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

6 months to
4 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 7 3 4
Rank change year-on-year -4 +1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,361 1,535 2,823
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 8.85% 18.52% 15.81%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 12.30% 20.79% 19.41%
Number of salaries quoted 1,032 761 1,765
10th Percentile £26,525 £27,000 £25,750
25th Percentile £31,000 £31,250 £32,500
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 £61,500
90th Percentile £73,750 £83,750 £72,500
England median annual salary £47,500 £50,000 £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 11,062 7,384 14,544
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 71.94% 89.08% 81.47%
Number of salaries quoted 7,871 3,801 10,093
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,000 £37,500
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 £81,250 £78,750
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 4 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 4 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 -7 501 £43,000 -4.44% 255
Hampshire -2 323 £40,000 -5.88% 153
Berkshire -4 238 £45,000 -10.00% 111
Surrey -1 227 £42,500 +6.25% 101
Buckinghamshire -8 148 £45,500 +21.33% 86
Kent -5 139 £30,000 -4.76% 55
Oxfordshire -3 115 £36,250 -34.09% 63
East Sussex -4 89 £50,000 - 25
West Sussex -4 70 £50,000 +7.53% 30
Middlesex +4 6 £50,000 -18.37% 11
Isle of Wight -12 1 £42,500 -22.73%
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 (3.01%) SharePoint
2 34 (2.50%) Microsoft Exchange
3 19 (1.40%) CMS
4 17 (1.25%) Confluence
5 7 (0.51%) OpenEdge
6 5 (0.37%) WordPress
7 3 (0.22%) Anypoint
7 3 (0.22%) Apache
7 3 (0.22%) IIS
7 3 (0.22%) OpenStack
7 3 (0.22%) SAS
8 2 (0.15%) Gentran
8 2 (0.15%) Tomcat
9 1 (0.073%) govService
9 1 (0.073%) nginx
Applications
1 96 (7.05%) Microsoft Excel
2 87 (6.39%) Microsoft Office
3 10 (0.73%) Spreadsheet
4 9 (0.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (0.59%) MS Visio
6 5 (0.37%) Lightworks
6 5 (0.37%) Photoshop
7 4 (0.29%) Adobe Illustrator
8 3 (0.22%) Microsoft Project
8 3 (0.22%) Simulink
9 2 (0.15%) Chatbot
10 1 (0.073%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 12 (0.88%) NetSuite
2 8 (0.59%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.37%) Raiser’s Edge
4 4 (0.29%) Magento
4 4 (0.29%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.22%) Dynamics NAV
5 3 (0.22%) Infor SunSystems
5 3 (0.22%) Salesforce CRM
6 2 (0.15%) Shopify
7 1 (0.073%) Elite 3E
7 1 (0.073%) HFM
7 1 (0.073%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.073%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.073%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 323 (23.73%) Azure
2 160 (11.76%) Microsoft 365
3 135 (9.92%) AWS
4 80 (5.88%) Power Platform
5 60 (4.41%) SaaS
6 49 (3.60%) GCP
7 46 (3.38%) Azure DevOps
8 39 (2.87%) Entra ID
9 28 (2.06%) IaaS
10 27 (1.98%) PaaS
11 23 (1.69%) Serverless
12 21 (1.54%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 20 (1.47%) GitHub
14 19 (1.40%) Datadog
15 16 (1.18%) Dynamics 365
16 15 (1.10%) OpenShift
17 14 (1.03%) Google Workspace
17 14 (1.03%) Mimecast
18 13 (0.96%) Azure Data Factory
19 12 (0.88%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 113 (8.30%) Firewall
2 65 (4.78%) DNS
3 50 (3.67%) WAN
4 49 (3.60%) LAN
5 48 (3.53%) VPN
6 42 (3.09%) TCP/IP
7 40 (2.94%) Wireless
8 39 (2.87%) DHCP
9 35 (2.57%) Wi-Fi
10 23 (1.69%) VLAN
10 23 (1.69%) VoIP
11 21 (1.54%) Network Security
12 18 (1.32%) Broadband
13 13 (0.96%) Internet
14 12 (0.88%) HTTP
15 11 (0.81%) SSL
16 8 (0.59%) MQTT
17 7 (0.51%) Remote Desktop
18 6 (0.44%) WLAN
19 5 (0.37%) Hyperconnected
Database & Business Intelligence
1 92 (6.76%) SQL Server
2 68 (5.00%) Power BI
3 24 (1.76%) PostgreSQL
4 21 (1.54%) Relational Database
5 20 (1.47%) Data Warehouse
6 14 (1.03%) MySQL
6 14 (1.03%) NoSQL
6 14 (1.03%) OLTP
7 13 (0.96%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 12 (0.88%) SQL Server Reporting Services
9 11 (0.81%) Tableau
10 10 (0.73%) Power Query
11 9 (0.66%) Data Lake
12 7 (0.51%) Looker
13 6 (0.44%) Amazon RDS
13 6 (0.44%) Azure SQL Database
13 6 (0.44%) GIS
13 6 (0.44%) MongoDB
14 5 (0.37%) Elasticsearch
15 3 (0.22%) DynamoDB
Development Applications
1 64 (4.70%) Git
2 49 (3.60%) JIRA
3 31 (2.28%) GitLab
4 21 (1.54%) Rational DOORS
5 5 (0.37%) Selenium
6 4 (0.29%) Jenkins
7 3 (0.22%) Android Studio
7 3 (0.22%) PetaLinux
7 3 (0.22%) Postman
7 3 (0.22%) Visual Studio
8 2 (0.15%) Appium
8 2 (0.15%) Cypress.io
8 2 (0.15%) Eclipse
8 2 (0.15%) Eclipse RCP
8 2 (0.15%) JMeter
8 2 (0.15%) JUnit
8 2 (0.15%) PHPUnit
8 2 (0.15%) REST Assured
8 2 (0.15%) Subversion
8 2 (0.15%) Terragrunt
General
1 654 (48.05%) Social Skills
2 369 (27.11%) Analytical Skills
3 204 (14.99%) Finance
4 96 (7.05%) Organisational Skills
5 79 (5.80%) Manufacturing
6 58 (4.26%) Electronics
7 56 (4.11%) Retail
7 56 (4.11%) Telecoms
8 51 (3.75%) Marketing
9 47 (3.45%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 38 (2.79%) Aerospace
11 35 (2.57%) Law
12 33 (2.42%) Legal
13 31 (2.28%) Influencing Skills
14 29 (2.13%) Documentation Skills
15 26 (1.91%) Public Sector
16 24 (1.76%) Local Government
17 18 (1.32%) Military
18 16 (1.18%) Banking
19 15 (1.10%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 190 (13.96%) Analyst
2 150 (11.02%) IT Support
3 135 (9.92%) Senior
4 128 (9.40%) Developer
4 128 (9.40%) Support Engineer
5 93 (6.83%) IT Engineer
6 80 (5.88%) Support Analyst
7 69 (5.07%) Systems Engineer
8 65 (4.78%) Software Engineer
9 59 (4.34%) IT Support Engineer
9 59 (4.34%) Technical Support
10 55 (4.04%) Lead
10 55 (4.04%) Support Technician
11 50 (3.67%) 2nd Line Support
12 45 (3.31%) Technical Engineer
12 45 (3.31%) Technical Support Engineer
13 43 (3.16%) IT Technician
14 38 (2.79%) 1st Line Support
14 38 (2.79%) Architect
15 34 (2.50%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 80 (5.88%) .NET
2 58 (4.26%) HTML
3 47 (3.45%) SOAP
4 43 (3.16%) REST
5 37 (2.72%) CSS
6 35 (2.57%) JSON
7 33 (2.42%) XML
8 32 (2.35%) React
9 24 (1.76%) ASP.NET
10 20 (1.47%) RESTful
11 19 (1.40%) OAuth
12 18 (1.32%) ASP.NET Core
13 17 (1.25%) Middleware
13 17 (1.25%) Vue
14 16 (1.18%) ARM Templates
14 16 (1.18%) HTML5
14 16 (1.18%) RabbitMQ
15 14 (1.03%) AngularJS
15 14 (1.03%) CSS3
16 13 (0.96%) Sass
Miscellaneous
1 87 (6.39%) Driving Licence
2 70 (5.14%) Self-Motivation
3 66 (4.85%) Onboarding
4 61 (4.48%) Management Information System
5 51 (3.75%) Cloud Native
6 37 (2.72%) Product Ownership
7 31 (2.28%) Distributed Systems
8 25 (1.84%) Analytical Mindset
9 18 (1.32%) Robotics
10 17 (1.25%) NHS
10 17 (1.25%) Social Media
11 15 (1.10%) EPoS
11 15 (1.10%) Security Posture
12 14 (1.03%) Low-Code
13 13 (0.96%) Legacy Systems
14 12 (0.88%) Client/Server
14 12 (0.88%) Clustering
15 11 (0.81%) CCTV
15 11 (0.81%) Data Centre
15 11 (0.81%) Video Editing
Operating Systems
1 220 (16.16%) Windows
2 114 (8.38%) Linux
3 74 (5.44%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.54%) Mac OS
5 19 (1.40%) Android
5 19 (1.40%) CentOS
6 17 (1.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 16 (1.18%) Windows Server 2019
8 13 (0.96%) Ubuntu
9 10 (0.73%) Windows Server 2016
10 7 (0.51%) Debian
11 6 (0.44%) Apple iOS
12 5 (0.37%) Windows 10
13 4 (0.29%) VMS
14 3 (0.22%) FreeRTOS
14 3 (0.22%) Gentoo
14 3 (0.22%) Windows 7
15 2 (0.15%) Unix
15 2 (0.15%) Windows Server 2012
16 1 (0.073%) FreeBSD
Processes & Methodologies
1 261 (19.18%) Continuous Improvement
2 243 (17.85%) Customer Service
3 178 (13.08%) Agile
4 156 (11.46%) CI/CD
5 145 (10.65%) DevOps
6 144 (10.58%) Decision-Making
7 138 (10.14%) Software Engineering
8 129 (9.48%) AI
9 126 (9.26%) Project Management
10 123 (9.04%) Cybersecurity
11 115 (8.45%) Project Delivery
12 112 (8.23%) Mentoring
13 111 (8.16%) Collaborative Working
14 108 (7.94%) Computer Science
14 108 (7.94%) Stakeholder Management
15 106 (7.79%) ITIL
16 105 (7.71%) Analytics
17 95 (6.98%) Business Intelligence
18 90 (6.61%) Logistics
19 82 (6.02%) CRM
Programming Languages
1 219 (16.09%) Python
2 209 (15.36%) SQL
3 108 (7.94%) C#
4 95 (6.98%) PowerShell
5 88 (6.47%) JavaScript
6 55 (4.04%) C++
7 51 (3.75%) Java
8 41 (3.01%) TypeScript
9 33 (2.42%) C
10 32 (2.35%) Bash
11 25 (1.84%) PHP
12 15 (1.10%) PL/SQL
12 15 (1.10%) Rust
13 13 (0.96%) Ruby
14 11 (0.81%) T-SQL
15 10 (0.73%) Bicep
15 10 (0.73%) Perl
16 9 (0.66%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 7 (0.51%) MATLAB
18 6 (0.44%) Embedded C
Qualifications
1 251 (18.44%) Degree
2 94 (6.91%) Security Cleared
3 81 (5.95%) DBS Check
4 62 (4.56%) SC Cleared
5 53 (3.89%) Computer Science Degree
6 42 (3.09%) Microsoft Certification
7 37 (2.72%) BPSS Clearance
8 31 (2.28%) HNC
9 30 (2.20%) ACCA
10 29 (2.13%) CIMA
11 26 (1.91%) Chartered Engineer
12 22 (1.62%) Azure Certification
13 21 (1.54%) PMI Certification
14 20 (1.47%) PMP
15 19 (1.40%) A+ Certification
16 17 (1.25%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
17 16 (1.18%) Microsoft Certified Professional
18 15 (1.10%) Master's Degree
19 14 (1.03%) Cisco Certification
19 14 (1.03%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 106 (7.79%) QA
2 56 (4.11%) Data Quality
3 49 (3.60%) GDPR
4 39 (2.87%) SLA
5 29 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 23 (1.69%) Accessibility
7 22 (1.62%) PCI DSS
8 17 (1.25%) NIST
9 14 (1.03%) Good Clinical Practice
10 13 (0.96%) PMO
11 12 (0.88%) Cyber Essentials
12 8 (0.59%) SOC 2
13 5 (0.37%) 21 CFR Part 11
13 5 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 5 (0.37%) GLP
13 5 (0.37%) GMP
13 5 (0.37%) GxP
13 5 (0.37%) ISO 9001
14 4 (0.29%) Def Stans
14 4 (0.29%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 123 (9.04%) Active Directory
2 71 (5.22%) Docker
3 52 (3.82%) VMware Infrastructure
4 49 (3.60%) Hyper-V
5 10 (0.73%) KVM
6 7 (0.51%) vSphere
7 5 (0.37%) ClearTrust
7 5 (0.37%) Firmware
7 5 (0.37%) VMware ESXi
7 5 (0.37%) XenApp
8 4 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.29%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (0.22%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 2 (0.15%) VMware NSX
11 1 (0.073%) Embedded Firmware
11 1 (0.073%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 1 (0.073%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.073%) Squid
11 1 (0.073%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 77 (5.66%) Kubernetes
2 74 (5.44%) Terraform
3 39 (2.87%) Microsoft Intune
4 36 (2.65%) Ansible
5 18 (1.32%) SCCM
6 16 (1.18%) Grafana
7 13 (0.96%) Prometheus
8 12 (0.88%) Nagios
9 8 (0.59%) Podman
10 7 (0.51%) Failover Clustering
10 7 (0.51%) ZABBIX
11 5 (0.37%) Docker Swarm
11 5 (0.37%) Graylog
11 5 (0.37%) vCenter Server
12 4 (0.29%) Functional Safety
12 4 (0.29%) Jamf Pro
12 4 (0.29%) Puppet
13 2 (0.15%) Nessus
13 2 (0.15%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
14 1 (0.073%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 390 (28.66%) Microsoft
2 60 (4.41%) VMware
3 46 (3.38%) Google
4 39 (2.87%) Oracle
5 28 (2.06%) Cisco
6 26 (1.91%) Salesforce
7 24 (1.76%) Databricks
8 23 (1.69%) Veeam
9 22 (1.62%) Fortinet
10 18 (1.32%) Instagram
11 17 (1.25%) SonicWALL
11 17 (1.25%) Splunk
12 16 (1.18%) Aruba
12 16 (1.18%) ServiceNow
13 15 (1.10%) Red Hat
13 15 (1.10%) SAP
14 14 (1.03%) Sage
15 13 (0.96%) Dynatrace
16 12 (0.88%) Adobe
16 12 (0.88%) Palo Alto