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The Ukrainian IT industry has finally moved beyond the ‘overheated’ period of 2020-2021 and entered a maturity phase, where every dollar in the budget must be justified. Aggressive salary growth has been replaced by a new market logic: a focus on efficiency, profitability, and long-term business sustainability. Security, stability, and transparency are increasingly becoming part of the compensation package on par with salary.
This article is based on data from the IT Ukraine Salary Overview 2025, conducted by the IT Ukraine Association in partnership with Amrop Executive Search Ukraine, with the support of UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group. The sample includes 56 companies and over 11 500 specialists, as well as 17 in-depth interviews with HR directors and C-level executives.
Salary Overview is an analytical foundation for complex management decisions. It provides data that allows discussions about compensation without conflict and assumptions. Transparency, security, and mental health are the ‘intangible multiplier’ that retains teams better than any bonuses,
– Maria Shevchuk, Executive Director of the IT Ukraine Association.
One of the key shifts in 2025 is that compensation is no longer purely an HR tool but has become part of a company’s financial model.
Companies are increasingly moving from a “market reaction” model to a more controlled system: performance → role and impact → budget → review. In service companies, salary review decisions are directly tied to project profitability and overall financial performance.
Automatic salary reviews, typical of the “candidate market” period, are no longer standard. “0% salary increases” have become acceptable when performance expectations are not met or when project budget constraints exist.
A conflict of expectations has also emerged in the market: specialists still operate based on the 2021 mindset, while businesses now function in a reality where any salary increase directly impacts project profitability and company competitiveness.
In essence, IT companies are shifting from a “retain at any cost” model to a “retain efficiently” model.
Formalized salary review processes help reduce chaos and increase transparency, but they also create a new point of tension: when an employee formally meets expectations, yet the project budget does not allow for a compensation increase.
Working on the research together with the IT Ukraine Association, we observed a clear market shift from a culture of rapid growth to a culture of structured management, where compensation, process transparency, leadership quality, and team sustainability become parts of a unified business logic. For us as executive search partners, it is especially notable that companies increasingly compete not only on salary levels but also on their ability to create a stable and clear environment for people,
– Nataliia Ivoniak, Partner at Amrop Executive Search Ukraine.
The research shows another important trend: juniors account for only 8.5% of the market. Companies increasingly expect “ready-made” specialists and are less willing to invest in developing junior talent. AI development further accelerates this shift by automating routine tasks, raising entry-level requirements.
As a result, the market faces a strategic risk: a shrinking junior pipeline today may lead to a shortage of middle-level specialists within 2-3 years.
The approach to level assessment is also changing. Companies increasingly emphasize that seniority is not about years of experience but about autonomy, impact, ability to work with business context, and to lead others.
One of the key market challenges is the lack of a unified definition of levels. A ‘Senior’ role can mean very different things across companies – from a strong executor to a strategic business partner.
Despite overall market cooling, certain domains remain talent magnets due to high business value and profitability.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) specialists earn on average 24% more than peers at similar levels in other domains.
Cybersecurity continues to hold premium positions: compensation for security leaders remains among the highest across managerial roles.
Defense tech, fintech, blockchain and AI-driven products form distinct premium segments. Domain profitability increasingly influences compensation more than geography or work format.
AI is no longer just a trend. Companies expect not only basic familiarity with AI tools but their integration into daily workflows. Reskilling and AI competencies are becoming part of role evaluation.
There is also growing demand for professionals working at the intersection of domains – such as AI + cybersecurity, AI + finance or AI + hardware. This interdisciplinary expertise is increasingly a driver of premium compensation.
A unique Total Rewards model has emerged in Ukrainian IT, covering not only salary but also security, stability, wellbeing, and working conditions. If before 2022 benefits were mainly about comfort, today they are about operational resilience of both business and teams.
Beyond financial compensation, employees now prioritize stability and security. Generators, Starlink, backup power systems, and blackout support have become baseline expectations, especially given that 93% of companies operate in remote or hybrid formats.
Attention to mental health is also growing. 52% of companies already offer psychotherapy support or wellbeing programs. Businesses recognize that while such initiatives do not eliminate external realities, they help teams maintain resilience, engagement, and productivity.
Security today has a direct impact on employees’ wellbeing and on companies’ ability to maintain operational continuity, fulfill contracts, and ensure business stability.
When planning for the upcoming year, we used the Salary Overview as one of the external benchmarks to evaluate our compensation approaches and specific decisions within our Total Rewards strategy. For us, it was important not only to compare compensation levels with the market, but also to understand the broader context and current industry trends. I would also like to highlight the quality of the study itself. Thanks to a well-thought-out approach to data collection and analysis, we could trust the results and use them as an additional foundation for decision-making. In our case, the study did not so much prompt the need for changes as it validated a number of approaches we already apply in our work with teams,
— Yulia Dayneko, Director of Operations, JEVERA.
Companies are increasingly moving away from universal benefits packages toward “cafeteria benefits,” where employees choose how to allocate their budget: medical care, education, sports, or psychological support.
Interestingly, small and mid-sized companies are often more flexible than large corporations. For example, 57% of smaller companies already pay for AI tools such as ChatGPT or Copilot, compared to 33% among large employers.
When salaries are no longer growing exponentially, culture becomes a critical retention factor. Transparent communication, clear compensation review rules, and honest dialogue increasingly determine employee loyalty.
The IT Ukraine Salary Overview 2025 shows that the Ukrainian IT market is transitioning from a culture of rapid growth to a culture of systematic management. This transformation will define company competitiveness in the coming years.
Companies no longer compete solely on salary levels. The key differentiator lies in business model resilience, management quality, and the ability to create an environment where people stay long-term.
For businesses, this means:
– aligning team expectations with real market dynamics;
– investing in leadership and managerial competences;
– using compensation data and analytics as a management tool, not just reporting;
– redefining benefits through the lens of security, flexibility, and trust.
Today, a competitive advantage comes from the ability to combine business efficiency, operational resilience, and clear rules of engagement with teams.
The next iteration of the research is ahead. Each year, we expand its scale, involve more participants, and uncover new market insights. If you would like to join the next wave of the study and receive the results, please contact: shulha@itukraine.org.ua
