Record industry growth, the role of IT specialists in the war and optimistic forecasts for the year-quarterly report of the IT Ukraine Association
In the first quarter of 2022, the Ukrainian IT industry showed a record increase in export revenues, while IT specialists themselves are actively involved in assistance in the cyber war of Ukraine, donations to the army and directly on the battlefield, and representatives of the IT business have positive expectations for the further development of the industry, despite the mass relocation and war. This is stated in a new study from the IT Ukraine Association.
It is known that at the beginning of 2022, 285 thousand IT specialists worked in the industry. And during the first quarter, the IT sector provided a record експорт 2 billion in export revenues during the war (against.1.44 billion in 2021)-the volume of it exports increased by 28%.
At the same time, in March 2022, the Ukrainian IT industry retained 96% of the volume of computer services exports (5 522 million) compared to the same period last year (. 546 million), showing its margin of safety in conditions of instability and increased risks.
According to the IT Association, the largest percentage of relocated employees fell on companies of 1200+ people (32%), in companies of 200-1200 people this figure is 24%, in companies of up to 200 people — only 14%. The main countries of relocation are Poland, Germany, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Croatia.
According to new data, an average of 3% of IT specialists joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine (1% more than the previous figure). At the same time, the figures vary depending on the scale of the company:
in companies of 1200-3000 people, 2% of employees joined;in companies of 200-1200 people — up to 4.5% of employees;in companies of up to 200 people — up to 1.8% of employees.The rate of involvement of specialists in government projects and cyber warfare also increased significantly from 5% to 9% in the industry:
in companies of 1200-3000 people — 5% of employees;in companies of 200-1200 people — 14% of employees;in companies of up to 200 people-up to 8% of employees.In addition, during the two and a half months of the war, IT companies participating in the study transferred UAH 806 million to charitable foundations and various humanitarian purposes. Military equipment, equipment, clothing, technical equipment and other things necessary for our defenders are purchased on an ongoing basis.
The companies that took part in the study purchased and transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: 11 thousand 102 bulletproof vests, 6 thousand 574 helmets, 140 cars, 700 turnstiles, 136 drones, 3 Starlinks, 3 thousand 756 laptops and tablets, 834 walkie-talkies and communications equipment, 332 night vision devices, 255 thermal imagers, 812 military first-aid kits, etc.
About tax discipline"Remaining an economic support for the state in wartime, the IT business is almost the only one who pays taxes in advance. 27% of the surveyed companies paid UAH 165 million in taxes in advance," the study says.
On average, an IT company pays this amount of taxes to the budget of Ukraine every month, depending on the size:
company size 1200-3000 — up to 42 million UAH;company size 200-1200 — up to 1.5 million UAH;company up to 200-up to 810 thousand UAH.
As the study shows, during the war, most IT companies retained customers and contracts, despite all the risks declared by customers. In particular, we are talking about the following risks: non-fulfillment of projects due to the war, mobilization of key engineers, instability in the country, physical data security, cyber threats, lack of the internet, inability to work with developers who are in the territory of active military operations.
In general, according to the IT Ukraine report, 52% of companies retained 100% of their contracts, 32% of companies — 90-99% of contracts, and only 16% of companies lost 10% or more of their contracts.
Moreover, the main factors of customer retention were:
high level of customer loyalty; long-term partnerships;stability of delivery;constant communication with customers;rapid stabilization of business processes, in particular thanks to HRV;operational relocation of teams and restoration of operational work;showed high social responsibility of companies based on the principles of People safety;high quality of service provision, even in war conditions.At the same time, among the reasons for the loss of customers, companies identify geopolitical risks and security, the client's internal policy, refusal to work with clients from Russia and Belarus, the client's change in development strategy, the relocation of teams or mobilization, and the loss of supply chains.
Business development forecasts for 2022According to the Association, already during the war, 77% of IT companies attracted new customers, 56% of them expect growth of 5-30% this year. Another 41% of companies predict that existing volumes will remain at the level of 50-100%. Only 3% of companies expect volumes to fall by 50% or more.
In addition, all large companies (1200+ people) and 64% of companies with a size of 200-1200 people plan to open new offices. But 75% of companies up to 200 people do not plan to expand.
Potential countries for opening offices include Poland, Romania, Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Croatia and the United Kingdom. Companies expect that up to 18-25% of their employees will go abroad after the end of the war.
This study was conducted by IT Ukraine with the participation of members of the Association and in partnership with Ukrainian IT clusters in Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Kyiv, Konotop, Mariupol, Odessa, Rivne, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Khmelnitsky, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv.
As you know, the Association "It Ukraine" is the largest community of IT companies, which unites more than 110 companies and 77 thousand Ukrainian IT specialists. It is believed that the Association unites the interests of business, the state and international partners.
