000 -30.43% 230
Kent -12 131 £31,500 -17.11% 204
Buckinghamshire -10 116 £49,000 -14.78% 198
West Sussex -1 72 £60,000 +26.32% 92
Oxfordshire -4 69 £39,177 -13.13% 133
East Sussex +2 54 £55,000 +10.00% 97
Middlesex -13 22 £41,250 +23.13% 14
Isle of Wight +5 16 £42,000 - 75
Sussex -2 3 £35,000 - 5
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 48 (3.53%) SharePoint
2 42 (3.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 25 (1.84%) IIS
4 12 (0.88%) CMS
4 12 (0.88%) Confluence
5 9 (0.66%) WordPress
6 4 (0.29%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.29%) SAS
7 3 (0.22%) HCL Domino
7 3 (0.22%) HCL Notes
7 3 (0.22%) OpenStack
8 2 (0.15%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.15%) ArcGIS
8 2 (0.15%) Skype for Business
9 1 (0.074%) Apache
9 1 (0.074%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.074%) govService
9 1 (0.074%) nginx
Applications
1 160 (11.78%) Microsoft Excel
2 139 (10.24%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (1.40%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.10%) Spreadsheet
5 12 (0.88%) Photoshop
6 11 (0.81%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.66%) Adobe Illustrator
7 9 (0.66%) Adobe Premiere
8 6 (0.44%) MS Visio
9 5 (0.37%) 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 (0.074%) Acrobat
12 1 (0.074%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.074%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 75 (5.52%) SAP S/4HANA
2 21 (1.55%) NetSuite
3 12 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
4 11 (0.81%) SAP CO
5 8 (0.59%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.52%) SAP FI
6 7 (0.52%) SAP FI/CO
7 6 (0.44%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.44%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.44%) Oracle Receivables
8 5 (0.37%) 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 (0.074%) Raiser’s Edge
11 1 (0.074%) SAP IBP
Cloud Services
1 287 (21.13%) Azure
2 173 (12.74%) Microsoft 365
3 135 (9.94%) Power Platform
4 92 (6.77%) AWS
5 84 (6.19%) SaaS
6 53 (3.90%) Azure DevOps
7 47 (3.46%) Entra ID
8 42 (3.09%) GCP
9 15 (1.10%) Collibra
10 13 (0.96%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 13 (0.96%) GitHub
10 13 (0.96%) PaaS
11 12 (0.88%) Google Workspace
11 12 (0.88%) IaaS
11 12 (0.88%) Power Automate
12 11 (0.81%) Azure Data Factory
12 11 (0.81%) Dynamics 365
12 11 (0.81%) Figma
13 10 (0.74%) Azure Logic Apps
14 9 (0.66%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 87 (6.41%) DNS
2 72 (5.30%) Firewall
3 67 (4.93%) DHCP
4 58 (4.27%) TCP/IP
5 51 (3.76%) VPN
6 42 (3.09%) VLAN
7 23 (1.69%) Wi-Fi
8 21 (1.55%) Wireless
9 16 (1.18%) SAN
9 16 (1.18%) WAN
10 12 (0.88%) LAN
10 12 (0.88%) VoIP
11 9 (0.66%) Intranet
12 8 (0.59%) PuTTY
12 8 (0.59%) SSH
12 8 (0.59%) Wireshark
13 6 (0.44%) MPLS
13 6 (0.44%) Network Security
13 6 (0.44%) Remote Desktop
14 5 (0.37%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 122 (8.98%) Power BI
2 66 (4.86%) Data Lake
3 63 (4.64%) SAP BW
4 60 (4.42%) Relational Database
5 41 (3.02%) SQL Server
6 18 (1.33%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 16 (1.18%) NoSQL
8 14 (1.03%) Data Warehouse
8 14 (1.03%) Oracle Reports
9 11 (0.81%) Tableau
10 10 (0.74%) MySQL
11 9 (0.66%) PostgreSQL
11 9 (0.66%) Power Query
12 8 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 7 (0.52%) Big Data
13 7 (0.52%) Data Mining
13 7 (0.52%) OLTP
13 7 (0.52%) PowerPivot
14 6 (0.44%) Hadoop
15 5 (0.37%) Azure SQL Database
Development Applications
1 63 (4.64%) Git
2 43 (3.17%) JIRA
3 23 (1.69%) Selenium
4 15 (1.10%) Robot Framework
5 13 (0.96%) Snyk
6 9 (0.66%) Jenkins
7 8 (0.59%) Visual Studio
8 6 (0.44%) GitLab
9 5 (0.37%) Rational DOORS
9 5 (0.37%) WebDriver
10 4 (0.29%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.15%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.15%) TestRail
12 1 (0.074%) Browser DevTools
12 1 (0.074%) JUnit
12 1 (0.074%) Katalon Studio
12 1 (0.074%) MLflow
12 1 (0.074%) NUnit
12 1 (0.074%) Postman
12 1 (0.074%) REST Assured
General
1 822 (60.53%) Social Skills
2 342 (25.18%) Analytical Skills
3 300 (22.09%) Finance
4 137 (10.09%) Manufacturing
5 126 (9.28%) Marketing
6 87 (6.41%) Retail
7 70 (5.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 57 (4.20%) Organisational Skills
9 43 (3.17%) Electronics
10 40 (2.95%) Law
11 39 (2.87%) Telecoms
12 32 (2.36%) Legal
13 27 (1.99%) Public Sector
14 22 (1.62%) Documentation Skills
14 22 (1.62%) Influencing Skills
15 16 (1.18%) Pharmaceutical
16 13 (0.96%) Automotive
17 12 (0.88%) Advertising
17 12 (0.88%) Presentation Skills
18 9 (0.66%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 297 (21.87%) Analyst
2 252 (18.56%) Senior
3 193 (14.21%) IT Support
4 142 (10.46%) Lead
5 141 (10.38%) Support Engineer
6 114 (8.39%) Support Analyst
7 95 (7.00%) Technical Support
8 94 (6.92%) Developer
9 74 (5.45%) IT Analyst
10 70 (5.15%) IT Support Analyst
11 67 (4.93%) Senior Analyst
12 57 (4.20%) SAP Analyst
13 51 (3.76%) Senior Manager
14 50 (3.68%) 2nd Line Support
15 47 (3.46%) IT Engineer
16 46 (3.39%) Applications Support
17 45 (3.31%) Report Analyst
18 42 (3.09%) Project Engineer
18 42 (3.09%) Technical Engineer
19 41 (3.02%) IT Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (3.83%) HTML
2 48 (3.53%) .NET
3 41 (3.02%) REST
4 40 (2.95%) React
5 39 (2.87%) CSS
6 34 (2.50%) SOAP
7 26 (1.91%) Node.js
8 23 (1.69%) RESTful
9 22 (1.62%) XML
10 19 (1.40%) .NET Framework
11 18 (1.33%) JSON
12 17 (1.25%) ASP.NET
13 13 (0.96%) Entity Framework
13 13 (0.96%) WinForms
14 11 (0.81%) EDI
15 10 (0.74%) DCOM
15 10 (0.74%) Web Services
16 8 (0.59%) AngularJS
16 8 (0.59%) Laravel
16 8 (0.59%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 131 (9.65%) Onboarding
2 72 (5.30%) Driving Licence
3 62 (4.57%) Self-Motivation
4 46 (3.39%) Analytical Mindset
5 42 (3.09%) Data Centre
5 42 (3.09%) Management Information System
6 27 (1.99%) Product Ownership
7 14 (1.03%) Social Media
8 12 (0.88%) Cloud Native
9 11 (0.81%) Algorithms
9 11 (0.81%) Distributed Systems
10 10 (0.74%) Security Operations Centre
11 9 (0.66%) Enterprise Software
11 9 (0.66%) Low-Code
11 9 (0.66%) Video Conferencing
12 8 (0.59%) Robotics
12 8 (0.59%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 7 (0.52%) FMCG
13 7 (0.52%) Life Science
13 7 (0.52%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 262 (19.29%) Windows
2 78 (5.74%) Windows Server
3 58 (4.27%) Linux
4 47 (3.46%) Windows 10
5 13 (0.96%) Android
5 13 (0.96%) Mac OS
5 13 (0.96%) Windows Server 2012
6 11 (0.81%) Windows Server 2019
7 10 (0.74%) Windows 7
8 8 (0.59%) Apple iOS
8 8 (0.59%) VMS
9 4 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.22%) CentOS
10 3 (0.22%) Unix
10 3 (0.22%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.074%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 240 (17.67%) Continuous Improvement
2 192 (14.14%) Analytics
3 189 (13.92%) Customer Service
4 176 (12.96%) Agile
5 149 (10.97%) ERP
6 144 (10.60%) Business Intelligence
7 134 (9.87%) Data Modelling
8 110 (8.10%) DevOps
9 109 (8.03%) Data Analysis
10 104 (7.66%) Project Management
11 100 (7.36%) SAP Implementation
11 100 (7.36%) Technical Leadership
12 97 (7.14%) Stakeholder Management
13 96 (7.07%) Decision-Making
14 92 (6.77%) Cybersecurity
14 92 (6.77%) Logistics
15 91 (6.70%) Mentoring
15 91 (6.70%) Quality Management
16 82 (6.04%) CI/CD
17 76 (5.60%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 233 (17.16%) SQL
2 112 (8.25%) Python
3 72 (5.30%) PowerShell
4 69 (5.08%) C#
5 62 (4.57%) JavaScript
6 29 (2.14%) Java
7 19 (1.40%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 19 (1.40%) PHP
8 18 (1.33%) T-SQL
9 17 (1.25%) VBA
10 12 (0.88%) Kusto Query Language
11 11 (0.81%) R
12 10 (0.74%) TypeScript
13 8 (0.59%) Bicep
13 8 (0.59%) DCL
13 8 (0.59%) PL/SQL
13 8 (0.59%) Tcl
14 7 (0.52%) Bash
14 7 (0.52%) C++
15 6 (0.44%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 349 (25.70%) Degree
2 99 (7.29%) Security Cleared
3 46 (3.39%) SC Cleared
4 42 (3.09%) Computer Science Degree
5 32 (2.36%) ACCA
6 28 (2.06%) Microsoft Certification
7 27 (1.99%) DV Cleared
8 24 (1.77%) CIMA
9 20 (1.47%) BPSS Clearance
9 20 (1.47%) DBS Check
10 15 (1.10%) Cisco Certification
10 15 (1.10%) Master's Degree
11 14 (1.03%) A+ Certification
12 13 (0.96%) HNC
13 12 (0.88%) ISTQB
13 12 (0.88%) MCP
14 10 (0.74%) CCNA
14 10 (0.74%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
15 9 (0.66%) CEH
15 9 (0.66%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 131 (9.65%) Data Quality
2 81 (5.96%) QA
3 46 (3.39%) GDPR
4 30 (2.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 26 (1.91%) Accessibility
6 23 (1.69%) SLA
7 17 (1.25%) Cyber Essentials
8 10 (0.74%) ISO 9001
9 8 (0.59%) NIST
10 7 (0.52%) Software Quality Assurance
11 5 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
11 5 (0.37%) ISO 13485
12 4 (0.29%) PCI DSS
13 3 (0.22%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.15%) ISO 31000
14 2 (0.15%) WCAG
15 1 (0.074%) GAAP
15 1 (0.074%) ISO 14001
15 1 (0.074%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 1 (0.074%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 150 (11.05%) Active Directory
2 43 (3.17%) Hyper-V
3 38 (2.80%) Docker
4 32 (2.36%) VMware Infrastructure
5 11 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (0.66%) 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 (0.074%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.074%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 67 (4.93%) Microsoft Intune
2 45 (3.31%) Terraform
3 34 (2.50%) Kubernetes
4 26 (1.91%) Ansible
5 17 (1.25%) SCCM
6 15 (1.10%) vCenter Server
7 10 (0.74%) ZABBIX
8 7 (0.52%) Grafana
8 7 (0.52%) Prometheus
9 6 (0.44%) Nagios
10 4 (0.29%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.15%) Nessus
12 2 (0.15%) Proxmox
13 1 (0.074%) CASB
13 1 (0.074%) Control-M
13 1 (0.074%) Dell DRAC
13 1 (0.074%) Netcool
13 1 (0.074%) Netcool/OMNIbus
13 1 (0.074%) QRadar
Vendors
1 358 (26.36%) Microsoft
2 210 (15.46%) SAP
3 49 (3.61%) VMware
4 40 (2.95%) Oracle
5 39 (2.87%) Google
6 36 (2.65%) NEC
7 34 (2.50%) Cisco
8 30 (2.21%) Sage
9 28 (2.06%) Adobe
9 28 (2.06%) Databricks
10 27 (1.99%) Veeam
11 22 (1.62%) Salesforce
12 20 (1.47%) Meraki
13 19 (1.40%) HubSpot
14 17 (1.25%) ServiceNow
15 16 (1.18%) Workday
16 14 (1.03%) SolarWinds
17 13 (0.96%) Coverity
17 13 (0.96%) Fortinet
17 13 (0.96%) Xamarin