Remote work during the war: what professions earn up to UAH 150 thousand

The full-scale invasion of Russia has put Ukrainian business and the state through the toughest crash test in modern history. What seemed to be a temporary trend or privilege of the IT industry during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a strategic necessity for survival after 24 February 2022. Remote work has become a tool for security, job security, and keeping the economic front line.

Today, telecommuting in Ukraine is not about comfortable coworking, but about flexibility, continuity of processes and the ability to work despite any external shocks. Let's analyse how the remote work market has changed, how this format affects the macroeconomy, and which professions are in greatest demand and how much they are paid.

Scale of transition: numbers and statistics

Until 2022, the percentage of people who worked from home on a regular basis in Ukraine was relatively low - it was mainly the prerogative of the IT sector, creative agencies and freelancers. The war has radically changed the geography, infrastructure, and the very mentality of the labour market.

• Share of companies with a remote model: About. 25% of Ukrainian companies have fully transferred their operational processes online and allow absolutely all employees to work remotely. More 63% of companies have introduced a hybrid format (a combination of office and home) for certain categories of employees. Only 12% employers categorically do not provide for a remote format, mainly due to the specifics of manufacturing, heavy industry, logistics or retail.

• Hybrid as the new standard: The number of hybrid vacancies in the labour market is showing steady growth. While in 2023 their share was about 15%, it has now reached 24% of the total number of offers.

• The factor of geography and IDPs: About. 44% of companies report that up to 5% of their staff work remotely while abroad. In addition, millions of internally displaced persons (IDPS) keep their jobs in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia or Dnipro, while physically staying in the safer western regions of Ukraine.

• Priority for candidates: For Ukrainians, the ability to work remotely has become a critical security assessment. According to labour market barometers, 35% of job seekers say that remote working is a key factor when choosing a vacancy, second only to the level of salary.

Impact on the sustainability and macroeconomy of Ukraine

Remote work has become the main shock absorber that saved the country from a total labour market collapse in the first months of the invasion and continues to hold the economy together now.

Ensuring business continuity

Thanks to the massive transition to cloud technologies, the business was able to quickly relocate processes. During massive rocket attacks and critical blackouts, it was the decentralisation of teams that became a lifeline. If one region lost power supply, colleagues from other regions backed up the processes.

Ukrainian workers have created a unique type of autonomy by adapting workplaces to run on batteries, inverters and systems Starlink.

Supporting purchasing power

Flexible employment has helped to maintain the country's tax base. People who have kept their jobs in a remote format continue to pay taxes (including personal income tax, unified social tax, and individual entrepreneurship taxes) to the budgets of their communities. They spend money domestically, supporting local businesses, and are the main source of regular donations to the Ukrainian Defence Forces.

The impact of the remote format on the market triangle

Going online has become a compromise that has both obvious advantages and serious systemic challenges for all parties.

Employers

Employees

Analytical overview of professions and salary levels

The structure of demand for remote work in Ukraine is clearly divided into three clusters: high-paying export services (IT and design), digital marketing, and the massive operations sector. Currently, the average median salary in the remote work market in Ukraine is fixed at 35 000 UAH, This is significantly higher than the average salary in the market as a whole (around UAH 30,000).

Below is a detailed overview of key areas with realistic salary ranges (from beginners to experienced professionals):

1. 1. IT, development and design

Traditional leaders of the remote format. Although the global and Ukrainian IT sectors are going through a phase of stabilisation and staff optimisation, the demand for experienced Middle/Senior professionals remains high, and incomes are often tied to the currency equivalent.

• Developers (Frontend, Backend, Fullstack): 45,000 - 150,000+ UAH (depending on the technology stack and the level of the engineer).

• QA engineers (Testers): 25,000 - 80,000 UAH (automators earn significantly more than manual testers).

• UI/UX designers: 30,000 - 90,000 UAH.

2. Digital marketing, SEO and content

Ukrainian businesses have moved into online sales on a massive scale, so specialists who ensure brand visibility in search engines and social media are in steady demand.

• SEO specialists (website optimisers): 25,000 - 65,000 UAH. Professionals who know how to work for Western markets (Linkbuilding, working with Google News/Discover) earn significantly above average.

• SMM managers / Targetologists: 20,000-50,000 UAH (often working on several projects at the same time).

• Copywriters / Content Makers: UAH 18,000 - 40,000 (the ability to work with AI tools to optimise the speed of content generation is valued).

3. Sales and E-commerce

Sales managers are the fuel of any business in a crisis. Order processing, communication in messengers, and telephone sales are fully adapted to the home office.

• Sales Managers: 25,000 - 70,000 UAH (usually the rate is + % of sales, so the upper limit is practically unlimited).

• Managers of online stores (order processing): UAH 18,000 - 35,000.

4. Customer service and support

The most accessible cluster for a quick start. Positions do not require a specialised technical education, only high literacy, stress resistance and a stable internet connection.

• Contact centre operators / Support: 16,000-30,000 UAH.

• Text chat operators: 15,000 - 25,000 UAH.

5. Online education and tutoring

The online learning format has finally gained a foothold in both academic and commercial spheres due to security factors.

• Tutors / Foreign language teachers: UAH 20,000 - 45,000 (depending on the number of hours and specifics: IELTS/TOEFL preparation is charged higher).

Results.

Remote work in Ukraine has long ceased to be just a convenient “alternative to the office”. In the context of a full-scale war, it has become a form of adaptation, economic resistance and survival of the state. Businesses have learnt to manage teams asynchronously, and employees have learnt to organise a workplace near a Wi-Fi router, inverters and charging stations in shelters.

Despite the obvious risks of psychological burnout and lack of face-to-face communication, remote and hybrid models will remain dominant in the Ukrainian labour market. They give the national economy the flexibility and mobility it needs to function during the war and the future post-war reconstruction.