The IT sector in Ukraine has always been and continues to be one of the most prominent and talent-rich in Europe. Despite large-scale Russian aggression, the Ukrainian IT sector has shown remarkable resilience and growth.
You might wonder: What factors contribute to Ukraine’s dynamic IT industry development? How have local developers adapted to the new realities, and what are the prospects for the Ukrainian IT sector’s future growth? We will cover these and other questions in the article, aiming to shine a light on the unwavering spirit of Ukrainian IT professionals amidst the challenges they face.
If you would like to hire top tech candidates at an affordable price but not through IT outsourcing to Ukraine, consider other models, such as a software R&D center that covers IT recruitment, an Employer of Record service, and operational functions.
So, now let’s get down to the topic!
Top Advantages of the Ukrainian IT Market
Resilient IT Industry
The tech industry in Ukraine is one of the country’s most resilient sectors. Despite volatility, the IT export volume reached $6.7 billion in 2023. Today, this industry contributes 4% to the national GDP, largely supporting the development of the Ukrainian economy. Such impressive results are largely attributed to Ukraine’s talented programmers. SkillValue ranks them among the world’s top 5 IT experts, based on the findings of over 550 technical evaluations covering all aspects of developing software solutions, mobile apps, and big data.
Sustainable Business Climate
Despite the political climate, international startups remain active in Ukraine. Kyiv and other Ukrainian IT centers have attracted and retained major international companies, including Google, Mastercard, Huawei, Deloitte, Oracle, Samsung, and IBM. They recognize the potential Ukraine offers and are eager to seize the opportunities it presents.
Prevailing Cost-Effectiveness
Hiring Ukrainian programmers costs around 3-4 times less than employing their US counterparts because of lower salaries and taxes. For example, the average base pay of a software engineer in Ukraine is $45,000, while in the USA, it exceeds $113,000 per year. At the same time, Senior DevOps specialists in Ukraine earn around $72,000 annually, whereas their counterparts in the US get around $175,000 a year. In other roles, the pattern repeats: a Ukrainian Business Analyst earns $28,000, while their US counterpart makes $98,000. Similarly, Project Managers in Ukraine get $24,000 compared to $123,000 in the US. Besides, during the war, businesses with a yearly income of up to $270 million and no limit on the number of workers got the right to use the simpler tax system of Group III at a rate of 2% instead of 5% before the war.
Expanding Talent Pool
The dynamic surge of Ukrainian IT is bolstered by the growing talent pool which now exceeds 307,000 IT professionals. 500 local higher educational institutions add to the workforce about 27,000 graduates annually. In fact, the most sought-after degrees among Ukrainian STEM students are Cybersecurity & AI and Computer Engineering & DevOps. Impressively, 92% of DevOps/SRE professionals either possess higher education degrees or are currently enrolled in university programs. Their rapid assimilation of cutting-edge tools and methods is a direct result of the constant buzz and pressure of competitiveness.
Robust Tech Skills
Ukrainian developers have an impressively broad tech stack, including popular technologies such as JavaScript, Java, C#, TypeScript, PHP, Kotlin, and Python. Interestingly, Python is also the most popular programming language among Ukrainian DevOps engineers — 62% use it as their main coding language. Go is second on the list, whereas Groovy ranks third.
Work Ethics
These IT professionals possess a Western work ethic and value system since they have long experience working in US and European tech companies. They also boast impeccable soft skills: problem-solving, creativity, dedication, and flexibility. Most Ukrainian devs are also good communicators and reliable team players. Plus, they can easily interact with foreign teammates and clients because they possess a high level of English proficiency. 88% of Ukrainian DevOps professionals possess at least an Intermediate level of English, while generally, they boast Upper-Intermediate and Advanced levels.
Visa-Free Travel
IT experts from Ukraine can visit Europe without a visa, making it easy for them to attend Western tech conferences and connect excitedly with their peers from around the globe.
How Can Ukrainian Programmers Keep Working?
The devastating war led to a massive exodus of over 2.5 million refugees from the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. Many software engineers deemed it necessary to relocate to more secure western regions. Despite numerous challenges, the IT sector showed remarkable adaptability, swiftly adjusting to the new environment.
It is still possible to recruit Ukrainian software developers at any moment, even amid the war. Life for developers carries on in Ukraine, as they keep on sustaining the national IT sector and economy, while making significant contributions to the Ukrainian armed forces.
In the Atlas on Europe’s technological expertise, one of the top American VC companies, Sequoia Capital, states the following about Ukraine:
- The Ukrainian IT sector continues to deliver great skills around the globe.
- 85% of developers maintain full-time employment either in Ukraine or abroad.
- 2% of Ukrainian IT enterprises have been forced to close down due to the war.
But how do Ukrainian programmers handle unstable Internet connections, blackouts, and the country’s overall situation? Let’s find out.
Relocation
Managers in the IT industry do all they can to ease their staff’s transition to a new location and culture. Overall, from 50,000 to 57,000 Ukrainian software developers relocated abroad. However, most developers just moved to safer places, like western Ukrainian regions.
Sustaining Electricity
Buying generators and alternative chargers was a common way for IT workers to deal with blackouts. 63% of the IT pros polled by DOU did this.
62% of employees worked in conventional offices, coworking spaces, and other facilities with electricity (including cafés, homes of friends and family, points of invincibility, and even gyms and petrol stations). The majority of IT workers, about 54%, shifted their schedules to include evening and weekend hours while it was still light out.
Internet Connection
30% of people have prevented Internet outages by changing providers, upgrading hardware, or using mobile Internet. Only 4% of respondents said they had already purchased or intended to purchase Starlinks. One in five people thought about relocating to a different dwelling, community, or even country. Only 11% of respondents reported ever delegating work to coworkers or pushing back deadlines, according to the DOU survey.
You Can Rely on Alcor BPO to Hire Software Developers in Ukraine
If you want to hire skilled software developers from Ukraine, Alcor BPO should be your next stop. It offers an all-in-one solution for launching your own R&D center in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Their 40 recruiters and experts can help you set up a tech R&D branch from 0 to 100 developers in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Ukraine.
Recently, Alcor helped Dotmatics, a US product company that develops scientific software. They hired a team of seasoned tech specialists, including DevOps, Director of Engineering, Full Stack, React, and other developers.
They can hire 5 seasoned devs in a month, 20 in a month, and 100 in a year. More so, if they happen not to meet the deadlines, they’ll hire the rest of the coders free of charge to their client.
Conclusion
Ukrainian developers have once again proved to be highly professional and skilled at tackling the war-inflicted implications in their daily lives, ensuring stable electricity, connection, and safety to the best of their ability. Coupled with the advantages of the resilient IT industry, sustainable business climate, growing talent pool, and overall cost-effectiveness, these skills and unparalleled tech expertise make Ukrainian coders reliable candidates for foreign tech companies.
