How Ukrainian IT specialists have survived blackouts — DOU analytics

In the fall and early winter, Ukrainians suffered from frequent and prolonged power outages. During the salary survey conducted in December, we asked IT specialists how the blackouts affected their work. And although now they are no longer so frequent, and in some regions they are no longer there at all (hopefully, there will not be any), it is still interesting to see how Ukrainian IT specialists have passed this test and whether their effectiveness in their work has changed. Spoiler alert: not much!

So, here is the analysis of the answers of 11,587 IT specialists who now live in Ukraine.

Most IT specialists felt the impact of outages but were able to maintain their income

75% of the specialists surveyed felt the impact of outages: 34% were affected much and another 41% experienced minor difficulties. Only 25% of the lucky ones were almost unaffected by the lack of power supply: 19% managed to work as usual, despite the power cuts, and 6% did not experience any outages.

How power outages affected the work of IT specialists

IT specialists in Sumy region felt the impact of outages on their work the most (this affected 84% of the specialists we interviewed). In Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions, outages affected 80% of specialists, in Kyiv and Dnipro it accounted for 78%, and in Volyn the figure reached 77%.

Those living in the west of Ukraine were a little luckier: in Chernivtsi and Zakarpattia regions power outages impacted the work of 66% of the specialists and in Lviv region it accounted for 69%. Power outages in Zaporizhzhia region were less frequent than in Ukraine as a whole, with about 66% of the specialists affected by it in the region.

IT professionals in Chernihiv and the region were the least affected by the blackouts: 19% of the respondents said that they did not have power outages (27% in Chernihiv itself).

The size of the town, in which an IT specialist lives, also influenced the frequency and duration of blackouts, but this influence varies from region to region. In Kyiv region, rural residents felt the impact of blackouts less (68%), but because they were prepared for them, as only 1% of them did not experience power cuts. The situation is similar in Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Sumy, and Cherkasy regions. On the contrary, in Lviv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Poltava, and most western regions, the blackouts affected professionals in large cities less than those in rural areas.

The power outages in Ukraine also affected 10% of IT professionals who were abroad due to the war but are planning to return. Interaction with the teams and colleagues working in Ukraine has been hampered.

Influence of outages by regions

Office workers were less affected by the outages: only 50% of them felt the impact, and 17% felt a strong or very strong impact. Freelancers and part-time professionals were more affected by the outage than full-time workers, as the former tend to work remotely. 50% of freelancers and 45% of part-timers said that the shutdowns had a strong or very strong impact on their work, compared to 33% of full-timers.

Influence of shutdowns by the place of work (office/remote)

60% of the IT professionals surveyed, who currently live in Ukraine, said that the blackouts did not reduce their earnings or the number of projects. This was most often said by professionals from Kyiv and Lviv (63%), DevOps/SRE (65%), QA (63%), and developers (61%). There was no decrease in income or number of projects for 65% of seniors, leads, and architects.

However, 9% of IT professionals said that the number of projects and income dropped significantly, and 2% lost their jobs due to the power outage. The outages had the greatest impact on professionals from Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava (16% of them had a significant decrease in income or lost their jobs), interns and juniors (15%), as well as HTML coders (31%), sales specialists (22%), system administrators, and designers (20% each).

Although most professionals were able to maintain their income during the blackout, many of them noted an increase in expenses related to workplace arrangement, purchasing additional equipment, or renting a workplace in coworking spaces.

How the income of IT specialists has decreased

Ukrainian IT specialists strived to get their work done under any circumstances

One of the most popular strategies for IT professionals to adapt to power outages was purchasing generators and various chargers. This was done by 63% of the IT specialists surveyed.

62% worked from offices, coworking spaces, and other places with electricity (cafes, at their friends and relatives, points of invincibility, and even gyms and gas stations). 54% of IT professionals changed their work schedules and started working at night and on weekends when it was light.

30% ensured uninterrupted Internet access by changing providers, purchasing additional equipment, or switching to mobile Internet. 4% bought or planned to buy Starlinks. 17% considered moving to another apartment, city, or even abroad. Delegating work tasks to colleagues or postponing deadlines was a rather rare practice — only 11% of respondents chose this option.

What IT professionals did to adapt to the outages

Some IT professionals switched to laptops or replaced them with models with larger batteries. More active donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and work with a psychotherapist were also mentioned as effective ways to adapt to power outages. 9% of the respondents did not do anything and did not plan to do anything, mostly those who did not have power outages.

IT professionals from big cities (Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, Odesa) preferred to work from offices and coworking spaces more often than others. In smaller towns, they worked more often on days and hours when it was light. Kharkiv residents were less likely than others to buy new equipment and go to offices and coworking spaces, and mostly worked during the hours when it was light.

Experienced IT professionals at the senior level and above were more likely than interns, juniors, and middles to buy chargers or generators, look for opportunities to connect to the uninterrupted Internet, and consider moving to a private house.

IT companies relied on autonomous offices

During the blackout, companies focused on providing offices with electricity and the Internet — 65% of IT professionals surveyed said so. Other ways to support the team were used much less frequently: 24% of IT professionals said that the company organized a move to another location where the conditions with light were better. 22% said that the company helped redistribute tasks in teams or extended the timeframe for projects and releases, and 21% said that the company gave employees money to buy additional equipment.

What IT companies did to adapt to the outages

Large companies (200+ employees), as well as outsourcing and outstaffing companies, were the most active in adapting. More than 70% of them organized uninterrupted electricity and Internet access in their offices. Large companies more often than others organized the relocation of employees to a place with electricity and the Internet (37% of IT professionals working in these companies noted this opportunity).

Smaller companies, as well as product and startup companies, were more likely to try to redistribute tasks in teams or extend the timeframe for completing tasks.

Funds for the purchase of additional equipment were more often provided by companies to experienced professionals: among Senior+ IT professionals, 26% received such assistance from the company, and among less experienced professionals it made up 19%.

Analitycs: Iryna Ipolitova
Visualization: Ihar Yanouski

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