Q2 Salary Report: The Product Market Landscape

Product companies and candidates in Ukraine are currently facing a moral shift in recruitment behavior, exacerbated by the war by Russia against Ukraine and the post-pandemic remote way of working. In the last 3 months, when choosing a job offer, such factors as the stability of the company, its brand, the prospects for the company, a stable financial position, as well as its corporate social responsibility (in relation to hostilities and support for Ukraine) are playing a significant role.

To help keep track of the market and opportunities in the reactive product landscape, we have collected salary data, hiring trends, and industry insights of the Senior and Middle candidates we worked with over the past 3 months (March 2022 to June 2022).

Wherever you are in the world – Ukraine, the United States, Europe or somewhere in between - our Salary Report has the numbers worth knowing in the 2022 hiring landscape.

➡️[DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT]⬅️

For any newcomers, VP Team is a Ukrainian tech talent acquisition agency. For 12 years, we have successfully connected top-notch Senior Engineers and IT specialists to high-growth startups and tech giants.

Market Changes Since The Beginning Of The War

For context, international companies who expand their engineering teams to Ukraine make up a huge chunk of the industry - over 100 Fortune 500 companies outsource to Ukraine. And before the war, Ukraine was considered a #1 outsourcing destination by the Global Sourcing Association. This top spot has been knocked since the beginning of the war yet some of the top tech companies that hire in Ukraine are still growing to rely on their sought-after talent.

These include:

  • German software provider, SAP SE
  • London-based financial-technology company, Revolut Ltd.
  • Israel-based services marketplace, Fiverr International Ltd.
  • Website design and development platform, Wix.com Ltd.
  • Ukraine-based online writing assistant, Grammarly
  • US-based video hosting and services platform, Vimeo, Inc.
However, since the beginning of the war, there are a number of market changes we have discovered during the creation of our latest Salary Report. All of which relate to high-growth product startups, tech giants, and Senior and Mid-Level engineers and IT specialists.

Many Ukrainian companies have frozen hiring

Partly because of the uncertainty, partly because their priority shifted to helping their employees and Ukraine. They helped employees move to safer locations, paid financial assistance, or sent employees on vacation at their own expense.

US and EU-based companies suspended hiring Ukranians

Only temporarily due to the high risk of falling productivity. They focused on helping their employees in Ukraine, but not every company was ready to consider candidates located inside the country. Companies hiring in Ukraine target candidates in a relatively safe part of the country.

Candidates are more cautious about new job offers

People are afraid to change jobs because of the potential risk with a new employer: one may not pass probation, a project may be frozen or the company may close. Therefore, candidates are more willing to consider offers from stable companies with a well-known HR brand.

The war affected the recruitment process itself

Before considering an offer, candidates now check the potential employer’s connection with the aggressor countries, the company’s statements, and whether the company helps Ukraine.

For more information on changes in the Ukrainian labor market during the war, our last blog post details everything you’ll need to know.

What Does The Product & Tech Market Look Like Now

For CEOs, Founders, and Business Owners of high-growth product companies in the US and/or Europe, now is a great time to consider building/expanding engineering teams to Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal shared, that the IT export volume from the country increased 36% to $6.8 billion in 2021, up from $5 billion in 2020. And even though the war has temporarily stunted the growth of export volume, the high-quality talent pool still exists but on a more remote basis, due to the refugee crisis following the war. 

As of June 21st 2022, there are 5,256,378 individual refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe, which shows you the scale of the refugee situation. However thanks to our digital way of working, the majority of Ukranians continue to work or search for new positions in the product market.

As an example of what the product and tech market looks like now, we’re going to delve into the Q2 salary trends of Senior Technical positions, as recorded in the Salary Report. This will give you a generalized scope but we recommended reading the full report for a holistic and beneficial view of the market.

Q2 Salary Trends in Senior Technical Positions

After a quick search on Google’s Keyword Planner, the most-searched-for position in the Product and IT market currently stands with Senior Full-Stack (Python, Javascript, TypeScript, C/C++ or Go). Therefore, to explain the salary trends with clarity we will focus on this position when talking about the graph below.

Based on the information collected, you can see the weighted average salary of our candidates for Senior Technical positions.

We searched for candidates in the following regions:

  • Full-Stack (Python etc) – worldwide, excluding APAC zone

  • Full-Stack (Angular, .net) – Eastern Europe

  • React Native Developer – priority – Ukraine, but Eastern Europe and the Caucasus also considered

  • C++ Developer – LATAM + EMEA

  • Data Engineer, Backend Developer (Python), Frontend (React) Developer – Ukraine

If you compare the Senior Full Stack salaries to our Q1 Salary Report, we see some interesting movements. For example, the Q2 median salary for this position has risen to $8370 compared to the Q1 median salary of $6000 - that’s a 39.5% increase. Interestingly, this validates our original prediction of a 30-50% salary increase in 2022 (as seen in our Q1 Salary Report).

This close-to-40 % increase is due to a drop in the minimum salary but an increase in the maximum salary, all of which can be seen in the full report. Wherever you are in the world – Ukraine, the United States, Europe or somewhere in between - our Salary Report has the numbers worth knowing in the 2022 hiring landscape.

➡️[DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT]⬅️

How To Expand Your IT Operations To Ukraine In 2022

Andy Kurtzig, CEO of JustAnswer, spoke with the B2B news publication, Verdict, in April this year and he explains the answer to this question best. He has implored businesses to not only sanction Russia but to actively support Ukraine.

“For business leaders, the main message is: ‘buy Ukraine,’” he tells Verdict. “Don’t just boycott Russia, buy Ukraine. That means that if you’re thinking about doing business in Ukraine, do it. If you’re in Ukraine, keep going. We’re seeing lots of people, unfortunately, pulling out and getting afraid and running away and that’s not helpful.”

The transition from a booming labor market to an optimistic one is solely dependent on the war but it is promising to see Tech workers in Ukraine continue to work in an effort to protect the nation as Russian aggression continues. 

So, if you are thinking about expanding your IT operations or Tech suite to Ukraine, remember to consider the candidate's moral expectations towards a company. As always, recruitment is a two-way street and in this case, it is based on whether both parties are willing to walk the walk instead of talk the talk.

The team at VP Team specializes in connecting top-notch Senior Engineers and IT specialists to high-growth startups and tech giants. We’d love to chat if this sounds like you. Visit our contact page and get in touch.

Wherever you are in the world – Ukraine, the United States, Europe or somewhere in between - our Salary Report has the numbers worth knowing in the 2022 hiring landscape.

➡️[DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT]⬅️