At first glance, qualified specialists, who mostly work for foreign clients, have no reason to leave Ukraine. After the hryvnia devaluation, they found themselves in a favorable position compared to representatives of other professions.
“The salaries of top managers in many companies in Ukraine remained as they were at the old dollar exchange rate (8 UAH/USD), while IT guys earn incomes pegged to the current exchange rate. So it turns out that a programmer with two years of experience now earns as much as a top manager of a large company with 10-15 years of experience,” notes Dmitry Tolmachev, drawing attention to the salary imbalance in the labor market.
However, according to Kateryna Skibska from DOPOMOGA Ukraine, representatives of the IT sector rank first among qualified specialists who leave the country. They are gladly hired in Germany, Poland, the USA, the Netherlands, and other countries. “In Ukraine, highly qualified IT specialists earn about $3,500; on average, they move for €3,000. They don't go for the money. The motivation, as a rule, is the lack of vision for their future in Ukraine, offers to participate in interesting projects, stability, and safety,” explains Skibska.
For some programmers packing their bags, the last straw was the war in the east and the delay in reforms in Ukraine. “In Kyiv, you can't buy quality healthcare, good roads, social security, safety, and confidence in the future for any money. Here you still need pull everywhere and know how to give bribes,” says Serhiy, a Kyiv programmer who decided to go abroad in early 2015.
Not only IT specialists leave Ukraine, but also medical workers, managers, engineers, and specialists from the agricultural sector. Ukrainian doctors are most often invited to Libya, Germany, the UAE, and the Czech Republic, where they offer an average salary of about €1,500. However, building a successful career in Europe for a Ukrainian doctor is far from easy. For example, in Germany, foreign doctors first need to obtain a temporary, and then, after passing an exam, a permanent work permit.
Starting practice usually has to be in a small “village hospital” as an assistant doctor. Before that, you need to improve your German to an advanced level and obtain the appropriate certificate, and in some German states additionally pass a test on medical German. The incentive to overcome such difficulties for young Ukrainian doctors is often the inability to receive decent pay in Ukraine. In Germany, for example, a general practitioner with a work permit is offered €50,000–70,000 per year.
Natalia Bondarenko, operations manager of the recruitment department of the HR holding “ANCOR” in Ukraine, notes that recently there has been a noticeable increase in the number of specialists from the agricultural sector interested in working abroad, who are ready to move to Europe or nearby countries. Employment prospects for such professionals exist in the former USSR countries. “Most foreign offers for Ukrainian agricultural workers come from the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. Among CIS states, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are most attractive for such job seekers, and Belarus and Russia less so,” specifies Natalia Bondarenko.
Kazakhstan has become an unexpectedly lively destination for employment of qualified specialists from Ukraine. For example, an applicant for the position of executive director in Almaty is offered a salary of $10,000–20,000 per month. The candidate is required to have successful experience in taking a company to an IPO (listing shares on Western markets) and management skills for a team of at least 500 people.
From $6,000 to $15,000 per month in Kazakhstan they are ready to pay a director of a shopping center with experience managing a similar real estate property in Ukraine. A restaurant manager with at least 5 years of managerial experience is promised around $2,000. Employment in Kazakhstan is attractive due to the absence of a language barrier—most Kazakhs understand Russian.
Chairman of the Certification Committee of the HRForum Association Dmitry Kozlov believes that the key to success for any Ukrainian specialists abroad is knowledge of a foreign language and high qualification in their specialty, confirmed by international certificates and diplomas.
“Among the most attractive professions in terms of salary are top-level marketers with salaries of $80,000–170,000 per year and managers in IT ($100,000–160,000 per year). Among niche positions that do not require an international degree but assume practical experience and international certification, we can name petroleum engineers ($130,000 per year) and air traffic controllers ($122,000 per year),” shares observations Dmitry Kozlov.
While the crisis continues in Ukraine, the departure of qualified specialists abroad does not have a noticeable impact on the labor market. However, if economic growth resumes, Ukraine risks facing an acute shortage of the most in-demand professions, for example, IT specialists. According to Kateryna Skibska, in this case the cost of such specialists in Ukraine should increase, which will be a good signal for those wishing to return to their homeland.
Maria BABENKO,
“Focus”