The IT recruitment agency, Next Technology Professionals, has prepared the 2nd edition of the report on the IT labor market in Poland. Thanks to the analysis of 156 000 job offers and the collection of responses from 1018 IT specialists, it was possible to draw conclusions that allow us to look at real salaries, the most frequently sought-after technologies and candidates’ preferences regarding participation in recruitment processes. What key insights turned out to be crucial?
In order to systematize the data, the IT recruitment agency decided to use the division presented below, both in the survey and in the report itself to determine the seniority level:
- Trainee – currently on internship
- Junior – up to 2 years of professional experience
- Mid – 2 – 4 years of professional experience
- Senior – 4 – 10 years of professional experience
- Expert – over 10 years of professional experience
Experts’ satisfaction with salary decreased by 9 pp
The greatest number of job offers were addressed to people referred to in the industry as Mids (44%). The second most sought-after group were Seniors (42%), and the third were Juniors (10%).
Analyzing all seniority levels, Experts are the most satisfied with their salary (70%). However, based on the answers provided in last year’s report, it can be concluded that their satisfaction decreased by 9 pp. over the course of the year. Enthusiasm about earnings was also indicated by Mids (60%) and Seniors (65%). Juniors are the least satisfied – every second Junior is unhappy with their salary.
However, despite the general satisfaction related to the salary, IT specialists are open to the possibility of changing jobs (69%).
Most IT specialists (64%) did not change their employer in 2022
When the job change happens, the main reason is “inadequet salary”. In second place there is “lack of development opportunities”, while 11% of IT professionals changed their last job because of “unsatisfactory project(s)” or… for the change itself.
More opportunities to work completely remotely, compared to the previous year
61% of job offers included the possibility of working completely remotely – it is as much as 17 pp more than last year.
However, developers’ opinions on the preferences of the way of work are still divided. As many as 72% of respondents mentioned remote work as the most important benefit. In turn, 57% of specialists prefer fully remote work, while 42% chose hybrid work as the optimal model (with the advantage of 4 days of remote work). Only 1% of respondents are in favor of working 100% from the office.
“The results of the survey show how much IT specialists value remote work. In my opinion, this is due to the need to be independent and work in a flexible environment full of trust in employees. It may come as a surprise that employees care about the possibility of hybrid work. In my opinion, the key word here is: POSSIBILITY. If a company offers flexibility in choosing a place to work – at least at the team level – then it becomes an almost ideal environment and a place where everyone wants to work!”
Piotr Korlaga (Senior DevOps Engineer and Founder of „Zakoduj Pomoc” Foundation)
The popularity of remote work has made foreign companies more willing to recruit Polish IT specialists. In the survey, IT specialists were asked where the headquarters of the company they currently work is located – 57% of them are in Poland, while 43% are abroad. The USA (22%), Germany (10%) and Great Britain (6%) were most often mentioned as the location. When it comes to the number of offers from these countries, the majority came from Germany (17%), Great Britain (13%) and the USA (9%). Comparing the data from last year, it can be seen that in 2022, 10 pp fewer job offers were from the United States.
The most sought-after IT specialists and their salaries
In 2022, the most sought-after IT specialists were Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer, Frontend Developer, DevOps Engineer, Fullstack Developer, Mobile Developer, Data Scientist and Backend Developer. The table below shows the salaries for Mids. Full data, for each level of experience, with division into offered and received salaries, can be found in the full version of the report.
66% of Polish IT specialists would like to be paid in a foreign currency
92% of respondents still receive salaries in Polish zlotys (PLN), but for only 34% of them it is the preferred currency. Polish IT specialists favorably perceive salaries in USD (32%) and EUR (31%).
IT specialists who work with Kubernetes, Amazon Web Services and Big Data can earn the most
The highest earnings according to the data collected from job advertisements could be counted on by programmers who work with: Kubernetes (maximum salary range is 27,212 PLN), Amazon Web Services (maximum salary range is 27,590 PLN), Big Data (maximum salary range is 26,681 PLN). In addition, the three programming languages that are the most frequently featured in the job advertisements are JavaScript (19%), Python (17%) and Java (17%).
IT specialists expect a salary increase of 25% on average when changing jobs
IT specialists employed on B2B and CoE contracts expect a salary increase of 25% on average when changing jobs. Mids, who are employed on B2B contract, have the highest expectations (30%) regarding the increase in the current salary. In addition, the value of the expected bonus on an annual basis is 21% for a Mid, 17% for a Senior, 23% for an Expert, and 16% for a Junior.
Seniors and Experts on B2B contracts receive higher salaries than those presented in job advertisements
Next Technology Professionals also checked whether the salaries in the job offers match the actual earnings of IT specialists. The salaries offered to Juniors and Mids is consistent with what they receive, regardless of the type of contract. On the other hand, people working as Seniors on B2B contract and Experts (both on B2B and CoE contract) can count on higher earnings than those presented in the job advertisements.
63% of respondents indicated that the recruitment process should consist of a maximum of 2 stages
IT specialists would like to participate in 3-stage or longer recruitment processes less often. This group prefers 2-stage recruitment the most and this number of stages is also on the podium in the context of the declared actual number of stages of the recent recruitment process. What’s more, 48% of the recruitment processes in which the respondents took part were finalized within 2 weeks. Therefore, it can be concluded that employers’ awareness of the need for efficient recruitment processes is increasing.
Personality tests, pair programming and online tests are the least frequently preferred methods of competency verification
According to respondents, the most preferred form of competence verification is a technical interview (31%), an HR/business interview (18%), as well as a remote task/homework (14%).
Remote work, flexible working hours and medical packages are the most important for IT specialists in addition to earnings
The most preferred benefits were the possibility of remote work (72%), flexible working time (62%), medical package (34%) and a 4-day work week (33%). Professional training also ranked high (31%), which once again emphasizes the importance of knowledge and development for IT specialists, allowing them to improve their qualifications.
Want to learn more about the IT industry in Poland? Download the full report.