In the first half of 2026, defense companies posted 6523 vacancies on DOU — more than the entire 2025 year (5915). In the second quarter, 3518 positions were published, which exceeds the first quarter by 14.6%. Deftech now accounts for 17% of all vacancies on the platform. This is no longer a niche market — it is one of the main employers in Ukraine's tech sector.
Competition is growing where it's already tight
Along with vacancies, candidate activity has increased: an average of 10.2 responses per vacancy in the second quarter versus 9.2 in the first. However, the distribution of this interest is uneven. According to DOU data, the most responses are received for Project Manager, QA, and DevOps positions — roles that candidates from classical IT easily transition into defense.
Meanwhile, Hardware and Embedded remain areas with the greatest shortage. The number of responses here is minimal — not because companies communicate poorly. There simply aren't many such specialists physically available.
«The main reason here is quite obvious — it's a very narrow market».
Alina Bohulska, Frontline Robotics — on difficulties filling Hardware and Embedded vacancies, according to DOU
At TEKEVER Ukraine, the situation is described even more sharply. According to director Kateryna Bezsudna, RF engineers and electronics specialists are jokingly called «unicorns» — the search can take up to six months.
Salaries higher than IT, but not everywhere
According to RBC-Ukraine, engineers at defense companies earn from 2500 to 4000 dollars, with some specialists earning up to 8000. Salaries in the sector are on average 50% higher than the market. Nine out of ten vacancies in 2026 come with mobilization deferment — while the general labor market indicator is only 12%.
But the «new IT» is not yet for everyone. In classical IT, some areas collect over 80 responses per vacancy. In deftech, the average is 10.2. The shortage here is not rhetorical.
What's next
Demand for Project Managers in the first quarter of 2026 nearly doubled compared to the same quarter of 2025 (122 versus 70 vacancies). At the same time, companies are launching their own training programs, organizing international internships and certifications — because there is no longer time to wait for ready-made specialists.
- Hardware and Embedded — fewest responses, longest search
- C++ and Python — most in-demand languages among developers
- June 2026 — record month: 1285 new vacancies
- May 2026 — peak of responses: 9303 per month
By the end of the second quarter, candidate activity began to decline. If by the end of the year the market does not prepare a new wave of hardware engineers through retraining or accelerated programs, the record number of vacancies will simply remain open — and sector growth will hit a ceiling that no salary alone can break through.
