In 2024, Gurtam released its first in-depth study of how the company is perceived as an employer in Lithuania’s growing IT landscape. A year later, we revisited this initiative with a new round of research, gathering insights from 685 respondents — including 491 engineers — to better understand what professionals expect from potential employers in 2025.
The results reflect notable shifts in preferences, priorities, and perceptions across experience levels, giving us — and the wider tech community — actionable insights into how to attract and retain the best talent. Spoiler alert: coffee and ping-pong tables are no longer enough.
2024-2025 Employment trends research by Gurtam: split by age
2024-2025 Employment trends research by Gurtam: split by technology stack
2024-2025 Employment trends research by Gurtam: split by seniority level
Insight 1. Hybrid work is no longer a perk — it’s the baseline
Only 20% of respondents are ready to work exclusively from the office, with a majority (66%) preferring a hybrid model. Compared to last year, the emphasis on work mode has dropped by 16%, likely because most companies now offer some form of flexible work.
What once was a differentiator has become a standard expectation, just like Wi-Fi or the law of gravity — no one asks if it’s there; they assume it is. Notably, juniors, despite high market competition, still rate flexible work arrangements as their top priority — suggesting that even in tight conditions, this factor remains non-negotiable.
Insight 2. Stability gains more over product features
While last year’s respondents from IT sector focused heavily on product uniqueness and the chance to work with strong teams, this year shows a slight decline in those motivators. Instead, company stability and scale are becoming more influential:
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The importance of stability grew by 8%
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Preference for a large, well-known company rose by 7%
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Interest in working with professionals dropped by 10%
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Product focus decreased from 44% to 34%
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Career development fell from 53% to 46%
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This suggests that candidates increasingly prioritize security and resilience over visionary promises as the global and local IT markets evolve — with occasional high-profile layoffs and shifts.
Insight 3. What drives candidates to choose between two identical offers
When asked to choose between two job offers with equal salaries, respondents highlighted several decision-making factors:
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Competitive benefits
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Stability of the company
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Opportunities for growth and learning
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Positive internal culture
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Flexible work arrangements
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The changing role of work benefits and environment among potential employees
These factors hold equal weight for senior specialists — they expect a full package, not just a standout in one category.
Meanwhile, mid-level professionals are showing a renewed interest in professional development, which rose by 6% this year.
Interestingly, expectations have dropped across most categories for junior specialists — likely due to intense competition — but flexibility in work mode remains their top demand. They’re also shifting focus from long-term career growth toward tangible learning and training programs.
Insight 4. What candidates say about the Lithuanian IT job market
In open-ended responses, engineers pointed out growing challenges in the Vilnius job market for juniors and an oversaturation of roles that offer similar value propositions. The demand for IT professionals continues to outpace market supply, creating pressure on both sides — companies and candidates — to evolve.
Gurtam’s research also reaffirms global trends: people trust people more than brands with shiny slogans. For the second year in a row, recommendations from friends and peers emerged as a top channel through which candidates learn about open positions. This underscores the importance of internal communications and employee advocacy — to retain current talent and extend trust externally. Word-of-mouth is still louder than the creative ad in the employer brand world.
Key takeaways for the IT market
Here’s how Gurtam interprets the findings — and what they mean for employers across Lithuania and beyond:
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Early-career programs are no longer optional: companies launching career paths for juniors now will reap long-term benefits.
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Flexibility and personalization are essential: for senior and mid-level specialists, a clear, responsive, and human hiring process is key.
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Internal culture builds external reputation: what happens inside the company increasingly shapes what’s seen and shared outside.
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Employer branding must evolve: messaging should still highlight product innovation and team strength — but only after addressing baseline candidate expectations around compensation, stability, and flexibility.
If you’d like to get the full report or learn how Gurtam applies this data to its HR and employer brand strategy, please follow Gurtam on Facebook and text “Research” to direct message.
