The median salary of Ukrainian developers fell by $135 to $3,300 in the second half of 2023. This is the first drop in salaries since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The data is reported in the DOU survey, which took place in December 2023 and early January 2024.

  • The decrease in salaries affected professionals at all levels, except for the most experienced developers at the Tech Lead and Architect levels.
  • The largest decrease was in the salaries of senior level specialists ($163, down to $4,738). Middle specialists saw their salaries fall by $100 to $2,500.
  • This trend was not lost on entry-level specialists: The average salary in June was $950, compared to $1,000 six months ago. Interns can expect to earn $350 on average, down from $450.
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Infographic: DOU
  • By company type: Median salaries for contract developers remain among the highest in the market ($4,100, +$100 over six months). Startups now receive significantly less ($3338, -$663 over half a year). Salaries in product companies are still in line with the market average. Over the past six months, middle managers and specialists at the lead levels and above started receiving less (-$200).
  • By specialisation: Median salaries decreased for Front-End Specialists at all levels except Lead+. Among Full Stack specialists, this was mainly the case for juniors (-$80) and seniors (-$450). The specialisations with the highest salaries continue to be Back-End (the largest decrease in mid-level salaries -$100) and Mobile (in Lead+ -$300).
  • By programming language: The highest median salaries, the same as six months ago, are for developers whose primary programming language is Scala ($5,600, +$100 over the last six months). In the second place was Go, with a median salary of $4,500 (-$500 over half a year).
  • By region: The biggest drop in salaries is observed in Kyiv (by $131, to $3,619) and Lviv (by $225, to $3,500). In Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Chernivtsi, median salaries remained at the same level, while Lutsk and Poltava saw a small increase (by $100 and $25 respectively).
  • The level of English proficiency among developers is quite high, with 45% classifying as upper intermediate and a further 10% as advanced. Over the course of the year, the proportion of professionals with an Upper Intermediate or higher level of English has increased by three points.
  • Professionals with a higher level of English can still expect higher salaries — this pattern is observed across all titles. However, the decline in salaries in the second half of 2023 affected both those with a good knowledge of English and those just learning it.