The IT Specialist Market in 2020–2025

The article analyzes the adaptation of the ICT specialist labor market in Russia in the context of technological development and external shocks in the first half of the 2020s. Against the backdrop of a general increase in the number of ICT specialists in Russia, external shocks changed the balance of supply and demand in the labor market. In 2020, the dynamics of the ICT specialist labor market were determined by a hiring freeze during the declared nonworking days and an increase in demand for ICT specialists as a result of increased digitalization and economic recovery in 2021. In 2022–2023, the relocation of IT companies and the entry of new job seekers into the labor market proved to be stronger factors than the outflow of specialists, which increased supply and reduced demand in the labor market. An analysis of the professional structure of demand for ICT specialists in 2024–2025 revealed: 1) expanding automation and the use of artificial intelligence technologies; 2) achieving a significant level of digital maturity by companies in traditional sectors of the economy; and 3) a slowdown in IT development processes in the first half of 2025. The tools used allow for operational monitoring of the state of the ICT sector through the lens of the labor market and can be adapted to other professional fields.