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 1 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -6 +1 +5
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,189 1,467 2,853
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 8.24% 18.70% 16.48%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.43% 20.62% 19.89%
Number of salaries quoted 888 697 1,778
10th Percentile £26,641 £28,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,250 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £45,000 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -14.29%
75th Percentile £61,625 £62,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £77,500 £83,000 £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 10,406 7,115 14,345
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 72.08% 90.68% 82.85%
Number of salaries quoted 7,157 3,334 10,061
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 £78,750
England median annual salary £60,000 £58,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +2.56% +6.36% -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 1 June 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 1 June 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 -9 433 £47,500 -5.00% 230
Hampshire -4 276 £40,000 -5.88% 141
Berkshire -7 204 £45,000 -10.00% 100
Surrey -4 201 £42,500 +4.30% 89
Buckinghamshire -11 139 £47,500 -5.00% 68
Kent -4 124 £30,000 -3.23% 64
East Sussex -4 93 £57,500 +15.00% 15
Oxfordshire -2 90 £37,500 -31.82% 64
West Sussex -7 52 £54,483 +17.17% 21
Isle of Wight -12 3 £41,500 -24.55%
Middlesex +2 2 £35,000 -44.00% 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 34 (2.86%) SharePoint
2 29 (2.44%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.35%) CMS
4 11 (0.93%) Confluence
5 10 (0.84%) IIS
6 7 (0.59%) OpenEdge
7 5 (0.42%) WordPress
8 4 (0.34%) SAS
9 3 (0.25%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.25%) Apache
9 3 (0.25%) govService
9 3 (0.25%) OpenStack
10 2 (0.17%) Apache Airflow
10 2 (0.17%) Gentran
11 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
11 1 (0.084%) nginx
11 1 (0.084%) Tomcat
Applications
1 89 (7.49%) Microsoft Excel
2 67 (5.63%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.93%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 9 (0.76%) Spreadsheet
5 8 (0.67%) MS Visio
6 6 (0.50%) Photoshop
7 5 (0.42%) Adobe Illustrator
8 3 (0.25%) Microsoft Project
9 2 (0.17%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 2 (0.17%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.084%) Acrobat
10 1 (0.084%) AutoCAD
10 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 (22.96%) Azure
2 125 (10.51%) Microsoft 365
3 110 (9.25%) AWS
4 79 (6.64%) Power Platform
5 54 (4.54%) Azure DevOps
5 54 (4.54%) SaaS
6 36 (3.03%) GCP
7 30 (2.52%) IaaS
7 30 (2.52%) PaaS
8 27 (2.27%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 24 (2.02%) Entra ID
10 20 (1.68%) Google Workspace
11 19 (1.60%) Serverless
12 18 (1.51%) Dynamics 365
13 16 (1.35%) Azure Logic Apps
13 16 (1.35%) 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 (6.64%) Firewall
2 63 (5.30%) DNS
3 37 (3.11%) DHCP
4 36 (3.03%) TCP/IP
5 29 (2.44%) VPN
6 25 (2.10%) WAN
6 25 (2.10%) Wireless
7 22 (1.85%) LAN
8 20 (1.68%) Broadband
9 15 (1.26%) Wi-Fi
10 14 (1.18%) VLAN
10 14 (1.18%) VoIP
11 12 (1.01%) Network Security
12 11 (0.93%) HTTP
13 8 (0.67%) SSL
14 7 (0.59%) Remote Desktop
15 6 (0.50%) PuTTY
15 6 (0.50%) SAN
15 6 (0.50%) SSH
16 5 (0.42%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 77 (6.48%) SQL Server
2 60 (5.05%) Power BI
3 24 (2.02%) Data Warehouse
4 21 (1.77%) PostgreSQL
5 19 (1.60%) Relational Database
6 18 (1.51%) OLTP
7 15 (1.26%) NoSQL
8 12 (1.01%) MySQL
8 12 (1.01%) Tableau
9 11 (0.93%) Power Query
9 11 (0.93%) SQL Server Reporting Services
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%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 56 (4.71%) Git
2 40 (3.36%) JIRA
3 28 (2.35%) GitLab
4 24 (2.02%) 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%) PHPUnit
9 1 (0.084%) WebDriver
General
1 580 (48.78%) Social Skills
2 345 (29.02%) Analytical Skills
3 184 (15.48%) Finance
4 80 (6.73%) Organisational Skills
5 61 (5.13%) Marketing
6 58 (4.88%) Manufacturing
7 50 (4.21%) Telecoms
8 48 (4.04%) Electronics
9 47 (3.95%) Retail
10 42 (3.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 32 (2.69%) Aerospace
12 30 (2.52%) Public Sector
13 29 (2.44%) Law
14 22 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
15 20 (1.68%) Legal
16 18 (1.51%) Local Government
17 14 (1.18%) Military
17 14 (1.18%) Presentation Skills
18 13 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
18 13 (1.09%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 156 (13.12%) Analyst
2 134 (11.27%) IT Support
3 126 (10.60%) Developer
4 125 (10.51%) Senior
5 116 (9.76%) Support Engineer
6 72 (6.06%) IT Engineer
7 66 (5.55%) Support Analyst
8 63 (5.30%) Systems Engineer
9 51 (4.29%) Technical Support
10 50 (4.21%) Support Technician
11 49 (4.12%) IT Support Engineer
12 48 (4.04%) Software Engineer
13 46 (3.87%) Lead
14 45 (3.78%) 2nd Line Support
15 44 (3.70%) Architect
16 38 (3.20%) IT Technician
17 37 (3.11%) Technical Engineer
17 37 (3.11%) Technical Support Engineer
18 36 (3.03%) Infrastructure Engineer
19 33 (2.78%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 72 (6.06%) .NET
2 56 (4.71%) HTML
3 49 (4.12%) SOAP
4 39 (3.28%) REST
5 34 (2.86%) XML
6 33 (2.78%) CSS
6 33 (2.78%) JSON
7 26 (2.19%) React
8 21 (1.77%) Middleware
9 18 (1.51%) OAuth
10 16 (1.35%) 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 73 (6.14%) Driving Licence
2 60 (5.05%) Self-Motivation
3 57 (4.79%) Onboarding
4 55 (4.63%) Management Information System
5 38 (3.20%) Product Ownership
6 37 (3.11%) Cloud Native
7 33 (2.78%) Distributed Systems
8 25 (2.10%) Analytical Mindset
9 22 (1.85%) Low-Code
10 17 (1.43%) Social Media
11 16 (1.35%) NHS
12 14 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
12 14 (1.18%) Robotics
13 11 (0.93%) Enterprise Software
13 11 (0.93%) Video Editing
14 10 (0.84%) Algorithms
14 10 (0.84%) Client/Server
15 9 (0.76%) Cyber Defence
15 9 (0.76%) Hybrid Cloud
15 9 (0.76%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 179 (15.05%) Windows
2 101 (8.49%) Linux
3 64 (5.38%) 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
1 230 (19.34%) Continuous Improvement
2 205 (17.24%) Customer Service
3 170 (14.30%) Agile
4 141 (11.86%) DevOps
5 139 (11.69%) CI/CD
6 122 (10.26%) Decision-Making
7 118 (9.92%) Software Engineering
8 110 (9.25%) Computer Science
9 107 (9.00%) AI
9 107 (9.00%) Analytics
10 98 (8.24%) Project Management
11 91 (7.65%) Business Intelligence
12 90 (7.57%) Mentoring
13 87 (7.32%) Project Delivery
14 85 (7.15%) Cybersecurity
15 82 (6.90%) CRM
16 80 (6.73%) Data Modelling
17 77 (6.48%) ITIL
18 74 (6.22%) Collaborative Working
18 74 (6.22%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 206 (17.33%) Python
2 189 (15.90%) SQL
3 96 (8.07%) C#
4 85 (7.15%) JavaScript
5 65 (5.47%) PowerShell
6 53 (4.46%) Java
7 36 (3.03%) C++
8 30 (2.52%) PHP
9 27 (2.27%) C
10 26 (2.19%) TypeScript
11 25 (2.10%) Bash
12 21 (1.77%) PL/SQL
13 15 (1.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 11 (0.93%) Perl
14 11 (0.93%) 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 (20.19%) Degree
2 85 (7.15%) Security Cleared
3 61 (5.13%) DBS Check
4 55 (4.63%) SC Cleared
5 50 (4.21%) Computer Science Degree
6 38 (3.20%) Microsoft Certification
7 34 (2.86%) BPSS Clearance
8 33 (2.78%) ACCA
9 32 (2.69%) CIMA
10 29 (2.44%) HNC
11 26 (2.19%) Chartered Engineer
12 23 (1.93%) A+ Certification
13 17 (1.43%) Microsoft Certified Professional
14 16 (1.35%) Master's Degree
15 15 (1.26%) PMI Certification
16 14 (1.18%) DV Cleared
17 13 (1.09%) Azure Certification
18 12 (1.01%) PMP
19 10 (0.84%) HND
19 10 (0.84%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 89 (7.49%) QA
2 59 (4.96%) Data Quality
3 45 (3.78%) GDPR
4 39 (3.28%) SLA
5 22 (1.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 18 (1.51%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.26%) PCI DSS
8 11 (0.93%) NIST
9 8 (0.67%) SOC 2
10 7 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials
10 7 (0.59%) PMO
11 6 (0.50%) ISO 9001
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
1 102 (8.58%) Active Directory
2 51 (4.29%) Docker
3 46 (3.87%) 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 (5.30%) Terraform
2 62 (5.21%) Kubernetes
3 31 (2.61%) Ansible
4 28 (2.35%) Microsoft Intune
5 17 (1.43%) SCCM
6 15 (1.26%) Grafana
7 12 (1.01%) Prometheus
8 11 (0.93%) 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%) FortiGate
13 1 (0.084%) Kibana
Vendors
1 318 (26.75%) Microsoft
2 51 (4.29%) VMware
3 44 (3.70%) Oracle
4 39 (3.28%) Google
5 38 (3.20%) 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 (0.93%) Dynatrace
13 11 (0.93%) Hootsuite
13 11 (0.93%) Wrike