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

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +2 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,417 1,580 2,340
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 8.86% 18.43% 15.12%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.37% 20.86% 18.59%
Number of salaries quoted 1,069 790 1,473
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,000 £26,043
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,875 £33,474
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £42,500 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% -5.56% -12.37%
75th Percentile £58,750 £62,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £73,750 £82,500 £75,000
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 11,457 7,576 12,586
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.65% 88.38% 81.34%
Number of salaries quoted 8,172 4,018 8,573
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,750 £28,750
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £81,475 £80,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -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 23 July 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 23 July 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 -6 528 £43,000 -1.46% 215
Hampshire -2 346 £41,250 -8.33% 119
Surrey 0 244 £42,500 +1.80% 84
Berkshire -3 242 £45,000 - 96
Buckinghamshire -8 168 £42,500 +13.33% 70
Kent -7 133 £35,000 +11.11% 47
Oxfordshire -2 118 £41,982 -18.48% 52
East Sussex -4 85 £50,000 - 29
West Sussex -6 72 £50,000 +2.56% 24
Middlesex +7 6 £50,000 +33.33% 15
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 45 (3.18%) SharePoint
2 40 (2.82%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (1.34%) Confluence
4 18 (1.27%) CMS
5 7 (0.49%) OpenEdge
6 6 (0.42%) Apache
6 6 (0.42%) IIS
7 5 (0.35%) WordPress
8 4 (0.28%) nginx
9 3 (0.21%) Anypoint
9 3 (0.21%) OpenStack
9 3 (0.21%) SAS
10 2 (0.14%) Gentran
10 2 (0.14%) Tomcat
11 1 (0.071%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 102 (7.20%) Microsoft Excel
2 83 (5.86%) Microsoft Office
3 11 (0.78%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (0.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.56%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.35%) Lightworks
6 5 (0.35%) Photoshop
7 4 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
7 4 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
8 3 (0.21%) Simulink
9 2 (0.14%) AutoCAD
9 2 (0.14%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.071%) Revit
Business Applications
1 14 (0.99%) NetSuite
2 6 (0.42%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.42%) Magento
2 6 (0.42%) Raiser’s Edge
3 4 (0.28%) Shopify
4 3 (0.21%) Infor SunSystems
4 3 (0.21%) Salesforce CRM
5 2 (0.14%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.14%) Sage X3
6 1 (0.071%) Academy Housing
6 1 (0.071%) Dynamics NAV
6 1 (0.071%) Elite 3E
6 1 (0.071%) HFM
6 1 (0.071%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.071%) SAP GRC
6 1 (0.071%) SAP S/4HANA
6 1 (0.071%) Siebel CRM
Cloud Services
1 330 (23.29%) Azure
2 160 (11.29%) Microsoft 365
3 148 (10.44%) AWS
4 83 (5.86%) Power Platform
5 65 (4.59%) SaaS
6 49 (3.46%) GCP
7 46 (3.25%) Entra ID
8 44 (3.11%) Azure DevOps
9 29 (2.05%) Serverless
10 27 (1.91%) GitHub
11 24 (1.69%) IaaS
11 24 (1.69%) PaaS
12 19 (1.34%) Datadog
13 18 (1.27%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 18 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
14 16 (1.13%) GitHub Actions
15 15 (1.06%) Google Workspace
15 15 (1.06%) OpenShift
16 14 (0.99%) Amazon ECS
17 13 (0.92%) Azure Data Factory
Communications & Networking
1 123 (8.68%) Firewall
2 63 (4.45%) DNS
3 54 (3.81%) TCP/IP
4 52 (3.67%) VPN
5 49 (3.46%) LAN
5 49 (3.46%) WAN
6 39 (2.75%) DHCP
7 38 (2.68%) Wireless
8 37 (2.61%) Wi-Fi
9 29 (2.05%) VoIP
10 27 (1.91%) VLAN
11 21 (1.48%) Network Security
12 15 (1.06%) Broadband
13 13 (0.92%) Internet
13 13 (0.92%) SSL
14 10 (0.71%) HTTP
15 9 (0.64%) MQTT
16 7 (0.49%) LTE
16 7 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
17 6 (0.42%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 103 (7.27%) SQL Server
2 70 (4.94%) Power BI
3 26 (1.83%) Relational Database
4 25 (1.76%) PostgreSQL
5 20 (1.41%) NoSQL
6 19 (1.34%) MySQL
7 17 (1.20%) Data Warehouse
8 16 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 13 (0.92%) Tableau
10 12 (0.85%) OLTP
10 12 (0.85%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 10 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
11 10 (0.71%) Data Lake
12 7 (0.49%) DynamoDB
12 7 (0.49%) Looker
12 7 (0.49%) MongoDB
12 7 (0.49%) Power Query
13 6 (0.42%) GIS
14 5 (0.35%) Azure SQL Database
15 4 (0.28%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 66 (4.66%) Git
2 54 (3.81%) JIRA
3 30 (2.12%) GitLab
4 20 (1.41%) Rational DOORS
5 6 (0.42%) Selenium
6 5 (0.35%) Claude Code
6 5 (0.35%) Jenkins
7 4 (0.28%) Eclipse
7 4 (0.28%) Eclipse RCP
7 4 (0.28%) Postman
8 3 (0.21%) Android Studio
8 3 (0.21%) Oracle Forms
8 3 (0.21%) PetaLinux
8 3 (0.21%) PHPUnit
8 3 (0.21%) Team Foundation Server
8 3 (0.21%) Terragrunt
8 3 (0.21%) Visual Studio
9 2 (0.14%) Appium
9 2 (0.14%) Mocha
9 2 (0.14%) REST Assured
General
1 692 (48.84%) Social Skills
2 395 (27.88%) Analytical Skills
3 217 (15.31%) Finance
4 110 (7.76%) Organisational Skills
5 86 (6.07%) Manufacturing
6 66 (4.66%) Electronics
7 60 (4.23%) Telecoms
8 58 (4.09%) Retail
9 49 (3.46%) Marketing
10 48 (3.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 43 (3.03%) Aerospace
12 35 (2.47%) Law
12 35 (2.47%) Legal
13 33 (2.33%) Influencing Skills
14 32 (2.26%) Documentation Skills
15 25 (1.76%) Public Sector
16 23 (1.62%) Local Government
17 18 (1.27%) Military
18 17 (1.20%) Banking
19 14 (0.99%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 201 (14.18%) Analyst
2 151 (10.66%) Senior
3 147 (10.37%) IT Support
4 133 (9.39%) Developer
5 123 (8.68%) Support Engineer
6 91 (6.42%) IT Engineer
7 86 (6.07%) Support Analyst
8 68 (4.80%) Systems Engineer
9 66 (4.66%) Software Engineer
10 63 (4.45%) Lead
10 63 (4.45%) Technical Support
11 59 (4.16%) Support Technician
12 57 (4.02%) IT Support Engineer
13 54 (3.81%) 2nd Line Support
14 48 (3.39%) Technical Engineer
14 48 (3.39%) Technical Support Engineer
15 42 (2.96%) IT Technician
16 37 (2.61%) Architect
17 36 (2.54%) Senior Developer
18 35 (2.47%) IT Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 91 (6.42%) .NET
2 62 (4.38%) HTML
3 50 (3.53%) REST
4 47 (3.32%) SOAP
5 41 (2.89%) CSS
6 36 (2.54%) React
7 34 (2.40%) JSON
8 33 (2.33%) ASP.NET
9 30 (2.12%) XML
10 26 (1.83%) OAuth
11 24 (1.69%) ASP.NET Core
11 24 (1.69%) RESTful
12 20 (1.41%) Vue
13 19 (1.34%) AngularJS
14 17 (1.20%) RabbitMQ
15 16 (1.13%) ARM Templates
15 16 (1.13%) Middleware
16 15 (1.06%) jQuery
16 15 (1.06%) Kafka
17 14 (0.99%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 95 (6.70%) Driving Licence
2 75 (5.29%) Self-Motivation
3 72 (5.08%) Onboarding
4 66 (4.66%) Management Information System
5 54 (3.81%) Cloud Native
6 40 (2.82%) Product Ownership
7 31 (2.19%) Distributed Systems
8 27 (1.91%) Analytical Mindset
9 19 (1.34%) Robotics
9 19 (1.34%) Social Media
10 17 (1.20%) Data Centre
11 16 (1.13%) Legacy Systems
11 16 (1.13%) NHS
12 15 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
12 15 (1.06%) EPoS
12 15 (1.06%) Security Posture
13 13 (0.92%) CCTV
13 13 (0.92%) Clustering
13 13 (0.92%) Virtual Team
14 12 (0.85%) Analogue Electronics
Operating Systems
1 230 (16.23%) Windows
2 112 (7.90%) Linux
3 83 (5.86%) Windows Server
4 22 (1.55%) Mac OS
5 18 (1.27%) Android
6 16 (1.13%) CentOS
6 16 (1.13%) Windows Server 2019
7 14 (0.99%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 12 (0.85%) Ubuntu
9 9 (0.64%) Windows 10
9 9 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
10 8 (0.56%) Apple iOS
10 8 (0.56%) Debian
11 3 (0.21%) FreeRTOS
11 3 (0.21%) Gentoo
11 3 (0.21%) Unix
11 3 (0.21%) VMS
11 3 (0.21%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.14%) Windows Server 2012
13 1 (0.071%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 278 (19.62%) Continuous Improvement
2 247 (17.43%) Customer Service
3 186 (13.13%) Agile
4 166 (11.71%) CI/CD
5 156 (11.01%) Decision-Making
6 154 (10.87%) AI
7 151 (10.66%) DevOps
8 142 (10.02%) Software Engineering
9 140 (9.88%) Project Management
10 134 (9.46%) Project Delivery
11 129 (9.10%) ITIL
12 127 (8.96%) Cybersecurity
13 122 (8.61%) Stakeholder Management
14 120 (8.47%) Collaborative Working
15 116 (8.19%) Mentoring
16 110 (7.76%) Computer Science
17 107 (7.55%) Analytics
18 99 (6.99%) Business Intelligence
19 98 (6.92%) Logistics
20 90 (6.35%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 212 (14.96%) Python
1 212 (14.96%) SQL
2 111 (7.83%) C#
3 93 (6.56%) PowerShell
4 90 (6.35%) JavaScript
5 58 (4.09%) C++
6 57 (4.02%) Java
7 47 (3.32%) TypeScript
8 35 (2.47%) Bash
9 32 (2.26%) C
10 21 (1.48%) PHP
11 14 (0.99%) PL/SQL
12 13 (0.92%) Ruby
13 12 (0.85%) Rust
13 12 (0.85%) T-SQL
14 10 (0.71%) Perl
15 8 (0.56%) Bicep
15 8 (0.56%) VB.NET
16 7 (0.49%) MATLAB
17 6 (0.42%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 267 (18.84%) Degree
2 104 (7.34%) Security Cleared
3 91 (6.42%) DBS Check
4 74 (5.22%) SC Cleared
5 59 (4.16%) Computer Science Degree
6 48 (3.39%) Microsoft Certification
7 36 (2.54%) BPSS Clearance
8 34 (2.40%) HNC
9 28 (1.98%) ACCA
10 27 (1.91%) CIMA
11 26 (1.83%) Azure Certification
12 25 (1.76%) Chartered Engineer
13 24 (1.69%) PMI Certification
14 23 (1.62%) PMP
15 18 (1.27%) HND
15 18 (1.27%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
16 17 (1.20%) A+ Certification
16 17 (1.20%) Master's Degree
17 16 (1.13%) CompTIA Security+
18 15 (1.06%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 111 (7.83%) QA
2 54 (3.81%) Data Quality
3 45 (3.18%) GDPR
4 39 (2.75%) SLA
5 31 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 26 (1.83%) Accessibility
7 22 (1.55%) PCI DSS
8 17 (1.20%) Good Clinical Practice
8 17 (1.20%) NIST
9 14 (0.99%) Cyber Essentials
10 12 (0.85%) PMO
11 11 (0.78%) SOC 2
12 7 (0.49%) 21 CFR Part 11
12 7 (0.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 7 (0.49%) GLP
12 7 (0.49%) GMP
12 7 (0.49%) GxP
13 5 (0.35%) DO-254
13 5 (0.35%) ISO 9001
14 4 (0.28%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 117 (8.26%) Active Directory
2 73 (5.15%) Docker
3 59 (4.16%) VMware Infrastructure
4 49 (3.46%) Hyper-V
5 8 (0.56%) Firmware
5 8 (0.56%) vSphere
6 7 (0.49%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.42%) KVM
8 5 (0.35%) ClearTrust
8 5 (0.35%) XenApp
9 4 (0.28%) Squid
9 4 (0.28%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
10 3 (0.21%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 2 (0.14%) VMware NSX
12 1 (0.071%) Embedded Firmware
12 1 (0.071%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 1 (0.071%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.071%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 80 (5.65%) Terraform
2 77 (5.43%) Kubernetes
3 47 (3.32%) Microsoft Intune
4 36 (2.54%) Ansible
5 22 (1.55%) SCCM
6 16 (1.13%) Grafana
7 13 (0.92%) Prometheus
8 11 (0.78%) Nagios
9 8 (0.56%) Podman
10 7 (0.49%) Failover Clustering
10 7 (0.49%) ZABBIX
11 6 (0.42%) Jamf Pro
12 5 (0.35%) Docker Swarm
12 5 (0.35%) Graylog
12 5 (0.35%) Puppet
13 4 (0.28%) Functional Safety
13 4 (0.28%) Single Sign-On
13 4 (0.28%) vCenter Server
14 2 (0.14%) Nessus
14 2 (0.14%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
Vendors
1 404 (28.51%) Microsoft
2 66 (4.66%) VMware
3 50 (3.53%) Google
4 42 (2.96%) Oracle
5 34 (2.40%) Cisco
6 29 (2.05%) Fortinet
6 29 (2.05%) Salesforce
7 26 (1.83%) SonicWALL
8 24 (1.69%) Veeam
9 21 (1.48%) Databricks
10 19 (1.34%) ServiceNow
11 18 (1.27%) Instagram
11 18 (1.27%) Sage
12 17 (1.20%) SAP
13 16 (1.13%) Aruba
13 16 (1.13%) Splunk
14 15 (1.06%) Red Hat
15 14 (0.99%) Palo Alto
16 13 (0.92%) Dynatrace
17 11 (0.78%) Adobe