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

6 months to
27 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -4 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,240 1,311 2,244
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 10.68% 16.95% 17.88%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 13.78% 18.88% 20.76%
Number of salaries quoted 901 644 1,387
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,500 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £35,000 £31,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £52,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -19.05% +16.67% -14.29%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £62,500
90th Percentile £75,000 £84,625 £73,750
England median annual salary £46,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -16.36% +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 8,998 6,945 10,809
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 77.49% 89.81% 86.15%
Number of salaries quoted 5,573 3,242 8,010
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,500 £27,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £43,750 £36,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +15.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £65,000 £73,833 £65,000
90th Percentile £81,250 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -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 27 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 27 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 -2 494 £45,000 -21.74% 187
Berkshire +5 278 £45,000 -33.33% 98
Hampshire 0 260 £35,000 -30.00% 131
Surrey -12 195 £39,250 -31.74% 79
Buckinghamshire -6 140 £51,000 -11.30% 52
Kent -11 119 £29,000 -14.71% 46
East Sussex -1 84 £57,500 +15.00% 17
Oxfordshire -5 76 £34,000 -15.00% 39
West Sussex 0 53 £60,000 +26.32% 22
Middlesex -8 17 £47,500 -19.15% 10
Isle of Wight +7 12 £43,500 +8.48%
Sussex -13 3 £35,000 +22.81% 3
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 38 (3.06%) SharePoint
2 34 (2.74%) Microsoft Exchange
3 21 (1.69%) IIS
4 14 (1.13%) CMS
5 10 (0.81%) WordPress
6 8 (0.65%) Confluence
7 4 (0.32%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.24%) govService
8 3 (0.24%) SAS
9 2 (0.16%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.16%) Apache
9 2 (0.16%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.081%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.081%) nginx
10 1 (0.081%) OpenStack
10 1 (0.081%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 107 (8.63%) Microsoft Office
2 72 (5.81%) Microsoft Excel
3 19 (1.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 10 (0.81%) Photoshop
4 10 (0.81%) Spreadsheet
5 9 (0.73%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 9 (0.73%) Adobe Illustrator
6 7 (0.56%) MS Visio
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe After Effects
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe Premiere
7 3 (0.24%) Adobe XD
7 3 (0.24%) InDesign
8 2 (0.16%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.16%) Elementor
9 1 (0.081%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.081%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.081%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 46 (3.71%) SAP S/4HANA
2 11 (0.89%) NetSuite
3 10 (0.81%) SAP CO
4 7 (0.56%) Dynamics CRM
5 5 (0.40%) SAP Hybris
6 4 (0.32%) Dynamics NAV
7 3 (0.24%) JDE EnterpriseOne
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Assets
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Payables
7 3 (0.24%) Oracle Receivables
7 3 (0.24%) Sage X3
8 2 (0.16%) Dynamics AX
8 2 (0.16%) IBM Planning Analytics
8 2 (0.16%) Q-Pulse
8 2 (0.16%) Sage 200
9 1 (0.081%) PeopleSoft HRMS
9 1 (0.081%) Raiser’s Edge
9 1 (0.081%) SAP FI/CO
9 1 (0.081%) SAP HR
9 1 (0.081%) SAP IBP
Cloud Services
1 229 (18.47%) Azure
2 159 (12.82%) Microsoft 365
3 94 (7.58%) Power Platform
4 83 (6.69%) AWS
5 64 (5.16%) Azure DevOps
6 60 (4.84%) SaaS
7 39 (3.15%) GCP
8 38 (3.06%) Entra ID
9 20 (1.61%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 20 (1.61%) PaaS
10 19 (1.53%) Google Workspace
10 19 (1.53%) IaaS
10 19 (1.53%) Mimecast
11 18 (1.45%) Azure Logic Apps
12 17 (1.37%) Dynamics 365
12 17 (1.37%) GitHub
13 16 (1.29%) Collibra
13 16 (1.29%) Figma
14 12 (0.97%) Asana
14 12 (0.97%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 84 (6.77%) DNS
2 66 (5.32%) Firewall
3 53 (4.27%) DHCP
4 43 (3.47%) TCP/IP
5 42 (3.39%) VPN
6 26 (2.10%) Wireless
7 22 (1.77%) VLAN
8 17 (1.37%) WAN
9 14 (1.13%) Broadband
9 14 (1.13%) LAN
10 13 (1.05%) SAN
11 11 (0.89%) Intranet
12 9 (0.73%) HTTP
12 9 (0.73%) Remote Desktop
13 8 (0.65%) VoIP
14 7 (0.56%) Wi-Fi
15 6 (0.48%) PuTTY
15 6 (0.48%) SSH
16 3 (0.24%) MPLS
16 3 (0.24%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 72 (5.81%) Power BI
2 38 (3.06%) Relational Database
2 38 (3.06%) SQL Server
3 19 (1.53%) Data Warehouse
4 17 (1.37%) NoSQL
4 17 (1.37%) Power Query
5 16 (1.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 13 (1.05%) OLTP
7 10 (0.81%) Tableau
8 9 (0.73%) Data Lake
8 9 (0.73%) PostgreSQL
9 7 (0.56%) MySQL
9 7 (0.56%) PowerPivot
10 6 (0.48%) Big Data
10 6 (0.48%) Hadoop
10 6 (0.48%) SAP BW
11 5 (0.40%) Data Mining
12 4 (0.32%) Azure SQL Database
12 4 (0.32%) Metadata
13 3 (0.24%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 49 (3.95%) Git
2 38 (3.06%) JIRA
3 24 (1.94%) Selenium
4 17 (1.37%) GitLab
5 15 (1.21%) Robot Framework
6 13 (1.05%) Snyk
7 10 (0.81%) Rational DOORS
8 8 (0.65%) Visual Studio
9 7 (0.56%) Jenkins
10 4 (0.32%) Cypress.io
10 4 (0.32%) WebDriver
11 3 (0.24%) Postman
12 2 (0.16%) Appium
12 2 (0.16%) LabVIEW
12 2 (0.16%) REST Assured
12 2 (0.16%) TestRail
13 1 (0.081%) Bitbucket
13 1 (0.081%) JMeter
13 1 (0.081%) JUnit
13 1 (0.081%) NUnit
General
1 682 (55.00%) Social Skills
2 345 (27.82%) Analytical Skills
3 246 (19.84%) Finance
4 95 (7.66%) Manufacturing
5 91 (7.34%) Marketing
6 77 (6.21%) Retail
7 71 (5.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 70 (5.65%) Organisational Skills
9 45 (3.63%) Electronics
10 43 (3.47%) Telecoms
11 36 (2.90%) Public Sector
12 34 (2.74%) Legal
13 31 (2.50%) Law
14 26 (2.10%) Documentation Skills
15 16 (1.29%) Presentation Skills
16 14 (1.13%) Influencing Skills
17 11 (0.89%) Banking
17 11 (0.89%) Pharmaceutical
18 9 (0.73%) Automotive
19 7 (0.56%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 208 (16.77%) Analyst
2 189 (15.24%) IT Support
2 189 (15.24%) Senior
3 166 (13.39%) Support Engineer
4 111 (8.95%) Developer
5 95 (7.66%) Support Analyst
6 77 (6.21%) Technical Support
7 74 (5.97%) IT Engineer
8 70 (5.65%) Lead
9 63 (5.08%) IT Support Engineer
10 59 (4.76%) 2nd Line Support
11 57 (4.60%) IT Analyst
12 55 (4.44%) IT Support Analyst
13 45 (3.63%) Technical Engineer
13 45 (3.63%) Technical Support Engineer
14 42 (3.39%) Senior Manager
15 37 (2.98%) Project Engineer
16 36 (2.90%) Senior Analyst
17 34 (2.74%) Software Engineer
18 33 (2.66%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 58 (4.68%) .NET
2 49 (3.95%) HTML
3 33 (2.66%) SOAP
4 31 (2.50%) REST
5 29 (2.34%) React
6 27 (2.18%) CSS
7 20 (1.61%) XML
8 19 (1.53%) .NET Framework
9 17 (1.37%) ASP.NET
10 15 (1.21%) Middleware
11 14 (1.13%) JSON
12 13 (1.05%) Entity Framework
12 13 (1.05%) Laravel
12 13 (1.05%) WinForms
13 12 (0.97%) ARM Templates
14 11 (0.89%) Lightning Web Components
15 10 (0.81%) OLE
15 10 (0.81%) Visualforce
16 9 (0.73%) Node.js
16 9 (0.73%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 98 (7.90%) Onboarding
2 79 (6.37%) Driving Licence
3 66 (5.32%) Self-Motivation
4 45 (3.63%) Management Information System
5 41 (3.31%) Analytical Mindset
6 30 (2.42%) Data Centre
7 29 (2.34%) Product Ownership
8 21 (1.69%) Low-Code
8 21 (1.69%) Social Media
9 20 (1.61%) Cloud Native
10 17 (1.37%) Distributed Systems
11 12 (0.97%) Video Editing
12 11 (0.89%) Enterprise Software
13 10 (0.81%) Legacy Systems
13 10 (0.81%) Security Operations Centre
13 10 (0.81%) Video Conferencing
14 9 (0.73%) Algorithms
14 9 (0.73%) Life Science
15 8 (0.65%) IoT
15 8 (0.65%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 233 (18.79%) Windows
2 78 (6.29%) Linux
3 72 (5.81%) Windows Server
4 26 (2.10%) Windows 10
5 25 (2.02%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.29%) Android
7 12 (0.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 12 (0.97%) Windows Server 2012
8 11 (0.89%) CentOS
9 10 (0.81%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.56%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.48%) VMS
12 5 (0.40%) Windows 7
13 4 (0.32%) Ubuntu
13 4 (0.32%) Unix
13 4 (0.32%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.081%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.081%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.081%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 259 (20.89%) Continuous Improvement
2 197 (15.89%) Customer Service
3 163 (13.15%) Agile
4 133 (10.73%) Analytics
5 123 (9.92%) DevOps
6 110 (8.87%) Project Management
7 104 (8.39%) Business Intelligence
8 95 (7.66%) Decision-Making
8 95 (7.66%) Stakeholder Management
9 93 (7.50%) CI/CD
10 91 (7.34%) Computer Science
11 90 (7.26%) ERP
12 84 (6.77%) Cybersecurity
13 83 (6.69%) Mentoring
14 77 (6.21%) Technical Leadership
15 76 (6.13%) AI
16 73 (5.89%) Data Modelling
17 67 (5.40%) Software Engineering
18 66 (5.32%) Process Improvement
19 65 (5.24%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 204 (16.45%) SQL
2 168 (13.55%) Python
3 79 (6.37%) C#
4 78 (6.29%) PowerShell
5 71 (5.73%) JavaScript
6 42 (3.39%) Java
7 27 (2.18%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 27 (2.18%) PHP
8 17 (1.37%) C++
9 16 (1.29%) PL/SQL
10 15 (1.21%) Bash
10 15 (1.21%) TypeScript
11 14 (1.13%) C
12 12 (0.97%) Bicep
12 12 (0.97%) T-SQL
13 11 (0.89%) Apex Code
14 9 (0.73%) Kusto Query Language
14 9 (0.73%) Perl
15 8 (0.65%) R
16 7 (0.56%) VBA
Qualifications
1 264 (21.29%) Degree
2 85 (6.85%) Security Cleared
3 51 (4.11%) Computer Science Degree
4 41 (3.31%) ACCA
5 39 (3.15%) SC Cleared
6 33 (2.66%) CIMA
7 31 (2.50%) Microsoft Certification
8 28 (2.26%) DBS Check
9 25 (2.02%) BPSS Clearance
10 22 (1.77%) DV Cleared
11 20 (1.61%) HNC
11 20 (1.61%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 18 (1.45%) A+ Certification
13 15 (1.21%) Master's Degree
14 11 (0.89%) Chartered Engineer
15 10 (0.81%) HND
16 8 (0.65%) ITIL Certification
16 8 (0.65%) MCSE
17 7 (0.56%) City & Guilds
17 7 (0.56%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (5.65%) QA
2 53 (4.27%) Data Quality
3 52 (4.19%) GDPR
4 26 (2.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 21 (1.69%) Accessibility
6 20 (1.61%) SLA
7 11 (0.89%) PCI DSS
8 9 (0.73%) NIST
9 6 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
9 6 (0.48%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.40%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.32%) ITGC
12 3 (0.24%) ISO 13485
13 2 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.16%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.16%) WCAG
14 1 (0.081%) GAAP
14 1 (0.081%) IFRS
14 1 (0.081%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 1 (0.081%) PMO
System Software
1 159 (12.82%) Active Directory
2 39 (3.15%) Hyper-V
3 36 (2.90%) Docker
4 35 (2.82%) VMware Infrastructure
5 9 (0.73%) VMware ESXi
6 8 (0.65%) KVM
7 4 (0.32%) Firmware
8 3 (0.24%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.16%) XenApp
10 1 (0.081%) RHEV
10 1 (0.081%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.081%) VMware NSX
10 1 (0.081%) Xen
Systems Management
1 53 (4.27%) Terraform
2 42 (3.39%) Microsoft Intune
3 30 (2.42%) Kubernetes
4 28 (2.26%) Ansible
5 16 (1.29%) SCCM
6 13 (1.05%) vCenter Server
7 10 (0.81%) Grafana
7 10 (0.81%) Prometheus
7 10 (0.81%) ZABBIX
8 9 (0.73%) Nagios
9 2 (0.16%) FortiGate
9 2 (0.16%) Nessus
9 2 (0.16%) Netcool
9 2 (0.16%) Netcool/OMNIbus
9 2 (0.16%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.081%) CASB
10 1 (0.081%) Dell DRAC
10 1 (0.081%) Docker Swarm
10 1 (0.081%) Kibana
10 1 (0.081%) Podman
Vendors
1 321 (25.89%) Microsoft
2 89 (7.18%) SAP
3 50 (4.03%) VMware
4 39 (3.15%) Google
4 39 (3.15%) Veeam
5 36 (2.90%) Adobe
6 34 (2.74%) Databricks
7 32 (2.58%) Oracle
8 31 (2.50%) Sage
9 27 (2.18%) Salesforce
10 24 (1.94%) HubSpot
10 24 (1.94%) NEC
11 17 (1.37%) ServiceNow
12 15 (1.21%) SolarWinds
13 14 (1.13%) Xamarin
14 13 (1.05%) Black Duck
14 13 (1.05%) Cisco
14 13 (1.05%) Coverity
15 11 (0.89%) Hootsuite
15 11 (0.89%) Instagram