In January, the renowned Ukrainian IT media, DOU, traditionally publishes a fresh analytical salaries review. In a three-part article they cover all IT roles, from developers to QAs, PMs, HRs, DevOps, Data Scientists, and other categories. More than 10,000 specialists took part in the survey. Make it in Ukraine has analyzed this report, and we are sharing with you the main conclusions from it. Along with portraits and ranks, we will also analyze the impact on the salary of the English level and the gap in the level of salaries between Ukraine and the United States. It will help you make the right decision if you are looking to expand your team.

How much money do Ukrainian developers make?

Portrait of a Ukrainian developer

Among developers 8% are women, and the average age of the developer is 28 years.‍

Top 5 leading cities by number of developers:

1. Kyiv - 41.4%
2. Lviv - 14.7%
3. Kharkiv - 13.9%
4. Dnipro - 5.8%
5. Odessa - 5.3%

More than a third of developers have 3-5 years of experience, 22% - with 1-2 years of experience, experienced professionals with 6-9 years of experience - 19%.

Popular programming languages among Ukrainian developers

Traditionally, JavaScript is #1. It is used for both, frontend and backend (see the frameworks on the right in the image). The top list will also include Java (because the Enterprise sector will not disappear in the coming years) and C#/.NET, which are actively supported by Microsoft and other giants.

SQL and TypeScript hold 2nd and 3rd place in the additional languages list. Although the crazy hype about Python has subsided a bit, it doesn't make this language any less useful.

After all, it is widely used in Machine Learning and Data Science. Therefore, in both lists, Python ranks 6th and 5th, respectively. Kotlin, a widely supported programming language for Android applications, has not yet shown strong growth but occupies a prominent place in the top 10.

Median salaries of developers in Ukraine

Compared to the summer survey, the net median salary (after tax) increased by 8.5% to $2,500 per month ($30,000 per year).

It is great that, despite the terrible pandemic year, wage growth has not stopped. Yes, of course, there were some budget cuts, layoffs, and restrictions in the first half of the year. However, everything turned out to be much more optimistic than the Make it in Ukraine editorial expected. The only category for which the salary did not increase last year is Middle Software Engineer (SE) with $2000 per month.

Scala raises the overall point of top salaries. Junior for this language is not available at all, Middle gets $2700, Senior - $4800.

Useful thoughts about hiring the best Ukrainian Talent

Note from the editors of Make it in Ukraine
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With an extremely high professional level of Ukrainian IT specialists, their salary in Ukraine is much lower than in the world. It's a well-known fact. However, we traditionally try to specify these data.
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If you take the salary of a Middle Software Engineer in the US (according to Glassdoor), we have a range from $65 thousand to $134 thousand with a median of $94 thousand per year.
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Another popular American service, Indeed, calculates the median for Software Engineer as a $107 thousand + $4 thousand annual bonus.
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The weighted average salary in the US according to Payscale, is slightly lower - from $50 thousand to $105 thousand with a median of $72 thousand.
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Thus, the wage gap in Ukraine and the United States is 2.5-3.5 times, according to various sources!

You can read our guides and books on why Ukrainian IT specialists are a perfect choice for your company:

• Why is Ukraine the perfect location for software outsourcing
• How Much Money Can Outsourcing Software Development Offshore Really Save Me?
• Why Is Now The Best Time To Set up A Development Team in Ukraine
• Outsource Development To The Best Talent in Ukraine 
• How To Get Offshore with award-winning talent in 2020
• Hiring Top Tech Talent In Ukraine: Why Work With a Recruitment Agency in 2021
• Ukraine's 10 Best Software Development Agencies 
• 15 Tips for Hiring A Remote Software Development Team
• Team Cost Calculator - a calculator that helps you assess how much it costs to gather a well-balanced and effective team for your IT project.
• Free e-book “Recruiting Top Senior Development Talent” 
• Free e-book “How to estimate the cost of building a Mobile App”

Make sure to read these guides, but let's continue our review!

English level and salary

Almost half of the developers have an Upper-Intermediate level and above.

For Juniors, the impact of language on salary is negligible, but for higher grades it is hard to ignore.

Middle Dev without knowledge of English can make only the median salary of $1375, and $2375 with Advanced English. Similarly, for Seniors: $2000 without language, and almost $4100 with Advanced level.

Salaries of Ukrainian QA specialists at the beginning of 2021

The median age is 29 (almost the same as for developers). The top 5 cities where QA specialists live are similar to the above for developers. In terms of experience: a third of respondents have 3-5 years of experience, almost a third have 1-2 years of experience.

This dynamic is not as optimistic as for developers. "Everyone to QA!" boom is over. In addition, this category was more affected by panic trends last year. In the report for the first half of 2020, the QA salary was slightly lower, but by the end of the year, the situation had improved. For the Middle level, the median increased by $100, and by $200 for Seniors. For Juniors and Tech Leads the salary did not change.

QA Managers earn more than the Tech Leads ($3000 per month), and the salary jumps from Junior to Middle 2.5 times.

Comparison of Manual QA and Automation QA salaries depending on seniority

The most advanced Automation QAs receive $3775 versus $2500 for Manual QAs. Whereas for less experienced professionals, these ranges are narrower. Beginners with 1 year of experience receive respectively:

• Automation QA - $900
• Manual QA - $733

Knowledge of English and salary QA

Diversity: men and women

There are many women in the field of QA (33.5%), so the issue of the pay gap is quite relevant for QA role.

The difference in median salaries by gender increases with experience:

• 1 year: men - $785, women - $735 (gap $50)
• 5 years: men - $2600, women - $2450 (gap $150)
• 10 and more years: men - $3500, women - $2800 (gap $700)

Salaries of other IT specialists at the beginning of 2021: PMs, HRs, DevOps, Data Scientists, and others

Portrait of specialists

There are even more women among these specialties than in QA (40.7%). The average age is also 29 years, the top 5 cities are also the same. There are 38.6% of specialists with 3-5 years of experience. And a quarter of respondents have 1-2 years of experience.

In 2020, the popularity of DevOps has grown significantly. Consequently, average salaries have also risen: from $2,400 to $2,800. For the first time, this role came to the attention of the DOU analytical team in 2014 (see the chart below).

Note from the editors of Make it in Ukraine
Perhaps the lead role in romanticising the DevOps was played by the 2020 book "Project Phoenix". It sold the idea that this specialty can save a business. However, we think the major reason for salary growth was a simple but significant shortage of these specialists. Professional DevOps are still hard to find.

In this section, you can see the most diverse pool of IT talent. And the salary gap for different professions is huge.

The smallest median salaries:

• HTML Coder ($650)
• Sales manager ($850)
• Support specialists ($850).

Salary leaders:

• Director of Engineering ($6200)
• CTO ($5000)
• Delivery Manager ($4250)
• Program Manager ($4250)

How much do Ukrainian Data Scientists make?

This IT field is still very popular. In the graph, you can see a comparison of the most popular categories: Data Scientist, Big Data Engineer, and Machine Learning Engineer.

Salaries of IT Recruiters and HR specialists in Ukraine

Note from the editors of Make it in Ukraine
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In the whole world, sourcing specialists are considered to be professionals on a par with Recruiters and Talent Acquisition Managers, but for some reason this role is still equated to a beginner and a Talent Researcher in Ukraine.
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Accordingly, the salary here is the lowest: $500. IT Recruiter gets $850, HR Manager gets a little more: $1000. The relatively new role (for Ukraine) of HR Business Partner (which is often almost equated to C-Level) shows a median of $1325, Talent Acquisition Manager - $1500. And the HR Director shows a huge gap with a median of $2,500.

The conclusions are obvious: the Ukrainian IT sector felt quite confident in 2020 and in 2021 it is going to develop even more. This is confirmed by our IT Recruitment 2020 Survey, which was recently published in AIN (Language: Ukrainian). The most valued are technical specialists and managers.

Just a quick reminder

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