Since 2016, industry association Lviv IT Cluster has published an annual report on industry trends in this tech-friendly region of western Ukraine. This year, the research aims to reflect the key evolutions Ukrainian IT industry in wartime nationwide.
While more than 5,000 respondents were surveyed in the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Ternopil, Volyn, Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia regions, the sample included IT workers who had relocated to these areas of western Ukraine as a result of the exodus that was triggered by the Russian invasion.
The purpose of this research is to “comprehensively investigate the changes occurring in the tech industry of the western region of Ukraine after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and to analyze the transformation of the IT industry after the victory of Ukraine.”
Key findings:
- As of the end of 2021, there were about 285,000 IT professionals in Ukraine, with the main tech hubs being located in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odesa. As of May-June, between 50,000 and 57,000 IT professionals relocated abroad, while some 7,000 IT professionals joined the ranks of the the army or the territorial defense. Thus, there remains some 228,000 IT professionals in the country today.
- The median salary in the industry amounts (after Feb. 24) to $2,360. The average age of IT professionals is 31 years. 71% of them are male while 29% are female.
- 57% of respondents want to live in Ukraine, the most common emigration factors being the loss of housing or work. In the case of EU integration and liberalization of the economy — a positive scenario, — 78% of the respondents would remain in Ukraine, and 12%, i.e. approximately 27,000 people, would strive to move abroad.
- 85% of surveyed companies said that as of May, they managed to completely or almost completely resume business activity, reaching or exceeding to pre-Feb. 24 levels. 13% even report an increase in income in the range of 25-50%.
- The study forecasts $8.5 billion in IT export revenues this year.
The research was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the USAID Program “Competitive Economy of Ukraine,” and the Western NIS Enterprise Fund.
Click here to know more and download the study
