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

6 months to
8 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 6 3 5
Rank change year-on-year -3 +2 +1
Permanent jobs citing Problem-Solving 1,327 1,595 1,481
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 12.75% 17.47% 17.62%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 15.88% 19.88% 19.98%
Number of salaries quoted 871 725 765
10th Percentile £26,500 £28,850 £27,000
25th Percentile £30,875 £38,750 £34,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £42,500 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -19.05% +5.00% -9.09%
75th Percentile £60,000 £71,250 £63,750
90th Percentile £73,750 £85,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £45,203 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -17.81% - -

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 8,358 8,025 7,414
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 80.33% 87.90% 88.20%
Number of salaries quoted 4,950 3,884 5,148
10th Percentile £27,750 £33,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £34,828 £45,000 £39,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £58,000 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.79% +9.43% -3.64%
75th Percentile £65,000 £75,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £85,000 £80,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

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 8 January 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 8 January 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 -2 562 £44,000 -23.48% 383
Berkshire +5 375 £42,500 -37.04% 223
Hampshire +2 304 £38,500 -23.00% 141
Surrey -12 175 £40,000 -30.43% 97
Buckinghamshire -10 121 £52,500 -12.50% 86
Kent -12 120 £31,500 -21.25% 84
Oxfordshire -5 66 £35,854 -24.52% 74
West Sussex -2 62 £60,000 +26.32% 53
East Sussex +2 59 £55,000 +10.00% 54
Middlesex -15 21 £45,000 +34.33% 10
Isle of Wight +4 17 £41,500 - 31
Sussex -3 3 £35,000 - 11
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 47 (3.54%) SharePoint
2 41 (3.09%) Microsoft Exchange
3 25 (1.88%) IIS
4 12 (0.90%) Confluence
5 11 (0.83%) CMS
6 8 (0.60%) WordPress
7 4 (0.30%) Apache Airflow
7 4 (0.30%) SAS
8 3 (0.23%) govService
8 3 (0.23%) HCL Domino
8 3 (0.23%) HCL Notes
9 2 (0.15%) Anypoint
9 2 (0.15%) ArcGIS
9 2 (0.15%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.075%) Apache
10 1 (0.075%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.075%) nginx
10 1 (0.075%) OpenStack
Applications
1 152 (11.45%) Microsoft Excel
2 132 (9.95%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (1.43%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.13%) Spreadsheet
5 12 (0.90%) Photoshop
6 11 (0.83%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 9 (0.68%) Adobe Illustrator
7 9 (0.68%) Adobe Premiere
8 6 (0.45%) MS Visio
9 5 (0.38%) Adobe After Effects
10 3 (0.23%) Adobe XD
10 3 (0.23%) InDesign
10 3 (0.23%) Notion
11 2 (0.15%) Adobe Captivate
11 2 (0.15%) AutoCAD
11 2 (0.15%) Elementor
11 2 (0.15%) Microsoft Project
12 1 (0.075%) MicroStation
12 1 (0.075%) ProjectWise
12 1 (0.075%) Revit
Business Applications
1 75 (5.65%) SAP S/4HANA
2 18 (1.36%) NetSuite
3 13 (0.98%) SAP CO
4 12 (0.90%) Dynamics CRM
5 8 (0.60%) JDE EnterpriseOne
6 7 (0.53%) SAP FI
6 7 (0.53%) SAP FI/CO
7 6 (0.45%) Oracle Assets
7 6 (0.45%) Oracle Payables
7 6 (0.45%) Oracle Receivables
8 5 (0.38%) SAP Hybris
9 3 (0.23%) Sage X3
9 3 (0.23%) Salesforce CRM
9 3 (0.23%) Shopify
10 2 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
10 2 (0.15%) IBM Planning Analytics
10 2 (0.15%) Q-Pulse
10 2 (0.15%) Sage 200
11 1 (0.075%) Dynamics NAV
11 1 (0.075%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 279 (21.02%) Azure
2 164 (12.36%) Microsoft 365
3 129 (9.72%) Power Platform
4 84 (6.33%) AWS
5 81 (6.10%) SaaS
6 54 (4.07%) Azure DevOps
7 43 (3.24%) Entra ID
8 41 (3.09%) GCP
9 15 (1.13%) Collibra
10 14 (1.06%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 14 (1.06%) GitHub
10 14 (1.06%) PaaS
11 13 (0.98%) Figma
11 13 (0.98%) Google Workspace
11 13 (0.98%) IaaS
12 12 (0.90%) Azure Logic Apps
12 12 (0.90%) Power Automate
13 11 (0.83%) Azure Data Factory
14 9 (0.68%) Adobe Creative Cloud
14 9 (0.68%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 84 (6.33%) DNS
2 64 (4.82%) DHCP
3 63 (4.75%) Firewall
4 53 (3.99%) TCP/IP
5 45 (3.39%) VPN
6 35 (2.64%) VLAN
7 20 (1.51%) Wi-Fi
7 20 (1.51%) Wireless
8 18 (1.36%) SAN
9 13 (0.98%) WAN
10 10 (0.75%) LAN
10 10 (0.75%) VoIP
11 9 (0.68%) Intranet
11 9 (0.68%) PuTTY
11 9 (0.68%) SSH
12 6 (0.45%) Remote Desktop
13 5 (0.38%) Broadband
13 5 (0.38%) LTE
13 5 (0.38%) Network Security
14 4 (0.30%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 116 (8.74%) Power BI
2 66 (4.97%) Data Lake
3 63 (4.75%) SAP BW
4 58 (4.37%) Relational Database
5 42 (3.17%) SQL Server
6 18 (1.36%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 16 (1.21%) NoSQL
8 15 (1.13%) Data Warehouse
9 11 (0.83%) Tableau
10 10 (0.75%) Oracle Reports
11 9 (0.68%) OLTP
11 9 (0.68%) Power Query
12 8 (0.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 7 (0.53%) Big Data
13 7 (0.53%) MySQL
13 7 (0.53%) PostgreSQL
13 7 (0.53%) PowerPivot
14 6 (0.45%) Hadoop
15 5 (0.38%) Azure SQL Database
15 5 (0.38%) Data Mining
Development Applications
1 58 (4.37%) Git
2 42 (3.17%) JIRA
3 24 (1.81%) Selenium
4 15 (1.13%) Robot Framework
5 13 (0.98%) Snyk
6 8 (0.60%) Visual Studio
7 7 (0.53%) Jenkins
7 7 (0.53%) Rational DOORS
8 6 (0.45%) GitLab
9 5 (0.38%) WebDriver
10 4 (0.30%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.15%) LabVIEW
11 2 (0.15%) TestRail
12 1 (0.075%) Appium
12 1 (0.075%) Browser DevTools
12 1 (0.075%) Katalon Studio
12 1 (0.075%) MLflow
12 1 (0.075%) NUnit
12 1 (0.075%) Postman
12 1 (0.075%) REST Assured
General
1 802 (60.44%) Social Skills
2 334 (25.17%) Analytical Skills
3 293 (22.08%) Finance
4 137 (10.32%) Manufacturing
5 124 (9.34%) Marketing
6 80 (6.03%) Retail
7 70 (5.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 55 (4.14%) Organisational Skills
9 42 (3.17%) Electronics
10 39 (2.94%) Law
11 34 (2.56%) Telecoms
12 32 (2.41%) Legal
13 29 (2.19%) Public Sector
14 22 (1.66%) Documentation Skills
15 20 (1.51%) Influencing Skills
16 13 (0.98%) Automotive
16 13 (0.98%) Pharmaceutical
16 13 (0.98%) Presentation Skills
17 12 (0.90%) Advertising
18 9 (0.68%) Banking
Job Titles
1 288 (21.70%) Analyst
2 248 (18.69%) Senior
3 188 (14.17%) IT Support
4 140 (10.55%) Support Engineer
5 138 (10.40%) Lead
6 113 (8.52%) Support Analyst
7 98 (7.39%) Developer
8 93 (7.01%) Technical Support
9 75 (5.65%) IT Analyst
10 71 (5.35%) IT Support Analyst
11 66 (4.97%) Senior Analyst
12 57 (4.30%) SAP Analyst
13 48 (3.62%) 2nd Line Support
14 47 (3.54%) IT Engineer
14 47 (3.54%) Report Analyst
14 47 (3.54%) Senior Manager
15 44 (3.32%) Applications Support
16 42 (3.17%) Project Engineer
17 41 (3.09%) IT Support Engineer
17 41 (3.09%) Technical Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (4.07%) HTML
2 48 (3.62%) .NET
3 40 (3.01%) REST
4 39 (2.94%) React
5 38 (2.86%) CSS
5 38 (2.86%) SOAP
6 24 (1.81%) XML
7 22 (1.66%) Node.js
7 22 (1.66%) RESTful
8 19 (1.43%) .NET Framework
8 19 (1.43%) JSON
9 17 (1.28%) ASP.NET
10 13 (0.98%) Entity Framework
10 13 (0.98%) WinForms
11 11 (0.83%) EDI
11 11 (0.83%) Middleware
12 10 (0.75%) DCOM
13 9 (0.68%) Laravel
14 8 (0.60%) Web Services
15 7 (0.53%) OLE
Miscellaneous
1 128 (9.65%) Onboarding
2 68 (5.12%) Driving Licence
3 60 (4.52%) Self-Motivation
4 45 (3.39%) Analytical Mindset
5 41 (3.09%) Data Centre
6 40 (3.01%) Management Information System
7 26 (1.96%) Product Ownership
8 13 (0.98%) Social Media
9 12 (0.90%) Cloud Native
9 12 (0.90%) Low-Code
10 10 (0.75%) Security Operations Centre
10 10 (0.75%) Video Conferencing
11 9 (0.68%) Distributed Systems
11 9 (0.68%) Enterprise Software
12 8 (0.60%) Algorithms
12 8 (0.60%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (0.60%) Robotics
12 8 (0.60%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 7 (0.53%) FMCG
13 7 (0.53%) Life Science
Operating Systems
1 251 (18.91%) Windows
2 77 (5.80%) Windows Server
3 54 (4.07%) Linux
4 41 (3.09%) Windows 10
5 16 (1.21%) Windows Server 2012
6 15 (1.13%) Android
7 14 (1.06%) Mac OS
8 13 (0.98%) Windows Server 2019
9 9 (0.68%) Apple iOS
9 9 (0.68%) VMS
9 9 (0.68%) Windows 7
10 4 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 4 (0.30%) Windows Server 2016
11 3 (0.23%) CentOS
11 3 (0.23%) Unix
12 1 (0.075%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 243 (18.31%) Continuous Improvement
2 186 (14.02%) Analytics
3 183 (13.79%) Customer Service
4 171 (12.89%) Agile
5 150 (11.30%) ERP
6 139 (10.47%) Business Intelligence
7 136 (10.25%) Data Modelling
8 111 (8.36%) DevOps
9 103 (7.76%) Data Analysis
9 103 (7.76%) Project Management
10 100 (7.54%) SAP Implementation
10 100 (7.54%) Technical Leadership
11 97 (7.31%) Stakeholder Management
12 92 (6.93%) Logistics
13 91 (6.86%) Quality Management
14 89 (6.71%) Decision-Making
15 87 (6.56%) Mentoring
16 86 (6.48%) Cybersecurity
17 81 (6.10%) CI/CD
18 79 (5.95%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 233 (17.56%) SQL
2 115 (8.67%) Python
3 69 (5.20%) PowerShell
4 68 (5.12%) C#
5 63 (4.75%) JavaScript
6 32 (2.41%) Java
7 20 (1.51%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 20 (1.51%) PHP
8 18 (1.36%) T-SQL
9 14 (1.06%) VBA
10 11 (0.83%) PL/SQL
11 10 (0.75%) Kusto Query Language
11 10 (0.75%) TypeScript
12 9 (0.68%) DCL
12 9 (0.68%) Tcl
13 8 (0.60%) Bicep
13 8 (0.60%) R
14 7 (0.53%) Apex Code
14 7 (0.53%) C++
15 6 (0.45%) Bash
Qualifications
1 352 (26.53%) Degree
2 98 (7.39%) Security Cleared
3 46 (3.47%) SC Cleared
4 43 (3.24%) Computer Science Degree
5 30 (2.26%) ACCA
6 27 (2.03%) DV Cleared
7 26 (1.96%) Microsoft Certification
8 22 (1.66%) CIMA
8 22 (1.66%) DBS Check
9 21 (1.58%) BPSS Clearance
10 15 (1.13%) A+ Certification
10 15 (1.13%) Master's Degree
11 14 (1.06%) MCP
12 13 (0.98%) HNC
13 11 (0.83%) ISTQB
14 10 (0.75%) Cisco Certification
15 9 (0.68%) CCNA
15 9 (0.68%) Chartered Engineer
15 9 (0.68%) HND
16 8 (0.60%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 131 (9.87%) Data Quality
2 81 (6.10%) QA
3 42 (3.17%) GDPR
4 27 (2.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 25 (1.88%) Accessibility
6 23 (1.73%) SLA
7 17 (1.28%) Cyber Essentials
8 10 (0.75%) ISO 9001
9 6 (0.45%) Software Quality Assurance
10 5 (0.38%) Actionable Recommendations
10 5 (0.38%) ISO 13485
10 5 (0.38%) NIST
11 4 (0.30%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.15%) WCAG
14 1 (0.075%) ARP4754
14 1 (0.075%) ARP4761
14 1 (0.075%) DO-178B
14 1 (0.075%) DO-254
14 1 (0.075%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 148 (11.15%) Active Directory
2 40 (3.01%) Hyper-V
3 35 (2.64%) Docker
4 31 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure
5 13 (0.98%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.45%) Firmware
7 4 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.15%) KVM
8 2 (0.15%) RHEV
8 2 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.15%) Xen
9 1 (0.075%) Virtual Servers
9 1 (0.075%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 64 (4.82%) Microsoft Intune
2 43 (3.24%) Terraform
3 32 (2.41%) Kubernetes
4 25 (1.88%) Ansible
5 19 (1.43%) SCCM
6 17 (1.28%) vCenter Server
7 9 (0.68%) ZABBIX
8 7 (0.53%) Grafana
8 7 (0.53%) Prometheus
9 6 (0.45%) Nagios
10 4 (0.30%) Single Sign-On
11 3 (0.23%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.15%) Nessus
12 2 (0.15%) Proxmox
13 1 (0.075%) CASB
13 1 (0.075%) Dell DRAC
13 1 (0.075%) Kibana
13 1 (0.075%) Netcool
13 1 (0.075%) Netcool/OMNIbus
13 1 (0.075%) Puppet
Vendors
1 346 (26.07%) Microsoft
2 209 (15.75%) SAP
3 50 (3.77%) VMware
4 39 (2.94%) Oracle
5 37 (2.79%) Google
6 36 (2.71%) NEC
7 30 (2.26%) Adobe
7 30 (2.26%) Sage
7 30 (2.26%) Veeam
8 29 (2.19%) Databricks
9 27 (2.03%) Cisco
10 23 (1.73%) Salesforce
11 21 (1.58%) HubSpot
12 17 (1.28%) Meraki
12 17 (1.28%) ServiceNow
13 16 (1.21%) SolarWinds
14 13 (0.98%) 3PAR
14 13 (0.98%) Coverity
14 13 (0.98%) Workday
14 13 (0.98%) Xamarin