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

6 months to
19 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 11 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -8 +1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,135 1,443 2,801
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 7.83% 18.38% 16.99%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.91% 20.30% 20.24%
Number of salaries quoted 850 681 1,757
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,750 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £46,000 £46,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -1.08% +3.33% -14.29%
75th Percentile £62,500 £65,000 £61,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,967 £50,000
% change year-on-year -6.80% +1.93% -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 10,400 7,107 13,841
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.76% 90.55% 83.94%
Number of salaries quoted 7,081 3,378 9,811
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £27,500
25th Percentile £39,375 £36,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £53,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +2.80% +7.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,688 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,650 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +9.09% -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 19 May 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 19 May 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 -11 419 £47,500 -6.80% 241
Hampshire -4 259 £45,000 +5.88% 151
Berkshire -8 203 £47,500 -13.64% 110
Surrey -2 184 £40,000 -5.88% 82
Buckinghamshire -10 133 £48,500 -3.93% 71
Kent -4 124 £29,000 -6.45% 63
East Sussex -5 92 £59,000 +18.00% 17
Oxfordshire -5 83 £34,000 -38.18% 63
West Sussex -7 48 £56,465 +21.43% 20
Isle of Wight -7 3 £41,500 -24.55%
Middlesex +2 2 £35,000 -44.00% 18
Sussex -16 1 £30,000 -29.41% 6
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 32 (2.82%) SharePoint
2 28 (2.47%) Microsoft Exchange
3 16 (1.41%) CMS
4 10 (0.88%) IIS
5 9 (0.79%) Confluence
6 5 (0.44%) OpenEdge
6 5 (0.44%) WordPress
7 4 (0.35%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.26%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.26%) Apache
8 3 (0.26%) govService
9 2 (0.18%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.18%) Gentran
9 2 (0.18%) SAS
10 1 (0.088%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.088%) nginx
10 1 (0.088%) Tomcat
Applications
1 87 (7.67%) Microsoft Excel
2 68 (5.99%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (0.70%) MS Visio
4 8 (0.70%) Spreadsheet
5 6 (0.53%) Photoshop
6 5 (0.44%) Adobe Illustrator
7 3 (0.26%) Microsoft Project
8 2 (0.18%) Adobe Creative Suite
9 1 (0.088%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.088%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 11 (0.97%) NetSuite
2 10 (0.88%) Dynamics CRM
3 9 (0.79%) SAP CO
4 4 (0.35%) Dynamics NAV
4 4 (0.35%) Magento
4 4 (0.35%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.18%) Dynamics AX
5 2 (0.18%) IBM Planning Analytics
5 2 (0.18%) Infor SunSystems
5 2 (0.18%) Q-Pulse
5 2 (0.18%) Sage 200
5 2 (0.18%) Shopify
6 1 (0.088%) Elite 3E
6 1 (0.088%) HFM
6 1 (0.088%) PeopleSoft HRMS
6 1 (0.088%) Raiser’s Edge
6 1 (0.088%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.088%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 254 (22.38%) Azure
2 119 (10.48%) Microsoft 365
3 102 (8.99%) AWS
4 82 (7.22%) Power Platform
5 52 (4.58%) SaaS
6 51 (4.49%) Azure DevOps
7 34 (3.00%) GCP
8 30 (2.64%) IaaS
8 30 (2.64%) PaaS
9 25 (2.20%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 21 (1.85%) Entra ID
11 20 (1.76%) Google Workspace
12 18 (1.59%) Dynamics 365
13 17 (1.50%) Mimecast
13 17 (1.50%) Serverless
14 16 (1.41%) Azure Logic Apps
15 15 (1.32%) Azure Data Factory
15 15 (1.32%) Datadog
15 15 (1.32%) OpenShift
16 14 (1.23%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 65 (5.73%) Firewall
2 59 (5.20%) DNS
3 33 (2.91%) DHCP
4 30 (2.64%) TCP/IP
5 24 (2.11%) VPN
6 21 (1.85%) Wireless
7 20 (1.76%) Broadband
8 17 (1.50%) WAN
9 15 (1.32%) LAN
10 12 (1.06%) VoIP
11 10 (0.88%) HTTP
12 8 (0.70%) SAN
13 7 (0.62%) Intranet
13 7 (0.62%) Remote Desktop
13 7 (0.62%) VLAN
13 7 (0.62%) Wi-Fi
14 6 (0.53%) PuTTY
14 6 (0.53%) SSH
14 6 (0.53%) SSL
15 5 (0.44%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (6.08%) SQL Server
2 63 (5.55%) Power BI
3 22 (1.94%) Data Warehouse
4 21 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
4 21 (1.85%) Relational Database
5 18 (1.59%) OLTP
6 12 (1.06%) MySQL
6 12 (1.06%) NoSQL
6 12 (1.06%) Tableau
7 11 (0.97%) Power Query
8 10 (0.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 7 (0.62%) Data Lake
9 7 (0.62%) Looker
9 7 (0.62%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 5 (0.44%) Big Data
10 5 (0.44%) Data Mining
10 5 (0.44%) Hadoop
11 4 (0.35%) GIS
12 3 (0.26%) Snowflake Schema
12 3 (0.26%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 57 (5.02%) Git
2 38 (3.35%) JIRA
3 29 (2.56%) GitLab
4 22 (1.94%) Rational DOORS
5 7 (0.62%) Selenium
6 4 (0.35%) Jenkins
6 4 (0.35%) Visual Studio
7 3 (0.26%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.26%) Cypress.io
7 3 (0.26%) Postman
8 2 (0.18%) Appium
8 2 (0.18%) JMeter
8 2 (0.18%) LabVIEW
8 2 (0.18%) REST Assured
8 2 (0.18%) Robot Framework
8 2 (0.18%) Snyk
8 2 (0.18%) Terragrunt
9 1 (0.088%) JUnit
9 1 (0.088%) SonarQube
9 1 (0.088%) Zephyr
General
1 532 (46.87%) Social Skills
2 330 (29.07%) Analytical Skills
3 184 (16.21%) Finance
4 69 (6.08%) Organisational Skills
5 62 (5.46%) Marketing
6 57 (5.02%) Manufacturing
7 46 (4.05%) Retail
7 46 (4.05%) Telecoms
8 45 (3.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 42 (3.70%) Electronics
10 29 (2.56%) Public Sector
11 26 (2.29%) Law
12 25 (2.20%) Aerospace
13 24 (2.11%) Legal
14 21 (1.85%) Documentation Skills
15 15 (1.32%) Pharmaceutical
16 14 (1.23%) Presentation Skills
17 12 (1.06%) Automotive
18 11 (0.97%) Local Government
19 10 (0.88%) Military
Job Titles
1 160 (14.10%) Analyst
2 133 (11.72%) IT Support
3 123 (10.84%) Senior
4 122 (10.75%) Developer
5 115 (10.13%) Support Engineer
6 69 (6.08%) IT Engineer
6 69 (6.08%) Support Analyst
7 57 (5.02%) Systems Engineer
8 51 (4.49%) Technical Support
9 46 (4.05%) IT Support Engineer
9 46 (4.05%) Lead
10 42 (3.70%) 2nd Line Support
10 42 (3.70%) Architect
10 42 (3.70%) Software Engineer
11 41 (3.61%) Support Technician
12 39 (3.44%) IT Technician
13 38 (3.35%) Technical Engineer
13 38 (3.35%) Technical Support Engineer
14 35 (3.08%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 30 (2.64%) 1st Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 64 (5.64%) .NET
2 56 (4.93%) HTML
3 47 (4.14%) SOAP
4 37 (3.26%) REST
5 33 (2.91%) XML
6 32 (2.82%) CSS
7 30 (2.64%) JSON
8 24 (2.11%) Middleware
9 23 (2.03%) React
10 16 (1.41%) Laravel
10 16 (1.41%) OAuth
11 15 (1.32%) CSS3
11 15 (1.32%) HTML5
11 15 (1.32%) RabbitMQ
12 14 (1.23%) jQuery
13 13 (1.15%) Ajax
13 13 (1.15%) Sass
14 12 (1.06%) ARM Templates
14 12 (1.06%) LESS
15 11 (0.97%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 63 (5.55%) Driving Licence
2 59 (5.20%) Onboarding
2 59 (5.20%) Self-Motivation
3 44 (3.88%) Management Information System
4 39 (3.44%) Product Ownership
5 36 (3.17%) Cloud Native
6 33 (2.91%) Distributed Systems
7 27 (2.38%) Analytical Mindset
8 20 (1.76%) Low-Code
9 17 (1.50%) Social Media
10 14 (1.23%) Legacy Systems
10 14 (1.23%) NHS
11 11 (0.97%) Enterprise Software
11 11 (0.97%) Video Editing
12 10 (0.88%) Algorithms
12 10 (0.88%) Client/Server
13 9 (0.79%) Cyber Defence
13 9 (0.79%) Hybrid Cloud
13 9 (0.79%) Robotics
13 9 (0.79%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 165 (14.54%) Windows
2 97 (8.55%) Linux
3 56 (4.93%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.85%) Android
5 18 (1.59%) CentOS
5 18 (1.59%) Mac OS
6 16 (1.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (0.97%) Ubuntu
8 10 (0.88%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (0.79%) VMS
10 8 (0.70%) Windows Server 2016
11 7 (0.62%) Apple iOS
11 7 (0.62%) Windows Server 2012
12 3 (0.26%) Debian
12 3 (0.26%) Unix
13 2 (0.18%) Windows 10
14 1 (0.088%) Embedded Linux
14 1 (0.088%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.088%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.088%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 233 (20.53%) Continuous Improvement
2 192 (16.92%) Customer Service
3 164 (14.45%) Agile
4 140 (12.33%) DevOps
5 133 (11.72%) CI/CD
6 111 (9.78%) Analytics
7 110 (9.69%) Decision-Making
8 105 (9.25%) Computer Science
9 102 (8.99%) Software Engineering
10 97 (8.55%) Business Intelligence
11 91 (8.02%) AI
12 90 (7.93%) Project Management
13 81 (7.14%) Mentoring
14 80 (7.05%) Data Modelling
15 79 (6.96%) CRM
16 77 (6.78%) Project Delivery
17 72 (6.34%) Cybersecurity
18 70 (6.17%) ERP
18 70 (6.17%) ITIL
19 67 (5.90%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 200 (17.62%) Python
2 180 (15.86%) SQL
3 84 (7.40%) C#
4 82 (7.22%) JavaScript
5 64 (5.64%) PowerShell
6 52 (4.58%) Java
7 32 (2.82%) PHP
8 31 (2.73%) C++
9 25 (2.20%) Bash
9 25 (2.20%) C
10 21 (1.85%) PL/SQL
10 21 (1.85%) TypeScript
11 15 (1.32%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 12 (1.06%) Perl
13 11 (0.97%) Rust
14 9 (0.79%) Apex Code
14 9 (0.79%) Bicep
15 8 (0.70%) Ruby
16 7 (0.62%) R
16 7 (0.62%) Scala
Qualifications
1 230 (20.26%) Degree
2 79 (6.96%) Security Cleared
3 52 (4.58%) Computer Science Degree
3 52 (4.58%) DBS Check
4 48 (4.23%) SC Cleared
5 41 (3.61%) Microsoft Certification
6 37 (3.26%) ACCA
7 36 (3.17%) BPSS Clearance
8 34 (3.00%) CIMA
9 27 (2.38%) A+ Certification
10 26 (2.29%) HNC
11 24 (2.11%) Chartered Engineer
12 18 (1.59%) Microsoft Certified Professional
13 17 (1.50%) DV Cleared
14 14 (1.23%) Master's Degree
15 13 (1.15%) PMI Certification
16 12 (1.06%) Azure Certification
17 10 (0.88%) HND
17 10 (0.88%) PMP
18 8 (0.70%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 77 (6.78%) QA
2 61 (5.37%) Data Quality
3 46 (4.05%) GDPR
4 36 (3.17%) SLA
5 20 (1.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 15 (1.32%) Accessibility
6 15 (1.32%) PCI DSS
7 10 (0.88%) NIST
8 8 (0.70%) SOC 2
9 6 (0.53%) ISO 9001
10 5 (0.44%) Actionable Recommendations
11 4 (0.35%) ISO 26262
11 4 (0.35%) ITGC
12 3 (0.26%) Def Stans
13 2 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.18%) Good Clinical Practice
13 2 (0.18%) GRC
13 2 (0.18%) IFRS
14 1 (0.088%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 1 (0.088%) PMO
System Software
1 98 (8.63%) Active Directory
2 51 (4.49%) Docker
3 38 (3.35%) VMware Infrastructure
4 26 (2.29%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.88%) KVM
6 6 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
7 5 (0.44%) XenApp
8 4 (0.35%) Firmware
8 4 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.18%) vSphere
11 1 (0.088%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.088%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 60 (5.29%) Kubernetes
1 60 (5.29%) Terraform
2 33 (2.91%) Ansible
3 23 (2.03%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (1.32%) Grafana
4 15 (1.32%) SCCM
5 12 (1.06%) Prometheus
6 10 (0.88%) Nagios
7 7 (0.62%) ZABBIX
8 6 (0.53%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.35%) Functional Safety
9 4 (0.35%) Graylog
9 4 (0.35%) Puppet
10 3 (0.26%) Docker Swarm
10 3 (0.26%) Podman
11 2 (0.18%) Failover Clustering
11 2 (0.18%) Nessus
12 1 (0.088%) Netcool
12 1 (0.088%) Netcool/OMNIbus
12 1 (0.088%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 311 (27.40%) Microsoft
2 44 (3.88%) Oracle
3 42 (3.70%) VMware
4 36 (3.17%) Databricks
4 36 (3.17%) Google
5 28 (2.47%) Salesforce
6 25 (2.20%) Veeam
7 20 (1.76%) Adobe
7 20 (1.76%) SAP
8 16 (1.41%) Instagram
8 16 (1.41%) Red Hat
9 13 (1.15%) Splunk
10 12 (1.06%) Dynatrace
10 12 (1.06%) Sage
11 11 (0.97%) Hootsuite
11 11 (0.97%) Wrike
12 10 (0.88%) Cisco
12 10 (0.88%) HubSpot
12 10 (0.88%) SolarWinds
13 9 (0.79%) ServiceNow