Over the past year, 17% of Ukrainian IT specialists have lost their jobs. Although this figure has decreased compared to 19% in 2025, staff reductions in the information technology market remain a significant trend.
This is reported by Finway
Who was affected by layoffs the most
Market analysis shows that layoffs have affected specialists of various levels and fields, but some groups have suffered more. In particular, outside of Ukraine, one in five IT specialists (20%) is unemployed, while within the country, this figure stands at 17%.
The highest number of layoffs was recorded among experienced specialists: seniors accounted for 43% of those laid off, and mid-level specialists for 29%. The share of laid-off Lead+ level employees has noticeably increased and now stands at 15% compared to 9% in 2025. Meanwhile, junior specialists — juniors and interns — made up only 10% of the total number of specialists who lost their jobs.
Among professional fields, developers (Software Engineers — 47%) and testers (QA/AQA Engineers — 15%) were the most affected. Looking at the types of companies, 52% of layoffs occurred in product companies, while another 30% were in service companies. In the Ukrainian IT sector, employees in medium-sized companies with teams of 50 to 200 people were most frequently laid off (22% of cases).
Reasons for mass layoffs
The main reasons for layoffs cited by employers are staff optimization (38% of cases) and a difficult financial situation (32%). For technical specialists, a common reason for job loss was the completion of a project or its suspension by the client. Abroad, 5% of employees were laid off due to the inability or unwillingness to relocate, while in Ukraine, only 1% of specialists lost their jobs for this reason.
“Abroad, one in five IT specialists lost their jobs (20%), while in Ukraine this figure is slightly lower at 17%.”
It is worth noting that the Ukrainian IT sector continues to expand its presence in the country, with the largest number of residents of “Diia.City” recorded in Kyiv.