Employer Brand and Salary Expectations of IT-specialists in Russia

The specifics of the IT industry, the dramatically changing market situation and the pandemic affect both the salary expectations of candidates and the HR strategies of IT companies. Little attention was paid to the issue of the relationship between the employer's brand and the salary expectations of candidates in the Russian IT industry, and in particular to the changes that have occurred since the start of the coronavirus crisis. There are two predominant research questions that the study will answer: How does employer brand affects salary expectations of IT specialists in Russia? How does this impact changed pre and amidst COVID-19? To answer them, there are several objectives established with an attempt to fulfill the gap in the existing literature on the topic: to determine the relationship between the employer's brand and the salary expectations of IT specialists in Russian market; to find out the ways in which expectations change depending on the employer's brand; to answer whether the relationship between the employer's brand and the salary expectations of IT specialists in the Russian market change depending on the employer's brand; to determine whether the situation regarding the topic of analysis has changed pre and amidst COVID-19. Results show that in companies with a strong employer brand, the salary expectations of the candidate are lower for the junior-level and middle-level specialists. There is a significant difference in salary expectations before and during the pandemic. HR's and candidates' perceptions of the market differ. The study has achieved the established objectives and answered the research questions, contributing to the academia and having managerial application as it can be used by HR departments and other business practitioners.