Publish date: 10 December, 2024The year is almost over, and rumours of a prolonged crisis in the IT labour market have proved to be greatly exaggerated. At H512.com, we keep monitoring and analyzing Bulgarian and global dynamics to keep you informed.
That’s why we’re showing you six key charts* on the state of the IT sector in Bulgaria, based on information for all companies with a profile on our Job Board as of November 22. Their total number is up around 15% on last year.
Currently, you can find more than 1,500 companies on our platform , which currently employ more than 67 thousand IT professionals.
Bulgarian vs. foreign companies
Although we have witnessed an increase in the total number of companies with a profile on Job Board over the past year, their ratio remains unchanged compared to the end of 2023, namely – Bulgarian players are more numerous and their share is again 60%.
Which cities are the most popular IT destinations**?
In 2024, there are no surprising twists and turns in the distribution of branches of IT organizations in the country. Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna have for years occupied the top 3 spots as established IT hubs in the country.
The steady increase in the percentage of the total number of Bulgarian offices opened in all three cities can be interpreted as evidence of the continuation of this trend in the future.
Undoubtedly, the smaller settlements also deserve our attention. The meeting of IT communities from small settlements, which took place in Stara Zagora in October, marks the serious attempts to decentralize the IT business in our country.
Blagoevgrad, Burgas, Vratsa, Gabrovo, Ruse and others are also emerging as attractive IT destinations.
We are watching with interest the emergence and development of co-working and co-living spaces outside the capital and the effect they could have on the whole picture of city distribution.
How big are the tech companies in our country?
In compiling this chart, we divided companies according to the number of employees in their IT departments.
Traditionally, micro and small companies are the most numerous in our market, while medium and large companies maintain their percentage ratio compared to last year.
More product companies or more service companies***?
The activities of Bulgarian IT players are most often attributed to software product development, services and consulting in the field, as well as software systems implementation.
Many of the companies perform more than one type of activity and therefore participate in our ranking in more than one place. This is why the overall percentages in the chart below exceed 100.
The most popular development area in 2024 is again product development.
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In how many companies do IT professionals make up 50% or more of teams?
Focusing more narrowly on the composition of tech companies’ teams in our country, we also find that in 70% of all organizations that provided data on their headcount, IT staff make up more than half of employees.
How many companies offer work from home?
It’s no secret that most employees in the IT sector prefer telecommuting because of the convenience and freedom this type of employment offers. In 2024, we have seen the major players in the global IT scene attempt to return to office-based working, giving more flexible employers an advantage in the job market.
The data**** below shows that most IT employers in the country are meeting this expectation of professionals – the majority of companies offer home office.
*This data for the Bulgarian IT market illustrates its state as of 22 November 2024 and gives general insights into the main ratios of players in the market. Detailed information about each of the companies included in the statistics, as well as open positions, can be found in our Job Board.
**The analysis includes all IT branches and offices in Bulgaria. If a company has offices in two or more locations – it is included in the ranking for each of the cities in which it is present.
***Some of the companies have indicated more than one type of activity, which places them in several categories at the same time. The percentages are therefore more than 100.
****The chart presents data for companies that we divided by employment type into the following categories:
– Remote – fully remote mode of work;
– Hybrid – remote mode of work that is combined with several days of office attendance, either fixed in advance by the employer or at the employee’s choice;
– Yes – remote option is offered, but it may only be valid for certain positions, depending on the project or under certain conditions, such as after the end of training or probationary period for the specific employee;
– No – remote option is not offered.
