THE RESEARCH GOAL
Russia’s full-scale offensive affected the entire Ukraine’s IT industry, especially regions such as Chernihiv, which was partially occupied. Today, it is valuable to understand how significant this impact is, and how it will change not only the tech industry, but also every IT worker’s life.
We decided to investigate the relevant companies from Chernihiv Region, changes in their activities and future plans. This is necessary, among other things, to identify solutions we can recommend to the authorities for the region’s development and IT industry recovery.
THE RESEARCHRESULTS
16 companies participated in the survey:
· The questionnaire was sent to 24 IT companies in the region’s public sphere.
· The responses were received from 16 companies that, in our estimation, make up about half of the total number of active regional IT companies.
· All the companies that participated in the survey have an office or a representative office in Chernihiv.
Тип і розмір компаній
Type and size of the companies
BUSINESS TYPE
A quarter of the companies that participated in the survey have a service business model (outsourcing, outstaffing, consulting). A little over 50% are product-based. The rest are mixed.
COMPANY SIZE
The vast majority of the companies can be classified as small, with up to 100 people.
Of these, 4 have less than 20 employees. Only 2 have more than 100 of them.
Current state of business
BUSINESS STATUS
During a crisis, a window of opportunities opens up. This is proven by the experience of 2 companies that managed to increase their workload. 7 companies did not experience significant changes, while another 7 suffered losses, and 2 are now on the verge of closure.
NUMBER OF ORDERS
The number of orders increased in a quarter of the companies, decreased in a third,
and remained unchanged in the rest.
Number of personnel
NUMBER OF PERSONNEL
Half of the companies lost part of employees since the war began. A third managed to keep them all, while some increased their staff (~19%).
AVAILABILITY OF PERSONNEL
In the majority of companies (12), employees left the region. Only 2 retained their core staff in Chernihiv, while in 2 others over half of employees remained in the city.
Opportunity for development
MAJOR OBSTACLES FOR BUSINESS
There are three major obstacles to companies’ development: military threats, unpredictability of the state’s behavior, and unpredictability of the situation in the country.
KEY BUSINESS DECISIONS
The most important companies’ decisions were crisis management; search for new staff, sales channels and partners; costs reduction.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FORECAST
Interestingly, most companies (10) are positive about the future, with only 2 predicting a significant drop in business.
Everything will be Ukraine!
The research was conducted by Chernihiv IT cluster team.