Russian IT Job Hunts Drag On: 88% Report Difficulty Finding Work

Almost 90% of IT professionals in Russia spend at least three months searching for a job, according to a joint study by Habr Career and Infosystems Jet. In total, 88% of respondents reported difficulties finding work.

The survey covered IT specialists (69% of participants) as well as managers and HR staff involved in hiring (31%). About 60% of respondents said automated applicant-screening systems may filter out their résumés, while 51% pointed to a shrinking number of vacancies. On the employer side, 58% of hiring managers said recruiting has become harder over the past year.

AI skills enter the hiring equation

Employers and candidates see competitiveness differently. Among candidates, 41% consider rare expertise their main advantage. Employers, however, more often value the ability to handle a large workload and stay productive: 47% named this factor. Other qualities include deep knowledge of the core tech stack (34%), willingness to take on tasks outside one's role (32%) and readiness to work in an office or hybrid format (32%).

Skills with AI tools matter to 40% of employers surveyed. The study says 67% of specialists use AI at work on their own initiative, mostly chatbots for finding information and drafting text. Vibe coding is practiced by 39% of respondents, mainly those in AI/ML/Data and developers. Job postings mentioning large language model (LLM) skills account for 2.9% of the whole IT market, rising to 15% in the Data/ML/AI segment.

Salaries grow slowly

More than a third of respondents (35%) are actively job hunting, and another 29% would like to switch employers but are staying put for now.

The median IT salary in Russia reached 191,000 rubles, up 4% in the first six months of 2026. The authors noted the strongest pay dynamics in support and marketing, and among regions in Voronezh and Kazan. Changing jobs does not always raise income: 53% of those who moved reported a pay rise, most often of 10–20%.