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

6 months to
16 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 9 4 4
Rank change year-on-year -5 0 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,188 1,191 2,570
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 9.66% 16.76% 17.87%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.73% 18.62% 20.91%
Number of salaries quoted 910 676 1,602
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,250 £25,775
25th Percentile £31,250 £35,000 £31,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £43,500 £50,967 £45,000
Median % change year-on-year -14.65% +13.26% -14.29%
75th Percentile £60,000 £70,000 £62,500
90th Percentile £75,250 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -18.18% +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 9,334 6,396 12,291
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 75.92% 90.02% 85.44%
Number of salaries quoted 5,901 3,315 9,094
10th Percentile £28,250 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £35,000 £41,938 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £56,430 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.39% +12.86% -9.09%
75th Percentile £65,000 £72,500 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 16 March 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 16 March 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 -1 437 £45,000 -19.29% 219
Hampshire 0 256 £38,000 -24.00% 130
Berkshire -1 222 £45,000 -30.77% 122
Surrey -11 198 £40,000 -27.27% 68
Buckinghamshire -5 146 £49,250 -14.35% 58
Kent -8 122 £29,500 -13.24% 47
East Sussex 0 87 £61,500 +23.00% 27
Oxfordshire -7 69 £34,000 -15.00% 42
West Sussex -1 55 £57,500 +21.05% 23
Middlesex -7 17 £47,500 -24.00% 11
Isle of Wight +5 12 £43,500 -20.91% 4
Sussex -16 1 £30,000 +5.26% 9
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 41 (3.45%) SharePoint
2 37 (3.11%) Microsoft Exchange
3 20 (1.68%) IIS
4 18 (1.52%) CMS
5 12 (1.01%) WordPress
6 9 (0.76%) Confluence
7 3 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
7 3 (0.25%) govService
7 3 (0.25%) SAS
8 2 (0.17%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.17%) Apache
9 1 (0.084%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.084%) ArcGIS
9 1 (0.084%) nginx
9 1 (0.084%) OpenStack
Applications
1 106 (8.92%) Microsoft Office
2 76 (6.40%) Microsoft Excel
3 18 (1.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (1.01%) Photoshop
5 10 (0.84%) Adobe Illustrator
6 8 (0.67%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 8 (0.67%) MS Visio
6 8 (0.67%) Spreadsheet
7 3 (0.25%) Adobe XD
7 3 (0.25%) InDesign
8 2 (0.17%) Adobe After Effects
8 2 (0.17%) Adobe Captivate
8 2 (0.17%) Adobe Premiere
8 2 (0.17%) Elementor
9 1 (0.084%) Acrobat
9 1 (0.084%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.084%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 9 (0.76%) NetSuite
1 9 (0.76%) SAP CO
2 8 (0.67%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.42%) SAP Hybris
3 5 (0.42%) SAP S/4HANA
4 4 (0.34%) Dynamics NAV
5 3 (0.25%) Sage X3
6 2 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
6 2 (0.17%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.17%) Magento
6 2 (0.17%) Q-Pulse
6 2 (0.17%) Sage 200
6 2 (0.17%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.084%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.084%) PeopleSoft HRMS
7 1 (0.084%) Raiser’s Edge
7 1 (0.084%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.084%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.084%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 227 (19.11%) Azure
2 150 (12.63%) Microsoft 365
3 84 (7.07%) Power Platform
4 83 (6.99%) AWS
5 67 (5.64%) Azure DevOps
6 61 (5.13%) SaaS
7 37 (3.11%) GCP
8 34 (2.86%) Entra ID
9 25 (2.10%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 23 (1.94%) PaaS
11 22 (1.85%) IaaS
12 20 (1.68%) Mimecast
13 19 (1.60%) Google Workspace
14 18 (1.52%) GitHub
15 17 (1.43%) Azure Logic Apps
16 16 (1.35%) Dynamics 365
16 16 (1.35%) Figma
17 12 (1.01%) Asana
17 12 (1.01%) Azure Data Factory
17 12 (1.01%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 81 (6.82%) DNS
2 68 (5.72%) Firewall
3 49 (4.12%) DHCP
4 39 (3.28%) TCP/IP
5 36 (3.03%) VPN
6 24 (2.02%) Wireless
7 19 (1.60%) VLAN
8 16 (1.35%) Broadband
8 16 (1.35%) WAN
9 13 (1.09%) LAN
10 11 (0.93%) Intranet
10 11 (0.93%) SAN
11 10 (0.84%) HTTP
12 9 (0.76%) Remote Desktop
12 9 (0.76%) VoIP
13 7 (0.59%) Wi-Fi
14 6 (0.51%) PuTTY
14 6 (0.51%) SSH
15 3 (0.25%) Unified Communications
16 2 (0.17%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 64 (5.39%) Power BI
2 42 (3.54%) SQL Server
3 35 (2.95%) Relational Database
4 21 (1.77%) Data Warehouse
5 18 (1.52%) Power Query
6 16 (1.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 15 (1.26%) OLTP
8 14 (1.18%) NoSQL
9 10 (0.84%) MySQL
9 10 (0.84%) Tableau
10 8 (0.67%) PostgreSQL
11 7 (0.59%) PowerPivot
12 6 (0.51%) Hadoop
13 5 (0.42%) Big Data
13 5 (0.42%) Data Lake
13 5 (0.42%) Data Mining
14 4 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
15 3 (0.25%) Elasticsearch
15 3 (0.25%) Metadata
15 3 (0.25%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 54 (4.55%) Git
2 38 (3.20%) JIRA
3 24 (2.02%) Selenium
4 23 (1.94%) GitLab
5 15 (1.26%) Robot Framework
6 13 (1.09%) Snyk
7 11 (0.93%) Rational DOORS
8 8 (0.67%) Visual Studio
9 7 (0.59%) Jenkins
10 4 (0.34%) Cypress.io
10 4 (0.34%) Postman
11 3 (0.25%) Appium
11 3 (0.25%) REST Assured
11 3 (0.25%) WebDriver
12 2 (0.17%) JMeter
12 2 (0.17%) LabVIEW
12 2 (0.17%) TestRail
13 1 (0.084%) Cucumber
13 1 (0.084%) NUnit
13 1 (0.084%) PHPUnit
General
1 614 (51.68%) Social Skills
2 334 (28.11%) Analytical Skills
3 188 (15.82%) Finance
4 75 (6.31%) Retail
5 74 (6.23%) Marketing
5 74 (6.23%) Organisational Skills
6 71 (5.98%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 61 (5.13%) Manufacturing
8 51 (4.29%) Telecoms
9 39 (3.28%) Electronics
10 35 (2.95%) Public Sector
11 34 (2.86%) Legal
12 31 (2.61%) Law
13 26 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
14 16 (1.35%) Presentation Skills
15 14 (1.18%) Influencing Skills
16 11 (0.93%) Banking
16 11 (0.93%) Pharmaceutical
17 8 (0.67%) Local Government
18 7 (0.59%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 185 (15.57%) IT Support
2 176 (14.81%) Analyst
3 173 (14.56%) Support Engineer
4 126 (10.61%) Senior
5 109 (9.18%) Developer
6 89 (7.49%) Support Analyst
7 79 (6.65%) IT Engineer
8 72 (6.06%) Technical Support
9 66 (5.56%) IT Support Engineer
10 59 (4.97%) 2nd Line Support
11 49 (4.12%) IT Analyst
11 49 (4.12%) Lead
11 49 (4.12%) Technical Engineer
11 49 (4.12%) Technical Support Engineer
12 48 (4.04%) IT Support Analyst
13 37 (3.11%) Software Engineer
14 36 (3.03%) Architect
15 33 (2.78%) IT Technician
15 33 (2.78%) Project Engineer
16 32 (2.69%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (5.05%) .NET
2 50 (4.21%) HTML
3 32 (2.69%) SOAP
4 28 (2.36%) React
5 27 (2.27%) REST
6 26 (2.19%) CSS
7 22 (1.85%) XML
8 19 (1.60%) .NET Framework
9 17 (1.43%) ASP.NET
9 17 (1.43%) JSON
10 15 (1.26%) Middleware
11 14 (1.18%) Laravel
12 13 (1.09%) Entity Framework
13 12 (1.01%) ARM Templates
13 12 (1.01%) Lightning Web Components
13 12 (1.01%) WinForms
14 11 (0.93%) OLE
14 11 (0.93%) Visualforce
15 9 (0.76%) Node.js
15 9 (0.76%) SAP CO-PA
Miscellaneous
1 96 (8.08%) Onboarding
2 87 (7.32%) Driving Licence
3 66 (5.56%) Self-Motivation
4 42 (3.54%) Management Information System
5 32 (2.69%) Product Ownership
6 23 (1.94%) Social Media
7 22 (1.85%) Analytical Mindset
8 21 (1.77%) Cloud Native
9 20 (1.68%) Distributed Systems
9 20 (1.68%) Low-Code
10 12 (1.01%) Enterprise Software
10 12 (1.01%) Video Editing
11 11 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
12 10 (0.84%) Security Operations Centre
12 10 (0.84%) Video Conferencing
13 9 (0.76%) Client/Server
13 9 (0.76%) IoT
13 9 (0.76%) Life Science
13 9 (0.76%) NHS
14 7 (0.59%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 227 (19.11%) Windows
2 84 (7.07%) Linux
3 69 (5.81%) Windows Server
4 25 (2.10%) Mac OS
5 23 (1.94%) Windows 10
6 17 (1.43%) Android
7 12 (1.01%) CentOS
7 12 (1.01%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 11 (0.93%) Windows Server 2012
9 8 (0.67%) Windows Server 2019
10 7 (0.59%) Apple iOS
11 6 (0.51%) Ubuntu
11 6 (0.51%) VMS
12 5 (0.42%) Windows Server 2016
13 4 (0.34%) Unix
14 1 (0.084%) FreeBSD
14 1 (0.084%) OpenBSD
14 1 (0.084%) Windows 7
14 1 (0.084%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 238 (20.03%) Continuous Improvement
2 205 (17.26%) Customer Service
3 162 (13.64%) Agile
4 132 (11.11%) DevOps
5 110 (9.26%) Analytics
6 104 (8.75%) CI/CD
7 97 (8.16%) Business Intelligence
8 95 (8.00%) Decision-Making
9 94 (7.91%) Project Management
10 92 (7.74%) Computer Science
11 88 (7.41%) Mentoring
12 77 (6.48%) AI
13 75 (6.31%) Cybersecurity
14 74 (6.23%) Stakeholder Management
15 70 (5.89%) CRM
16 69 (5.81%) Software Engineering
17 67 (5.64%) Collaborative Culture
18 65 (5.47%) Process Improvement
19 63 (5.30%) ITIL
19 63 (5.30%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 190 (15.99%) SQL
2 178 (14.98%) Python
3 76 (6.40%) PowerShell
4 75 (6.31%) C#
5 72 (6.06%) JavaScript
6 44 (3.70%) Java
7 27 (2.27%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 27 (2.27%) PHP
8 20 (1.68%) Bash
9 19 (1.60%) C++
10 18 (1.52%) PL/SQL
11 17 (1.43%) C
11 17 (1.43%) TypeScript
12 12 (1.01%) Apex Code
12 12 (1.01%) Bicep
12 12 (1.01%) T-SQL
13 10 (0.84%) Perl
14 9 (0.76%) Kusto Query Language
15 8 (0.67%) R
15 8 (0.67%) Rust
Qualifications
1 244 (20.54%) Degree
2 77 (6.48%) Security Cleared
3 51 (4.29%) Computer Science Degree
4 46 (3.87%) ACCA
5 38 (3.20%) CIMA
6 37 (3.11%) SC Cleared
7 33 (2.78%) DBS Check
8 30 (2.53%) Microsoft Certification
9 27 (2.27%) BPSS Clearance
10 22 (1.85%) HNC
11 21 (1.77%) DV Cleared
11 21 (1.77%) Microsoft Certified Professional
12 16 (1.35%) A+ Certification
13 12 (1.01%) Chartered Engineer
14 10 (0.84%) Master's Degree
15 9 (0.76%) HND
16 8 (0.67%) City & Guilds
16 8 (0.67%) ITIL Certification
16 8 (0.67%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 7 (0.59%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 69 (5.81%) QA
2 51 (4.29%) Data Quality
3 49 (4.12%) GDPR
4 24 (2.02%) SLA
5 22 (1.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 19 (1.60%) Accessibility
7 12 (1.01%) PCI DSS
8 10 (0.84%) NIST
9 5 (0.42%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
9 5 (0.42%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.34%) ITGC
11 3 (0.25%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.17%) GRC
13 1 (0.084%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.084%) IFRS
13 1 (0.084%) ISO 13485
13 1 (0.084%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 1 (0.084%) PMO
13 1 (0.084%) WCAG
System Software
1 151 (12.71%) Active Directory
2 37 (3.11%) Docker
2 37 (3.11%) Hyper-V
3 33 (2.78%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (0.76%) KVM
5 7 (0.59%) VMware ESXi
6 5 (0.42%) XenApp
7 4 (0.34%) Firmware
8 3 (0.25%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.084%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.084%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.084%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 55 (4.63%) Terraform
2 38 (3.20%) Microsoft Intune
3 36 (3.03%) Kubernetes
4 30 (2.53%) Ansible
5 17 (1.43%) SCCM
6 13 (1.09%) Grafana
6 13 (1.09%) Prometheus
7 11 (0.93%) vCenter Server
8 10 (0.84%) Nagios
8 10 (0.84%) ZABBIX
9 2 (0.17%) Nessus
9 2 (0.17%) Netcool
9 2 (0.17%) Netcool/OMNIbus
10 1 (0.084%) CASB
10 1 (0.084%) Control-M
10 1 (0.084%) Docker Swarm
10 1 (0.084%) FortiGate
10 1 (0.084%) Kibana
10 1 (0.084%) Oracle RMAN
10 1 (0.084%) Puppet
Vendors
1 324 (27.27%) Microsoft
2 45 (3.79%) VMware
3 40 (3.37%) Google
4 39 (3.28%) SAP
5 38 (3.20%) Databricks
5 38 (3.20%) Veeam
6 35 (2.95%) Adobe
7 34 (2.86%) Sage
8 29 (2.44%) Oracle
8 29 (2.44%) Salesforce
9 24 (2.02%) HubSpot
10 20 (1.68%) NEC
11 17 (1.43%) ServiceNow
12 14 (1.18%) Xamarin
13 13 (1.09%) Black Duck
13 13 (1.09%) Cisco
13 13 (1.09%) Coverity
13 13 (1.09%) Red Hat
13 13 (1.09%) SolarWinds
14 11 (0.93%) Dynatrace