Women in Tech: From 7 to 27% in 9 Years

Over the last 9 years, the share of women in the Ukrainian tech industry has tripled. Such data is provided by one of the largest technology companies with several offices in Ukraine GlobalLogic. Let’s learn more details on how the number of women in tech changed in recent years both in Ukraine and in Lviv.

According to GlobalLogic estimates, at the beginning of 2012, about 7% of women worked in the tech sector, and as of early 2021 ‒ 27%. The number of female specialists in the tech industry is growing by an average of 15% every year.

According to the latest survey by DOU.UA, 27% of all tech industry employees registered in the state register of Ukraine are women. The largest number of women among tech specialists is registered in Lviv and Kharkiv regions (31% and 29%, respectively). According to the latest data, the overall number of tech specialists in Ukraine is 212,547.

In general, female specialists in Ukraine hold 40% of all non-technical positions. These are marketers, managers, designers, business analysts, technical translators, etc. Among all QA engineers in Ukraine, women make up 33%, and among developers ‒ 8%. The number of technical specialists among women in Ukraine has increased by 12% in 3 years and equals 45%, i.e. almost half of all women in the industry.

Comparing the growth of the number of women in tech in Lviv, the situation is similar. Lviv IT Cluster annually conducts IT Research, measuring the total growth of the local tech industry. IT Research 2.0 reported 30.9% of women among all tech specialists working in Lviv, which in 2017 amounted to 18-19 thousand. According to the latest survey by IT Research 5.0 in 2020, 32% of tech professionals working in Lviv are women, with the total number of tech specialists equaling 26.5 thousand.

Women’s positions in tech companies

Speaking about tech companies, the number of women among employees varies from 20 to 35%, and in top management positions in some companies reaches half.

According to GlobalLogic estimates, 27% of the company’s employees are women, of whom 26% are developers, almost 42% are QA engineers, and about 10% are managers and top managers. The largest company in the country with 10,000 employees, EPAM records more than 27% of women in the company, with the same percentage of women in management positions. The second largest Ukrainian tech company SoftServe, with 8,000 employees, says 35% of its employees are women, and 49% among the company’s managers. This data was presented by the latest social report of the company in 2020. 25% of N-iX and Intellias employees are women (both companies have an average of 1,000 employees).

In general, all Ukrainian tech companies note that the number of women among tech employees is growing every year. Companies try to encourage women to choose the tech industry by introducing diversity practices, more and more companies are increasingly paying attention to environmental, social and corporate development.

Lviv Tech Industry in Key Figures

In 2019, the Lviv tech industry’s overall economic effect exceeded $1 billion, with tech companies’ growth rate reaching a staggering 45%. The new study of the Lviv IT Cluster IT Research 5.0 shows the most current figures of the city’s tech industry in 2020.

For five years in a row, Lviv IT Cluster has been conducting an independent analytical study of the Lviv tech industry with the most up-to-date information on the industry development dynamics, its economic effect, and a portrait of a tech specialist in Lviv. The study was conducted based on a survey of tech specialists and companies regarding the pandemic’s impact on their activities and expenses, expert interviews with top managers of Lviv tech companies, and statistical data (SFS, UkrStat).

  • Number of companies and tech specialists

The number of tech companies in Lviv increased by 17%. There are 492 tech companies now, whereas, in 2019, the number equaled 461. Despite the unfavorable situation due to the pandemic-induced crisis, the number of tech specialists has been growing – 26-26.5k, compared to 24-25k last year.

  • Economic performance and taxes

Tech industry share in the GRP of Lviv has not changed compared to 2019 and equals 20%. The industry’s turnover exceeded the last year’s number, ranging from $816 to $832 million (in comparison, in 2019 the industry’s turnover ranged from $658 to $718 million).

The total economic effect of the tech sector in Lviv in 2019 amounted to $1.255 billion (in contrast, in 2018 it was $1.051 billion), out of which the direct economic effect reached $788 million, indirect (the effect of tech on related sectors of the economy) – $507 million.

The total Lviv industry tax revenue in 2019 amounted to UAH 1,567,416 million, exceeding 2018’s number – UAH 1,329,191 million. 53.6% went to the local and 46.4% to the state budget. The total industry tax revenue increased by 16.6%, with the dominant share going to the local budget (due to the growth of single tax).

Portrait of a tech specialist

The median age of tech specialists in Lviv in 2020 is 29; last year, the number equaled 28. The share of Junior specialists is 24%, Middle – 38%, and Senior – 38% correspondingly. Most tech specialists are men (68%), whereas the share of women in tech in 2020 was 32%. 57% of respondents were involved in charity initiatives.

Learn more about the tech industry’s job market and its changes, the top managers’ assessment of 2020, detailed information on tech companies’ performance during the pandemic, including the impact of the pandemic on financial performance, as well as layoffs in tech companies in IT Research 5.0.

Download the study here.

IT Research 5.0 was conducted by the Custom Research Agency Fama commissioned by Lviv IT Cluster.

Pandemics and Tech. How the Tech Industry Survived 2020

Every year, the Ukrainian tech industry shows positive growth and rapid development, but in 2020 effects of the Covid pandemic and crisis which followed were inevitable. The tech industry, however, remains one of the most promising in the country. Let’s learn how the pandemic has affected the tech industry’s development in Lviv, how the industry’s growth rates changed, and what the state of the industry looks like right now. 

In December 2020, Lviv IT Cluster presented the results of its fifth study of the tech market in Lviv ‒ IT Research. The study analyzed the work of tech companies during the pandemic, interviewed the leaders of local companies, tech specialists, as well as collected the latest data on revenue changes, etc. from tech companies.

As of the end of 2020, 45 companies closed their offices in Lviv, however, at the same time 78 new companies emerged, therefore, company growth rates in the city remained positive. The growth dynamics equals +17%. The increase in the number of tech specialists in the city also shows positive dynamics ‒ +1500 employees of the industry during 2020.

Tech companies’ work mode during lockdown

Speaking about work mode, most tech companies in Lviv showed incredible flexibility in shifting their employees to remote work mode in March 2020. Among the companies that took part in the survey, 100% shifted to remote work mode in the first half of 2020, out of which 22% – partly and 78% – fully. As of November 2020, in 78% of companies, a part of employees returned to office; on average, a third of the companies’ employees are working fully or partly from office.

“Back in early March, when the pandemic began to gain momentum in Europe, we at N-iX formed a working group to consider various scenarios and our next steps. This allowed us to shift smoothly to work from home mode when lockdown started in Ukraine. At the same time, we started thinking about how to help our employees protect themselves from the virus and support the communities where we live and work. At the end of March, we set up the N-iX Anti-Covid-19 Fund, which is still working. The biggest challenge for us in 2020 was to adjust all processes in the company to new realities and maintain our stable growth. And we succeeded N-iX grew by 30%, which is a little less than we planned at the beginning of the year but more than the Ukrainian IT market overall,” comments Andrew Pavliv, Founder & CEO, N-iX.

27.8% of companies indicated that remote work mode had a positive effect on the company’s productivity, 55.6% indicated that nothing had changed, 5.6% considered the transition as negative. At the same time, at the beginning of the lockdown, according to the first edition of IT Industry Monitoring, conducted in early April, 15.5% of companies indicated negative effects of remote work. 11.1% of companies could not give an unambiguous answer.

New approaches to finding clients

Despite the adjustment of processes, the interviewed companies admitted that they faced financial difficulties at the start of the pandemic. The majority of companies (66.7%) indicated that they received refusals from clients to continue cooperation during the first half of 2020. According to their estimates, on average, companies lost 15% of their income due to this. 55.6% of companies specified that their clients asked for a reduction of workload (supply restrictions) during the first half of 2020. On average, they estimate a 14% decrease in income due to this.

44% of companies reduced their employees’ salaries in the first half of 2020, and almost 40% sent their employees on unpaid leave. 17% cut a part of the technical staff, and 39% reduced the number of non-technical employees in the first half of 2020.

However, companies were able to refocus on new market needs, change strategies and approaches to finding new clients. “Digital strategy plays an essential role in our marketing and business development strategies. This area had been critical for us even before the pandemic, and now it has strengthened its position. Lead generation has almost completely shifted to the digital mode, sales have increased, new projects have been launched, and existing ones have significantly expanded. Our clients are leaders in the field of network technology, and during the massive transition of the world online, market demand has increased enormously. Their innovation race generates new opportunities for PLVision as a developer with a clear, deep, and sought-after specialization in Computer Networking, Embedded Systems, and IoT. We analyze the market, follow our ecosystem’s trends and needs, update the value proposition, and offer today what the client will need tomorrow. The high-demand market expects even better quality of services and faster execution. It keeps us in shape, so we are continually looking for ways to improve, grow, and develop,” comments Olena Kozlova, Co-Founder & CEO, PLVision.

In addition, tech companies in Lviv report an increase in the number of vacancies and growing demand for new tech specialists since the summer of 2020. “Our company had to postpone salary reviews for several months; however, all financial arrangements, including bonuses, did not change. This temporary restriction was in effect for several months, and as soon as business activity went up in mid-summer, we lifted them. During the spring-early summer, external stang was also limited: we filled most of the new vacancies using the internal reserve. However, in July, we resumed all recruitment processes. In September and October, a record number of employees was hired – more than 500, and we continue to grow,” says Oleh Denys, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, SoftServe.

Lviv Tech Community Becomes the Biggest in Ukraine

Lviv IT Cluster announced that one more company has joined its community, making the total number of the Cluster’s members – 110. Thus, the community of Lviv IT Cluster member companies is now the largest among tech and business associations in Ukraine. Over the past 9 years, Lviv IT Cluster has grown from several companies into a robust and influential business community in Ukraine, which has implemented numerous successful projects that are changing our city and country.

The activities of Lviv IT Cluster are aimed at strengthening the tech industry position at the local and state levels, the development of Ukrainian tech education, infrastructure, and the promotion of Lviv as a city where advanced technologies are developing. Among the most important Lviv IT Cluster projects are the tech conference IT Arena and Lviv IT Jazz business conference. Besides, Lviv IT Cluster member companies are involved in the modernization and development of new bachelor programs within the frames of IT Expert projects, and their employees tell students about opportunities in tech within the frames of IT Future project. Since 2016, 14 innovative bachelor programs have been launched at 3 universities in Lviv (Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and LNULS), which is the biggest indicator in Ukraine.

The number of tech companies in Lviv and our community are growing. Lviv IT Cluster is a progressive community that strives to make our city as comfortable as the leading European cities through the development of infrastructure and quality of tech education. Having reached the mark of 110 companies, we confidently hold the lead position among the largest associations of tech companies. We have a large number of promising projects ahead to develop the tech industry in our city and country,” says Stepan Veselovskyi, CEO at Lviv IT Cluster.

Lviv IT Cluster has grown significantly not only in terms of the number of members but also the scale of projects. We are ready to share our experience with other tech clusters and associations in Ukraine. We strive not only to develop the tech industry in Lviv but also to help Ukraine become a tech country,” highlights Ivan Babichuk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Lviv IT Cluster.

Numerous projects implemented by Lviv IT Cluster would not be possible without the support and active participation of companies that are members of the association. Lviv IT Cluster has also initiated large-scale changes in Lviv, including the construction of the Innovation District IT Park, a technology center for 10,000 tech specialists. The association conducts surveys about the city’s tech market and its trends as part of the annual detailed IT Research initiative.