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

6 months to
1 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -3 +1 +3
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,335 1,533 2,099
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 12.29% 17.52% 18.20%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 15.49% 19.67% 20.98%
Number of salaries quoted 900 671 1,245
10th Percentile £26,250 £29,000 £26,000
25th Percentile £30,250 £36,000 £31,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,000 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -21.90% +10.53% -13.64%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £62,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £85,000 £75,000
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +10.00% -9.74%

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 8,617 7,792 10,004
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 79.32% 89.03% 86.74%
Number of salaries quoted 5,224 3,547 7,357
10th Percentile £28,000 £32,750 £28,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £44,250 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £58,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -13.79% +10.48% -4.55%
75th Percentile £65,000 £75,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £85,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £61,425 £57,500
% change year-on-year -10.46% +6.83% -8.00%

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 February 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 February 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 -2 577 £45,000 -25.00% 222
Berkshire +7 381 £45,000 -33.33% 100
Hampshire +1 282 £37,500 -25.00% 131
Surrey -11 183 £38,500 -33.04% 89
Buckinghamshire -9 127 £52,500 -8.70% 72
Kent -9 121 £30,000 -23.08% 55
East Sussex 0 76 £55,000 +10.00% 20
Oxfordshire -6 69 £34,500 -21.32% 53
West Sussex -3 55 £60,000 +26.32% 31
Middlesex -16 18 £47,500 +41.79% 19
Isle of Wight +7 16 £42,500 +5.98% 3
Sussex -9 3 £35,000 - 9
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 45 (3.37%) SharePoint
2 33 (2.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 23 (1.72%) IIS
4 12 (0.90%) CMS
5 8 (0.60%) WordPress
6 7 (0.52%) Confluence
7 4 (0.30%) Apache Airflow
7 4 (0.30%) SAS
8 3 (0.22%) govService
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Domino
8 3 (0.22%) HCL Notes
9 2 (0.15%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.15%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.075%) Apache
10 1 (0.075%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.075%) nginx
10 1 (0.075%) OpenStack
10 1 (0.075%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 145 (10.86%) Microsoft Excel
2 122 (9.14%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (1.05%) Spreadsheet
5 12 (0.90%) Photoshop
6 11 (0.82%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.67%) Adobe Illustrator
7 9 (0.67%) Adobe Premiere
8 6 (0.45%) MS Visio
9 5 (0.37%) Adobe After Effects
10 3 (0.22%) Adobe XD
10 3 (0.22%) InDesign
11 2 (0.15%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.15%) AutoCAD
11 2 (0.15%) Elementor
11 2 (0.15%) Notion
12 1 (0.075%) MicroStation
12 1 (0.075%) OrCAD
12 1 (0.075%) ProjectWise
12 1 (0.075%) Revit
Business Applications
1 70 (5.24%) SAP S/4HANA
2 15 (1.12%) SAP CO
3 10 (0.75%) Dynamics CRM
3 10 (0.75%) NetSuite
4 8 (0.60%) JDE EnterpriseOne
5 7 (0.52%) SAP FI
5 7 (0.52%) SAP FI/CO
6 6 (0.45%) Oracle Assets
6 6 (0.45%) Oracle Payables
6 6 (0.45%) Oracle Receivables
7 5 (0.37%) SAP Hybris
8 4 (0.30%) Dynamics NAV
9 3 (0.22%) Sage X3
9 3 (0.22%) Salesforce CRM
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 (0.075%) Raiser’s Edge
11 1 (0.075%) SAP IBP
Cloud Services
1 279 (20.90%) Azure
2 166 (12.43%) Microsoft 365
3 141 (10.56%) Power Platform
4 74 (5.54%) AWS
5 72 (5.39%) SaaS
6 59 (4.42%) Azure DevOps
7 36 (2.70%) Entra ID
7 36 (2.70%) GCP
8 18 (1.35%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 18 (1.35%) PaaS
9 17 (1.27%) Azure Logic Apps
9 17 (1.27%) IaaS
10 16 (1.20%) Collibra
11 15 (1.12%) Figma
12 14 (1.05%) GitHub
12 14 (1.05%) Google Workspace
12 14 (1.05%) Mimecast
13 12 (0.90%) Power Automate
14 11 (0.82%) Stripe
15 10 (0.75%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 86 (6.44%) DNS
2 64 (4.79%) Firewall
3 60 (4.49%) DHCP
4 47 (3.52%) TCP/IP
5 42 (3.15%) VPN
6 27 (2.02%) VLAN
6 27 (2.02%) Wireless
7 15 (1.12%) WAN
8 14 (1.05%) SAN
9 12 (0.90%) LAN
10 11 (0.82%) Wi-Fi
11 10 (0.75%) Broadband
12 9 (0.67%) Intranet
12 9 (0.67%) VoIP
13 8 (0.60%) PuTTY
13 8 (0.60%) SSH
14 6 (0.45%) HTTP
14 6 (0.45%) Remote Desktop
15 4 (0.30%) MPLS
16 3 (0.22%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 122 (9.14%) Power BI
2 65 (4.87%) Data Lake
3 63 (4.72%) SAP BW
4 51 (3.82%) Relational Database
5 44 (3.30%) SQL Server
6 18 (1.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 17 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
8 16 (1.20%) NoSQL
9 14 (1.05%) Power Query
10 11 (0.82%) OLTP
11 9 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
12 8 (0.60%) Tableau
13 7 (0.52%) Big Data
13 7 (0.52%) MySQL
13 7 (0.52%) PowerPivot
14 6 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
14 6 (0.45%) Hadoop
15 5 (0.37%) Data Mining
15 5 (0.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
16 4 (0.30%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 42 (3.15%) Git
2 36 (2.70%) JIRA
3 24 (1.80%) Selenium
4 15 (1.12%) Robot Framework
5 13 (0.97%) Snyk
6 9 (0.67%) GitLab
7 8 (0.60%) Rational DOORS
7 8 (0.60%) Visual Studio
8 7 (0.52%) Jenkins
9 5 (0.37%) WebDriver
10 4 (0.30%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.15%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.15%) Postman
11 2 (0.15%) TestRail
12 1 (0.075%) Browser DevTools
12 1 (0.075%) JUnit
12 1 (0.075%) Katalon Studio
12 1 (0.075%) MLflow
12 1 (0.075%) NUnit
12 1 (0.075%) REST Assured
General
1 775 (58.05%) Social Skills
2 340 (25.47%) Analytical Skills
3 299 (22.40%) Finance
4 128 (9.59%) Manufacturing
5 108 (8.09%) Marketing
6 82 (6.14%) Retail
7 77 (5.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 62 (4.64%) Organisational Skills
9 39 (2.92%) Electronics
10 37 (2.77%) Legal
11 36 (2.70%) Telecoms
12 32 (2.40%) Public Sector
13 26 (1.95%) Law
14 23 (1.72%) Documentation Skills
15 19 (1.42%) Influencing Skills
16 12 (0.90%) Advertising
16 12 (0.90%) Pharmaceutical
16 12 (0.90%) Presentation Skills
17 11 (0.82%) Automotive
18 9 (0.67%) Banking
Job Titles
1 277 (20.75%) Analyst
2 230 (17.23%) Senior
3 196 (14.68%) IT Support
4 154 (11.54%) Support Engineer
5 132 (9.89%) Lead
6 111 (8.31%) Support Analyst
7 102 (7.64%) Developer
8 90 (6.74%) Technical Support
9 76 (5.69%) IT Analyst
10 72 (5.39%) IT Support Analyst
11 62 (4.64%) Senior Analyst
12 59 (4.42%) IT Engineer
13 52 (3.90%) 2nd Line Support
14 51 (3.82%) IT Support Engineer
14 51 (3.82%) Report Analyst
14 51 (3.82%) SAP Analyst
15 48 (3.60%) Project Engineer
15 48 (3.60%) Senior Manager
16 42 (3.15%) Technical Engineer
17 41 (3.07%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (4.04%) .NET
2 47 (3.52%) HTML
3 36 (2.70%) REST
3 36 (2.70%) SOAP
4 28 (2.10%) CSS
5 27 (2.02%) React
6 23 (1.72%) XML
7 19 (1.42%) .NET Framework
8 18 (1.35%) ASP.NET
9 17 (1.27%) JSON
10 14 (1.05%) Middleware
11 13 (0.97%) Entity Framework
11 13 (0.97%) WinForms
12 11 (0.82%) EDI
12 11 (0.82%) Laravel
13 9 (0.67%) Node.js
14 8 (0.60%) CSS3
14 8 (0.60%) DCOM
14 8 (0.60%) HTML5
14 8 (0.60%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 123 (9.21%) Onboarding
2 68 (5.09%) Driving Licence
3 61 (4.57%) Self-Motivation
4 44 (3.30%) Analytical Mindset
5 39 (2.92%) Management Information System
6 38 (2.85%) Data Centre
7 26 (1.95%) Product Ownership
8 18 (1.35%) Low-Code
9 16 (1.20%) Social Media
10 15 (1.12%) Cloud Native
11 14 (1.05%) Distributed Systems
12 10 (0.75%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (0.75%) Legacy Systems
12 10 (0.75%) Security Operations Centre
12 10 (0.75%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.67%) FMCG
13 9 (0.67%) Life Science
13 9 (0.67%) Video Editing
14 8 (0.60%) Team-Oriented Environment
15 7 (0.52%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 239 (17.90%) Windows
2 70 (5.24%) Windows Server
3 60 (4.49%) Linux
4 31 (2.32%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.20%) Mac OS
6 14 (1.05%) Android
7 13 (0.97%) Windows Server 2012
8 10 (0.75%) Windows Server 2019
9 8 (0.60%) VMS
10 7 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 7 (0.52%) Windows 7
11 6 (0.45%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.45%) CentOS
12 4 (0.30%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.22%) Unix
14 1 (0.075%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.075%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 243 (18.20%) Continuous Improvement
2 201 (15.06%) Customer Service
3 183 (13.71%) Analytics
4 158 (11.84%) Agile
5 148 (11.09%) Data Modelling
6 147 (11.01%) Business Intelligence
6 147 (11.01%) ERP
7 103 (7.72%) DevOps
8 102 (7.64%) Project Management
8 102 (7.64%) Stakeholder Management
9 98 (7.34%) Technical Leadership
10 94 (7.04%) SAP Implementation
11 91 (6.82%) Computer Science
11 91 (6.82%) Logistics
12 89 (6.67%) Data Analysis
13 87 (6.52%) Cybersecurity
14 86 (6.44%) Decision-Making
15 85 (6.37%) Quality Management
16 82 (6.14%) Mentoring
17 79 (5.92%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 216 (16.18%) SQL
2 142 (10.64%) Python
3 78 (5.84%) C#
4 74 (5.54%) PowerShell
5 63 (4.72%) JavaScript
6 37 (2.77%) Java
7 25 (1.87%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 25 (1.87%) PHP
8 16 (1.20%) T-SQL
9 14 (1.05%) PL/SQL
10 12 (0.90%) C++
10 12 (0.90%) TypeScript
11 11 (0.82%) Bicep
12 9 (0.67%) Kusto Query Language
13 8 (0.60%) Apex Code
13 8 (0.60%) C
13 8 (0.60%) DCL
13 8 (0.60%) Tcl
13 8 (0.60%) VBA
14 7 (0.52%) Perl
Qualifications
1 362 (27.12%) Degree
2 96 (7.19%) Security Cleared
3 49 (3.67%) Computer Science Degree
4 44 (3.30%) SC Cleared
5 31 (2.32%) ACCA
6 29 (2.17%) Microsoft Certification
7 27 (2.02%) DV Cleared
8 26 (1.95%) DBS Check
9 23 (1.72%) CIMA
10 20 (1.50%) BPSS Clearance
11 19 (1.42%) A+ Certification
11 19 (1.42%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 16 (1.20%) HNC
13 15 (1.12%) Master's Degree
14 10 (0.75%) Chartered Engineer
15 9 (0.67%) HND
16 8 (0.60%) MCSE
17 7 (0.52%) CCNA
17 7 (0.52%) Cisco Certification
17 7 (0.52%) CISM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 131 (9.81%) Data Quality
2 73 (5.47%) QA
3 49 (3.67%) GDPR
4 26 (1.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 22 (1.65%) Accessibility
5 22 (1.65%) SLA
6 11 (0.82%) Cyber Essentials
7 9 (0.67%) ISO 9001
8 8 (0.60%) PCI DSS
9 6 (0.45%) NIST
10 5 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
10 5 (0.37%) ISO 13485
11 3 (0.22%) Software Quality Assurance
12 2 (0.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.15%) WCAG
13 1 (0.075%) ARP4754
13 1 (0.075%) ARP4761
13 1 (0.075%) DO-178B
13 1 (0.075%) DO-254
13 1 (0.075%) GAAP
System Software
1 155 (11.61%) Active Directory
2 40 (3.00%) Hyper-V
3 33 (2.47%) VMware Infrastructure
4 25 (1.87%) Docker
5 10 (0.75%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.45%) KVM
7 3 (0.22%) Firmware
7 3 (0.22%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.15%) RHEV
8 2 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.15%) Xen
9 1 (0.075%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 50 (3.75%) Microsoft Intune
2 44 (3.30%) Terraform
3 24 (1.80%) Ansible
4 22 (1.65%) Kubernetes
5 16 (1.20%) SCCM
6 14 (1.05%) vCenter Server
7 7 (0.52%) Grafana
7 7 (0.52%) Nagios
7 7 (0.52%) Prometheus
7 7 (0.52%) ZABBIX
8 3 (0.22%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.15%) Nessus
9 2 (0.15%) Netcool
9 2 (0.15%) Netcool/OMNIbus
9 2 (0.15%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.075%) CASB
10 1 (0.075%) Control-M
10 1 (0.075%) Dell DRAC
10 1 (0.075%) Kibana
10 1 (0.075%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 338 (25.32%) Microsoft
2 196 (14.68%) SAP
3 49 (3.67%) VMware
4 38 (2.85%) Google
5 36 (2.70%) NEC
6 35 (2.62%) Adobe
6 35 (2.62%) Oracle
6 35 (2.62%) Veeam
7 32 (2.40%) Databricks
8 29 (2.17%) Sage
9 26 (1.95%) Salesforce
10 24 (1.80%) HubSpot
11 18 (1.35%) Cisco
12 17 (1.27%) ServiceNow
13 14 (1.05%) SolarWinds
14 13 (0.97%) Black Duck
14 13 (0.97%) Coverity
14 13 (0.97%) Xamarin
15 12 (0.90%) IBM
16 11 (0.82%) Zoho