Наталя Хандусенко War 25 August 2025, 12:01

In Ukraine, the same number of IT specialists (48% each) are thinking about going abroad and want to stay in the country. How age, salary and place of residence affect this decision

The most likely to think about moving abroad are those from the IT sector who do not have a reservation or deferment from service in the Defense Forces, as well as those who live in the east and south of the country, the DOU study showed .

Share of IT professionals planning to move abroad: by gender, age and place of residence

48% of IT professionals are considering moving abroad to some extent (up from 51% in 2024)

of them, 14% are actively planning to move: 2% will move in the near future, and 12% plan to leave when the borders open;
26% of IT residents are thinking about emigrating , but are not doing anything yet;
8% would like to go abroad for a while and then return.

48% do not plan to go anywhere;

14% definitely do not intend to go anywhere;
27% currently have no such plans ;
7% have already returned from abroad.

The plans of men and women differ significantly:

actively planning to move: 16% of men versus 5% of women;
are thinking about moving, but are not doing anything yet: 29% of men versus 19% of women;
have already returned from abroad: 3% of men versus 14% of women;
do not plan to move: 38% of men versus 49%.

Relocation plans by age:

53% of professionals are under 25 years old would like to go abroad compared to 45% among IT workers aged 30 and over;
13% of IT workers under 25 would like to live abroad and return, compared to 8% overall among all IT workers;
27% of IT professionals aged 26 to 30 and over 35 are thinking about moving abroad, but are not doing anything about it ;
30% of professionals over 35 currently have no plans to move;
More than 11% of professionals aged 25 to 35 and older are actively preparing to leave .

Financial situation and income do not have a noticeable impact on the desire to emigrate. IT professionals with an income of $5,000 or more are more likely to plan to move abroad in the near future than IT professionals with a lower income (10% versus 5%).

Those who currently live in cities in the west of the country tend to plan to travel somewhat less often:

12% of IT workers are actively planning to leave for Lviv, Ternopil, Rivne, Chernivtsi, Lutsk, and Khmelnytskyi;
15-20% of IT workers are actively preparing to leave for Dnipro, Odessa, Poltava, Sumy, and Mykolaiv;
Uzhhorod has one of the highest rates among all cities, with 20% of IT workers actively preparing to move there.

Share of IT workers planning to return

42% of IT workers abroad have not yet decided whether they will return to Ukraine (a year ago there were 32%);
37% do not plan to return (up from 45% a year ago);
20% of specialists plan to return .

Women are slightly more likely to plan to return or are undecided, while men are more likely to plan to stay abroad.

Young people under 25 are somewhat more likely to plan to return or have not decided on their future plans. And among older IT workers, the proportion of those who plan to stay abroad is higher.

Return plans by country:

Those who currently live in Hungary (42%), Croatia (37%) and Romania (36%) are most likely to plan to return;
Those who moved overseas are less likely to plan to return (8% plan to return from Canada, 10% from the USA):
Among European countries, those least likely to plan to return are Cyprus (4% of those currently living there), the Czech Republic and Portugal (9% each), Germany (13%) and Spain (15%).

Main reasons for emigration

Various factors influence the desire to leave Ukraine for women and men. The most important reasons for men are distrust of the authorities and the country (72%) and fear of mobilization (71%). For women, excessive stress (68%) and the search for a safe place to live (64%).

Main reasons to stay in Ukraine

Among the main reasons for staying in Ukraine or returning here are family and loved ones (68% among those in Ukraine and 62% among those abroad). Also important for both groups is faith in Ukraine and the desire to participate in its development and reconstruction (65% and 54%).

UPD. The Cabinet may prepare a decision on the travel abroad of men under 22 years old by the end of the week

“I dream that people who left Ukraine during the war will return.” Aitivets from SoftServe himself returned from abroad, and now leads a company at the front

Ukrainian IT specialists abroad will receive $200–500 more: a particularly noticeable difference in DevOps and Analyst, the least difference in QA