The IT job market has grown by 11%: the defense sector and hardware lead

Recovery of the labor market in Ukrainian IT

According to ХВИЛЯ: The labor market in Ukrainian IT is recovering, with the number of job vacancies increasing by 11% in the second half of 2025, reaching 41 thousand. The most significant growth is observed in the defense and hardware sectors. December 2025 brought 6225 vacancies, which is 1.6 thousand more than in December 2024.

Particular attention is drawn to the 'Military Affairs' category, which demonstrated a 204% growth, while the number of miltech vacancies in December reached 705 offers. Other promising fields also showed impressive results:

• No-code increased by 1000%
• Rust by 192%
• AI/ML - by 48%
• Embedded - by 44%
• Hardware - by 43%

However, not all categories show positive dynamics. In particular, vacancies in the fields of SAP, Blockchain, and PHP decreased by 23%, 21%, and 9% respectively.

Competition in the labor market

The demand for Senior specialists exceeded 1140 vacancies per month, while about 450 vacancies per month were opened for beginners and over 200 for candidates without experience. The average competition rate in December 2025 was 21.7 responses per vacancy. The highest competition is observed in the fields:

• Front-end (~86 responses per position)
• QA (~64)
• Project Management, Java, Flutter (>40 responses)

The lowest competition was recorded in the fields of Hardware (2.1 responses) and Embedded (2.4).

Among the leaders in the number of vacancies, the product company Genesis stands out with 884 vacancies. Also active is the 427th separate brigade of unmanned systems 'Rarog', which placed 359 vacancies. Currently, the IT job market in Ukraine continues to evolve, indicating gradual recovery and growth in the relevant sectors.

The growth in the number of vacancies in the Ukrainian IT sector, especially in areas related to defense and new technologies, indicates the market's adaptation to new demands and needs.

At the same time, the reduction in vacancies in traditional technologies such as SAP and PHP may indicate a shift in priorities and interests of employers. This creates new opportunities for specialists in promising fields, but also emphasizes the need for continuous training and adaptation to the changing labor market.