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

6 months to
26 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -4 +1 +7
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,592 1,744 2,112
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.10% 19.35% 15.18%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.74% 22.05% 18.82%
Number of salaries quoted 1,164 886 1,167
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,650
25th Percentile £31,000 £31,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £48,000
Median % change year-on-year - -11.46% -7.59%
75th Percentile £58,250 £60,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £72,500 £77,500 £80,000
England median annual salary £47,500 £45,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +5.56% -10.00% -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 12,495 7,910 11,220
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.40% 87.76% 80.63%
Number of salaries quoted 8,964 4,251 7,064
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,875 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,200 £81,250 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £56,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -1.79% -10.40%

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 August 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 26 August 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 -6 586 £43,000 +1.18% 241
Hampshire -2 420 £41,250 -8.33% 156
Berkshire -3 264 £44,250 +4.12% 107
Surrey -1 251 £41,585 +3.96% 68
Buckinghamshire -8 177 £42,500 +13.33% 79
Kent -5 157 £37,500 +15.38% 51
Oxfordshire +1 145 £42,491 -2.32% 59
East Sussex -4 94 £50,000 - 36
West Sussex -7 67 £50,000 -0.99% 38
Middlesex +1 10 £36,750 -2.00% 9
Isle of Wight -12 2 £42,500 -3.41% 4
Sussex -12 2 - - 16
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 62 (3.89%) SharePoint
2 47 (2.95%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.13%) Confluence
4 16 (1.01%) CMS
5 14 (0.88%) IIS
6 7 (0.44%) OpenEdge
7 6 (0.38%) Apache
7 6 (0.38%) WordPress
8 5 (0.31%) nginx
9 3 (0.19%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.19%) OpenStack
9 3 (0.19%) SAS
10 2 (0.13%) Gentran
10 2 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
10 2 (0.13%) Tomcat
Applications
1 103 (6.47%) Microsoft Excel
2 98 (6.16%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (0.88%) Microsoft Project
4 12 (0.75%) Spreadsheet
5 11 (0.69%) AutoCAD
6 7 (0.44%) MS Visio
6 7 (0.44%) Revit
7 6 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
8 5 (0.31%) Lightworks
9 4 (0.25%) Simulink
10 3 (0.19%) EPLAN
10 3 (0.19%) Photoshop
11 2 (0.13%) Adobe Illustrator
11 2 (0.13%) Chatbot
12 1 (0.063%) Mathcad
12 1 (0.063%) OrCAD
12 1 (0.063%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 19 (1.19%) NetSuite
2 15 (0.94%) Shopify
3 12 (0.75%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.44%) Magento
5 6 (0.38%) Primavera
5 6 (0.38%) Raiser’s Edge
6 3 (0.19%) Infor SunSystems
6 3 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
6 3 (0.19%) Sage X3
6 3 (0.19%) Salesforce CRM
7 2 (0.13%) Academy Housing
7 2 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
7 2 (0.13%) Siebel CRM
7 2 (0.13%) Workday HCM
8 1 (0.063%) Elite 3E
8 1 (0.063%) HFM
8 1 (0.063%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 371 (23.30%) Azure
2 191 (12.00%) Microsoft 365
3 170 (10.68%) AWS
4 87 (5.46%) Power Platform
5 67 (4.21%) SaaS
6 66 (4.15%) Entra ID
7 49 (3.08%) GCP
8 44 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
9 36 (2.26%) GitHub
10 31 (1.95%) Serverless
11 24 (1.51%) Google Workspace
12 20 (1.26%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 19 (1.19%) IaaS
13 19 (1.19%) PaaS
14 17 (1.07%) Azure Data Factory
14 17 (1.07%) Google Tag Manager
15 16 (1.01%) Anthropic Claude
16 15 (0.94%) Dynamics 365
17 14 (0.88%) Amazon ECS
17 14 (0.88%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 138 (8.67%) Firewall
2 75 (4.71%) DNS
3 60 (3.77%) VPN
4 59 (3.71%) TCP/IP
5 53 (3.33%) DHCP
6 49 (3.08%) WAN
7 47 (2.95%) LAN
8 45 (2.83%) Wi-Fi
8 45 (2.83%) Wireless
9 41 (2.58%) VLAN
10 33 (2.07%) VoIP
11 32 (2.01%) Network Security
12 17 (1.07%) SSL
13 14 (0.88%) Internet
14 10 (0.63%) Broadband
14 10 (0.63%) HTTP
14 10 (0.63%) MQTT
15 9 (0.57%) LTE
16 6 (0.38%) WLAN
17 5 (0.31%) VSAT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (7.73%) SQL Server
2 73 (4.59%) Power BI
3 35 (2.20%) Relational Database
4 31 (1.95%) MySQL
5 29 (1.82%) PostgreSQL
6 24 (1.51%) NoSQL
7 19 (1.19%) Data Warehouse
8 14 (0.88%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 12 (0.75%) SQL Server Reporting Services
10 11 (0.69%) Amazon RDS
10 11 (0.69%) Tableau
11 10 (0.63%) Data Lake
12 9 (0.57%) MongoDB
12 9 (0.57%) OLTP
13 7 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
13 7 (0.44%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.44%) GIS
13 7 (0.44%) Looker
14 6 (0.38%) Metadata
14 6 (0.38%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 73 (4.59%) Git
2 59 (3.71%) JIRA
3 23 (1.44%) GitLab
4 18 (1.13%) Rational DOORS
5 12 (0.75%) Claude Code
6 9 (0.57%) Oracle Forms
6 9 (0.57%) Team Foundation Server
7 6 (0.38%) Selenium
8 5 (0.31%) Eclipse
8 5 (0.31%) Eclipse RCP
8 5 (0.31%) Jenkins
8 5 (0.31%) Postman
8 5 (0.31%) Visual Studio
9 4 (0.25%) PHPUnit
9 4 (0.25%) Terragrunt
10 3 (0.19%) PetaLinux
10 3 (0.19%) SpecFlow
11 2 (0.13%) Cucumber
11 2 (0.13%) Mocha
11 2 (0.13%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 789 (49.56%) Social Skills
2 457 (28.71%) Analytical Skills
3 240 (15.08%) Finance
4 127 (7.98%) Manufacturing
5 120 (7.54%) Organisational Skills
6 96 (6.03%) Aerospace
7 90 (5.65%) Electronics
8 75 (4.71%) Retail
9 64 (4.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 49 (3.08%) Telecoms
11 44 (2.76%) Marketing
12 43 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
13 42 (2.64%) Legal
14 39 (2.45%) Military
15 38 (2.39%) Law
16 36 (2.26%) Public Sector
17 27 (1.70%) Documentation Skills
18 22 (1.38%) Aviation
19 21 (1.32%) Local Government
20 16 (1.01%) Banking
Job Titles
1 221 (13.88%) Analyst
2 167 (10.49%) Senior
3 157 (9.86%) Developer
4 150 (9.42%) IT Support
5 114 (7.16%) Support Engineer
6 108 (6.78%) Support Analyst
7 85 (5.34%) IT Engineer
8 72 (4.52%) Lead
9 71 (4.46%) Systems Engineer
10 70 (4.40%) Software Engineer
11 69 (4.33%) Support Technician
12 68 (4.27%) Technical Support
13 54 (3.39%) IT Support Engineer
14 51 (3.20%) 2nd Line Support
14 51 (3.20%) Architect
15 49 (3.08%) IT Technician
16 48 (3.02%) Consultant
17 47 (2.95%) Technical Engineer
17 47 (2.95%) Technical Support Engineer
18 41 (2.58%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 115 (7.22%) .NET
2 83 (5.21%) Terraform
3 75 (4.71%) HTML
4 62 (3.89%) REST
5 55 (3.45%) CSS
6 52 (3.27%) React
7 51 (3.20%) ASP.NET
8 50 (3.14%) SOAP
9 35 (2.20%) ASP.NET Core
10 34 (2.14%) OAuth
11 30 (1.88%) AngularJS
12 29 (1.82%) JSON
12 29 (1.82%) RESTful
13 28 (1.76%) Vue
13 28 (1.76%) XML
14 24 (1.51%) ModSecurity
15 20 (1.26%) ASP.NET Web API
15 20 (1.26%) jQuery
16 19 (1.19%) LESS
16 19 (1.19%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 118 (7.41%) Driving Licence
2 105 (6.60%) Onboarding
3 80 (5.03%) Management Information System
4 76 (4.77%) Self-Motivation
5 64 (4.02%) Cloud Native
6 47 (2.95%) Product Ownership
7 37 (2.32%) Data Centre
8 30 (1.88%) Social Media
9 28 (1.76%) Distributed Systems
9 28 (1.76%) Enterprise Software
10 27 (1.70%) Analytical Mindset
10 27 (1.70%) Robotics
11 26 (1.63%) Legacy Systems
12 20 (1.26%) Analogue Electronics
13 18 (1.13%) CCTV
13 18 (1.13%) EPoS
14 17 (1.07%) Mobile App
15 16 (1.01%) NHS
16 15 (0.94%) Renewable Energy
17 14 (0.88%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 257 (16.14%) Windows
2 111 (6.97%) Linux
3 91 (5.72%) Windows Server
4 24 (1.51%) Android
5 18 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
6 15 (0.94%) Apple iOS
6 15 (0.94%) Mac OS
7 14 (0.88%) Windows 10
8 12 (0.75%) CentOS
8 12 (0.75%) Ubuntu
9 11 (0.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 11 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
10 9 (0.57%) Debian
11 6 (0.38%) Windows Server 2012
12 4 (0.25%) Rocky
13 3 (0.19%) FreeRTOS
13 3 (0.19%) Gentoo
13 3 (0.19%) Unix
13 3 (0.19%) VMS
13 3 (0.19%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 339 (21.29%) Continuous Improvement
2 286 (17.96%) Customer Service
3 220 (13.82%) Agile
4 199 (12.50%) Decision-Making
5 168 (10.55%) CI/CD
6 165 (10.36%) Project Management
7 164 (10.30%) AI
7 164 (10.30%) Software Engineering
8 159 (9.99%) Project Delivery
9 157 (9.86%) Stakeholder Management
10 152 (9.55%) DevOps
11 149 (9.36%) ITIL
12 134 (8.42%) Mentoring
13 133 (8.35%) Validation
14 131 (8.23%) Cybersecurity
15 128 (8.04%) Collaborative Working
16 118 (7.41%) Computer Science
17 116 (7.29%) Analytics
18 111 (6.97%) Logistics
19 109 (6.85%) CRM
Programming Languages
1 224 (14.07%) SQL
2 208 (13.07%) Python
3 129 (8.10%) C#
4 110 (6.91%) JavaScript
5 94 (5.90%) PowerShell
6 62 (3.89%) TypeScript
7 59 (3.71%) C++
8 58 (3.64%) Java
9 31 (1.95%) Bash
10 30 (1.88%) C
11 21 (1.32%) PHP
12 19 (1.19%) T-SQL
13 18 (1.13%) Ruby
14 14 (0.88%) VB.NET
15 11 (0.69%) PL/SQL
15 11 (0.69%) Rust
16 10 (0.63%) Perl
17 8 (0.50%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 8 (0.50%) MATLAB
18 7 (0.44%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 315 (19.79%) Degree
2 169 (10.62%) Security Cleared
3 122 (7.66%) SC Cleared
4 104 (6.53%) DBS Check
5 63 (3.96%) Computer Science Degree
6 57 (3.58%) DV Cleared
7 56 (3.52%) BPSS Clearance
8 55 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
9 47 (2.95%) Azure Certification
10 45 (2.83%) HNC
11 37 (2.32%) HND
12 32 (2.01%) PMI Certification
13 30 (1.88%) CISSP
14 26 (1.63%) Chartered Engineer
14 26 (1.63%) PMP
15 25 (1.57%) CISM
15 25 (1.57%) Master's Degree
16 22 (1.38%) A+ Certification
17 21 (1.32%) CompTIA Security+
18 20 (1.26%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 138 (8.67%) QA
2 59 (3.71%) GDPR
3 54 (3.39%) Data Quality
4 44 (2.76%) SLA
5 35 (2.20%) Accessibility
6 32 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 20 (1.26%) NIST
8 18 (1.13%) Good Clinical Practice
8 18 (1.13%) PCI DSS
9 17 (1.07%) Cyber Essentials
10 15 (0.94%) PMO
11 12 (0.75%) DO-254
12 11 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 9 (0.57%) GMP
13 9 (0.57%) SOC 2
14 8 (0.50%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 8 (0.50%) GLP
14 8 (0.50%) GxP
15 6 (0.38%) ISO 9001
16 4 (0.25%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 135 (8.48%) Active Directory
2 76 (4.77%) VMware Infrastructure
3 68 (4.27%) Docker
4 58 (3.64%) Hyper-V
5 11 (0.69%) Firmware
6 9 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (0.57%) vSphere
7 6 (0.38%) KVM
7 6 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.31%) ClearTrust
8 5 (0.31%) Squid
9 4 (0.25%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.19%) Embedded Firmware
10 3 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 3 (0.19%) XenApp
11 1 (0.063%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.063%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.063%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.063%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 77 (4.84%) Kubernetes
2 50 (3.14%) Microsoft Intune
3 35 (2.20%) Ansible
4 24 (1.51%) SCCM
5 16 (1.01%) Single Sign-On
6 12 (0.75%) Grafana
6 12 (0.75%) Jamf Pro
7 9 (0.57%) Prometheus
8 8 (0.50%) Nagios
8 8 (0.50%) Podman
9 7 (0.44%) Failover Clustering
9 7 (0.44%) Puppet
10 6 (0.38%) Graylog
11 4 (0.25%) Docker Swarm
11 4 (0.25%) Functional Safety
11 4 (0.25%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.25%) ZABBIX
12 3 (0.19%) BMC PATROL
13 2 (0.13%) Nessus
13 2 (0.13%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 477 (29.96%) Microsoft
2 87 (5.46%) VMware
3 70 (4.40%) Google
4 54 (3.39%) Oracle
5 38 (2.39%) Cisco
6 37 (2.32%) SAP
7 36 (2.26%) Fortinet
7 36 (2.26%) SonicWALL
8 34 (2.14%) Veeam
9 31 (1.95%) ServiceNow
10 25 (1.57%) Salesforce
11 22 (1.38%) Sage
12 17 (1.07%) Databricks
12 17 (1.07%) Palo Alto
13 16 (1.01%) Aruba
14 13 (0.82%) Apple
15 12 (0.75%) ForgeRock
15 12 (0.75%) Mentor Graphics
15 12 (0.75%) Okta
15 12 (0.75%) Splunk