Defense tech is looking for thousands of people but can't find them. Why is this happening - what about salaries and what companies offer besides booking
In two years, Ukrainian defense tech has gone a way that classical industries take decades to achieve. From a niche segment, it has transformed into one of the most scarce markets for engineers — with its own salaries, rules of the game, and barriers to entry.
At first glance, it looks like a classic «overheated» market: lots of vacancies, aggressive hiring, and salaries that are supposedly on par with IT. But if you dig deeper, the picture is much more complex — and much less clear-cut.
In two years, Ukrainian defense tech has gone a way that classical industries take decades to achieve. From a niche segment, it has transformed into one of the most scarce markets for engineers — with its own salaries, rules of the game, and barriers to entry.
At first glance, it looks like a classic «overheated» market: lots of vacancies, aggressive hiring, and salaries that are supposedly on par with IT. But if you dig deeper, the picture is much more complex — and much less clear-cut.
A market where there are more vacancies than people
Back in 2023, defense tech was more of a niche story — a few dozen vacancies per quarter. By early 2026, it was already thousands. But more importantly, competition among candidates remains low.
If two years ago there were an average of 15–18 responses per vacancy, then in 2025 there will be 7–9, according to DOU analytics. In the first quarter of 2026, the figure increased slightly to 9.2, but this is still half as much as before. For comparison, in classical IT, certain areas can receive dozens and even more than 80 responses per vacancy. That is, the deficit here is not rhetorical.
Ukrainian defense tech looks like one of the hottest job markets in early 2026: in the first quarter alone, defense employers on DOU published 3,005 vacancies in this category. This is more than in the entire year 2024 (2,283), and more than in the first half of 2025 (2,369). The increase compared to the last quarter of 2025 is 35,4%. Compared to IT, this is almost the same as in the entire year 2025 in the Project Manager (3,140) or Front-end (3,448) categories.
But behind this dynamic lies a less obvious reality: Salaries here are not always higher than in IT, and entry into the industry is much more difficult. And it is this combination that is currently defining the market.
Salaries: a lot of noise and a slightly different reality
Against the backdrop of such demand, it is logical to expect that defense tech will «overheat» salaries. This is partly confirmed by market estimates. According to AIN and Lobby X, defense engineers usually receive $2,000–4,000, and narrow specialists — up to $10,000 and more in individual cases.
But more detailed analytics shows a different picture.
According to the DOU salary survey conducted in December 2025, the median salary for a developer in defense tech is $2,850. This is about $480 less than in IT in general — on average, the difference is about -14%.
The difference is also preserved by titles: Senior — $3800 in deftech versus the highest level in IT, Middle — approximately $400–500 less, Junior — on the contrary, more, namely $1100 versus $830. That is, the picture is not so clear: the industry is already close to IT, but has not systematically surpassed it.
«There is no overheating»
If you look deeper, the key difference is in the salary structure. Back-end in defense tech is almost the same as IT (median ~$3550). Full Stack, on the other hand, earns significantly less, and Embedded — despite high demand — also lags behind IT on average (about $2250 vs. $3500). This seems counterintuitive, but it explains the market well: There is a deficit, but it does not always translate into higher salaries.
This same thesis is confirmed by employers themselves.
Himera, when asked whether there is a phenomenon of «overselling» of specialists in the market and whether salaries are generally higher, answers directly: «From our experience, no and no.»
BlueBird puts it mildly: «In some cases, compensation may exceed traditional IT levels, but in general, many positions are in line with market conditions.» That is, it is not about a «salary race,» but about equalization.
In turn, Yaroslav Azhnyuk’s defense startups The Fourth Law and Odd Systems note that salaries in the industry are competitive, with specific conditions depending on the role, previous experience, etc.
A similar position was expressed in Skiftech: «The level of salaries in miltech cannot be assessed unambiguously as higher or lower than in classic IT. It directly depends on the role, tasks and level of responsibility. We have positions at the market level, there are lower or higher ones — this is determined by the specifics of the projects and the necessary expertise.»
Motivation is not like in IT
Among the key factors in the transition of specialists to defense are not money, but the meaning of work and influence, complex engineering tasks and, of course, reservations. It is this combination that allows the industry to attract people even without a systematic «salary bonus.»
Meanwhile, employers note that they usually do not resort to buying off IT workers.
«There is no „buy-out“ as such, but the vast majority of ex-IT workers who joined us „lit up“ in miltech/deftech consciously, going for the conditions that we can offer. For many, it’s about personal (husband/wife, relatives familiar with the military; forced relocation or personal loss; a strong inner desire to work in a company that makes sense in the current conditions; a desire to transfer their experience to a field that has an impact here and now, etc.),» explain The Fourth Law and Odd Systems.
Skiftech adds: «We do not work in the logic of „buying over“ specialists. At the same time, we see another trend: some specialists come to us because of their interest in the product and the applied value of the developments. About 10% of specialists are involved in an outsourced format — these are people from other companies who are working on our solutions in parallel precisely because of their interest in the domain or product,» the company explains.
BlueBird also has no cases of specialists being lured away. «Most often, specialists come to us from the IT sphere on their own, consciously choosing our direction because of its prospects,» the company notes.
What does defense tech give you, besides money?
Looking at the numbers alone, defense tech doesn’t look like a market with a systemic «salary premium» over IT. But that doesn’t stop companies from competing for people — the tools are just different here.
And the main one is not money. In fact, a separate set of benefits has been formed in the industry, which partially replaces the classic IT social package and at the same time takes into account the realities of war.
BlueBird describes this quite restrainedly: basically, it’s about official employment, medical care, access to training and foreign language courses, as well as internal programs for the team.
But the key detail is different. The company specifically emphasizes the possibility of reserving employees if there are reasons. And it is this factor that sounds much louder in the market today than the classic «buns».
The Fourth Law and Odd Systems put it even more directly: «The basic benefit of the miltech sector is the ability to reserve military personnel.»
Skiftech’s social package is formed around job stability and opportunities for development: stable payments without delays; provision of corporate equipment from day one; opportunities for horizontal and vertical career growth; English courses after the probationary period; access to the internal L&D base and payment for external training; paid vacations and sick leave; access to a professional library (online and offline); open communication with management and support from mentors during the adaptation process; internal team support program — a mutual aid fund that helps in difficult life situations and strengthens the sense of responsibility for each other within the team.
At the same time, companies are starting to restructure their social packages to suit the specifics of the industry. This includes not only standard medical insurance, but also military risk coverage, life insurance, tuition reimbursement, and other benefits that were not typical for IT a few years ago. «VIP-class medical insurance, sports coverage, corporate English, paid sick leave,» is how Himera describes the «buns» offered to IT professionals.
This is an important change: the social package in defense tech becomes not just a «bonus», but part of security and stability.
Another nuance is the format of work. According to DOU, developers in defense tech work much more often in the office or in a hybrid format than in classic IT. Fully remote work is less common here — due to the specifics of hardware and testing. As a result, a different logic of choosing a job is formed.
If in classic IT a social package is a «plus to the salary», then in defense tech it often becomes a separate argument: about stability, security and a sense of control in conditions where this is lacking. And this is precisely what explains why some specialists move into the industry even without obvious financial gain.
1000 or more vacancies in the defense industry. What specialists are being sought in Ukrainian miltech — we talked to recruiters at the «Arsenal of Talents»
