"If it's covered, we'll put up greenhouses." Ukrainian IT professionals told where they are ready to go from IT due to the crisis in the market

Miltech has become the main alternative

The defense industry was mentioned most often in the comments. «Miltech,» user dormouse.weirdo replied briefly.

He was supported by other participants in the discussion. «Go to Miltech,» wrote simplemanua .

And the recruiter of the Unmanned Systems Forces artem_kniaz hinted that this process has been going on for a long time. «I can hint where many of them are working now. And most of them haven’t even been to our place,» he noted.

Judging by the reactions under the post, for many Ukrainian engineers, defense tech no longer looks like a change of profession, but rather like a change of industry.

Don’t leave IT, but transfer to another car

Some specialists do not plan to leave the industry, but are changing direction.

User yuliaakryveiko said that she switched from Java development to Data Engineering last year. «I switched from Java Dev to Data Engineer last year. The projects have gotten better, there’s more demand. Recruiters even write often.»

Other participants in the discussion advise paying attention to AI Engineering, MLOps, Cloud Data Analytics, Business Analysis, and SAP. In their opinion, the problem today is not in all of IT, but primarily in oversaturated areas such as Junior Development, Front-end, and Manual QA.

«I moved to the USA and am getting a salary I never dreamed of»

For some professionals, relocation was the way out. «I got burned out working in IT in Ukraine, constantly undervalued, very bad working conditions, I left for the USA, now I work in Henderson and have a salary I never even dreamed of,» wrote potapchuk_olexandra .

However, not everyone agreed with this view. «From my experience, the IT market in the States is many times worse. In Ukraine, there are actually quite a few positions,» answered orhimenko .

If not IT, then farm

One of the most popular topics in the comments was farming.

«Farm. Goats, horses, cows, silence and tractors,» wrote user mturnaviotov. He also noted that modern agribusiness has long been associated with technology: «There’s a f**king lot of money there if the head and hands aren’t from the ass. Have you seen an autopilot for a combine?» he asked.

Another commentator described a similar scenario. «We both work in IT. If it rains, we’ll put up greenhouses in the village and do repairs,» wrote j.onofrchk .

Customs, repairs and manual labor

Some have already started preparing a backup plan. «I’m already taking customs broker courses,» pswdit reported.

Others mentioned part-time jobs through household services. «You go to Kabanchik and you’re like: wow, the prices have gone up. Working in the fresh air, with people,» wrote n1kel86 .

Some specialists are increasingly looking at areas where there is a shortage of personnel and where they can work for themselves.

But not everyone sees the crisis

At the same time, many participants in the discussion did not agree with the thesis about a market catastrophe. «What’s wrong with you, but I have a job for the next year. I work two jobs and I don’t think I’m going anywhere,» wrote yaroslav_developer.

DevOps engineer o4yika also sees no problems: «Huh, I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with the work.»

And lead software developer n3kropol said: «I work in IT. Everything is as easy as it was, even new convenient tools have been added. I just keep hearing in the news how bad everything is.»

Market context

Judging from the discussion, most Ukrainian IT professionals are not considering casual jobs or low-skilled work. Instead, the most popular alternatives include miltech, AI, data analytics, agribusiness, customs, and self-employment.

The sentiments in the comments coincide with what Ukrainian IT platforms have been recording for the past two years.

After record growth during the pandemic and the beginning of a full-scale war, the market has experienced a series of cuts. According to DOU and Djinni, the number of vacancies is gradually recovering, but competition remains much higher than in 2021–2022. The most difficult thing today is for Juns, Switchers, and specialists in mass areas such as Front-end, Manual QA, and Junior Software Development.

At the same time, demand is concentrated in the areas of artificial intelligence, data engineering, cybersecurity, cloud technologies and defense developments. That is why miltech is increasingly mentioned in the comments — a sector that became one of the most dynamic employers for Ukrainian engineers during the war. Even industry representatives have paid attention to this. The official DOU account in the comments concisely reminded of the growing interest in defense tech, publishing a screenshot of views of the relevant section of the site.

Uncertainty, changing conditions, personnel crisis. What critical risks do IT clusters see around the development of the tech sector in Ukraine?

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Uncertainty, changing conditions, personnel crisis. What critical risks do IT clusters see around the development of the tech sector in Ukraine?

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