A brief analysis of the IT market in Ukraine during the war

In this blog post, we would like to share with you a brief analysis of the state of the IT market in Ukraine and compare it with the beginning of the war and 150 days after. 

On the 24th of February, the war of Russia against Ukraine started. Everyone thought that Ukraine would fall in 3 days, but now we are standing for more than 3 months and will never surrender. As an active IT member of the Ukraine industry, we decided to sum up the reports about the IT market of Ukraine.

All the data are based on surveys and reports from trusted resources. In addition, we have conducted research among our own network of leaders of Ukrainian IT.

Three weeks after the war begins

The first surveys and reports from Djinni, Lviv IT Cluster, DOU, and Mediacentre after 3 weeks after the war showed: 

• 48% of companies reduced business activity.
• About 30% of projects were transferred to hold.
• In 50% was expected a loss of income in the first quarter.
• About 3% of IT specialists were drafted to the Ukrainian Armed Force or went to war as volunteers. 
• From 40% to 60% of IT specialists in Ukraine have relocated to the Western regions, particularly to Lviv from the East
• The number of vacancies have dropped to 40% of pre-war levels 
• In the first weeks after February 24th, the number of vacancies in the IT sector decreased by more than 40%

In fact, almost every IT company in Ukraine is involved in the assistance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to some degree.

100 days after the war

According to the reports from the following resources: Hromadske.ua, Djinni, ITUkraine and Mediacentre

• Vacancies rose to 70% of pre-war levels
• 50% of IT companies are expected to increase revenue in the second quarter
• In Lviv, the number of IT specialists has tripled from 30 000 to almost 60 000 specialists
• The IT community together with the Armed Forces launches innovative projects and actively helps the army financially
• The return of people to Ukraine has exceeded the outflow
• 52% of companies managed to save 100% of their contracts
• A mass exodus of companies from Russia and Belarus. Almost all IT companies declare that they have stopped cooperating with Russia.
• In the first quarter of 2022, Ukraine’s IT sector generated a record $2 billion in quarterly export earnings. In the first quarter of 2021, it was $1.44 billion. In fact, the volume of IT exports increased by 28% despite the war. 

A fresh July report from the IT cluster

At the end, of July Lviv IT cluster published a fresh report about the IT industry in Ukraine. The most notable numbers are:

• IT export forecast for 2022 is $ 8,5 bln
• 7000 IT specialists joined the armed forces
• 228000 IT specialists currently live in Ukraine
• between 50,000 and 57,000 IT professionals relocated abroad

Portrait of Ukrainian IT Specialists

Migration Attitudes

According to IT Research Resilience, 57% of respondents want to live in Ukraine.

Business activity resumption

According to IT Research Resilience, 85% of surveyed companies said that as of May, they managed to completely or almost completely resume business activity to pre-February 24 levels.

Also speaking to different Ukrainian IT companies it has been noted no massive conscription at the moment, and there are many volunteers who are helping the Ukrainian army. Most of our colleagues report a return to business activity of up to 80% of pre-war levels.

In general, the signals look promising. We believe in the rapid recovery and solid growth of the IT industry in Ukraine. In particular, in our company today we noted an improved attitude and productivity of teams than before the war, everyone is focused and feels more responsible for the result. 

If you consider helping Ukraine, you can route your software work to Ukrainian companies now – so engineers would have their regular income, pay tax, provide for their families and donate to the victory.