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

6 months to
27 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 1,595 1,756 2,120
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.07% 19.36% 15.21%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.73% 22.05% 18.85%
Number of salaries quoted 1,168 888 1,161
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £27,750
25th Percentile £31,000 £31,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £42,500 £48,793
Median % change year-on-year - -12.90% -6.07%
75th Percentile £58,250 £60,000 £63,750
90th Percentile £72,500 £77,875 £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 12,531 7,963 11,245
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.28% 87.80% 80.67%
Number of salaries quoted 8,997 4,296 7,050
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £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 £67,250 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,200 £80,625 £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 27 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 27 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 -6 587 £43,000 +1.18% 458
Hampshire -3 422 £41,000 -8.89% 240
Berkshire -3 266 £43,500 +2.35% 197
Surrey -1 249 £41,585 +1.74% 162
Buckinghamshire -8 175 £42,500 +13.33% 143
Kent -5 158 £38,750 +19.23% 90
Oxfordshire +1 146 £43,500 - 122
East Sussex -4 94 £50,000 - 70
West Sussex -8 68 £50,000 -0.99% 74
Middlesex +1 10 £36,750 -2.00% 37
Sussex -10 2 - - 19
Isle of Wight -12 2 £42,500 -3.41% 19
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 63 (3.95%) SharePoint
2 48 (3.01%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (1.13%) Confluence
4 16 (1.00%) CMS
5 15 (0.94%) 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
1 102 (6.39%) Microsoft Excel
2 96 (6.02%) 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 5 (0.31%) Lightworks
7 5 (0.31%) Microsoft PowerPoint
8 4 (0.25%) Simulink
9 3 (0.19%) EPLAN
9 3 (0.19%) Photoshop
10 2 (0.13%) Adobe Illustrator
10 2 (0.13%) Chatbot
11 1 (0.063%) Mathcad
11 1 (0.063%) OrCAD
11 1 (0.063%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 20 (1.25%) NetSuite
2 16 (1.00%) 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
1 372 (23.32%) Azure
2 193 (12.10%) Microsoft 365
3 172 (10.78%) AWS
4 86 (5.39%) Power Platform
5 68 (4.26%) Entra ID
6 66 (4.14%) SaaS
7 49 (3.07%) GCP
8 44 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
9 36 (2.26%) GitHub
10 31 (1.94%) Serverless
11 24 (1.50%) Google Workspace
12 19 (1.19%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 19 (1.19%) IaaS
12 19 (1.19%) PaaS
13 17 (1.07%) Google Tag Manager
14 16 (1.00%) Anthropic Claude
14 16 (1.00%) Azure Data Factory
15 15 (0.94%) Dynamics 365
16 14 (0.88%) Amazon ECS
16 14 (0.88%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 140 (8.78%) Firewall
2 74 (4.64%) DNS
3 60 (3.76%) VPN
4 59 (3.70%) TCP/IP
5 53 (3.32%) DHCP
6 49 (3.07%) WAN
7 47 (2.95%) LAN
8 45 (2.82%) Wi-Fi
8 45 (2.82%) Wireless
9 42 (2.63%) VLAN
10 34 (2.13%) Network Security
11 33 (2.07%) VoIP
12 17 (1.07%) SSL
13 14 (0.88%) Internet
14 10 (0.63%) Broadband
14 10 (0.63%) MQTT
15 9 (0.56%) HTTP
15 9 (0.56%) LTE
16 6 (0.38%) WLAN
17 5 (0.31%) VSAT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 124 (7.77%) SQL Server
2 72 (4.51%) Power BI
3 36 (2.26%) Relational Database
4 32 (2.01%) MySQL
5 29 (1.82%) PostgreSQL
6 24 (1.50%) 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
11 10 (0.63%) Tableau
12 9 (0.56%) Data Lake
12 9 (0.56%) MongoDB
12 9 (0.56%) 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 (4.58%) Git
2 59 (3.70%) JIRA
3 23 (1.44%) GitLab
4 18 (1.13%) Rational DOORS
5 13 (0.82%) Claude Code
6 10 (0.63%) Oracle Forms
6 10 (0.63%) 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%) Android Studio
11 2 (0.13%) Cucumber
11 2 (0.13%) Mocha
General
1 794 (49.78%) Social Skills
2 457 (28.65%) Analytical Skills
3 240 (15.05%) Finance
4 127 (7.96%) Manufacturing
5 120 (7.52%) Organisational Skills
6 98 (6.14%) Aerospace
7 90 (5.64%) Electronics
8 74 (4.64%) Retail
9 63 (3.95%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 49 (3.07%) Telecoms
11 43 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
11 43 (2.70%) Legal
11 43 (2.70%) Marketing
12 40 (2.51%) Military
13 38 (2.38%) Law
14 35 (2.19%) Public Sector
15 27 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
16 23 (1.44%) Aviation
17 20 (1.25%) Local Government
18 16 (1.00%) Banking
Job Titles
1 221 (13.86%) Analyst
2 167 (10.47%) Senior
3 158 (9.91%) Developer
4 151 (9.47%) IT Support
5 114 (7.15%) Support Engineer
6 108 (6.77%) Support Analyst
7 86 (5.39%) IT Engineer
8 72 (4.51%) Lead
9 71 (4.45%) Systems Engineer
10 70 (4.39%) Software Engineer
11 69 (4.33%) Support Technician
12 68 (4.26%) Technical Support
13 55 (3.45%) IT Support Engineer
14 53 (3.32%) Architect
15 52 (3.26%) 2nd Line Support
16 49 (3.07%) IT Technician
17 48 (3.01%) Consultant
18 47 (2.95%) Technical Engineer
18 47 (2.95%) Technical Support Engineer
19 41 (2.57%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 116 (7.27%) .NET
2 83 (5.20%) Terraform
3 76 (4.76%) HTML
4 62 (3.89%) REST
5 56 (3.51%) CSS
6 52 (3.26%) ASP.NET
6 52 (3.26%) React
7 50 (3.13%) SOAP
8 35 (2.19%) ASP.NET Core
9 34 (2.13%) OAuth
10 30 (1.88%) AngularJS
11 29 (1.82%) JSON
11 29 (1.82%) RESTful
12 28 (1.76%) Vue
12 28 (1.76%) XML
13 26 (1.63%) ModSecurity
14 21 (1.32%) ASP.NET Web API
14 21 (1.32%) jQuery
15 20 (1.25%) LESS
16 19 (1.19%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 119 (7.46%) Driving Licence
2 106 (6.65%) Onboarding
3 79 (4.95%) Management Information System
4 77 (4.83%) Self-Motivation
5 64 (4.01%) Cloud Native
6 47 (2.95%) Product Ownership
7 37 (2.32%) Data Centre
8 29 (1.82%) Social Media
9 28 (1.76%) Distributed Systems
9 28 (1.76%) Enterprise Software
10 27 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
10 27 (1.69%) Robotics
11 26 (1.63%) Legacy Systems
12 19 (1.19%) Analogue Electronics
12 19 (1.19%) CCTV
13 18 (1.13%) EPoS
14 17 (1.07%) Mobile App
15 16 (1.00%) NHS
16 15 (0.94%) Renewable Energy
16 15 (0.94%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 258 (16.18%) Windows
2 110 (6.90%) Linux
3 91 (5.71%) Windows Server
4 24 (1.50%) Android
5 18 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
6 16 (1.00%) Mac OS
7 15 (0.94%) Apple iOS
8 14 (0.88%) Windows 10
9 12 (0.75%) Ubuntu
10 11 (0.69%) CentOS
10 11 (0.69%) Windows Server 2016
11 10 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 9 (0.56%) Debian
13 6 (0.38%) Windows Server 2012
14 4 (0.25%) Rocky
15 3 (0.19%) FreeRTOS
15 3 (0.19%) Gentoo
15 3 (0.19%) Unix
15 3 (0.19%) VMS
15 3 (0.19%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 343 (21.50%) Continuous Improvement
2 286 (17.93%) Customer Service
3 221 (13.86%) Agile
4 200 (12.54%) Decision-Making
5 167 (10.47%) CI/CD
6 165 (10.34%) Software Engineering
7 163 (10.22%) AI
7 163 (10.22%) Project Management
8 159 (9.97%) Project Delivery
8 159 (9.97%) Stakeholder Management
9 151 (9.47%) DevOps
10 149 (9.34%) ITIL
11 135 (8.46%) Mentoring
12 134 (8.40%) Validation
13 132 (8.28%) Cybersecurity
14 128 (8.03%) Collaborative Working
15 118 (7.40%) Computer Science
16 114 (7.15%) Analytics
17 111 (6.96%) Logistics
18 109 (6.83%) CRM
Programming Languages
1 223 (13.98%) SQL
2 206 (12.92%) Python
3 130 (8.15%) C#
4 111 (6.96%) JavaScript
5 94 (5.89%) PowerShell
6 63 (3.95%) TypeScript
7 59 (3.70%) C++
8 58 (3.64%) Java
9 31 (1.94%) Bash
10 29 (1.82%) C
11 20 (1.25%) PHP
12 19 (1.19%) T-SQL
13 18 (1.13%) Ruby
14 15 (0.94%) VB.NET
15 11 (0.69%) PL/SQL
15 11 (0.69%) Rust
16 9 (0.56%) Perl
17 8 (0.50%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 8 (0.50%) MATLAB
18 7 (0.44%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 312 (19.56%) Degree
2 170 (10.66%) Security Cleared
3 122 (7.65%) SC Cleared
4 103 (6.46%) DBS Check
5 63 (3.95%) Computer Science Degree
6 59 (3.70%) DV Cleared
7 55 (3.45%) BPSS Clearance
7 55 (3.45%) Microsoft Certification
8 49 (3.07%) Azure Certification
9 45 (2.82%) HNC
10 37 (2.32%) HND
11 32 (2.01%) CISSP
11 32 (2.01%) PMI Certification
12 27 (1.69%) CISM
13 26 (1.63%) Chartered Engineer
13 26 (1.63%) PMP
14 24 (1.50%) Master's Degree
15 22 (1.38%) A+ Certification
16 21 (1.32%) CompTIA Security+
17 20 (1.25%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 138 (8.65%) QA
2 59 (3.70%) GDPR
3 54 (3.39%) Data Quality
4 44 (2.76%) SLA
5 35 (2.19%) Accessibility
6 34 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 22 (1.38%) 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 (0.56%) GMP
13 9 (0.56%) 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 (8.46%) Active Directory
2 76 (4.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 68 (4.26%) Docker
4 58 (3.64%) Hyper-V
5 11 (0.69%) Firmware
6 9 (0.56%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (0.56%) 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 (4.83%) Kubernetes
2 51 (3.20%) Microsoft Intune
3 35 (2.19%) Ansible
4 24 (1.50%) SCCM
5 17 (1.07%) Single Sign-On
6 12 (0.75%) Grafana
6 12 (0.75%) Jamf Pro
7 9 (0.56%) 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%) CASB
13 2 (0.13%) Nessus
Vendors
1 478 (29.97%) Microsoft
2 87 (5.45%) VMware
3 70 (4.39%) Google
4 55 (3.45%) Oracle
5 38 (2.38%) Cisco
6 37 (2.32%) SAP
7 36 (2.26%) Fortinet
7 36 (2.26%) SonicWALL
8 34 (2.13%) Veeam
9 31 (1.94%) ServiceNow
10 26 (1.63%) Salesforce
11 22 (1.38%) Sage
12 17 (1.07%) Databricks
12 17 (1.07%) Palo Alto
13 16 (1.00%) Aruba
14 14 (0.88%) Apple
15 12 (0.75%) ForgeRock
15 12 (0.75%) Mentor Graphics
15 12 (0.75%) Okta
15 12 (0.75%) Splunk