War and code. What salaries are now in the Ityshniki and why in Ukraine they are no longer looking for

Against this background, the results of the IT industry, whose export revenue increased by 5. 8% to a record rate of $ 7. 3 billion, "Mobility and rapid adaptability to challenges, makes the technical industry an important support of Ukraine during the war and during the war and during the war and during the war. post -war recovery. But IT is not an omnipotent industry and also needs support and understanding of the state, " - comments Stepan Veselovsky, CEO of Lviv IT cluster.

It is unlikely that the IT sector in Ukraine remained a comfortable harbor, protected from the influence of a full-scale war. Since in peacetime, according to Stepan Veselovsky, the dynamics of IT export could be at least such as in 2021, when growth reached 38%. In the KPMG study, which was conducted at the end of 2021, a slightly more modest IT industry growth was predicted by 2022-by 20-25%. However, under the conditions of full -scale Russian invasion and 5. 8% look achievement.

"The War Solved by Russia influenced the industry. In the summer of 2022, we published the results of IT Research Resilience, which provided various scenarios of events: from optimistic with exports of $ 8. 5 billion to pessimistic at $ 7. 2-7 , 5 billion, unfortunately, the worst scenario was realized, "Veselovsky comments. In the first half of the year, the situation looked in the best light.

Obviously, then the IT export continued to grow largely by inertia, due to the accumulation of powerful potential. According to Yaroslav Lubinets, co-founder, chairman of the board of directors of SoftServe, IT industry increased in 2022 due to the capabilities that had laid a very successful previous year.

"This is clearly visible-during the first half of the year business indicators were better, the growth rate of the industry lasted at 20%, and since the end of the second quarter they went down, and today they look more modest,"-comments Lubinets.

Olga Shapoval, the executive director of the Kharkiv IT cluster, confirms that in the first half of 2022, the IT industry in Ukraine demonstrated a confident growth, but since October, a negative trend in the Ukrainian IT export has begun due to the complex of unresolved issues. However, not only domestic Ukrainian factors provoke cooling of the market.

"From the second half of the year, the challenges of the war had a decrease in the rate of global economy, which led to a more restrained placement of IT projections in Ukraine by foreign customers,"-says Stepan Mitish, Vice president, head of EPAM Ukraine. That is, according to the interlocutor of the focus, the results of the IT industry are influenced by two factors: the Russian war against Ukraine and global economic uncertainty.

Migration abroad several million Ukrainians had a negative impact on the Ukrainian economy and, in particular, the IT sector. Stepan Veselovsky, referring to the IT Research Resilience research, reports that after the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the beginning of the summer of 2022, 50 to 57 thousand IT industry workers left abroad, most of whom (64%) were women. That is, every fifth specialist in the industry.

According to the interlocutor of the focus, one of them has already returned, someone settled abroad and works from there. The military-owned ITIKO, locked in Ukraine, can at any time there can be a summons. And, according to the aforementioned study, at least 7 thousand IT professionals serve in the Armed Forces and TROs, and their number continues to grow. According to Olga Shapoval, about 7% of IT professionals serve in the Armed Forces.

The Focus interlocutor notes that the mobilization of one Senior Development or Timlid (the head of the development team) can pose a threat to the entire projected team or seriously delay the work on the project. "If a key specialist is mobilized, it is very difficult to replace it," Yaroslav Lubinets continues. "Moreover, clients who become aware of the mobilization of specialists engaged in their projects are much more cautious about new projects with Ukrainian teams.

" The booking of key employees from mobilization has to be resolved, as the company is critically important for the company now. However, Stepan Veselovsky notes that this procedure does not fully correspond to the specifics of the IT industry, since it does not apply to gig-contractors and FOPs, which make up 88% of Ukrainian IT professionals. That is, you can only book employees. In this context, there is also an unresolved issue of business trips abroad for conscripts.

According to Veselovsky, toplemeters of IT companies, which do not fall under the criteria of reservation, cannot travel outside Ukraine in business goals, whereas without personal contact to gain the confidence of foreign customers is much more difficult. It would seem that in a situation of outflow of personnel through migration and mobilization for young people and representatives of other professions who dream of a career in IT, there should be a window of opportunity.

However, competition for jobs in the sector, on the contrary, has increased significantly. "There is no personnel famine in the Ukrainian IT right now and the number of vacancies does not correspond to the number of candidates. In January 2023, 14 thousand proposals of employers claimed 69 thousand people," - said focus Stepan Veselovsky. Source: Vacans www. work.

ua Yaroslav Lubinets confirms that there is now stagnation on the IT-taunt market-there are no large number of vacancies, and those professionals who have completed the projects are not easy to find a new job. Stepan Mitish also does not see staff deficits as the volume of orders in the industry has decreased. In his company, for example, personnel needs are closed at the expense of their own reserve. "The offer in the talent market is not homogeneous.

The most [among the applicants] is now novice professionals or without the experience of developing and real projects," Olga Shapoval describes the situation. But, as the focus interlocutor notes, despite the fact that there are now more experts in the market than vacancies, the IT company continue to invest in the future.

In particular, Kharkiv IT Cluster, together with participants and partners in 2022, held more than 300 free educational activities for students, teachers, students and beginners. This suggests that market operators in the medium -term and long term are betting on growth restoration and care about the personnel reserve. "After the victory, Ukraine will receive an additional incentive in the form of recovery investments, and the situation with the global economy can improve.

This will allow the IT industry to return to sustainable growth, and therefore in the future there is a possible shortage of experienced IT professionals both in the domestic market and in the world ", - Stepan Mitish is convinced. However, Maxim Ozhyon, a governing partner of the OSOBA consulting company, notes that since the beginning of 2023 the number of vacancies has grown by about 20-25% from a month.

"We have predominantly higher management jobs and middle -level management [in the IT sector], after which the employer usually plans to extend the teams and already has budgets. So the number of vacancies will grow," the focus interlocutor predicts. However, the expert notes that in general the level of salaries in vacancies has not yet reached the dollar equivalent of 2021, and candidates prefer product companies outsourcing. According to a winter survey of Dou.

ua profile resource, the average salary of the developer is $ 3 400 (125 550 UAH) a month and has not changed over the last half of the year. Even before the full -scale invasion of the media, Western customers began to hire Ukrainian developers as the media. "In general, customers are understanding with the problems of Ukrainian companies. At the same time, clients, especially large ones, who have a system of work with risks, are mostly unable to cooperate with Ukraine.

Since cases of power outage, mobilization They are reduced with war, reduce tolerance to the risk of work in Ukraine, " - comments the situation Yaroslav Lubinets. According to Olga Shapoval, difficulties with booking and abroad to clients, lack of actions aimed at preserving the tax residency for Ukrainians abroad at the interstate level and cancellation new ones. According to Stepan Veselov's mood of foreign customers will reduce the volume of IT exports in the I-II quarters of 2023.

After all, according to the interlocutor of the focus, foreign clients cannot immediately stop cooperation with Ukrainian companies, since the contracts prescribe the timing of termination, and if some of them made the decision to withdraw from the Ukrainian market, it will only become noticeable in the spring. IT companies have to make a lot of efforts to overcome prejudice.

According to Yaroslav Lubinets, it is important to continue to provide the client with quality and convenient service and fulfill all contractual conditions. But for more difficult cases, according to the interlocutor of the focus, the decision is the full or partial placement of projects outside Ukraine and the availability of additional infrastructure, which can be insured in the case of unforeseen circumstances.

By the way, even under the conditions of Russian energy terrorism, IT companies managed to ensure stable work and perform contractual obligations. "The Ukrainian IT industry has coped well with this challenge-most companies have equipped their offices with additional communication channels, uninterrupted power, industrial generators, improved office infrastructure. That is, energy crisis did not become the biggest problem for business Yaroslav Lubinets.

For example, EPAM Ukraine, according to Stepan Mitish, focused on the technical equipment of offices in case of long-lasting blackouts-purchased generators, Starlink, conducted alternative Internet networks, made fuel supplies for generators, organized everything you needed to stand for offices. employees.

According to the focus interlocutor, from November to January, experts actively used offices during light shutdowns in their homes, and in February, as the power supply stabilizes, they began to work more often from home. Stepan Veselovsky believes that the lack of stable energy supply can affect the profitability of IT companies, because they were forced to invest considerable funds in the autonomy of their offices.

It is worth mentioning that on the eve of a full-scale war in Ukraine the legal and tax stimulation for IT companies "City Action" was launched. Despite the war, the initiative has found a response, and the number of City Acts Residents as of the end of February 2023 already has 484 companies, as evidenced by the data of the relevant register. Focus interlocutors evaluate this initiative positively.

"For the success of such initiatives, it is important to comply with the rules of the game by all parties, and the state fulfills its obligations. If so, the" action of City "will bring a lot of benefits to the country. Against the backdrop of a decline in Ukraine's business in war," City action "It will help attract new players and resources to the industry," Yaroslav Lubinets notes.

According to Stepan Mitish, a full -scale war influenced the development of this project, as a number of companies have postponed the accession to the special regime. That is, in peacetime, the number of residents of City could be greater. However, Mitish emphasizes that City's action adapts to the realities of wartime and offers new benefits for residents, such as the possibility of booking from mobilization of critical specialists for business.

Thanks to this, the number of those who want to join the City Action mode can increase. For the IT sector, 2023 promises to become difficult, and not only because of the war in Ukraine. "The global IT industry is fighting the challenges related to the fears of economic recession and watching long-term investments in the overheated perspective," says focus Yaroslav Lubinets.

"The Ukrainian IT industry is added to the war factor, and I believe that even a little growth In 2023 it will be a good result. " Stepan Mitish adds that the main challenges of 2023 are inherited from 2022, because the safety of teams and the likelihood of escalation of hostilities remain relevant.

At the same time, the interlocutor of the focus also mentions global challenges-increased geopolitical tension, inflation, increasing the discount rate of the Central Bank and, as a result, a significant reduction in international business activity, which has already begun to influence the IT industry.

Stepan Veselovsky warns that if Ukraine is not answered in Ukraine, such as staff reservations and business trips, 2023 can be the first year during Ukraine's independence, when IT exports will not show growth. Yaroslav Lubinets notes that thanks to the potential of rapid growth and the receipt of foreign exchange earnings, IT is gaining more importance to the country today than ever.