Ukrainian Tech Talent Demand Q2 2023: JavaScript, C#, Devops, PHP

The Ukrainian Tech Segment’s Talent Demand moves in semi-mysterious ways. On the one hand, the talent demand trends often seem like they stay the same year over year. On the other hand, if you look closer and study the data, things are getting very interesting and totally unpredictable. 

Our previous article outlined Ukrainian Tech Segment’s talent demand for Java, Python, QA, Android, and iOS. This article breaks down the Ukrainian Tech Segment Talent Demand during Q2 2023 for DevOps, JavaScript, PHP, and C#.  

If you want to purchase the complete Q2 2023 Salary Survey – drop us a line.

Tech Talent Demand Q2 2023 Trends Explained

JavaScript

JavaScript talent demand is built upon the ceaseless everpresent need for Front-End and Back-End developers. Even though there is a significant slowdown in recruitment, there are still some job opportunities for JavaScript talent. 

The most prominent Q2 trend is that IoT niche talent demand is gaining momentum. For the most part, it is related to drones in some form.

JavaScript remains one of the more popular fields in the Ukrainian Tech Segment. This perpetuates the influx of new talent. 

• As a result, minimal salary levels for junior and middle talent are slowly decreasing while maximum levels stay the same. The difference from Q1 to Q2 2023 is 10%.
• With this trend going on, we should expect at least a 25% salary decrease by Q4 2023.
• Senior talent salary dynamics continue Q1 2023 with notable exceptions for the fintech niche and somewhat IoT. Maximum levels jump up and down 5%. However, there’s a minimal level of 10-15% decrease.

C#

Web application C# remains more or less within Q1 2023 direction. There is moderate demand, but finding a job can be challenging as there are only so many new projects starting. 

• An influx of junior talent significantly lowers the minimal salary levels. Q2 2023 saw a 10% decrease.
• At the same time, middle and senior ranges had widened. The minimal levels had decreased by 10-15%, while the maximum levels saw little growth. 
• In the case of fintech C# Full Stack, there was 5-10% growth for senior+ talent. But since the demand is significantly lower than before, that won’t develop into a trend any time soon.

Game development C# revolves around the Unity engine and its numerous tools. 

• Q2 2023 saw a growing number of projects from Poland and the Czech Republic hiring Ukrainian developers. 
• As a result, some salary growth is coming from the outside, while the internal market is stuck due to war.
• Middle-senior positions saw 10-15% salary growth from foreign projects. 
• High-skilled leads with managerial skills are in demand.

DevOps

DevOps talent demand is more or less everpresent in the Ukrainian Tech Segment. It is easy to see why – DevOps’ job is at the intersection of various processes. They make all things click and stay clicking in tune.

But there’s a catch. The thing is – the DevOps talent pool has been feeling the effects of talent shortage since 2020. While learning courses somewhat mitigate the talent shortage factor in the long-term perspective, companies need high-profile talent now. And they are unwilling to invest in talent growth into a high-profile specialist.

• Because of that, when the company needs a high-profile senior-senior+ DevOps to carry the load or lead the team – they will put in an effort to get the right person.
• However, while companies want to hire high-profile senior-senior+ DevOps, they can’t afford the same salary raises as before the war. For example, in late 2021, senior+ DevOps could’ve got a 50% raise on a new job. Currently, getting a 20% is a big luck.

As for juniors and middles, the talent demand is inconsistent.

• Startup companies tend to keep their teams concise, so there’s not much space for juniors.
• Outsourcing companies still hire juniors and middle en masse, but since the hiring scope had shrunk considerably during Q2 2023, it is not much either. They still hire a lot of juniors for cheap. This trend results in a gradual lowering of the junior minimal salaries. During Q2, the decrease trend was 10%.
• Fintech companies consistently hire middle and senior DevOps talent, especially with cybersecurity profiles. Fintech companies also have the highest salaries in the tech segment. The difference for DevOps across the board averages 15-20%.

PHP

Core PHP talent demand is within eCommerce and Fintech companies. Because of that and because of the relatively small and not very dynamic talent pool – the salaries for PHP talent avoided the overt shakiness that plagued Java and Python salaries.

The biggest challenge of the PHP talent pool is its slow-motion gradual swallowing.

• Not much new talent comes into the field. PHP is not the most popular subject in the learning courses.
• PHP talent is less active in the job search. Most high-profile specialists are either perfectly fine with their current employment or hesitant to change jobs due to market uncertainty and a lack of truly attractive offers.

As a result, hiring a PHP specialist can be a recruitment challenge.

• Candidate expectations-wise – senior talent is interested in job security and financial stability first and foremost.
• Junior and middle talent don’t want to commit to shaky cookie-cutter projects and want to challenge their expertise.

Salary-wise, fintech pays more than eCommerce.

• However, fintech companies don’t really have a demand volume and are mostly interested in senior-senior+ talent.
• Meanwhile, eCommerce pays less, but there are more projects in the niche, so there are more job opportunities for all experience levels.
• But it doesn’t mean that finding a job is easy because overall hiring volume is down during Q2 2023 and will stay that way for the foreseeable future.