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

6 months to
2 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 10 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -7 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,197 1,171 2,655
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.15% 17.46% 17.40%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.29% 19.44% 20.49%
Number of salaries quoted 916 663 1,674
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,250 £35,000 £31,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,967 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.71% +13.26% -14.29%
75th Percentile £62,313 £70,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,085 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -14.39% +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 9,739 6,024 12,959
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 74.43% 89.82% 84.94%
Number of salaries quoted 6,255 3,242 9,508
10th Percentile £28,750 £30,000 £27,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £41,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £66,250 £70,600 £65,000
90th Percentile £83,750 £84,875 £77,750
England median annual salary £56,875 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -5.21% +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 2 April 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 2 April 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 -5 443 £47,500 -15.94% 227
Hampshire -3 252 £40,000 -20.00% 129
Berkshire -1 220 £45,000 -30.77% 110
Surrey -11 194 £40,000 -23.96% 74
Buckinghamshire -8 149 £50,000 -7.81% 68
Kent -11 126 £30,000 -11.76% 41
East Sussex 0 94 £70,750 +41.50% 26
Oxfordshire -9 74 £33,200 -21.88% 51
West Sussex 0 59 £57,500 +53.33% 25
Middlesex -2 13 £47,500 -22.45% 10
Isle of Wight +4 12 £43,500 -20.91%
Sussex -17 1 £30,000 +5.26% 13
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 (3.17%) SharePoint
2 33 (2.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (1.42%) CMS
4 15 (1.25%) IIS
5 11 (0.92%) WordPress
6 8 (0.67%) Confluence
7 4 (0.33%) Anypoint
8 3 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.25%) govService
8 3 (0.25%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.25%) SAS
9 2 (0.17%) Apache
10 1 (0.084%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
10 1 (0.084%) nginx
Applications
1 96 (8.02%) Microsoft Office
2 82 (6.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.25%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (0.92%) Photoshop
5 10 (0.84%) Adobe Illustrator
6 9 (0.75%) MS Visio
7 8 (0.67%) Adobe Creative Suite
8 5 (0.42%) Spreadsheet
9 3 (0.25%) Adobe XD
9 3 (0.25%) InDesign
10 2 (0.17%) Adobe After Effects
10 2 (0.17%) Adobe Captivate
10 2 (0.17%) Adobe Premiere
10 2 (0.17%) AutoCAD
10 2 (0.17%) Elementor
11 1 (0.084%) Acrobat
11 1 (0.084%) Microsoft Project
11 1 (0.084%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 10 (0.84%) Dynamics CRM
2 9 (0.75%) SAP CO
3 6 (0.50%) NetSuite
4 4 (0.33%) Dynamics NAV
4 4 (0.33%) Magento
5 3 (0.25%) Sage X3
5 3 (0.25%) Salesforce CRM
5 3 (0.25%) SAP Hybris
5 3 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
6 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.17%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.17%) Q-Pulse
6 2 (0.17%) Sage 200
7 1 (0.084%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.084%) Infor SunSystems
7 1 (0.084%) PeopleSoft HRMS
7 1 (0.084%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.084%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.084%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 238 (19.88%) Azure
2 148 (12.36%) Microsoft 365
3 89 (7.44%) Power Platform
4 88 (7.35%) AWS
5 66 (5.51%) Azure DevOps
6 61 (5.10%) SaaS
7 37 (3.09%) GCP
8 29 (2.42%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 29 (2.42%) Entra ID
9 28 (2.34%) PaaS
10 27 (2.26%) IaaS
11 20 (1.67%) Dynamics 365
11 20 (1.67%) Mimecast
12 19 (1.59%) Google Workspace
13 18 (1.50%) GitHub
14 17 (1.42%) Azure Data Factory
14 17 (1.42%) Azure Logic Apps
15 15 (1.25%) OpenShift
16 14 (1.17%) Figma
17 13 (1.09%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 75 (6.27%) DNS
2 65 (5.43%) Firewall
3 44 (3.68%) DHCP
4 37 (3.09%) TCP/IP
5 32 (2.67%) VPN
6 26 (2.17%) Wireless
7 20 (1.67%) Broadband
8 18 (1.50%) WAN
9 15 (1.25%) LAN
9 15 (1.25%) VLAN
10 13 (1.09%) VoIP
11 11 (0.92%) HTTP
11 11 (0.92%) Intranet
12 9 (0.75%) SAN
13 7 (0.58%) Remote Desktop
14 6 (0.50%) PuTTY
14 6 (0.50%) SSH
14 6 (0.50%) Wi-Fi
15 3 (0.25%) Unified Communications
16 2 (0.17%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 69 (5.76%) Power BI
2 45 (3.76%) SQL Server
3 34 (2.84%) Relational Database
4 25 (2.09%) Data Warehouse
5 18 (1.50%) Power Query
6 15 (1.25%) OLTP
7 14 (1.17%) NoSQL
8 12 (1.00%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 11 (0.92%) Tableau
10 10 (0.84%) MySQL
11 8 (0.67%) Data Lake
11 8 (0.67%) PowerPivot
12 7 (0.58%) PostgreSQL
13 6 (0.50%) Hadoop
14 5 (0.42%) Azure SQL Database
14 5 (0.42%) Big Data
14 5 (0.42%) Data Mining
15 4 (0.33%) Metadata
16 3 (0.25%) Looker
16 3 (0.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 54 (4.51%) Git
2 41 (3.43%) JIRA
3 25 (2.09%) GitLab
4 22 (1.84%) Selenium
5 15 (1.25%) Robot Framework
6 14 (1.17%) Rational DOORS
7 13 (1.09%) Snyk
8 7 (0.58%) Jenkins
8 7 (0.58%) Visual Studio
9 4 (0.33%) Cypress.io
10 3 (0.25%) Postman
11 2 (0.17%) Appium
11 2 (0.17%) JMeter
11 2 (0.17%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.17%) REST Assured
11 2 (0.17%) TestRail
11 2 (0.17%) WebDriver
12 1 (0.084%) Android Studio
12 1 (0.084%) Artifactory
12 1 (0.084%) SonarQube
General
1 598 (49.96%) Social Skills
2 344 (28.74%) Analytical Skills
3 189 (15.79%) Finance
4 75 (6.27%) Organisational Skills
5 71 (5.93%) Marketing
6 70 (5.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 69 (5.76%) Retail
8 61 (5.10%) Manufacturing
9 48 (4.01%) Telecoms
10 47 (3.93%) Electronics
11 36 (3.01%) Public Sector
12 35 (2.92%) Law
12 35 (2.92%) Legal
13 23 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
14 14 (1.17%) Presentation Skills
15 13 (1.09%) Influencing Skills
16 11 (0.92%) Pharmaceutical
17 10 (0.84%) Aerospace
17 10 (0.84%) Automotive
18 9 (0.75%) Banking
Job Titles
1 176 (14.70%) IT Support
2 171 (14.29%) Support Engineer
3 167 (13.95%) Analyst
4 131 (10.94%) Senior
5 111 (9.27%) Developer
6 85 (7.10%) IT Engineer
7 81 (6.77%) Support Analyst
8 69 (5.76%) IT Support Engineer
9 66 (5.51%) Technical Support
10 54 (4.51%) 2nd Line Support
11 50 (4.18%) Lead
12 48 (4.01%) Technical Engineer
12 48 (4.01%) Technical Support Engineer
13 40 (3.34%) Architect
13 40 (3.34%) IT Analyst
14 39 (3.26%) IT Support Analyst
14 39 (3.26%) Software Engineer
15 35 (2.92%) IT Technician
16 34 (2.84%) Systems Engineer
17 33 (2.76%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 56 (4.68%) .NET
2 49 (4.09%) HTML
3 33 (2.76%) SOAP
4 28 (2.34%) REST
5 26 (2.17%) React
6 25 (2.09%) CSS
7 22 (1.84%) XML
8 18 (1.50%) JSON
9 15 (1.25%) .NET Framework
9 15 (1.25%) ASP.NET
9 15 (1.25%) Middleware
10 14 (1.17%) Laravel
11 13 (1.09%) Lightning Web Components
12 12 (1.00%) ARM Templates
12 12 (1.00%) Visualforce
13 11 (0.92%) OAuth
13 11 (0.92%) OLE
14 10 (0.84%) RabbitMQ
15 9 (0.75%) Entity Framework
15 9 (0.75%) Node.js
Miscellaneous
1 84 (7.02%) Onboarding
2 81 (6.77%) Driving Licence
3 66 (5.51%) Self-Motivation
4 38 (3.17%) Management Information System
5 33 (2.76%) Product Ownership
6 25 (2.09%) Distributed Systems
7 22 (1.84%) Analytical Mindset
7 22 (1.84%) Cloud Native
7 22 (1.84%) Social Media
8 20 (1.67%) Low-Code
9 13 (1.09%) Enterprise Software
9 13 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
10 11 (0.92%) Video Editing
11 10 (0.84%) Life Science
11 10 (0.84%) Video Conferencing
12 9 (0.75%) Client/Server
12 9 (0.75%) IoT
12 9 (0.75%) NHS
12 9 (0.75%) Security Operations Centre
13 7 (0.58%) EPoS
Operating Systems
1 214 (17.88%) Windows
2 94 (7.85%) Linux
3 64 (5.35%) Windows Server
4 24 (2.01%) Mac OS
5 18 (1.50%) Windows 10
6 17 (1.42%) Android
6 17 (1.42%) CentOS
7 15 (1.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 9 (0.75%) Ubuntu
8 9 (0.75%) Windows Server 2012
9 8 (0.67%) VMS
10 7 (0.58%) Apple iOS
10 7 (0.58%) Windows Server 2016
11 6 (0.50%) Windows Server 2019
12 4 (0.33%) Unix
13 2 (0.17%) Debian
14 1 (0.084%) Embedded Linux
14 1 (0.084%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.084%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.084%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 239 (19.97%) Continuous Improvement
2 208 (17.38%) Customer Service
3 165 (13.78%) Agile
4 142 (11.86%) DevOps
5 117 (9.77%) Analytics
6 115 (9.61%) CI/CD
7 106 (8.86%) Decision-Making
8 104 (8.69%) Business Intelligence
9 96 (8.02%) Project Management
10 93 (7.77%) Computer Science
11 88 (7.35%) Mentoring
12 83 (6.93%) AI
13 73 (6.10%) Software Engineering
13 73 (6.10%) Stakeholder Management
14 71 (5.93%) Cybersecurity
15 70 (5.85%) CRM
16 69 (5.76%) ITIL
17 67 (5.60%) Collaborative Culture
17 67 (5.60%) Data Modelling
18 66 (5.51%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 192 (16.04%) Python
2 185 (15.46%) SQL
3 75 (6.27%) PowerShell
4 71 (5.93%) C#
4 71 (5.93%) JavaScript
5 45 (3.76%) Java
6 28 (2.34%) PHP
7 27 (2.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 23 (1.92%) C++
9 22 (1.84%) Bash
9 22 (1.84%) C
10 18 (1.50%) PL/SQL
11 16 (1.34%) TypeScript
12 13 (1.09%) Apex Code
13 12 (1.00%) Bicep
13 12 (1.00%) Perl
14 9 (0.75%) Kusto Query Language
14 9 (0.75%) Rust
14 9 (0.75%) T-SQL
15 8 (0.67%) R
Qualifications
1 251 (20.97%) Degree
2 82 (6.85%) Security Cleared
3 49 (4.09%) ACCA
4 48 (4.01%) Computer Science Degree
5 40 (3.34%) CIMA
5 40 (3.34%) SC Cleared
6 37 (3.09%) DBS Check
7 31 (2.59%) Microsoft Certification
8 30 (2.51%) BPSS Clearance
9 24 (2.01%) DV Cleared
10 21 (1.75%) HNC
10 21 (1.75%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 20 (1.67%) A+ Certification
12 15 (1.25%) Chartered Engineer
13 13 (1.09%) Master's Degree
14 11 (0.92%) PMI Certification
15 10 (0.84%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
16 9 (0.75%) HND
17 8 (0.67%) City & Guilds
17 8 (0.67%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (5.60%) QA
2 58 (4.85%) Data Quality
3 48 (4.01%) GDPR
4 24 (2.01%) SLA
5 23 (1.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 17 (1.42%) Accessibility
7 13 (1.09%) PCI DSS
8 11 (0.92%) NIST
9 5 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.42%) SOC 2
10 4 (0.33%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.33%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.33%) ITGC
11 3 (0.25%) ISO 26262
12 2 (0.17%) GRC
13 1 (0.084%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.084%) GAAP
13 1 (0.084%) IFRS
13 1 (0.084%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 1 (0.084%) PMO
System Software
1 144 (12.03%) Active Directory
2 43 (3.59%) Docker
3 36 (3.01%) VMware Infrastructure
4 35 (2.92%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.84%) KVM
6 5 (0.42%) Firmware
6 5 (0.42%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.42%) XenApp
7 3 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.17%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 2 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.17%) vSphere
9 1 (0.084%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.084%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.084%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 60 (5.01%) Terraform
2 43 (3.59%) Kubernetes
3 37 (3.09%) Ansible
4 31 (2.59%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (1.34%) Grafana
5 16 (1.34%) SCCM
6 14 (1.17%) Prometheus
7 10 (0.84%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.75%) Nagios
8 9 (0.75%) ZABBIX
9 4 (0.33%) Nessus
10 3 (0.25%) Functional Safety
10 3 (0.25%) Puppet
11 2 (0.17%) Netcool
11 2 (0.17%) Netcool/OMNIbus
12 1 (0.084%) Control-M
12 1 (0.084%) Kibana
12 1 (0.084%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 1 (0.084%) Oracle RMAN
12 1 (0.084%) Packer
Vendors
1 320 (26.73%) Microsoft
2 44 (3.68%) VMware
3 42 (3.51%) Databricks
4 38 (3.17%) Google
5 34 (2.84%) Veeam
6 33 (2.76%) Adobe
7 31 (2.59%) SAP
8 30 (2.51%) Salesforce
9 29 (2.42%) Oracle
10 26 (2.17%) Sage
11 21 (1.75%) HubSpot
12 20 (1.67%) NEC
13 16 (1.34%) Red Hat
13 16 (1.34%) ServiceNow
14 13 (1.09%) Black Duck
14 13 (1.09%) Coverity
14 13 (1.09%) Dynatrace
15 12 (1.00%) MuleSoft
15 12 (1.00%) Splunk
16 11 (0.92%) SolarWinds