The IT job market has seen a notable increase in available positions, with a 7% rise in vacancies during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025. Notably, sectors such as Military, Hardware, Embedded, Finance, and Marketing have experienced significant growth. However, there has been a decline in the number of vacancies for developers, particularly in the Front-end and Mobile sectors.
According to a recent analysis, companies listed a total of 6,929 job openings in June alone. While there was an 8% decrease in vacancies from the first to the second quarter of 2026, this still represented a 14% increase compared to the same timeframe last year. Overall, the first half of 2026 outperformed the second half of 2025 by 7% in terms of job vacancies.
The most substantial growth in openings has been observed in the categories of Military, Hardware, Embedded, Finance, and Marketing. Specifically, the C++ developer category noted a remarkable 46% increase in vacancies over the past six months. In contrast, there has been a significant drop in job postings for Front-end developers, with 515 fewer positions than in the second half of the previous year. There were also sharp declines in vacancies for PHP, Node.js, iOS, and Android developers.
Another highlight is the increase in demand for AI/ML specialists, which saw a 12% rise in job listings from the first to the second quarter. In June, the most sought-after positions included Marketing (740), Military (407), QA (358), Analytics (354), and HR (331). The month also set records for the number of vacancies in AI/ML (212), Hardware (281), and Security (118).
Conversely, job openings for Android and iOS developers reached record lows, with only 18 and 17 vacancies, respectively, while Front-end positions numbered 122. The DefTech niche continues to expand, boasting a record of 1,285 vacancies in June, which accounted for 19% of all job postings.
Competition for job openings has intensified, with an average of 27.6 responses per vacancy recorded in June. Since February, competition levels have remained stable at around 25-27 responses per position. In the developer sector, competition has surged significantly, with the fields of Flutter and Node.js experiencing a threefold increase, and PHP seeing a 2.5-fold rise.
The companies leading the charge in job postings during the first half of the year include Skelar with 916 vacancies, followed by Genesis with over 500 and the Paryg drone systems team with 427. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and Vyriy also emerged as active recruiters, each posting more than 100 jobs in the second quarter.
This surge in job vacancies signals a robust demand within the IT sector, particularly for emerging technologies and specialized roles. As competition heightens, companies may need to enhance their offerings to attract top talent, setting the stage for a dynamic market landscape.
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