Labor market in the countries of the world (IT and telecom)

Working conditions

2023: IT salaries decline in Belarus

In July 2023, the average salary of IT specialists in Belarus amounted to approximately 6,600 Belarusian rubles (approximately 252 thousand Russian rubles at the exchange rate as of September 1, 2023). Such figures at the end of August 2023 were published by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belstat). Read more here.

2018: IT specialists lack sleep for 27 hours a month

In early January 2019, the online store Bedstar published the results of a study of sleep habits among 2500 people, according to which people lack sleep for an average of 32.3 hours every month. At the same time, healthcare workers lose as much as 42.4 hours of sleep a month, and IT specialists - 27 hours a month. The industry in which people lack the most sleep is public services, although they still lose a significant proportion of healthy sleep, which is 21.6 hours a month.

The National Sleep Foundation calls the difference between the amount of sleep a person needs and the amount they actually get. It seems obvious we're not getting enough sleep - but are we aware of that? According to the survey, people are aware of their own lack of sleep, and 31.8% of workers deprived of full sleep catch up with the norm on weekends.

The study assessed problems that can lead to sleep deprivation. Nearly three-quarters of people (73.5%) report trouble falling asleep, which takes an average of nearly 54 minutes, according to the survey. These results are due to the fact that the predominant number of respondents relied on technology and coffee for leisure. The study found that 11.4% of people use caffeine-containing drinks (tea, coffee or energy drinks) at night, while 30.7% use mobile phones before bed.

However, experts argue that it is impossible to pay off long-term sleep arrears. To ensure sufficient rest for the body and brain, they recommend changing habits and lifestyles. First of all, it is worth sticking to a regular sleep and wakefulness regime, avoiding caffeine-containing drinks and alcohol - especially before bed - and exercising daily. Experts also recommend turning off electronic devices at least an hour before going to bed.^[1]

Remote IT

2020: Remote work legalized in Belarus

On January 28, 2020, an updated Labor Code came into force in Belarus. Changes that relate to IT specialists, President Alexander Lukashenko approved in July 2019.

One of the innovations involves legalizing work at home. In the new version of the Labor Code, such a concept as telecommuting.

As explained in the Belarusian Ministry of Labor, remote work is convenient for everyone: the employer does not need to equip a workplace for the employee, and employees will be able to perform the work assigned to him anywhere where it will be convenient for him. At the same time, the work schedule and vacations for remote workers for a particular employer should be the same as for those working in the office, and provided in accordance with the Labor Code and other documents.

But for this you will have to conclude an employment contract. Otherwise, a person, for example, will not receive sick leave, since the employer does not pay contributions for them to the Social Protection Fund. But the conclusion of employment contracts is not necessary.

Freelancers will be able to continue to work under contracts. This type of activity does not involve inclusion in the staff of an organization or enterprise.

According to the Ministry of Labor, Belarusian citizens can remotely fulfill their duties from abroad. However, when carrying out such activities, you should always remember the peculiarities of the legislation of the country where Belarus lives. For example, a person can get into a situation where he has an agreement with a Belarusian company, and he is obliged to obey the legislation of the Russian Federation, since he lives in the territory of this country, the ministry explained.

The introduction of the concept of remote work and the inclusion of this form in the system of labor relations is made for the future - so as not to lose a large segment of the labor market in the future, said Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Igor Starovoitov.^[2]

Education requirements

2018: Google, Apple, IBM and 12 other big companies do not require higher education in hiring

In August 2018, the major recruiting agency Glassdoor presented the results of a study in which it named large companies that stopped requiring higher education when hiring. Among such corporations are Apple, IBM and Google, and the entire list is as follows:

• Google;
• Ernst and Young (EY);
• Penguin Random House;
• Costco Wholesale;
• Whole Foods;
• Hilton;
• Publix;
• Apple;
• Starbucks;
• Nordstrom;
• Home Depot;
• IBM;
• Bank of America;
• Chipotle;
• Lowe’s.

As noted in the study, Google is ready to hire product managers, developers, recruiters and researchers without higher education. EY has opened vacancies for Risk Advisor, Client Experience Manager, Auditor, Tax Specialist and others.

According to Glassdoor, Apple vacancies that do not require higher education include positions such as project engineers, Apple hardware specialists, and technical designers. There are also less responsible positions, such as work in the department of AppleCare and AppleTV. IBM is ready to accept the work of specialists without a diploma in the development department of blockchain systems.

If tech giants have less and less begun to look at the presence of higher education among candidates for positions of engineers where technical knowledge is required, then in retail chains, including Starbucks, Whole Foods and Costco Wholesale, there is a recruitment of undiplicated specialists only in the positions of sales managers, financial analysts and just cashiers.

At the same time, according to personnel experts, the results of the study do not indicate that the college diploma will now be less in demand when hiring. Rather, applicants without higher education will be able to attract the attention of recruiters, given that they have the appropriate experience to work.^[3]

Demand for IT Professionals

2024: Global IT shortage is on the rise. Because of this, companies will lose $5.5 trillion

The growing shortage of IT professionals is affecting organizations in all industries and regions of the world. The observed situation provokes a number of problems, including a deterioration in the quality of products and services, a decrease in customer satisfaction and the inability to achieve the set business goals. This is stated in the IDC study, the results of which were released on May 14, 2024.

IDC predicts that by 2026, more than 90% of enterprises and organizations globally will experience a shortage of IT professionals. In monetary terms, losses are estimated at $5.5 trillion, which is associated with delays in production, a decrease in competitiveness and other losses. A survey conducted by IDC analysts among North American IT executives found that nearly two-thirds of them talk about problems related to personnel shortages.

The growing shortage of IT professionals is affecting organizations in all industries and regions of the world

As of the date of the report, artificial intelligence skills are most essential for most businesses in terms of IT development. This is due to the rapid development of the AI market, the introduction of large language models, machine learning technologies, etc. In second place in the list of requirements for specialists is the experience in the field of IT operations. The top ten skills in demand also include experience with various cloud technologies, including architecture, data management, information storage and software development. Staffing shortages are further exacerbated by the fact that there are requirements for additional non-technical skills, such as digital business practices.

Recruiting the right people with the right skills for certain positions has never been more difficult. As IT shortages intensify and new technologies accelerate, businesses must find new ways to recruit, train, upskill and retrain their employees, says Gina Smith, IDC's research director.

Among the challenges organizations face when trying to expand the knowledge and experience of their employees is resistance to training. Employees are not satisfied with the limited training opportunities, the duration of courses, and the fact that the acquired skills and career goals are poorly coordinated with each other. To address these challenges, IDC recommends that IT managers use a variety of strategies to create a more efficient learning environment. These can be a variety of approaches - from classroom classes and hackathons to practical tasks, games and quests. 70% of respondents indicated that they already use experimental training methods, including laboratory work and games. In addition, generative AI can be used: more than half of the organizations surveyed use or test such tools for IT training.

However, as noted in the study, companies need more than quality materials, courses and tasks to create a friendly learning environment. It is necessary to change the culture as a whole, and therefore managers should pay close attention to this issue. Increased engagement can be achieved by aligning the interests of employees with the goals of the business. In addition, IDC notes that various incentives will help to increase efficiency throughout the training path: for example, an organization can implement a reward program that takes into account both process and performance. At the same time, sufficient time, money and human resources are required to achieve positive results.^[4]

2023

China launched a secret program to lure foreign IT specialists

At the end of August 2023, it became known that China organized a secret program to lure foreign IT specialists, for the implementation of which huge funds were allocated. Read more here.

Only 3,600 information security specialists work in Vietnam. The country needs 10 times more

On August 16, 2023, the Office of Information Security (DIS), part of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam, warned of an acute shortage of specialists in the field of cyber defense. Read more here.

2022

The number of IT specialists in Belarus for the year decreased by 2.2 thousand people

In 2022, approximately 137.9 thousand employees worked in the IT sector and the telecommunications sector of Belarus. Such data in early September 2023 was published by the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belstat). Read more here.

Named digital technologies, specialists for which are most often looking in the world

In 2021-2022, the number of vacancies in areas such as applied artificial intelligence and cloud computing increased significantly. This is stated in a study by the consulting firm McKinsey, the results of which were released on July 20, 2023.

It is reported that the number of ads on the search for various IT specialists in 2021-2022. increased by about 15%. At the same time, the total number of vacancies published in all industries during the specified period decreased by 13%. In the period from 2018 to 2022, a total of about 1 million jobs were created in the fields of applied AI and next-generation software development. In general, the demand for IT specialists is growing in various areas. This is due to the ongoing digital transformation of enterprises, the transfer of workloads to the cloud, the introduction of neural networks, the rapid development of new technologies and other factors.

It is said that the number of vacancies in the field of applied AI in 2021-2022 rose by 6%, in the field of new generation software development - by 29%, in the field of cloud and peripheral computing - by 12%. In the segment of electrification and renewable energy sources, an increase of 27% was recorded, in the field of machine learning - by 23%. The demand for specialists in Web3 technologies jumped by 40%, developers of generative AI - by 44%, experts in quantum technologies - by 12%. In addition, the number of ads for the search for specialists in the field of immersive reality increased by 10%, and by 7% in the field of advanced communication systems. The increase in the space development market was recorded at 16%. At the same time, in the field of bioengineering technologies, the number of ads decreased by 19%.

The report's authors say the shortage of skilled professionals is a constant deterrent to the growth of many IT areas, including artificial intelligence and neural networks, quantum computing, space technology, and electrification and renewables. The lack of personnel is especially noticeable in the cloud platform market and in the industrial machine learning industry. This is also a major challenge for those areas where highly specialized employees work. Four industries that will see the economic effect of quantum computing are named - automotive, chemicals, financial services and life sciences.

Many of the listed technologies are expected to become the basis of the economy of the future, which will ensure stable employment in the relevant areas. One of the most promising areas is generative AI. Such tools can take assistive technologies to the next level, reduce application development time, and provide powerful capabilities to non-technical users. Generative AI, according to analysts, can bring economic benefits in the amount of up to $4.4 trillion due to a combination of specific use cases and completely new application models that increase the efficiency of the labor process. This could be, for example, drafting emails.

The report noted that investment in most technology areas is declining, which is explained by global macroeconomic challenges, high inflation and shrinking company budgets. Still, the potential for future growth in IT remains high. As some technologies become more profitable, they can often be scaled with relatively small additional investments.^[5]

WSJ: Serbia has become a "magnet" for IT specialists from Russia

On October 26, 2022, it became known that Serbia has become the most popular direction for moving, which is chosen by employees of IT companies and highly qualified specialists leaving Russia in the current geopolitical situation. Read more here.

Gartner: The world's acute IT personnel shortage will end by the end of 2023

According to analysts, Gartner the acute shortage of IT specialists in the world, which takes place by mid-July 2022, will disappear by the end of 2023, since by this time many companies will complete or slow down their digital transformation programs. Against this background, IT specialists will receive time for advanced training or retraining, according to a study published on July 14, 2022.

In the coming future, the report states, Chief information officer will be forced to take steps to balance the growing demand for information technology and the reduction of IT staff. According to the study, by mid-2022, the IT labor market continues to shrink, which is why it is difficult for companies to attract new specialists and keep people already working with them.

In such conditions, salary levels come first. Companies are forced to raise salaries in order to attract highly qualified programmers by increasing the cost of their products and services. According to Gartner forecasts, in 2022 and 2023. global software spending will rise by 9.6% (to $806.8 billion) and 11.8% (to $902.18 billion), respectively. In addition, sales of IT services will grow.

Chief information officer are increasingly using third-party IT services to fill the shortage of skilled IT staff, says Gartner Vice President of Research John-David Lovelock. - Tasks that require lower skills tend to be outsourced to save time for full-time employees. At that time, critical work in terms of strategy, requiring high-end skills not available to many companies, will increasingly be done by external consultants.

According to Gartner forecasts, the volume of the global IT services market in 2022 will increase by 6.2% and exceed $1.28 trillion. In 2023, the growth rate will become even higher - + 8.3% with global spending of $1.39 billion.

The problem with the lack of qualified personnel is paid attention primarily to Western companies, to one degree or another related to IT. CNBC analysts conducted a survey among their executives. According to its results, a total of 64% of them drew attention to the fact of problems with the search for experienced employees for open vacancies. The survey was conducted between June 3 and 22, 2022. Importantly, executives also complain about the lack of talented candidates for vacancies.

Faced with the challenge of finding worthy employees with good experience and an impressive baggage of knowledge, Western IT companies are increasingly reducing the pace of recruitment. CNBC cites Uber and Microsoft as an example. Corporations attribute this primarily to rising inflation and a recession forecast soon.

Analyst at research company Gartner Brian Kropp, in a conversation with the TV channel, called the dangerous practice in which companies began to cancel job offers already made to candidates, explaining their decisions by the worsening economic situation.

Refusing job offers looks bad, says Gartner expert - So many of these companies have spent a huge amount of energy talking about their values and how they build a more human organization with additional support for things like mental health. Turning 180 degrees and canceling job offers already made in exchange for a small financial return is very short-sighted.[6]

2021

5 most sought-after IT professions in 2022

At the end of December 2021, VentureBeat prepared a list of professions that will be the most in demand in the IT industry in 2022.

Developer Java

Java developers create web applications and local programs. Programmers are involved in the entire product development lifecycle. This activity is always in great demand, and VentureBeat predicts that in 2022 many companies will hire employees for this position.

The requirements for Java developers vary greatly depending on the company and the specific position. Typical responsibilities include designing, implementing, and supporting Java applications, providing high availability and performance, participating in all stages of the development lifecycle, writing well-designed, efficient, and tested code, to name a few.

Java is a popular and popular programming language. With Java, many well-known web projects have been implemented: Amazon, eBay, LinkedIn, Yahoo!, and most Android applications have been written, and many banks and corporations use this language to create applications.

Cloud Computing Architect

This IT specialty is responsible for controlling the company's cloud computing strategy. The role includes responsibilities such as cloud adoption, cloud application development, and cloud management and monitoring. Often, cloud architects are also responsible for closing gaps between complex business solutions and implementing them in the cloud. Cloud architects are responsible for communicating with vendors when negotiating contracts for hardware, software, and other cloud technologies. It's an ever-evolving area, so the job requires staying on top of the latest tech trends.

The necessary skills of a cloud architect include experience with programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Elixir, experience in IT engineering and excellent leadership skills.

Product Manager

Product managers oversee the development of projects from the planning stage to completion. Usually, IT specialists are the glue that rallies teams and makes sure that everyone is on the right track, the publication notes. This is a diverse role, and the responsibilities of the Product Manager include everything from monitoring tasks to holding regular meetings with employees to check progress.

When companies search for candidates for this role, HR professionals pay attention to qualities such as strong analytical skills, management experience, a high level of organization and experience using tools such as PivotalTracker or Jira. Specific responsibilities depend on the size of the company being hired. For example, in large organizations, product managers are integrated into specialist teams. Researchers, analysts and marketers help collect information, while developers and designers are engaged in everyday work, design, prototype testing and bug searching. These product managers get more help but also spend more time aligning a particular vision with stakeholders. If a team adheres to any Agile methodology, it may have difficulty when it comes time to determine the responsibilities of the product manager. So, Scrum commands additionally require a product owner.

Specialist in cyber security

Cybersecurity IT professionals are essentially bodyguards who protect companies from hacker and customer attacks from stealing their information. Without a team of top information security professionals, companies risk losing huge amounts of money due to data breaches and headaches from disgruntled customers.

Cybersecurity professionals need problem solving skills, security knowledge of various platforms, excellent communication skills, and fundamental computer forensics skills. The tasks that a specialist in this field is obliged to solve: the fight against cybercrime in all its manifestations, including cyberterrorism and extortion; development of preventive methods for combating malware, ON protection of private information and intellectual property; ensuring the stability of the operation of socially important information systems, preventing situations of collapse of the banking system; Protect and prevent external interference with infrastructure, including the power grid search for potential vulnerabilities in existing systems, eliminate them.

Data Scientist

The IT data scientist's job is to use machine learning for forecasting and analysis. Specific tasks include such things as identifying problems associated with data analysis, identifying the right data sets and variables, collecting large amounts of data, and communicating the results to stakeholders.

To qualify for this role, you must be familiar with statistical programming languages such as R, Python and SLQ. You will also need to know how to extract data. In working with data, Data Scientist uses various methods: statistical methods; database modeling; Mining methods artificial intelligence applications for working with data; methods for designing and developing databases.

The job responsibilities of the data analyst depend on the scope of his/her work, but the general list of functions is as follows: collecting data from different sources for subsequent operational processing; analysis of consumer behavior; Customer base modeling and product personalization analysis of efficiency of internal processes of the base; analysis of various risks; identification of possible fraud in the study of dubious transactions; Generate periodic reports with forecasts and data presentation.^[7]

One in six managers consider IT shortage a serious problem for business

On December 8, 2021, analysts at Platforma (Big Data Platform) and the Russian online recruiting platform hh.ru analyzed the attitude of managers and business managers to the shortage of IT specialists in the labor market. The shortage of IT employees has noticeably increased over the past 2 years, every second manager considers the situation problematic.

Every fifth manager is sure that there is a shortage of IT personnel in the labor market (23%), every third (40%) sees a similar trend and only 9% does not notice it. Almost half of the respondents (48%) admitted that they noticed it less than a year ago, almost a third (31%) - 1-2 years ago, 14% of respondents admit that they felt a shortage of IT specialists 3-5 years ago. As part of the study, it turned out that every sixth leader (16%) recognizes the current deficit as a serious problem for business, every third (43%) fears a similar situation, while 10% do not consider it a problem.

In late November - early December 2021, more than 143 thousand vacancies for IT specialists were opened on the hh.ru, which is 85% higher than at the end of autumn 2020. The whole of 2021 was marked by an explosive increase in IT vacancies - the annual growth rate is 76%, while there is an acute shortage and shortage of IT personnel, resumes grow by an average of 5%. The deficit during the year is also aggravated, if at the beginning of 2021 there were 2.5 resumes per IT vacancy, then by the end of autumn the figure dropped to 1.5, "said Maria Ignatova, head of the research service hh.ru.

The study revealed that top managers are actively solving the problem of personnel shortages in the IT sector: 23% of employers buy training courses/seminars, 23% retrain employees, 22% develop motivation programs, 16% offer higher-than-market wages, 8% hire highly qualified mentors, and 6% specifically for IT employees buy new technological equipment. Every second manager (55%) admitted that he was ready to hire an IT specialist for a lot of money, who was guaranteed to solve business problems.

According to employers, an IT employee should have logical thinking (39%), love analytics and big data (32%), be stress-resistant (29%), persistent (25%), responsible (25%) and flexible (18%). The majority of respondents (29%) are ready to offer such employees in top positions from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles, 24% - from 100,000 to 150,000 rubles, 15% from 150,000 to 300,000 rubles, 6% - from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles and 3% - more than 500,000 rubles. At the starting positions, the majority of respondents (31%) are ready to pay 20,000 - 40,000 rubles a month, 29% - from 40,000 to 60,000 rubles, 17% - from 60,000 to 80,000 rubles, 5% - from 80,000 to 100,000 rubles and 3% even more than 100,000 rubles at the start.

The study found that the shortage of personnel is partially solved by hiring students and graduates of universities. According to the hh.ru, employers in 2021 increased the number of IT vacancies in which work experience does not require, by 72% compared to 2020. Today, every fifth IT vacancy on the hh.ru is available for applicants without work experience, in figures for 2021 - this is 167 thousand vacancies.

The survey results showed that 19% are fully ready to trust young personnel and switch a number of tasks to students and graduates of universities, another 43% are considering such an opportunity, and only 7% of respondents are not ready to delegate tasks to young IT specialists.

Among the main advantages of working with graduates, employers name fast learning ability (36%), prompt response (33%), curiosity (16%) and low salary expectations (15%). Despite the lack of IT specialists, business sees ways to solve this problem in the shortest possible time. Our first step is a partnership with the Master's Degree in Data-Based Communications at the Higher School of Economics. We plan to act as mentors, as well as launch an internship program, which starts on January 10, 2022 and will last until March, - said Alexey Kashtanov, CEO of Platforma.

{{quote 'Digital business is moving and changing at a frantic rate. What was taught at the beginning of 2021 at the university or at online courses may be outdated literally by the end of the year. The only way out for students is to constantly "look" inside the living working business. And understand what they're using right now and how. For this, internships are needed. Well, in the process of "peeping," the company may like it so much that the student will immediately get a job, - added Roman Nester, curator of the master's program "Data-Based Communications" at the Higher School of Economics }}

According to the results of the study, the most promising areas of the IT sphere were artificial intelligence (28%), Data Science (21%), augmented and virtual reality (21%), mobile development (19%) and cloud technologies (11%).

2020:117 thousand dismissed in the USA in 3 months IT specialists

The Bureau USA of Labor Statistics (BLS) in early June 2020 released data according to which about 117 thousand information technology specialists lost their jobs in the country in March-May. More. here

2019

IDC: Less than 4% of IT professionals in Russia and Europe meet modern requirements

On November 20, 2019, the companies IDC Microsoft presented the results of the study, according to which the majority of Central and Eastern companies, Europe including, are Russia well aware digital transformation of and only 10.5% of them do not consider it necessary. At the same time, only 13% of companies are actively introducing modern technologies or have a strategy for digital business transformation. One of the main barriers is the lack of qualified IT specialists. Only 3.5% of employees fully meet modern requirements. The highest (35%) is the lack of qualified IT specialists in technology companies cloudy. More. here

Deloitte, IBM, Accenture and Cisco lead blockchain recruitment

At the end of November 2019, the Indeed.com vacancies portal reported that although blockchain specialists are less and less looking for a place, the demand from employers has increased sharply. Between September 2015 and September 2019, the number of vacancies per million rose by 1,457%, and the share of searches - by 469%.

However, these figures are mainly due to the growth of bitcoin in 2017. Vacancies increased by 26% in 2018, while enquiries fell by 53%. The report links the drop in search queries to lower interest among job seekers due to high cryptocurrency volatility. On the other hand, employers are introducing blockchain technologies and looking for specialists.

The top five companies seeking blockchain specialists include Deloitte, IBM, Accenture, Cisco and Collins Aerospace, according to the report. However, blockchain technologies penetrate everywhere and are required not only by software developers. Cryptocurrency corporations such as Coinbase, Ripple, Circle and Kraken were also among the top ten employers. The financial sector is led by JP Morgan and Signature Bank, which are increasingly hiring blockchain specialists. It is worth noting that one of the companies that topped the list, Collins Aerospace, contracts defense orders with the government and uses blockchain to optimize supply chains and strengthen protection against cyber attacks.

The most popular technical specialties in the blockchain field are software engineer, senior software engineer, software architect, comprehensive application development specialist and external interface developer. Indeed suggests that high demand for these specialists will continue at least until 2020, despite the volatility of cryptocurrencies.^[8]

There are 2.8 million information security specialists in the world and another 4 million are missing

In early November 2019, the Professional Association for cyber security ² (ISC) published the results of a new study. According to these data, the shortage of personnel in the region INFORMATION SECURITY is so large that only the involvement of twice as many specialists can close it.

There are 2.8 million cybersecurity employees in the world, but another 4.07 million are missing. Great Britain It needs to attract about 289,000 security specialists France , in - 121,000, in - Germany 133,000, and throughout the rest, in the To Europe Middle East and Africa, there are another 291,000 employees.

A 2019 study also showed that 65% of enterprises lack cybersecurity employees, and 36% of respondents cited a shortage of qualified specialists with relevant experience as their main problem. Almost half of the respondents indicated that they intend to increase investments in training new employees in the next 12 months, and 59% said that they are actively certifying specialists or plan to carry out it.

The study presents practical ideas and strategies for the creation and development of specialized cybersecurity teams. The authors hope this will help businesses overcome personnel shortages.

They recommend that employers provide training and development opportunities for professionals that can promote career growth; take action to build wider talent search networks; use new requirements in hiring, such as not giving up college graduates with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) degrees, even if their qualifications are not directly related to safety now; and teach other members of the IT community the basics of cybersecurity.^[9]

2018: Demand for blockchain programmers soars by 517%

At the end of February 2019, the Hired service, which allows job seekers to find vacancies and respond to employers' proposals, reported a huge surge in interest in companies for programmers with experience in developing blockchain technologies.

The demand for such specialists in 2018 increased by 517%. In terms of the growth dynamics of the number of open vacancies, the blockchain developer profession is one of the three most popular in almost the whole world. Hired analysts made this conclusion based on data from more than 100 thousand resumes of applicants and job advertisements from at least 10 thousand companies using this recruiting service.

In addition to the blockchain programmer, the top 3 specialties with the fastest growing demand include developers of information security systems and embedded software, which in 2018 began to be searched for 132% and 76% more often, respectively.

CEO of Hired Mehul Patel notes that the growth in demand for experience in creating blockchain products is "off scale" and has become the highest he has ever seen on the market.

The study says that the salary of software developers with blockchain skills in the United States reaches $157 thousand a year. According to Patel, in other states such specialists earn much less, but this was to be expected, since in the United States the salaries of software developers are generally higher in the market.

In London, programmers with blockchain experience can count on salaries of up to $90 thousand per year, in Toronto they are paid up to $75 thousand, in Paris - up to $67 thousand.

The high demand for IT professionals in the field of blockchain is noted not only in Hired. According to Burning Glass Technologies, a labor market research company, in 2018, more than 12,000 vacancies for such developers were opened in the United States alone, which is 316% more than a year earlier.^[10]

2012

Despite some uncertainty in the global labor market in 2012, it is safe to say that companies are in no hurry to reduce costs by dismissing IT specialists, but, on the contrary, continue to recruit them. This was announced by ComputerWorld on November 6, 2012.

Overall economic uncertainty is linked to U.S. elections and financial problems in Europe. However, two months before the end of the year, we can say that the IT personnel market, at least in the United States, will grow.

The main two-driver of growth will be driven by the specialist category involved in services, not technology or development. at the same time, the introduction of new consumer services by companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft will have little effect on the US employment market.

According to three ComputerWorld sources, the US IT personnel market grew even more in October 2012.

"Despite a certain slowdown in the growth of the employment market among IT specialists, we see no signs of stagnation," said Mark Roberts, executive director of the TechServe alliance. "Once uncertainty and financial tensions in Europe subside, we expect steady growth to recover."

According to Foote Partners, in October 2012, about 12,500 jobs were added to the IT specialist market, mainly in management and technical consulting, as well as consulting computer systems and services. Foote Partners CEO David Foote is confident that in November the companies will again show steady growth in the number of IT specialists hired.

Janco Associates believes the IT employment segment grew by 6,600 jobs in October.

IT Challenges

2023

The main problems of the information security specialists market are named

Many information security (IS) professionals are exposed to numerous stress factors associated with their professional activities. This is stated in a study by Gartner, the results of which were published on February 22, 2023. Read more here.

Motivating IT Professionals

Gartner: How to Retain and Motivate IT Professionals

In early March 2022, a study by the analytical company Gartner showed that worldwide only 29.1% of IT workers intend to stay with their current employer. The figure is significantly lower in Australia and New Zealand at 23.6%, Asia Pacific at 19.6% and Latin America at 26.9%, according to Gartner. In a prosperous Europe, only 4 out of 10 IT workers have high intentions to remain in their permanent jobs in the future.

A study in which 1.7 thousand took part. IT employees from various industries, functions and geographic regions showed that the problem of retaining IT personnel varies depending on the age group and region. IT workers under the age of 30 report that specialists are two and a half times less likely to stay than those over the age of 50. The Gartner study found that only 19.9% of IT workers aged 18 to 29 are highly likely to stay, compared with 48.1% of workers aged 50-70.

However, the survey found that IT staff put quality management in second place among the reasons for dismissal, and inadequate work-life balance was cited as the third main reason. This is due to what Gartner classifies as humanocentric, which rose four positions compared to the rating before the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). In some regions, analyst firm Gartner has found that financial compensation is not always the main determinant of IT staff outflows. In Europe, the main reason IT staff left the organization was the poor quality of managers.

For the past decade, compensation has been the number one reason for IT staff to move. When we develop new flexibility policies, how do we manage staff when we don't have a line of sight? Good managers have always empowered employees, because they empathized and trusted their direct employees! Many metrics are not suitable for such purposes due to the fact that they are simply optimized for short-term performance, which is fraught with people quitting or losing interest, said Graham Waller, vice president and analyst at Gartner.

Overall, Gartner advised Chief information officers to use a data-driven approach to identify workers most at risk and most valuable and tailor hybrid work policies to maintain their engagement and high productivity. IT companies need to balance short-term productivity with long-term performance of employees, such as their intention to stay and the degree of fatigue, so management needs to balance productivity with employee well-being, the Gartner study says.

According to Graham Waller, employee management on a transactional basis does not work in organizations that are trying to become more human-centric in human resources management. Waller clarified that in flexible software development (software), concentration on the number of widgets or the volume of code produced is not a measure of ultimate value. Due to the fact that more code creates technical debt, not value for an IT company employee. Rather, the manager should aim to build a well-organised, flexible development team that can provide value. Similarly, traditional metrics, such as the time an employee logs in, represent a poor measure of performance. Waller concluded that Chief information officers will have to advocate for more flexibility in organizing work than the rest of the organization, since IT employees are more likely to quit, are in high demand and are more adept at remote work than most other employees.^[11]

Number of IT specialists

2023

IT companies in the world have cut 240,000 jobs

At the end of 2023, IT companies on a global scale reduced approximately 262.7 thousand jobs, and layoffs affected 1,191 organizations. For comparison, in 2022, 165.3 thousand employees in 1,065 technology companies were reduced. Such figures in early February 2024 were announced by the Layoffs.fyi service.

It is noted that in 2023 the number of IT employees who lost their jobs jumped by 59% compared to the previous year. This situation is explained by the worsening macroeconomic situation, high inflation and the crisis in the United States. The largest IT companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Meta (recognized as an extremist organization; activities in the Russian Federation are prohibited) and Zoom. The reduction in the number of personnel, as noted in the study, was also announced by startups in various sectors.

IT companies globally cut approximately 262.7 thousand jobs

In the first quarter of 2023, approximately 167.6 thousand jobs were abolished in IT companies around the world. In the second quarter of the year, the number of reductions amounted to approximately 46.4 thousand, in the third - 25.5 thousand. In the fourth quarter of 2023, there were 23.2 thousand layoffs. Thus, as noted, the intensity of layoffs decreased significantly in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half of the year. However, at the beginning of 2024, the situation began to deteriorate again: in particular, as of February 12, 141 companies from the IT sector got rid of 34.3 thousand employees.

Among the IT industries that account for the most layoffs, Layoffs.fyi names the retail segment, consumer market, hardware solutions, food, healthcare, finance, transport, sales, education and media.^[12]

Named the largest hubs in North America in terms of concentration of IT specialists. Card

By the end of 2022, San Francisco and New York are the largest IT concentration hubs in North America. In particular, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the southern part of which Silicon Valley is located, 407,810 IT specialists are concentrated. And in the New York agglomeration, this figure is 371,030. Such data on December 26, 2023 is provided by the Visual Capitalist portal, referring to the CBRE report.

The study takes into account values ​ ​ in more than 20 IT professions - from software developers to system administrators and data specialists. The IT segment, as noted, remains one of the largest sectors in terms of concentration of highly qualified labor in North America: at the end of 2022, more than 7 million people were employed in it. The largest IT markets are characterized by a high level of education among employees and a large share of young specialists. The ranking of the largest North American IT hubs in 2022 includes:

1. San Francisco Bay Area - 407,810 specialists;
2. New York Agglomeration - 371,030;
3. Toronto - 285,700;

Washington# — 265 240;

1. Los Angeles/Orange County - 249,620;
2. Dallas/Fort Worth - 205,920;
3. Seattle - 194,040;
4. Montreal - 172,400;
5. Chicago - 166,140;
6. Boston - 161,470.

The study said the San Francisco Bay Area also recorded the highest annual salary for tech professionals in the U.S. at $185,425. This is followed by Seattle and Boston with a value of $172,009 and $121,794, respectively. It is also noted that Canada attracts a significant number of IT specialists due to a favorable immigration climate. The highest increase in the number of IT workers is seen in Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Calgary and Waterloo.^[13]

In Ukraine, there were 6,100 IT specialists in less than six months

In the first half of 2023, the number of IT specialists in Ukraine decreased by at least 6,100 people. Such data are provided in the DOU study, published in August 2023. Read more here.

2021: The number of IT specialists in Ukraine increased by 17%, to 285 thousand people

In February 2022, the IT Ukraine Association released a study on the situation in the Ukrainian IT industry. According to experts, the number of IT specialists in the country in 2021 increased by 17% compared to 2020 and reached 285 thousand people. Read more here.

2019: The number of women in the Ukrainian IT industry has grown 4 times in 5 years

By the end of December 2019, the number of women in the Ukrainian IT industry increased 4 times compared to five years ago - from 9 to almost 40 thousand people, according to GlobalLogic (engaged in software development and IT outsourcing services). Read more here.

2018: Moscow entered the top five European cities with the largest number of software developers

In February 2019, it became known that Moscow was among the five European cities in which there are the most software developers. In the case of the Russian capital, we are talking about 160,900 specialists.

This is stated in the study, which was conducted by the official advertising agency of the London City Hall London & Partners based on data from the Stack Overflow community and business. social networks LinkedIn

The leader of the rating is London, which in December 2018 employed about 357,900 programmers, which is 17% more than a year earlier. Experts note that in terms of the number of such specialists, the British capital is more than three times ahead of Berlin.

The top three were Paris (268,600 ; growth of 58% compared to 2017) and Amsterdam (216,800 ; growth by 140%), followed by Cologne (165,900 ).

The researchers, having studied the data on the LinkedIn website, came to the conclusion that London is the most popular European city for the work of IT specialists from Europe and other regions at the end of 2018.

Despite all the political uncertainty, there is no doubt that London will retain the title of the best city for creating and developing startups, "said  Nikolai Storonsky, founder of the fintech company Revolut.

Some technology companies decided to take advantage of the high concentration of programmers in London, so they launched their development centers there. This is what  Amazon, Facebook and Expedia did, for example. In addition, Apple is going to open a new office in London for 1,400 people, and Google - an entire campus for 4,500 people.

Whether the London tech ecosystem can attract talent at the same rate as before will largely depend on how it deals with the consequences of Britain's exit, European Union notes. ZDNet^[14]

Programmers

In July 2013, data was released, according to which India will surpass the United States in the number of software developers by 2017. In total, there will be 18.2 million software developers in the world in 2017, and in 2019 - already 26.4 million, which is 45% more, according to Evans Data Corp.

In mid-2013, the United States was the leader in the world in the number of programmers, in this country there were about 3.6 million, while in India there were 2.75 million. By 2018, India will have 5.2 million developers, an increase of about 90%, compared to 4.5 million in the United States (an increase of about 25% over the same period).

Experts explain the Indian phenomenon, firstly, the large size of the population (1.2 billion people), as well as the youth of the population, where more than half of it is young people under the age of 25. In addition, the high growth rate of the country's economy also plays a role. So Indian service companies have the ability to hire thousands of new employees on a quarterly basis. Working in IT and software development is most popular among the middle class.

For example, in one of the quarters of 2013 alone, Tata Consultancy Services hired 17 thousand new employees, so that their total number reached 263.6 thousand. In 2010, the company employed 150 thousand specialists.

India's GDP growth has remained at 8% in the past decade, but if it slows, the labor market trend will also start to reverse. In 2011, Evans Data assumed, for example, that India would surpass the United States in the number of software developers in 2015.

It is also obvious that the Indian IT industry is showing phenomenal growth rates. Even companies like IBM have more employees in India than in the US at the moment.

According to Goldman Sachs, India will put 110 million workers on the global labor market in the next decade, which is more than the United States, China, Russia and Japan combined. For comparison, in 2018 there will be 1.9 million programmers in China, 1.3 million in Russia, according to Evans Data.

IT Salaries

2021

Salaries of programmers in Ukraine

At the end of November 2021, a study was published on the salaries of programmers in Ukraine and some other countries. Statistics leads the publication "New Time" with reference to the data of the consulting company Korn Ferry, which specializes in the study of the labor market. Read more here.

US Department of Homeland Security sets information security specialists salaries as vice president

In mid-November 2021 Department of Homeland Security USA , it announced a new system that will help recruit, develop and retrain specialists cyber security in the federal government of the country. The salary range has a lower threshold for the vice president's salary of $255 thousand. More. here

2018: IT professionals in Asia earn more than Europe

In January 2019, the American company Puppet published a report according to which in 2018, the Asia-Pacific region was ahead of Europe in terms of salaries in the IT sector. As part of the study, about 3 thousand information technology specialists around the world were interviewed.

IT professionals and managers in Asia earned an average of $75,000 to $100,000 over the year, while colleagues in Europe earned an average of $50,000 to $75,000.

The reason was the increase in wages in Singapore and Japan, which, as more developed countries, doubled their competitiveness in the field of IT on the world stage. In 2018, in Japan, less than 9% of IT professionals earned less than $50,000. In Singapore, this figure was closer to 27%.

However, the two countries reflect the overall trend in the region. In 2017, half of respondents in Asia reported that they earned less than $25,000, and already in 2018 this figure was about 20%. On the other hand, only 10% of respondents reported wages in excess of $100,000 in 2017, up from 30% in 2018.

Puppet Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific Darryl McKinnon said organizations see a direct relationship between their competitiveness and the decent reward of professional professionals.

Organizations are changing their approach to providing IT services, calling for investment in good professional teams, says McKinnon. - They are looking for highly qualified specialists who are not only well versed in technology, but also able to innovate and improve the software delivery process.

The authors of the study broke down salaries by sector and showed that retail is especially beneficial for IT specialists. Almost half (47%) of those surveyed in the retail sector reported receiving more than $100,000 a year. Other best-paid sectors include health care and pharmaceuticals, as well as government and financial services.^[15]

How long will the job of a programmer be highly paid?

Glassdorr published a report on programmers' pay levels in late October 2012. According to this data, the remuneration of specialists writing code for Google and Amazon, for example, is more than $125,000 a year, not counting bonuses and options for the purchase of shares in these companies, and the services of employees of Yahoo's IT divisions are in six figures. Writes about this TechCrunch.

According to the publication, the demand for programmers will remain at a high level for a long time, because there are not many high-class engineers. And this is exactly what explains such sky-high wages of specialists.

It would seem that the rapid development of the IT industry should satisfy the demand for programmers, given the large number of applications for mobile open source platforms, as well as the popularity of other free systems and platforms. At the same time, the salary of a specialist not only does not decrease, but the demand for them remains at the same high level. And this is happening, given the influx of programmers from China, India and Brazil, who are ready to work for less money.

This is explained by several factors. The first of these is education. TechCrunch is confident that not all specialists from India, China or Brazil can afford to study at expensive universities. And if a person is lucky, then about 60% of students are eliminated already in the first year.

In principle, the remaining 40% can gradually saturate the programmer market. However, there is a certain category of specialists who prefer lower wages, but the ability to be in a convenient place in the globe, which is not suitable for all companies. So it turns out that the number of young specialists can be approximately equal to the number of programmers who refuse high-paying positions, even at the expense of India, China and Brazil.

Another factor influencing the number of highly paid specialists is the experience of complex projects that allow you to increase skill and develop your abilities and talents. TechCrunch believes that only a few people from the BIC achieve great success precisely because of the low positions they occupy in certain projects.

According to the publication, the shortage of programmers will continue for several decades, and, accordingly, the salaries of engineers will remain at the same high level.

How much do US IT professionals earn?

InformationWeek conducted USA a 2011 U.S. IT Salary Survey in 2011. As it turned out, revenues in the industry are quite high: managers have an average of about $115 thousand per year (about 3.5 million rubles per year or 287 thousand per month), professionals with a lower rank - $87 thousand (about 2.6 million rubles per year or 217.5 thousand per month in terms of rubles).

The figures obtained say that salaries are highly differentiated by specialties. For employees with a high level of qualifications in system architecture, data management, integration of corporate applications, income is expressed in six figures, while the salary of support employees is about $55 thousand per year (1.65 million rubles or 137.5 thousand rubles).

At the same time, the suspension of wage growth last year gave way to a slight increase - the average total amount of compensation growth in 2011 was only 0.9% for IT employees, 1.9% for IT managers.

Salaries of IT specialists in the USA, thousand $ per year

Source: InformationWeek, November 2011

As you can see from the table above, the salary level of the main categories of IT specialists is quite high. For example, programmers receive an average of $92 thousand per year (or 2.76 million in terms of rubles or 230 thousand rubles per month). The average earnings of specialists working in the computer industry and mathematicians in the United States increased by 2.8% from 2010 to 2011 to $70.6 thousand per year, according to the US Census Bureau. This data includes information about those who work, for example, mathematics teachers, statisticians, as well as IT.

U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2010 and 2011

Separately, in the industry of computer technology, engineering and science, the annual income of specialists increased by 1.7% to $67.4 thousand at the end of 2011. In general, for all sectors of the economy, the increase in the annual income of specialists in the United States for 2011 amounted to 1.2% for comparison.

The percentage of technical professionals in the United States remained unchanged between 2010 and 2011 - 5.2% of the total number of workers. The highest percentage of technicians is concentrated in Washington County (10.3%), followed by Maryland (8.6%) and Virginia (7.2%), mainly due to the high concentration of federal government organizations in these regions.

Outsourcing jobs in cheap countries

On March 27, 2012, the consulting company Hackett Group released the results of a study according to which, by 2016, North American and European companies will open 750 thousand additional jobs in India and other countries with low wages. As of March 2012, the pace is about 150 thousand new vacancies in the field of providing business services, it is assumed that after 2014 their number will stabilize or decline. India remains the most attractive market, accounting for about 40% of the total vacancies. First of all, we are talking about employment in the field of IT and finance.

Until 2016, all 2.3 million jobs in the field of IT, finance, procurement, HR will move offshore (not to be confused with economic offshore zones). That's about a third of the total jobs USA in and. In To Europe 2012, 5.1 million potentially suitable outsourcing jobs will remain in the United States and, Europe however, 1.8 million have every chance of migrating beyond developed markets. Until 2014, the rate of increase in migration of types of activities suitable for offshoring will begin to decline, and in the next 8-10 years may completely subside. Saturation will occur - companies simply will not have more work suitable for. outsourcing

Another aggravating factor is the increasing adoption of automation and productivity technologies. According to the study, in the period from 2006 to 2012, they will cause another 2.2 million jobs from the US and European markets, or about 200 thousand per year. All this does not allow us to count on a positive forecast for the growth of the labor market in the countries of these regions, said Michel Janssen, director of research at Hackett Group.

The Hackett Group study involved 4,700 North American and European companies with an annual turnover of over $1 billion.

US fight against labor IT migrants

In June 2013, analysts Gartner warned that legislative initiatives USA in the field of regulating migrant labor could in the future have a depressive impact on the local IT market and the global industry outsourcing as a whole, especially for offshore firms whose assets are concentrated in. India

We are talking about a possible ban on hiring in large numbers of foreign workers using American work visas H-1B or L-1B. The L-1 visa category is designed for those who work in an international company with a subsidiary or parent company in the United States, and a type A visa is designed for top management, and type B for ordinary specialists, and not necessarily from the field of information technology.

As for H-1, it also allows foreign specialists to come to work in the United States, however, the difference is that N-1V requires certification of labor in the US Department of Labor, there are requirements for education (not lower than a bachelor), there are a number of other nuances. Such visas are issued for a maximum period of 5 and 6 years, respectively.

Logically, the initiative to restrict the issuance of workers to foreign citizens is aimed at creating jobs for US citizens. Gartner believes that such restrictions will seriously affect the IT outsourcing industry, since at the moment in such companies up to 70% of employees are foreign specialists.

As a response, US offshore IT companies will be forced to hire a significant number of compatriots or, on the contrary, will withdraw up to 80-90% of their activities to foreign divisions, said expert Gartner Frances Karamouzis. In addition, he believes that companies will strive to increase the automation of their activities, as well as the current situation will lead to the emergence of innovative solutions.

There are already signs that the situation will develop precisely according to the scenario proposed by Gartner. For example, Infosys recently entered into an agreement with IPsoft, an automated IT service provider.

Another scenario for the development of events is that offshore companies will nevertheless begin to work more actively in the United States and attract the local population, then a number of other problems will arise in the country that require an emergency solution: for example, how to provide the labor market with the right number of specialists with the appropriate qualifications.

However, the legislative initiative can go a very long way before it becomes a reality. The so-called 50/50 initiative stipulates that the number of hired foreign workers in companies will be limited to 50% by 2017.

New professions

Director of Digital Policy

12 years ago, outside the IT industry, only 20% of all technology spending was directly on information systems, and by the end of this decade, the proportion in favor of IT spending will be 90%, according to Gartner. This process is supported by the digitalization of business in all industries and services that companies provide.

For example, many companies are actively digitalizing marketing, research and development. The second area that is rapidly ceasing to be "analog" is customer service and communication with them. In addition, digital technologies are increasingly being incorporated into new profit-making models. As a result, "any budget turns into an IT budget," Gartner experts say.

To meet these realities, companies will be forced to introduce the position of Director of Digital Policy (Chief Digital Officer), this will be a completely new position in the structure of top management. According to analysts, by 2015 such a position will appear in 25% of companies.

The director of digital policy will be one of the key figures in business in the new decade, according to Gartner, it will be "the most exciting position and strategic figure," the researchers also add. Clouds, social technology, mobile devices and large amounts of data today affect how people live and work.

However, existing IT leaders will not be out of work, as they will have to confront the challenges of the new digital reality, which primarily include cyber attacks, as well as monitor the company's reputation on the social web. They will also invest in new technologies such as mobile management and virtualization. The role of information security will be so great that in the next five years, according to Gartner, this market will grow by 56%, and the market for security solutions in the cloud will triple in volume.

Notes