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

6 months to
12 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 5 4 5
Rank change year-on-year -1 +1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,932 1,656 1,869
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 10.22% 18.55% 15.33%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 14.12% 21.04% 18.77%
Number of salaries quoted 1,337 895 827
10th Percentile £27,000 £26,500 £28,000
25th Percentile £31,000 £30,500 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £41,500 £40,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.75% -20.00% -
75th Percentile £55,000 £60,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £67,500 £75,000 £83,750
England median annual salary £46,000 £45,000 £53,000
% change year-on-year +2.22% -15.09% -3.64%

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 13,686 7,872 9,955
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 72.41% 88.19% 81.66%
Number of salaries quoted 9,725 4,263 5,216
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £32,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £32,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £47,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.79% -13.64% -
75th Percentile £70,000 £66,250 £70,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.32%

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 12 October 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 12 October 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 -1 733 £42,500 +8.28% 381
Hampshire -1 487 £39,500 -1.25% 227
Berkshire -2 334 £42,500 +3.66% 207
Surrey +1 292 £38,750 -3.13% 132
Kent -1 218 £40,000 +19.40% 41
Buckinghamshire -3 208 £42,500 +13.33% 87
Oxfordshire +4 191 £44,000 +3.53% 94
East Sussex 0 91 £50,000 +20.48% 28
West Sussex -8 84 £45,000 -10.89% 63
Middlesex +8 14 £35,000 -6.67% 1
Sussex -11 7 £65,000 +52.94% 12
Isle of Wight -7 3 £42,500 +3.66% 1
M4 Corridor - 1 - -
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 95 (4.92%) SharePoint
2 68 (3.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 17 (0.88%) IIS
4 15 (0.78%) Confluence
5 7 (0.36%) CMS
5 7 (0.36%) OpenEdge
6 6 (0.31%) Apache
7 5 (0.26%) nginx
7 5 (0.26%) WordPress
8 3 (0.16%) SAS
9 2 (0.10%) Oracle Workflow
9 2 (0.10%) Tomcat
10 1 (0.052%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.052%) ArchestrA
10 1 (0.052%) FactoryTalk
Applications
1 148 (7.66%) Microsoft Office
2 116 (6.00%) Microsoft Excel
3 22 (1.14%) AutoCAD
4 16 (0.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 16 (0.83%) Microsoft Project
5 12 (0.62%) Spreadsheet
6 11 (0.57%) MS Visio
7 9 (0.47%) Revit
7 9 (0.47%) Simulink
8 7 (0.36%) Lightworks
9 6 (0.31%) SOLIDWORKS
10 5 (0.26%) EPLAN
10 5 (0.26%) Mathematica
11 2 (0.10%) Chatbot
11 2 (0.10%) Mathcad
11 2 (0.10%) Photoshop
11 2 (0.10%) PTC Creo
11 2 (0.10%) Siemens NX
11 2 (0.10%) Solid Edge
12 1 (0.052%) CATIA
Business Applications
1 24 (1.24%) NetSuite
2 19 (0.98%) Shopify
3 15 (0.78%) Dynamics CRM
4 7 (0.36%) Primavera
5 6 (0.31%) Raiser’s Edge
6 4 (0.21%) Magento
7 3 (0.16%) FastStats
7 3 (0.16%) FastStats PeopleStage
7 3 (0.16%) Payment Gateway
7 3 (0.16%) Sage X3
7 3 (0.16%) SAP MDG
7 3 (0.16%) SAP MDG-M
8 2 (0.10%) Academy Housing
8 2 (0.10%) Eloqua
8 2 (0.10%) Oracle Applications
8 2 (0.10%) SAP SD
8 2 (0.10%) Siebel CRM
8 2 (0.10%) Workday HCM
9 1 (0.052%) Adobe Campaign
9 1 (0.052%) Oracle Receivables
Cloud Services
1 376 (19.46%) Azure
2 268 (13.87%) Microsoft 365
3 177 (9.16%) AWS
4 103 (5.33%) Power Platform
5 91 (4.71%) Entra ID
6 78 (4.04%) SaaS
7 51 (2.64%) GCP
8 42 (2.17%) Azure DevOps
9 35 (1.81%) GitHub
9 35 (1.81%) Google Workspace
10 30 (1.55%) Serverless
11 25 (1.29%) OneDrive
12 19 (0.98%) Anthropic Claude
13 15 (0.78%) Dynamics 365
14 14 (0.72%) Amazon ECS
14 14 (0.72%) AWS CloudFormation
14 14 (0.72%) Google Analytics
14 14 (0.72%) PaaS
15 13 (0.67%) GitHub Actions
15 13 (0.67%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 167 (8.64%) Firewall
2 94 (4.87%) DNS
3 78 (4.04%) VPN
4 71 (3.67%) DHCP
5 68 (3.52%) VLAN
6 62 (3.21%) TCP/IP
7 57 (2.95%) Wi-Fi
8 56 (2.90%) LAN
8 56 (2.90%) WAN
9 52 (2.69%) Wireless
10 39 (2.02%) Network Security
11 37 (1.92%) VoIP
12 18 (0.93%) SSL
13 14 (0.72%) Internet
14 13 (0.67%) 5G
15 12 (0.62%) MQTT
16 9 (0.47%) Ethernet
17 8 (0.41%) Broadband
17 8 (0.41%) HTTP
17 8 (0.41%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 123 (6.37%) SQL Server
2 84 (4.35%) Power BI
3 33 (1.71%) Relational Database
4 32 (1.66%) MySQL
5 29 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
6 26 (1.35%) NoSQL
7 14 (0.72%) Data Warehouse
8 12 (0.62%) GIS
8 12 (0.62%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 11 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
10 10 (0.52%) SQL Server Reporting Services
11 9 (0.47%) MongoDB
12 8 (0.41%) Tableau
13 7 (0.36%) Azure SQL Database
13 7 (0.36%) DynamoDB
13 7 (0.36%) Metadata
14 6 (0.31%) OLTP
14 6 (0.31%) Power Query
15 5 (0.26%) Electronic Patient Records
15 5 (0.26%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 64 (3.31%) Git
2 57 (2.95%) JIRA
3 17 (0.88%) Claude Code
3 17 (0.88%) Rational DOORS
4 15 (0.78%) GitLab
5 13 (0.67%) Oracle Forms
5 13 (0.67%) Team Foundation Server
6 6 (0.31%) Selenium
7 5 (0.26%) Eclipse
7 5 (0.26%) Eclipse RCP
7 5 (0.26%) Jenkins
7 5 (0.26%) Visual Studio
8 4 (0.21%) LabVIEW
8 4 (0.21%) PetaLinux
8 4 (0.21%) Postman
8 4 (0.21%) Terragrunt
9 3 (0.16%) Mocha
9 3 (0.16%) PHPUnit
9 3 (0.16%) SpecFlow
9 3 (0.16%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 1,008 (52.17%) Social Skills
2 504 (26.09%) Analytical Skills
3 299 (15.48%) Finance
4 228 (11.80%) Manufacturing
5 208 (10.77%) Organisational Skills
6 156 (8.07%) Aerospace
7 135 (6.99%) Electronics
8 110 (5.69%) Retail
9 70 (3.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 61 (3.16%) Influencing Skills
10 61 (3.16%) Marketing
11 56 (2.90%) Legal
12 52 (2.69%) Public Sector
13 45 (2.33%) Military
14 44 (2.28%) Telecoms
15 37 (1.92%) Law
16 30 (1.55%) Aviation
17 27 (1.40%) Presentation Skills
18 26 (1.35%) Documentation Skills
19 25 (1.29%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 257 (13.30%) Analyst
2 190 (9.83%) Senior
3 174 (9.01%) IT Support
4 162 (8.39%) Developer
5 145 (7.51%) Support Analyst
6 134 (6.94%) Support Engineer
7 93 (4.81%) IT Engineer
7 93 (4.81%) Lead
8 86 (4.45%) Technical Support
9 77 (3.99%) Support Technician
10 72 (3.73%) Systems Engineer
11 70 (3.62%) Software Engineer
12 67 (3.47%) IT Support Engineer
13 61 (3.16%) Technical Engineer
14 60 (3.11%) IT Analyst
15 59 (3.05%) Technical Support Engineer
16 56 (2.90%) 2nd Line Support
17 54 (2.80%) Consultant
17 54 (2.80%) IT Technician
18 50 (2.59%) Applications Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 121 (6.26%) .NET
2 74 (3.83%) Terraform
3 72 (3.73%) HTML
4 57 (2.95%) ASP.NET
5 55 (2.85%) CSS
5 55 (2.85%) REST
6 54 (2.80%) React
7 43 (2.23%) SOAP
8 37 (1.92%) ASP.NET Core
9 32 (1.66%) AngularJS
10 29 (1.50%) RESTful
10 29 (1.50%) Vue
11 27 (1.40%) ModSecurity
12 26 (1.35%) OAuth
12 26 (1.35%) XML
13 25 (1.29%) ASP.NET Web Forms
13 25 (1.29%) JSON
14 24 (1.24%) ASP.NET Web API
15 23 (1.19%) jQuery
16 21 (1.09%) LESS
Miscellaneous
1 169 (8.75%) Driving Licence
2 133 (6.88%) Onboarding
3 117 (6.06%) Management Information System
4 103 (5.33%) Self-Motivation
5 66 (3.42%) Cloud Native
6 52 (2.69%) Product Ownership
7 41 (2.12%) Data Centre
8 40 (2.07%) Robotics
9 33 (1.71%) Enterprise Software
10 32 (1.66%) Social Media
11 29 (1.50%) Analogue Electronics
12 27 (1.40%) CCTV
13 26 (1.35%) Legacy Systems
14 23 (1.19%) Analytical Mindset
15 21 (1.09%) Distributed Systems
16 19 (0.98%) Mobile App
16 19 (0.98%) Renewable Energy
17 17 (0.88%) IoT
18 16 (0.83%) Embedded Systems
19 15 (0.78%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 306 (15.84%) Windows
2 116 (6.00%) Windows Server
3 105 (5.43%) Linux
4 28 (1.45%) Android
5 26 (1.35%) Windows 10
6 22 (1.14%) macOS
7 19 (0.98%) Apple iOS
7 19 (0.98%) Windows Server 2019
8 12 (0.62%) Ubuntu
9 9 (0.47%) Windows Server 2016
10 8 (0.41%) Rocky
11 7 (0.36%) Windows Server 2012
12 6 (0.31%) Debian
13 5 (0.26%) CentOS
13 5 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 4 (0.21%) FreeRTOS
14 4 (0.21%) Windows 7
15 3 (0.16%) Gentoo
15 3 (0.16%) Unix
16 2 (0.10%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 459 (23.76%) Continuous Improvement
2 389 (20.13%) Customer Service
3 230 (11.90%) Agile
4 227 (11.75%) Stakeholder Management
5 221 (11.44%) Decision-Making
6 203 (10.51%) Project Management
7 199 (10.30%) AI
8 196 (10.14%) Project Delivery
9 180 (9.32%) Collaborative Working
10 166 (8.59%) ITIL
11 159 (8.23%) Software Engineering
12 154 (7.97%) CI/CD
13 153 (7.92%) Mentoring
14 152 (7.87%) Cybersecurity
15 149 (7.71%) CRM
16 147 (7.61%) Validation
17 130 (6.73%) DevOps
18 124 (6.42%) Technical Leadership
19 121 (6.26%) Process Improvement
20 120 (6.21%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 231 (11.96%) SQL
2 195 (10.09%) Python
3 139 (7.19%) C#
4 112 (5.80%) JavaScript
5 94 (4.87%) PowerShell
6 72 (3.73%) C++
7 67 (3.47%) TypeScript
8 57 (2.95%) Java
9 28 (1.45%) C
10 25 (1.29%) Bash
11 24 (1.24%) Ruby
12 23 (1.19%) T-SQL
13 21 (1.09%) MATLAB
14 18 (0.93%) VB.NET
15 17 (0.88%) PHP
16 12 (0.62%) Rust
17 11 (0.57%) Data Analysis Expressions
18 9 (0.47%) ABAP
18 9 (0.47%) PL/SQL
19 8 (0.41%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 387 (20.03%) Degree
2 215 (11.13%) Security Cleared
3 147 (7.61%) SC Cleared
4 121 (6.26%) DBS Check
5 69 (3.57%) HNC
6 65 (3.36%) Microsoft Certification
7 64 (3.31%) HND
8 60 (3.11%) Computer Science Degree
8 60 (3.11%) DV Cleared
9 59 (3.05%) Azure Certification
9 59 (3.05%) BPSS Clearance
10 32 (1.66%) CISSP
11 29 (1.50%) Chartered Engineer
11 29 (1.50%) Master's Degree
12 26 (1.35%) A+ Certification
12 26 (1.35%) AWS Certification
12 26 (1.35%) PMI Certification
13 25 (1.29%) CISM
14 22 (1.14%) CompTIA Security+
14 22 (1.14%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 141 (7.30%) QA
2 71 (3.67%) GDPR
3 49 (2.54%) Data Quality
4 47 (2.43%) Accessibility
4 47 (2.43%) SLA
5 40 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 23 (1.19%) NIST
7 22 (1.14%) DO-254
8 21 (1.09%) PMO
9 20 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials
10 18 (0.93%) Good Clinical Practice
11 15 (0.78%) ISO 9001
12 14 (0.72%) PCI DSS
13 12 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 9 (0.47%) 21 CFR Part 11
14 9 (0.47%) GMP
14 9 (0.47%) GxP
15 8 (0.41%) GLP
16 7 (0.36%) SOC 2
17 5 (0.26%) Def Stans
System Software
1 178 (9.21%) Active Directory
2 86 (4.45%) VMware Infrastructure
3 68 (3.52%) Hyper-V
4 58 (3.00%) Docker
5 22 (1.14%) Firmware
6 9 (0.47%) Virtual Desktop
6 9 (0.47%) VMware ESXi
7 8 (0.41%) Virtual Servers
8 7 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
8 7 (0.36%) vSphere
9 6 (0.31%) Embedded Firmware
10 5 (0.26%) ClearTrust
10 5 (0.26%) Squid
11 3 (0.16%) KVM
12 2 (0.10%) Microsoft Virtual Server
13 1 (0.052%) LXC
13 1 (0.052%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 72 (3.73%) Microsoft Intune
2 65 (3.36%) Kubernetes
3 29 (1.50%) Ansible
4 21 (1.09%) SCCM
5 17 (0.88%) Single Sign-On
6 16 (0.83%) Jamf Pro
7 11 (0.57%) Grafana
8 10 (0.52%) Prometheus
9 8 (0.41%) Failover Clustering
9 8 (0.41%) Nagios
9 8 (0.41%) Podman
10 6 (0.31%) Functional Safety
10 6 (0.31%) Graylog
11 5 (0.26%) BMC PATROL
11 5 (0.26%) Puppet
11 5 (0.26%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 4 (0.21%) Docker Swarm
13 2 (0.10%) CASB
13 2 (0.10%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
13 2 (0.10%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 595 (30.80%) Microsoft
2 104 (5.38%) VMware
3 83 (4.30%) Google
4 55 (2.85%) SAP
5 53 (2.74%) Oracle
6 45 (2.33%) Veeam
7 42 (2.17%) Fortinet
8 41 (2.12%) SonicWALL
9 40 (2.07%) Cisco
10 38 (1.97%) ServiceNow
11 31 (1.60%) Salesforce
12 22 (1.14%) Apple
12 22 (1.14%) Palo Alto
13 21 (1.09%) Thales
14 20 (1.04%) Sage
15 19 (0.98%) Mentor Graphics
16 17 (0.88%) WatchGuard
17 16 (0.83%) Aruba
18 15 (0.78%) CA Agile Central
18 15 (0.78%) EMC