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

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,513 1,599 2,068
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.05% 18.40% 14.81%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.65% 20.89% 18.31%
Number of salaries quoted 1,119 812 1,235
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,438 £36,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £42,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -10.53% -7.50%
75th Percentile £58,750 £62,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £72,500 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £47,500 £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 11,962 7,655 11,294
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.55% 88.09% 80.86%
Number of salaries quoted 8,524 4,121 7,399
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,733 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £51,852
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -3.57% -5.72%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £81,250 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £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 5 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 5 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 -7 555 £43,250 +1.76% 358
Hampshire -1 389 £45,000 - 202
Surrey +1 253 £42,500 +6.25% 124
Berkshire -2 250 £45,000 +5.88% 164
Buckinghamshire -6 175 £42,500 +13.33% 111
Kent -8 139 £35,000 +11.11% 75
Oxfordshire +2 130 £41,982 -12.99% 89
East Sussex -4 92 £50,000 - 49
West Sussex -6 73 £50,000 +5.26% 47
Middlesex +7 7 £65,000 +73.33% 10
Isle of Wight -11 2 £42,500 -22.73% 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 48 (3.17%) SharePoint
2 43 (2.84%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (1.26%) CMS
3 19 (1.26%) Confluence
4 9 (0.59%) IIS
5 7 (0.46%) Apache
5 7 (0.46%) OpenEdge
5 7 (0.46%) WordPress
6 5 (0.33%) nginx
7 3 (0.20%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.20%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.20%) SAS
8 2 (0.13%) Gentran
8 2 (0.13%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.066%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 107 (7.07%) Microsoft Excel
2 86 (5.68%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.73%) Microsoft Project
3 11 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (0.59%) MS Visio
5 8 (0.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 6 (0.40%) AutoCAD
7 5 (0.33%) Lightworks
7 5 (0.33%) Photoshop
8 4 (0.26%) Adobe Illustrator
9 3 (0.20%) Revit
9 3 (0.20%) Simulink
10 2 (0.13%) Chatbot
10 2 (0.13%) EPLAN
11 1 (0.066%) Mathcad
11 1 (0.066%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 14 (0.93%) NetSuite
2 10 (0.66%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (0.46%) Magento
4 6 (0.40%) Raiser’s Edge
4 6 (0.40%) Shopify
5 3 (0.20%) Infor SunSystems
5 3 (0.20%) Payment Gateway
5 3 (0.20%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.20%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.13%) Academy Housing
6 2 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
6 2 (0.13%) Primavera
6 2 (0.13%) Workday HCM
7 1 (0.066%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.066%) HFM
7 1 (0.066%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.066%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 361 (23.86%) Azure
2 170 (11.24%) AWS
2 170 (11.24%) Microsoft 365
3 83 (5.49%) Power Platform
4 63 (4.16%) SaaS
5 54 (3.57%) Entra ID
6 51 (3.37%) GCP
7 46 (3.04%) Azure DevOps
8 33 (2.18%) GitHub
9 32 (2.12%) Serverless
10 21 (1.39%) IaaS
10 21 (1.39%) PaaS
11 19 (1.26%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 19 (1.26%) Datadog
11 19 (1.26%) Dynamics 365
11 19 (1.26%) Google Workspace
12 17 (1.12%) GitHub Actions
13 15 (0.99%) Amazon ECS
13 15 (0.99%) Azure Data Factory
13 15 (0.99%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 130 (8.59%) Firewall
2 66 (4.36%) DNS
3 55 (3.64%) TCP/IP
3 55 (3.64%) VPN
4 49 (3.24%) WAN
5 47 (3.11%) LAN
6 43 (2.84%) DHCP
7 40 (2.64%) Wi-Fi
7 40 (2.64%) Wireless
8 31 (2.05%) VLAN
9 30 (1.98%) VoIP
10 27 (1.78%) Network Security
11 15 (0.99%) SSL
12 14 (0.93%) Broadband
13 13 (0.86%) Internet
14 10 (0.66%) HTTP
14 10 (0.66%) MQTT
15 9 (0.59%) LTE
16 6 (0.40%) Remote Desktop
16 6 (0.40%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 111 (7.34%) SQL Server
2 70 (4.63%) Power BI
3 35 (2.31%) Relational Database
4 28 (1.85%) PostgreSQL
5 27 (1.78%) MySQL
6 24 (1.59%) NoSQL
7 18 (1.19%) Data Warehouse
8 15 (0.99%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 13 (0.86%) Tableau
10 12 (0.79%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 11 (0.73%) Amazon RDS
11 11 (0.73%) OLTP
12 10 (0.66%) Data Lake
13 8 (0.53%) DynamoDB
13 8 (0.53%) MongoDB
14 7 (0.46%) GIS
14 7 (0.46%) Looker
15 6 (0.40%) Power Query
16 5 (0.33%) Azure SQL Database
17 4 (0.26%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 75 (4.96%) Git
2 60 (3.97%) JIRA
3 32 (2.12%) GitLab
4 20 (1.32%) Rational DOORS
5 9 (0.59%) Claude Code
6 7 (0.46%) Selenium
7 6 (0.40%) Oracle Forms
7 6 (0.40%) Team Foundation Server
8 5 (0.33%) Eclipse
8 5 (0.33%) Eclipse RCP
8 5 (0.33%) Jenkins
9 4 (0.26%) PHPUnit
9 4 (0.26%) Postman
9 4 (0.26%) Terragrunt
9 4 (0.26%) Visual Studio
10 3 (0.20%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.20%) PetaLinux
10 3 (0.20%) SpecFlow
11 2 (0.13%) Appium
11 2 (0.13%) Mocha
General
1 734 (48.51%) Social Skills
2 435 (28.75%) Analytical Skills
3 224 (14.81%) Finance
4 110 (7.27%) Organisational Skills
5 109 (7.20%) Manufacturing
6 84 (5.55%) Electronics
7 71 (4.69%) Aerospace
8 62 (4.10%) Retail
9 55 (3.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 55 (3.64%) Telecoms
10 41 (2.71%) Marketing
11 40 (2.64%) Law
12 37 (2.45%) Influencing Skills
12 37 (2.45%) Legal
13 35 (2.31%) Public Sector
14 32 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
15 27 (1.78%) Military
16 23 (1.52%) Local Government
17 18 (1.19%) Aviation
17 18 (1.19%) Banking
Job Titles
1 211 (13.95%) Analyst
2 158 (10.44%) Senior
3 149 (9.85%) IT Support
4 147 (9.72%) Developer
5 122 (8.06%) Support Engineer
6 96 (6.35%) Support Analyst
7 89 (5.88%) IT Engineer
8 72 (4.76%) Software Engineer
9 71 (4.69%) Lead
10 70 (4.63%) Systems Engineer
11 67 (4.43%) Technical Support
12 63 (4.16%) Support Technician
13 56 (3.70%) IT Support Engineer
14 55 (3.64%) 2nd Line Support
15 50 (3.30%) Technical Engineer
15 50 (3.30%) Technical Support Engineer
16 46 (3.04%) Architect
17 45 (2.97%) IT Technician
18 39 (2.58%) Consultant
18 39 (2.58%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 103 (6.81%) .NET
2 70 (4.63%) HTML
3 55 (3.64%) REST
4 51 (3.37%) CSS
5 48 (3.17%) React
5 48 (3.17%) SOAP
6 44 (2.91%) ASP.NET
7 33 (2.18%) OAuth
8 32 (2.12%) JSON
9 31 (2.05%) ASP.NET Core
10 28 (1.85%) RESTful
10 28 (1.85%) XML
11 27 (1.78%) Vue
12 26 (1.72%) AngularJS
13 18 (1.19%) SAML
14 17 (1.12%) ASP.NET Web API
14 17 (1.12%) jQuery
14 17 (1.12%) RabbitMQ
15 16 (1.06%) HTML5
15 16 (1.06%) LESS
Miscellaneous
1 108 (7.14%) Driving Licence
2 83 (5.49%) Onboarding
3 77 (5.09%) Self-Motivation
4 73 (4.82%) Management Information System
5 61 (4.03%) Cloud Native
6 40 (2.64%) Product Ownership
7 30 (1.98%) Distributed Systems
8 29 (1.92%) Data Centre
9 28 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
9 28 (1.85%) Social Media
10 24 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
11 22 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
11 22 (1.45%) Robotics
12 19 (1.26%) NHS
13 17 (1.12%) EPoS
14 16 (1.06%) Analogue Electronics
15 15 (0.99%) Security Posture
16 14 (0.93%) CCTV
16 14 (0.93%) Renewable Energy
17 13 (0.86%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 241 (15.93%) Windows
2 119 (7.87%) Linux
3 88 (5.82%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.39%) Android
5 20 (1.32%) Mac OS
6 17 (1.12%) Windows Server 2019
7 16 (1.06%) CentOS
8 15 (0.99%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 13 (0.86%) Ubuntu
10 11 (0.73%) Apple iOS
11 10 (0.66%) Windows 10
12 9 (0.59%) Debian
12 9 (0.59%) Windows Server 2016
13 3 (0.20%) FreeRTOS
13 3 (0.20%) Gentoo
13 3 (0.20%) Unix
13 3 (0.20%) VMS
13 3 (0.20%) Windows 7
14 2 (0.13%) Rocky
14 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 322 (21.28%) Continuous Improvement
2 263 (17.38%) Customer Service
3 210 (13.88%) Agile
4 181 (11.96%) Decision-Making
5 174 (11.50%) CI/CD
6 167 (11.04%) AI
7 159 (10.51%) DevOps
7 159 (10.51%) Software Engineering
8 155 (10.24%) Project Management
9 145 (9.58%) Project Delivery
10 138 (9.12%) ITIL
11 135 (8.92%) Stakeholder Management
12 131 (8.66%) Cybersecurity
13 130 (8.59%) Mentoring
14 121 (8.00%) Validation
15 119 (7.87%) Collaborative Working
16 116 (7.67%) Computer Science
17 110 (7.27%) Analytics
18 99 (6.54%) Business Intelligence
18 99 (6.54%) Logistics
Programming Languages
1 221 (14.61%) SQL
2 220 (14.54%) Python
3 120 (7.93%) C#
4 102 (6.74%) JavaScript
5 94 (6.21%) PowerShell
6 64 (4.23%) C++
7 60 (3.97%) Java
8 57 (3.77%) TypeScript
9 39 (2.58%) Bash
10 35 (2.31%) C
11 24 (1.59%) PHP
12 14 (0.93%) T-SQL
13 13 (0.86%) Ruby
13 13 (0.86%) Rust
14 12 (0.79%) PL/SQL
15 11 (0.73%) Perl
15 11 (0.73%) VB.NET
16 7 (0.46%) Bicep
16 7 (0.46%) Embedded C
16 7 (0.46%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 297 (19.63%) Degree
2 147 (9.72%) Security Cleared
3 106 (7.01%) SC Cleared
4 98 (6.48%) DBS Check
5 65 (4.30%) Computer Science Degree
6 50 (3.30%) Microsoft Certification
7 49 (3.24%) BPSS Clearance
8 42 (2.78%) HNC
9 39 (2.58%) DV Cleared
10 35 (2.31%) Azure Certification
11 30 (1.98%) PMI Certification
12 27 (1.78%) HND
13 26 (1.72%) Chartered Engineer
13 26 (1.72%) PMP
14 25 (1.65%) ACCA
15 24 (1.59%) CIMA
16 23 (1.52%) Master's Degree
17 20 (1.32%) CISSP
17 20 (1.32%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
18 18 (1.19%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 132 (8.72%) QA
2 53 (3.50%) Data Quality
3 49 (3.24%) GDPR
4 42 (2.78%) SLA
5 29 (1.92%) Accessibility
6 26 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 20 (1.32%) PCI DSS
8 18 (1.19%) Good Clinical Practice
9 16 (1.06%) Cyber Essentials
9 16 (1.06%) NIST
10 14 (0.93%) PMO
11 11 (0.73%) SOC 2
12 9 (0.59%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 9 (0.59%) GMP
13 8 (0.53%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 8 (0.53%) DO-254
13 8 (0.53%) GLP
13 8 (0.53%) GxP
14 7 (0.46%) ISO 9001
15 4 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 122 (8.06%) Active Directory
2 75 (4.96%) Docker
3 70 (4.63%) VMware Infrastructure
4 56 (3.70%) Hyper-V
5 9 (0.59%) Firmware
5 9 (0.59%) KVM
5 9 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
5 9 (0.59%) vSphere
6 5 (0.33%) ClearTrust
6 5 (0.33%) Squid
6 5 (0.33%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.33%) XenApp
7 4 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
8 3 (0.20%) Slurm Workload Manager
9 2 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
9 2 (0.13%) VMware NSX
10 1 (0.066%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.066%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.066%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 89 (5.88%) Terraform
2 85 (5.62%) Kubernetes
3 49 (3.24%) Microsoft Intune
4 40 (2.64%) Ansible
5 23 (1.52%) SCCM
6 16 (1.06%) Grafana
7 13 (0.86%) Prometheus
8 11 (0.73%) Nagios
9 10 (0.66%) Single Sign-On
10 9 (0.59%) Podman
11 8 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
12 7 (0.46%) Failover Clustering
12 7 (0.46%) Puppet
13 6 (0.40%) ZABBIX
14 5 (0.33%) Docker Swarm
14 5 (0.33%) Graylog
15 4 (0.26%) Functional Safety
15 4 (0.26%) vCenter Server
16 2 (0.13%) Nessus
16 2 (0.13%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 430 (28.42%) Microsoft
2 78 (5.16%) VMware
3 56 (3.70%) Google
4 50 (3.30%) Oracle
5 37 (2.45%) Cisco
6 32 (2.12%) Fortinet
7 30 (1.98%) Salesforce
7 30 (1.98%) SonicWALL
8 29 (1.92%) Veeam
9 26 (1.72%) SAP
9 26 (1.72%) ServiceNow
10 20 (1.32%) Databricks
10 20 (1.32%) Sage
11 16 (1.06%) Aruba
12 15 (0.99%) Palo Alto
12 15 (0.99%) Red Hat
12 15 (0.99%) Splunk
13 14 (0.93%) Instagram
14 13 (0.86%) Dynatrace
15 10 (0.66%) Meraki