Hunt for the system administrator: how the crisis affects the hiring of IT staff

RBC Pro asked recruiting companies how the recruitment of IT specialists is changing in the current situation. Candidates have become more active in entering the market, but employers are often in no hurry to hire,

The domestic IT industry is in a fever: according to the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC), since the end of February 2022, 50-70 thousand IT specialists have left Russia, and another 70-100 thousand are predicted to leave in April. And already in 2021, the industry experienced personnel shortage: according to the Ministry of Digital Development, the shortage of IT personnel in the country ranged from 500 thousand to 1 million people. At the same time, many international companies, including IT companies, have suspended their work in Russia: software developers such as SAP, Oracle, Adobe, Cisco and Microsoft announced a temporary cessation of activities. How does the current situation affect IT hiring and what should the IT market expect - an increase in staff shortage or a reduction in staff shortages?

Almost optimistic statistics

Some experts interviewed by RBC Pro note that the number of vacancies in the IT sector has decreased. Victoria Virta, head of the professional development portal Litsa, notes that, according to the internal statistics of the portal, there are 10% fewer such vacancies than before. “Of course, the crisis has greatly affected the current recruitment of IT employees here and now,” admits Natalya Shcherbakova, director of the public relations department at the international staffing company Ancor. “After all, many companies have suspended investment in software development, reducing the rate of recruitment.” According to her, now Ancor fixes the reduction of its IT portfolio by about 40%. The explosive demand for IT specialists, typical of recent times, has ended, Shcherbakova states, although it is still higher than supply.