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Catégorie : IT

IT specialists are leaving Ukraine. Not for the first year, of course, but in the last couple of years - especially rapidly. The best minds of the country are leaving in search of a better life in Europe, the United States, Canada, Israel and other countries, where you can not only grow professionally, but also live in more comfortable conditions - beautiful well-maintained cities, with developed infrastructure, in a clear and friendly state, in a place where you can more comfortably develop a startup. These stories every time become more and more frightening - what if everybody runs away and the country is left at the bottom of the barrel? The editorial of Ukraine Post analyzes how many, where and why Ukrainian IT specialists go and how serious this trend is.

A 2014 Decoding Global Talent study by The Boston Consulting Group in 189 countries (unfortunately, no more recent data are available) suggests that professional migration is a popular activity these days. Many, boarding a ship without a return ticket, don't really think about not returning. Someone goes to one country with plans to then move to another, someone - to live and return home with new experiences, someone - just do not puzzle, someone, of course, breaks all ties with his homeland. Moving for work reasons is seen as a new career opportunity, a chance to get better experience and more money, to escape the situation in the country. But quite rarely is it an escape from disadvantage in its purest form. A small but important remark - the study talks about people who want or do not want to move, not about those who have already done so.

From the point of view of understanding global processes - the material is interesting.

It is interesting that a large percentage (over 90%) of people willing to move are in countries with weak economies (Jamaica, Tunisia, Pakistan), as well as in the advanced European states (France, Netherlands). Here people are ready to leave the country for the sake of new interesting opportunities and raising the level of well-being. Among those countries where there are 80-90% who want to move - Australia, Poland and Croatia, which is adjacent to Venezuela, Algeria, El Salvador and Ghana. Professionals in the first and second groups clearly have different motivations.

The most attractive countries for relocation are English-speaking countries. The U.S. as a country and London as a city. Among the non-English-speaking countries are Germany (33%), Switzerland (29%) and France (29%). The most non-mobile countries are USA, UK, Germany, Russia, Latvia, Ireland, and Denmark. In countries with developed economies people are not willing to risk stability for the sake of new experiences. The most mobile - young people aged 21-30 years. What is most obvious and interesting - 70% of the world's IT people and engineers are ready to move, it is the most mobile specialties in the world. Also for new professional experience, although in this environment, moving still primarily associated with a large increase in income. The most desirable places are Silicon Valley in the United States and London in the United Kingdom. The most immobile professionals are doctors and social workers.

Ukraine, in general, is not a very "mobile" country, here, according to a 2014 study, less than 60% of the population look abroad, and in the current one, already according to internal research, 65%. Of the post-Soviet countries, only residents of Russia and Latvia are less interested in moving - both less than half. Figures for IT professionals, according to IVOX study, which was attended by 600 respondents, consistent with a global trend - looking to move 72%. Among DOU readers, in turn, only half are looking for work abroad. 

All of this suggests that what we commonly call the outflow of specialists from the country is part of a global trend. Moreover, in our country, in conditions of economic instability, good technical education and unfavorable conditions for starting one's own business, it is less pronounced than it could be. For the country, the outflow of specialists from the "feeder" industry is a problem, but it could become much more serious. Even with those who left in 2015 (the DOU estimates between 2,000 and 5,000), the industry has grown 2.5 times in money and up to 90,000-100,000 professionals.

The devaluation of the state currency, perhaps, plays into the hands when it comes to professionals who prioritize purchasing power (and the amount of income of most professionals is a priority) - outside of Ukraine, an average IT person will live worse and afford less, paying taxes to the treasury and paying for rental housing. The bad thing is that IT professionals with 7+ years of experience - those who generate the most revenue for outsourcing companies - are leaving the country en masse.