The beginning of a full-scale russian invasion made adjustments to all aspects of Ukrainian life. Many things were postponed until the end of the war.
Before the war, the Ukrainian IT segment was one of the most active parts of the country’s economy. We just finished market research on the state of Ukrainian IT and its salary levels in 2021.

One of the things we were especially interested in was motivation – what drives Ukrainian specialists to work, to achieve new heights, to stay in the current job, or look for another one. Then the war broke out and it took us some time to adjust.

Our research covers the January 2022 period, so in a way, it becomes a fascinating look at what was on the Ukrainian IT specialists’ minds right before the war. Because of that, we think it is important to share our insights with you as a sort of historical document.

Talando Ukrainian IT Specialist Motivation Study January 2022

Job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors

Why bother studying the job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors? Let’s explain why it matters:

• Internal need – creating productive work conditions that will drive employees to achieve more and get better results.
  • Understanding what satisfies employees helps to assess the effectiveness of work processes within departments and to identify potential growth areas.
  • This aspect helps to deepen and diversify the company’s motivational system.
  • As a result, the motivational system provides a cause-and-effect relationship to workflows and plans and transforms them from a “norm” to a barrier to achieving more.
  • As a result, an employee experiences positive changes as a result of his work. Which gives him a reason to be more proactive. The company makes an employee more valuable for its own good.
• External need – strengthening the company’s reputation as a trustworthy and responsible employer. There are two target audience segments it aims at. 
  • Company employees – the company listens to its employees and provides them with a proper work environment.
  • Potential employees (candidates) – company is interested in creating a mutually beneficial relationship with employees.

1. Job Satisfaction Factors

The challenge of researching positive motivation is that it is usually not the focus of motivation research. There are a lot of studies of negative factors. This downplays the importance of positive factors against negative ones.

Because of this, employees often do not understand what satisfies them at work, instead of focusing on what is unsatisfactory.

• Work/life balance was the most common response among technical, managerial, recruitment, sales, and marketing positions. It is one of the factors frequently mentioned by candidates during interviews. Most of the responses come from Senior, Lead, and С-level specialists. 
• Financial compensation is another popular response. ЦInterestingly, even as IT specialists’ salaries rise, financial compensation remains a key issue. However, the pandemic has shifted priorities towards balancing work and personal life, workplace challenges, and relationships with colleagues. The majority of respondents fell into the 26-35 age group, encompassing Middle, Senior, and Lead professional levels.
  
• The response “relationships with colleagues” was more common among the age groups 16-25 and 26-35. Meanwhile, this response was almost non-existent in the 36-45 age group and was not found in the 45-55 age group. The majority of respondents are at a professional level of Middle. Interestingly, these respondents mostly work in companies with “up to 50 employees” or “50-100 employees.”
• The response “relationships with management” mainly came from respondents with humanities backgrounds (recruiting and HR) and marketing, and almost never from technical fields.
• “Technical challenges at work” were predominantly chosen by more experienced specialists at Middle, Senior, and Lead levels. Interestingly, such specialists have been at their current job for a considerable time – from 2 to 5 years. Notably, this response was not found among respondents at the Junior level.
• The responses “sense of achievement” (6.14%) and “recognition of achievements” (6.19%) had nearly the same number of answers. However, “sense of achievement” is more common among the 26-35 and 35-45 age groups, primarily at the Senior and Lead levels. On the other hand, “recognition of achievements” is prevalent in the 16-25 age group at the Junior and Middle levels.
• The small number of responses for “career advancement” is due to the specifics of the Ukrainian IT job market. On one hand, this factor interests candidates, especially those seeking long-term employment, but on the other hand, it is almost never the main factor in job satisfaction.

2. Job Dissatisfaction Factors

Research into motivational factors is incomplete without considering the flip side: demotivation.

What is the value of studying demotivating factors?

Understanding the negative aspects of working in a company is a crucial part of systematically addressing errors. Having a well-developed map of these factors greatly simplifies response measures and lays the groundwork for prevention. Ultimately, an employee’s specific problems often reflect an organization’s shortcomings, prompting a closer examination of related processes and necessary adjustments.

In discussions of demotivation, these factors receive more attention and elicit a more active response from employees across various companies. However, focusing solely on negative aspects can narrow the understanding of the complexities of company processes and the factors driving them.

• A toxic culture emerged as the most significant issue among respondents. Interestingly, across professional levels – from junior to senior and lead specialists – responses were almost evenly distributed. The problem of toxicity is widespread in the IT sector but remains under-researched. This lack of discourse limits the IT community’s understanding of the issue.
• Poor work-life balance showed a similar distribution pattern, particularly among senior, lead, and C-level professionals. Notably, a higher percentage of C-level employees expressed dissatisfaction with work-life balance than with job satisfaction.
• Disorganization emerged as the biggest demotivation factor at 32.92%. This encompasses several responses:
  • 11.35% cited excessive workload, particularly in outsourcing companies, while startup employees were least likely to choose this option.
  • 9.38% identified micromanagement, often mentioned in the context of toxic culture, especially by mid to senior-level employees.
  • 7.52% pointed to unstructured work processes, mostly in product companies (Ukrainian or of Ukrainian origin) with fewer than 50 employees.
  • 4.67% complained about chaotic task distribution, a common issue in outsourcing companies and startups.
• “Lack of career advancement” and “lack of recognition” garnered roughly equal responses but from different groups. Career advancement concerns were primarily from junior marketing, recruiting, and HR professionals. Lack of recognition was most mentioned by mid-level technical specialists (front-end, back-end, etc.).
• Interestingly, “lack of feedback” received few responses. However, during interviews, junior and mid-level technical specialists often cite the absence of feedback within a toxic culture as a basis for seeking new employment.

To Stay or to Leave?

Understanding the factors that influence employee retention is crucial for focusing on the motivational system within a company.

It’s important to distinguish these from job satisfaction factors:

• Job satisfaction/dissatisfaction factors consider the job as a process.
  In contrast, retention factors (or reasons to seek other employment) consider the consequences of the job.

What factors influence the decision to stay at the current job?

• Salary remains the most influential retention factor. This is due to the increasing demand for technical specialists. This growth compels companies to review and promptly raise salaries to competitive levels. The respondents represented a broad spectrum of backgrounds.
  It’s noteworthy that none of the respondents chose salary as both a job satisfaction and a retention factor.
  However, a common combination was work-life balance as a job satisfaction factor and salary as a restraining factor.
  There’s also a segment of respondents who chose “better compensation/benefits”. These are mostly senior-level technical specialists and above, who selected work-life balance as their main job satisfaction factor.
• Career advancement was the second most common response. Interestingly, this was mostly chosen by mid-to-senior level technical specialists. Almost the same segment cited “work challenges” as their main motivational factor.
  Additionally, a small segment of mid, senior, and lead level technical specialists chose work challenges as their main motivator and primary reason to stay at the job.
• Work-life balance as a retention factor was predominantly chosen by professionals in recruiting and HR. There were also individual responses from C-level respondents.
  Interestingly, the survey found almost no respondents who chose work-life balance as both a job satisfaction and a retention factor at their current job.
• The response “interesting projects” was a combination of mid-level respondents from outsourcing companies and startups. In contrast, respondents from product companies cited “work challenges” as a restraining factor.
• Formal employment as a motivation to stay at the current job received the least responses, primarily from junior technical specialists.

What Factors Drive You to Seek New Employment?

• “Salary” emerges as a predominant motivation for seeking new employment. This response is consistently observed among respondents across all qualification levels and types of companies, except in startups.
• “Work-life balance” is predominantly chosen by technical specialists at the Senior-Lead level, as well as by HR professionals, recruiters, and marketers.
• In contrast, “career opportunities” are primarily selected by mid-level specialists from technical fields, and HR, but not recruiting.
• Interestingly, “performance bonuses” as a factor for changing jobs were the least frequently chosen response. Respondents selecting this were mainly C-level executives from startups and product companies.
• “The employer’s brand” also gathered a minimal number of responses, primarily from employees in HR and recruiting. What does this imply? Although the topic of employer branding is extensively covered in the Ukrainian IT segment, it seems to resonate less at the IT specialist level.
• There’s an intriguing pattern in the responses for “team.” Respondents who chose “work challenges” as a reason to stay also picked “team” as a reason to seek new employment, with the majority being middle to senior-lead developers.
• Another combination was observed in “salary” as a reason to stay and “stability” as a reason to seek new employment. Interestingly, most respondents in this category were from humanities backgrounds (HR, recruiting, marketing).
• “The opportunity for learning” was mainly chosen by junior to mid-level specialists from outsourcing companies. Notably, there were no responses from senior-level representatives or those from product companies.

What Influences the Decision to Change Jobs?

In addition to exploring motivational and demotivational factors, we also delved into the elements influencing job change decisions. This involves various competitive aspects that companies seeking specialists can include in their offers.

Impact of Salary Increase on Job Change Decisions:

• Increase of 20% or more – 30%
• Increase of 50% or more – 68%
• Increase of 100% or more – 46%
• Increase of 200% or more – 32%

This question delineates the threshold at which potential salary increases begin to intrigue specialists.

• The “20% or more” increase is common among technical professionals at the senior and lead level, particularly in product companies. Interestingly, it also includes junior and middle-level professionals in humanities (HR, recruiting, marketing).
• For a “50% or more” increase, it’s prevalent among junior, middle, and senior specialists from outsourcing and product companies, as well as startups. Notably, a significant percentage of C-level respondents from outsourcing and startups, but not product companies, selected this option. More than half of these respondents also prioritized work-life balance as a key job satisfaction factor.
• The “100% or more” increase is popular among middle, senior, and lead specialists. In the case of senior/lead roles, these same respondents indicated a preference for challenging work.
• The “200% or more” increase has a diverse group of respondents, including junior, middle, senior, and lead specialists from both outsourcing and product companies. Notably, startup employees did not choose this option. Based on demographics, most responses were likely ironic, underscoring a reluctance to consider other job offers regardless of potential salary.

Would you change your job for an extra month of paid vacation?

• Yes – 32%
• No – 68%

An extra month of paid vacation remains an exotic practice among Ukrainian IT companies.

While it gained some popularity with the growth of the Ukrainian IT segment in the latter half of the 2010s, documented cases are too few to call it a common practice.

Since the pandemic’s onset and the increasing demand for IT specialists, some companies have begun offering this benefit as an incentive. Its effectiveness as a practical tool, however, remains uncertain.

Would you change your job for company stock options?

• Yes – 30%
• No – 70%

The concept of stock options is relatively new in Ukrainian IT and not widely practiced.

Usually, it’s offered by larger, well-established companies that can provide an extensive range of benefits. However, many specialists are deterred by the ephemeral nature of stock options compared to more tangible benefits like insurance and training.

The “Yes” option was mostly chosen by specialists aged 16-25 in blockchain/cryptocurrency and video game development niches.

Does the possibility of relocation influence your decision to change jobs?

• Yes – 35%
• No – 65%

Since the pandemic began, the relevance of relocation as a job attraction factor has been decreasing. For companies, this means economic benefits as they only pay for the services of remote workers without addressing numerous organizational issues.

For specialists, the lack of physical location attachment opens opportunities to work for foreign companies with better financial compensation, without the hassles of moving.

Previously, reasons for relocation included “the opportunity to work for a prestigious foreign company” and “the possibility of better living conditions.” Now, specialists seeking relocation opportunities cite geopolitical conditions in their country as a primary motivation.

Would you change your job for an opportunity at a FAANG company?

• Yes – 56%
• No – 44%

In this context, it’s important to note that specialists’ responses might not reflect the actual situation. In this case, more than half would gladly move to such companies.

However, the reality differs.

FAANG companies (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google) hire Ukrainian IT specialists, but these are highly qualified experts (Senior+) in their fields: cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, image recognition, natural language processing, cross-platform development. Furthermore, many specialists fail interviews due to language barriers or inadequate soft skills.

Would you leave your current job to work on your own project?

• Yes – 45%
• No – 55%

It’s important to note that this question highlights desires rather than intentions.

Interestingly, a group of respondents who answered “No” to all other questions except “Would you leave your current job to work on your own project?” emerged. These were technical specialists aged 26-35 and 36-45, with over 5 years of experience, mostly in data-related fields (cloud technologies, machine learning, data collection and processing). Among company types, responses were evenly split between outsourcing, product companies, and startups.

Would you change your job to work with a team from previous jobs?

• Yes – 39%
• No – 61%

The possibility of working with a team from previous jobs is a somewhat manipulative question with significant logistical challenges.

However, it’s interesting in terms of how a respondent might behave if circumstances align.

Those who chose “No”:

During the survey, a category of respondents emerged who answered “No” to all questions in this section. There were 93 such respondents.

Their profile is as follows:

• Men aged 36-45 and 46-55 in technical specialties from Ukrainian product and outsourcing companies.
• The same respondents chose work-life balance as a job satisfaction factor and salary as a retention factor.
• The main demotivating factors for these respondents were disorganized work processes – high workload, micromanagement, and unstructured processes.
• Interestingly, the reasons for seeking other jobs among these respondents were divided between salary and stability.
• Among respondents who answered “No” to everything, there were no women.

Conclusion

Key Findings: Work-Life Balance vs. Financial Compensation in Job Satisfaction

A recent study has brought to light an intriguing discovery: work-life balance, rather than financial compensation, has emerged as a primary factor in job satisfaction.

This shift is partly due to changes in work organization during the pandemic. The rise of remote work and flexible schedules has impacted specialist workloads and will likely have long-term consequences, including a possible desire for less stressful jobs.

Interestingly, despite Talando recruiters’ observations that candidates during interviews emphasize higher salaries, many professionals cite a desire to spend more time with their family as a reason for changing jobs. This aligns with survey results on demotivation and job-seeking behavior.

Another unexpected finding is that toxic work culture is a major demotivator. The issue of toxicity in the Ukrainian IT sector isn’t widely discussed beyond general terms. There is a lack of discourse on this topic, and IT professionals often question its relevance. However, the survey indicates a need for deeper exploration of this issue.

During interviews, candidates frequently mention inconsistent work processes as a primary source of demotivation. This is corroborated by survey data, which shows that various aspects of poor work organization (such as heavy workloads, micromanagement, unstructured processes, and chaotic task distribution) collectively receive the highest percentage of responses.

The reasons for staying in or seeking a new job largely mirror each other. The top three factors, as per survey responses, are salary, work-life balance, and career progression, highlighting the interconnectedness of these factors.

A notable finding concerning job change decisions was the respondent category that either responded ‘no’ to all options or chose only to work on their own projects. This suggests the existence of respondents who are content with their current jobs and are not interested in changing, especially those focusing solely on their own projects, indicating a growing trend of IT professionals evolving from employees to entrepreneurs.