In Russia, active layoffs of IT specialists began at the end of 2024 — both in technology companies and in IT departments of companies in other areas, the Russian publication The Bell reported on December 16.
In Russia, active layoffs of IT specialists began at the end of 2024 — both in technology companies and in IT departments of companies in other areas, the Russian publication The Bell reported on December 16.
The companies themselves are trying not to disclose this information or even deny that they are undergoing layoffs, IT recruitment specialists told the publication. One of them said that the «quiet layoffs» were going smoothly throughout 2024, but in recent months there have been more layoffs. «No one is ready to make such a public statement. They say: ‘Well, yes, they fired, well, yes, the entire department, well, yes, the entire project, but this is not a layoff, what are you saying?’» the interlocutor said.
An IT recruiter said that layoffs have become commonplace: «We have entire teams coming to us.»
On December 11, the specialized Telegram channel «Non-digital economy» also wrote about mass layoffs in rosIT. One of its interlocutors said that «very expensive employees» are being laid off «in conditions of expensive money.» Another interlocutor of the channel noted that companies are striving to enter 2025 «with simplified payroll information.»
According to The Bell, the cuts are being made at VK and MTS, and both companies deny this. Among other companies, the publication’s interlocutors named the development group «Samolet», while «Samotel» itself reported that in 2024 they created a separate direction «Samolet Technologies» in their structure in order to avoid duplicating functions: «During the creation of a new single model, we streamlined the structure and auxiliary functionality. At the same time, the staff of developers was preserved.»
Sberbank is also cutting development costs: according to sources, it has decided to abandon cooperation with outsourced IT product developers. Also, as dev.ua previously wrote, cuts are being made at the company «MoiOffice», which produces office software designed to replace Microsoft Office products. Cuts are also being made at other companies, the «Trade Union of IT Workers» reported.
Companies have started laying off IT workers due to financial difficulties, according to The Bell newsletter. Real estate sales at the Samolet Group fell, net profit at MTS sharply decreased, VK and MyOffice posted a large net loss, net profit at Sberbank decreased, and consumer activity among customers slowed down due to the high key rate.
The Bell called the main problem of Russian business the high key rate, which has been growing since the summer of 2023 and currently stands at 21% (according to forecasts, it may increase to 23%). Companies are abandoning expensive projects with an unclear payback, say The Bell’s interlocutors in the market. «As a result, entire teams are going under the knife, and not only marketers but also developers are being laid off,» the publication writes.
One of the publication’s interlocutors on the market said that developers were «overbought at a high price, and companies’ earnings were not growing that much.» In addition, according to him, many projects were «not launched.» He believes that the market was overheated before, and «optimization is underway now»: «The economy is in shambles. It seems that everyone really needed IT specialists, there is a shortage of personnel, everything is in order. But there is no money for development in the market, marketing tools have collapsed. Although both marketers and IT specialists are needed, there is no money. But they are hiding all this — because in Russia the economy cannot be in shambles.»
UPDATED. Meanwhile, Russian IT employers are simultaneously complaining about a shortage of personnel.
Every second company in Russia (54%) faced a shortage of personnel in the IT and technology industries.
Most companies call the problem with personnel for the IT sector the most acute. At the same time, the shortage of qualified specialists is recorded not only in the IT sphere, but also in engineering, medicine, chemistry, ecology, science and other industries. According to the results of a survey by the Association of Managers, 33% of the surveyed company representatives reported a shortage of specialists in production and engineering, and 13% said about a shortage of personnel in other areas and directions.
IT specialists from Europe, the USA, the UK and other «unfriendly» countries who held management positions in Russian companies began to be dismissed en masse after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. They were registered as highly qualified specialists (HQS).
In the IT sector, Russian companies more often attract citizens of the CIS countries.
The involvement of specialists from China, India, Iran, Turkey, Bangladesh, and other «friendly» countries has not yet become widespread, notes Natalya Berdieva, an evangelist of IT innovations in the sharing economy at SkillStaff.
This is due to the fact that citizens from neighboring countries are easier to hire and integrate into work processes, the expert notes. IT personnel from India, Pakistan, and African countries also show serious potential for work in the Russian market, says Elena Ivanchikhina, head of GeekSource (ANCOR group), which recruits IT specialists.
Executive Director of the Association of Managers Vyacheslav Yevseev confirmed the interest of Russian business in professionals from Africa and Asia. According to him, qualified personnel from South Korea are also in demand in Russia. Companies are seeking to attract them to work in industries where there is a significant shortage of labor resources.
The HeadHunter service reported back in October that Russian companies are actively looking for IT professionals in African countries due to a shortage of personnel. The number of vacancies for representatives of Zimbabwe then increased by 17.6 times, Cameroon — by 11 times, Kenya — by 10 times, Algeria — by 7.6 times, Uganda — by five times, Libya — by four times, Zambia — by almost twice. As RBC noted, African personnel are ready to work for salaries that are four to five times lower than those of Russian specialists. However, in terms of qualifications, they are noticeably inferior to domestic specialists.
The number of vacancies in Russian companies for IT specialists from India also increased significantly in the first half of 2024, according to HeadHunter analysts. In December, there were over 760 of them (an increase of 68% compared to the same period last year), and the number of invitations increased by 62%, to 862.
At the beginning of the year, the head of the Russian Ministry of Digital Affairs, Maksut Shadayev, estimated the number of people employed in the IT sector in the Russian Federation at 740,000. The shortage of qualified personnel was 500,000-700,000. According to independent expert Vadim Plesky, 170,000 IT specialists could have left Russia irrevocably due to the war and mobilization.
