The expert spoke about the professions in demand in IT

The industry and the government are significantly investing in the training of IT specialists. Over the past five years, specialized universities have graduated 27% more graduates in information technology, and the Ministry of Finance is promoting initiatives to accelerate the entry of newcomers into the industry. At the same time, it becomes more difficult to build a career in IT: the market is gradually moving from a scarce phase to a competitive one, and those who regularly study and develop their skills will be in demand. Veronika Yelikova, HR Director for business areas at T1 IT Holding, told Izvestia about this on February 28.

According to her, the rapid growth of the IT sector in recent years is gradually slowing down. The reasons are the economic situation and changes in tax benefits that affect the cost of products. This makes it more difficult to bring solutions to market and reduces demand.

"At the same time, the balance of supply and demand in the personnel market is also changing. More and more school graduates are choosing IT fields, which means that competition among future IT specialists is growing. If so many students continue to enter the digital industry, the balance of power will change in favor of employers: companies will be able to select candidates more carefully," the expert noted.

The expert does not share the fears that entire professions in IT will disappear. Analysts, architects, developers, UX/UI designers - all these roles will remain in demand, but their functions will be transformed. Yelikova noted that every major digital discovery creates new specialties. Previously, few people thought about the role of neural networks in work, but today there is a growing demand for specialists who create products based on them.

Among the promising areas, the specialist highlighted cybersecurity: the more technologies penetrate into business and life, the higher the risk of attacks. Another emerging field is robotics. It is expanding its presence not only in industry, but also in the household sector: smart homes, automation systems.

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In addition, the usual model of career growth in IT — the linear ladder from intern to supervisor — is giving way to a branching structure. A tester, for example, will be able to move up or delve into the application of AI, DevOps or automation. Digital assistants accelerate growth: now the transition to the next level takes 3-6 months, in the coming years the period may be reduced to 1-3 months.

Routine tasks are becoming more and more automated, so the key quality of a specialist is the ability to adapt quickly. Specific technical skills will depend on current technologies, but the ability to apply AI will become a basic requirement. Flexible skills retain critical value: teamwork, empathy, communication. Product thinking and user understanding are also becoming defining competencies.

Yelikova recommended developing an openness to new things: trying, understanding the basics and delving into new directions. The IT sector remains one of the key sectors of the economy: import substitution, robotization, and cybersecurity create steady demand. The main thing is to be ready for change and constantly improve your skills in order to remain in demand in a rapidly changing sector.

On January 20, it was reported that the demand for specialists with experience in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Russia has almost doubled — in 2025, the number of vacancies with such requirements has increased by 90%. According to the Avito Jobs study, AI skills were most often in demand among sales professionals.

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