explore
Armenia lost 800 designers in a year. The ones who stayed are more senior, more remote and more product-focused.
Each dot is one designer. 800 left the field in 2025.
This is a count, not an opinion. For a month I gathered everything about designers in Armenia that could be counted from public sources — company pages, job boards, salary sites, the websites of every place that teaches design — and put it in one place, because nobody had.
Every figure says how well it is known. Measured means I counted it myself from a named source. Reported means somebody else published it and I am quoting them. Estimate means it is mine, built from the sources in the chart's footer. Where I have nothing, the page says so rather than filling the gap.
What this report does not know
01Why the number fellEmigration, redundancy, a change of title, or a profile nobody updated. The source counts the drop, not the reason.
02What designers earn, by gradeNo survey publishes it and no vacancy shows it. Chapter 3 is our estimate.
03How many left design for another professionNobody tracks it, here or anywhere.
And my own interest, stated: I teach design and sell courses, and this report says the market shrank — the one claim my own interest argues against. I also teach at Armenian Code Academy, one of the providers in Chapter 4.
Four chapters
01PeopleFewer designers, older on average, mostly women.46%
02Employers & jobsiGaming and banks hire Armenia's designers — not startups.~190
03SalariesProduct designers earn twice what graphic designers do — and pay hasn't moved in a year.1.2M AMD
04Education & outlook33 places teach design. None offers a UX degree.33
01
People
Fewer designers, older on average, mostly women.
5,600
Designers working in Armenian tech companies, end-2025
Designers working in Armenian tech companies, end-2025. ~7,500–9,500 including agencies, in-house marketing and freelancers (ESTIMATE).
Designers fell by 800 in one year
Designers in Armenian tech companies6,400End-2024implied5,600End-2025
| year | value | conf |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6400 | REPORTED (implied: 5,600 + 800) |
| 2025 | 5600 | REPORTED |
“It is possible that some of these tasks are now performed with AI tools.”
ACA Tech Market Insights 2026
Where the designers are: inside and outside tech
Designers, end-2025 · total 7,500–9,500- In tech companies5,600
- Outside tech (agencies, in-house, freelance)2,000–4,000
- Total 7,500–9,500
| scope | low | high | conf |
|---|---|---|---|
| In tech companies | 5600 | 5600 | REPORTED |
| Outside tech (agencies, in-house, freelance) | 2000 | 4000 | ESTIMATE |
Product and graphic designers are the two largest groups
Designers by specialty, range · 2024 vs 2025| specialty | share | y2024 | y2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product designers | 25–30% | 1600,1900 | 1400,1700 |
| UX/UI designers | 20–25% | 1300,1600 | 1100,1400 |
| Graphic / brand / marketing | 25–30% | 1700,2000 | 1400,1700 |
| Motion / 3D / game / illustration | 15–20% | 950,1300 | 850,1100 |
Most designers are mid-level
Share of designers and headcount, rangeJunior / intern0–2 years
Mid2–5 years
Senior5–8+ years
Lead / head / manager8+ years
| grade | years | share | headcount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior / intern | 0–2 | 25,30 | 1400,1700 |
| Mid | 2–5 | 35,40 | 2000,2200 |
| Senior | 5–8+ | 22,27 | 1250,1500 |
| Lead / head / manager | 8+ | 5,8 | 300,450 |
The market wants 3–6 years; a third of designers have less than 3.
% of designers (supply) vs % of vacancy requirements (demand)Designers (estimate)What 26 job ads asked for
10%<1 yrNo experience12%
30%1–3 yrs1–3 yrs27%
25%3–5 yrs3–6 yrs46%
25%5–10 yrs6+ yrs15%
10%10+ yrs
| side | band | value |
|---|---|---|
| supply | <1 yr | 10 |
| supply | 1–3 yrs | 30 |
| supply | 3–5 yrs | 25 |
| supply | 5–10 yrs | 25 |
| supply | 10+ yrs | 10 |
| demand | No experience | 12 |
| demand | 1–3 yrs | 27 |
| demand | 3–6 yrs | 46 |
| demand | 6+ yrs | 15 |
Design is more female than tech overall — marketing more so
Share of women, %Designers — 58% women
- Designers: women58%
- Designers: men42%
Marketing — 67% women
- Marketing: women67%
- Marketing: men33%
All tech — 40.1% women
- All tech: women40%
- All tech: men60%
| group | value |
|---|---|
| Designers | 58 |
| Marketing | 67 |
| All tech | 40.1 |
How we counted this chapter
- The headcount is ACA's, reported by Sputnik Armenia on 22 Feb 2026. We did not count designers ourselves.
- Specialty mix, seniority mix and the experience spread are our estimates; each chart says so and its tooltip says what it was built from.
- Vacancy requirements were read from hh.ru on 28 Sep 2026, n=26 of the 30 open designer roles — four did not state experience.
02
Employers & jobs
iGaming and banks hire Armenia's designers — not startups.
~190
people in LinkedIn’s “Arts and Design” function at the largest employer, about three times the next one
LinkedIn, 28 Sep 2026
iGaming carries the most design-function people
People in LinkedIn’s “Arts and Design” function, Armenia · rounded to the nearest ten- iGaming
- Product/SaaS
- Bank/Telecom
- Game studio
- Agency
| company | sector | people |
|---|---|---|
| SoftConstruct | iGaming | 191 |
| Picsart | Product/SaaS | 63 |
| Digitain | iGaming | 62 |
| Ameriabank | Bank/Telecom | 62 |
| VBET | iGaming | 39 |
| Nekki | Game studio | 34 |
| BetConstruct | iGaming | 29 |
| Playrix | Game studio | 25 |
| ACBA Bank | Bank/Telecom | 25 |
| Team Telecom Armenia | Bank/Telecom | 21 |
| EPAM | Product/SaaS | 20 |
| TotoGaming | iGaming | 19 |
| ServiceTitan | Product/SaaS | 18 |
| Ardshinbank | Bank/Telecom | 18 |
| Evocabank | Bank/Telecom | 18 |
| Inecobank | Bank/Telecom | 17 |
| Viva Armenia | Bank/Telecom | 14 |
| Adobe | Product/SaaS | 14 |
| Renderforest | Product/SaaS | 13 |
| IDBank | Bank/Telecom | 12 |
| Idram | Bank/Telecom | 12 |
| Backbone Branding | Agency | 11 |
| MY.GAMES | Game studio | 11 |
| Krisp | Product/SaaS | 10 |
| Ucraft | Product/SaaS | 6 |
| Yandex | Product/SaaS | 6 |
| Gaijin Entertainment | Game studio | 4 |
| 10Web | Product/SaaS | 4 |
| Synergy International Systems | Product/SaaS | 4 |
| EasyDMARC | Product/SaaS | 3 |
| Grid Dynamics | Product/SaaS | 2 |
| Plexonic | Game studio | 2 |
About two in five design-function people at big firms are in iGaming
Share of the ~790 people at the 32 largest employers- iGaming≈43%
- Bank/Telecom≈25%
- Product/SaaS≈21%
- Game studio≈10%
- Agency≈1%
| sector | companies | people | share |
|---|---|---|---|
| iGaming | 5 | 340 | 43 |
| Bank/Telecom | 9 | 199 | 25 |
| Product/SaaS | 12 | 163 | 21 |
| Game studio | 5 | 76 | 10 |
| Agency | 1 | 11 | 1 |
About 86% of designers work outside the 32 biggest employers
Of 5,600 designers in tech- At the 32 largest employers — about 790 people14%
- Everywhere else — about 4,800 people86%
| group | value |
|---|---|
| At the 32 largest employers | 790 |
| Everywhere else | 4810 |
Plenty of 'designer' mentions, very few product and UX openings.
Open roles, snapshot 28 Sep 2026hh.ru vacancies that are game design
remote rather than office
showing a salary
LinkedIn Armenia, exact job titles — against 215 postings that merely mention “designer”
| source | measure | value |
|---|---|---|
| broad match “designer” | 215 | |
| Graphic designer | 9 | |
| Product designer | 7 | |
| UX designer | 4 | |
| hh.ru | designer vacancies | 30 |
| hh.ru | game design | 17 |
| hh.ru | remote | 19 |
| hh.ru | showing a salary | 0 |
Patterns behind this chapter
How we counted this chapter
- “Arts and Design” is LinkedIn’s own inferred job function, not a job title. It includes illustrators, video and brand people, it misses anyone without a profile, and it keeps people who have left. Counts are rounded to the nearest ten and are approximate in both directions. 32 companies ≈ 790 people ≈ 14% of all designers in tech.
- The 32 companies are the largest design employers we could identify, not a random sample. Shares are of that group, and say so.
- Open roles are a single snapshot: LinkedIn and hh.ru on 28 Sep 2026. Other boards (staff.am, myjob.am, careercenter.am) were not counted.
03
Salaries
Product designers earn twice what graphic designers do — and pay hasn't moved in a year.
1.2M AMD
typical senior product/UX designer, gross per month, 2026 (~$3,260)
~500k AMD for a senior graphic designer
Gross, before tax.
Product/UX pay pulls away after mid-level
Monthly, AMD · gross · 2026- Product / UX-UI
- Graphic
| grade | role | low | mid | high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | Product / UX-UI | 180 | 280 | 400 |
| Junior | Graphic | 130 | 180 | 250 |
| Mid | Product / UX-UI | 400 | 600 | 850 |
| Mid | Graphic | 250 | 350 | 460 |
| Senior | Product / UX-UI | 850 | 1200 | 1500 |
| Senior | Graphic | 400 | 500 | 650 |
| Lead / Head | Product / UX-UI | 1300 | 1800 | 2500 |
| Lead / Head | Graphic | 550 | 700 | 1000 |
Where do you stand?
A senior product / ux-ui designer sits between 850k and 1.5M, typically 1.2M.
Our estimate, not a benchmark — it is compiled from public salary sites, not from a survey of Armenian designers. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. ESTIMATE
Other design roles
Monthly gross, AMD, 2026| role | low | mid | high | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motion designer | 250000 | 620000 | 725000 | Glassdoor |
| Designer (generic) | 275000 | 626000 | 919000 | Glassdoor |
| UI/UX, all grades | 400000 | 1000000 | Armtal | |
| Product designer at Picsart | 667000 | 833000 | Glassdoor |
The extremes
Monthly gross, AMD, log scale100k300k1.0M3.0M
75kMinimum wage (floor)135kJunior graphic designer, 130–140k2.0MUX designer, Semrush remote2.0MProduct designer, Avito3.5MRemote UI/UX, 11 yrs
| value | label | source |
|---|---|---|
| 75000 | Minimum wage (floor) | |
| 135000 | Junior graphic designer, 130–140k | Paylab, lowest observed |
| 2000000 | UX designer, Semrush remote | Glassdoor 2026 |
| 2000000 | Product designer, Avito | Glassdoor 2026 |
| 3500000 | Remote UI/UX, 11 yrs | salaries.am, 2021, historic |
Employer tiers
Monthly gross, AMD| tier | low | high |
|---|---|---|
| EPAM | 760000 | 1000000 |
| Local iGaming (Digitain, SoftConstruct) | 300000 | 600000 |
Flat pay, stronger dram
USD/AMD and average monthly salary, AMDUSD/AMD — one dollar buys fewer drams
390.7Apr 2025387.12025 avg374.2Apr 2026365.0Aug 2026364.028 Sep 2026
Average monthly salary, AMD
- IT sector average824kJun 2024→820kNov 2025flat
- National average303k2025→321kJul 2026+5.6%
If you're paid in USD, the same salary buys ~5% fewer drams than a year ago.
| measure | when | value |
|---|---|---|
| USD/AMD | Apr 2025 | 390.7 |
| USD/AMD | 2025 avg | 387.1 |
| USD/AMD | Apr 2026 | 374.2 |
| USD/AMD | Aug 2026 | 365 |
| USD/AMD | 28 Sep 2026 | 364 |
| IT sector average | ||
| National average |
Tax, roughly
- 20% income tax (10% only on R&D wages at qualifying high-tech firms 2025–2031)
- Pension 5–10%
- New health-insurance deduction from Jan 2026 above 200k
- IT freelancers can use 1% turnover tax until 2031
Not tax advice.
How we counted this chapter
- No Armenian survey publishes designer pay by grade, and zero of the 30 open vacancies we read showed a salary. Every band in this chapter is ours.
- Sources: Glassdoor Yerevan, Paylab.am, Armtal Salary Guide 2026. Where a source gives a median we show it as the dot; where it does not, there is no dot.
- USD uses 368 AMD, the 2026 average. Net applies 0.745 up to 500k and 0.72 above 1M, the two published rates; between them we show the average of the two and say so here rather than inventing a bracket.
04
Education & outlook
33 places teach design. None offers a UX degree.
Digital design is taught in short private courses
Training providers by type, 20266 Universities+1 unconfirmed — teach graphic/industrial, 0 UX degrees
1 Colleges
21 Private academies & bootcamps+4 small studios
2 Free programsTUMO, Artoutik
2 Online schools with Armenian siteSkillbox, GeekBrains
- UX/UI
- Graphic
- Both
| type | count | note | teaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Universities | 6 | +1 unconfirmed — teach graphic/industrial, 0 UX degrees | graphic |
| Colleges | 1 | graphic | |
| Private academies & bootcamps | 21 | +4 small studios | both |
| Free programs | 2 | TUMO, Artoutik | both |
| Online schools with Armenian site | 2 | Skillbox, GeekBrains | ux |
What it costs to become a designer
AMD per month| what | monthlyLow | monthlyHigh | months | totalLow | totalHigh | usd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private course | 40000 | 130000 | 2–5 | 110000 | 500000 | ~$280–1,300 |
| University BA | ||||||
| RAU × HSE Communication Design | ||||||
| TUMO | ||||||
| Skillbox | 25000 | 63000 |
Main providers
Davit Pedanyan teaches at Armenian Code Academy, one of the providers listed here. MEASURED
| Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armenian Code Academy — Davit teaches here | Academy | UX/UI, Product Designer, Graphic | 75k AMD/mo (graphic) | 17,000 grads all courses |
| CC Academy | Academy | UI/UX, graphic, motion | 69–129k AMD/mo | 3 languages |
| Colors Design School | Academy | Graphic, UI/UX, motion, web | — | 3,500+ grads |
| National Polytechnic University | University | Graphic design, computer graphics | — | BA |
| National Univ. of Architecture & Construction | University | Graphic incl. web, animation | ~$800/yr | BA |
| Picsart Academy | Academy | AI UX/UI, AI Graphic Design | 59–65k AMD/mo | was free, now paid |
| Russian-Armenian Univ. × HSE | University | Communication design | 1.8M AMD/yr | Russian, since 2023 |
| Skillbox.am | Online | UX/UI + AI | ~25–63k AMD/mo | Russian |
| TCO Team | Academy (Yerevan+Gyumri) | UI/UX, Graphic with AI | 39–49k AMD/mo | cheapest in-person |
| TUMO | Free center, 12–18 | Graphic, 3D, motion, UX lab | free | ~25,000 students/week all subjects |
| Umba Training | Academy | UX/UI, graphic | 65–85k AMD/mo | 5,200+ completions |
| UX Academy | Academy | UX, research, design systems, AI | 65–89k AMD/mo | widest UX curriculum |
| Yerevan State Academy of Fine Arts | University (Yerevan+Gyumri) | Design, computer graphic design, industrial | ~$620/yr | BA+MA |
Supply vs demand
Direction of travel, 2024 → 2026Training supply ↑ — 33 providers, 5–6 new AI courses, HSE new UX program (2025)
Designer jobs ↓ — the count fell last year; LinkedIn exact-title openings: product 7, UX 4, graphic 9
What it means for a design school
Gaps & next year
How we counted this chapter
- Providers were counted from their own websites in September 2026. A seventh university is unconfirmed and is excluded from the 33.
- Prices are as published. Where a provider does not publish one, the cell is a dash rather than an estimate.
- Davit Pedanyan teaches at Armenian Code Academy, one of the providers listed here. Pedanyan Design is not among the 33 and does not appear in the table.
Six patterns no chart in this report proves
02Production & graphic work shrinks faster than product designDesign −800 and marketing −2,000+ while engineering grew
03Title shift: UI/UX → Product Designer'UI/UX designer' standard → Banks hire 'Product Designer' (Ameriabank, Nov 2025) and 'Senior Product Designer' (May 2026)
07AI enters training before job titlesAI as a topic → Picsart 'AI UX/UI', Skillbox 'UX/UI + AI', TCO 'Graphic Design with AI'; no local 'AI designer' title
08Relocant designers leavingForeign tech staff −12% (2024) → ~3,750 IT specialists left in 2025, 69% RU/UA/BY
09Big local design employers shrinkingPicsart 1,264 staff (2023) → 921 (Mar 2026), −27%
12Community grows and turns to AIUXSTORM meetup (Mar 2024) → First Design Fest Yerevan (Aug 2025); AI Jam for UX/UI 2.0 (Dec 2025); Armenia Digital Awards 800+ entries
What changed · our interpretation ESTIMATE
Value of the roleProducing screens, banners, SMM visualsProduct thinking, research, systems; production absorbed by AI and templates
Entry into the fieldBootcamp → junior job in monthsBootcamp → long search; portfolio and AI fluency beat certificates
Job titleUI/UX designer, graphic designerProduct designer; visual/content designer; game UI and motion as niches
Who buys designRelocated tech teams, startups, agenciesiGaming & game studios, bank digital teams, remote foreign employers
Pay structureWide local bandTwo tiers: remote/foreign pays 1.5–2× local; strong dram erodes USD pay
WorkplaceOffice / hybridRemote-first in open roles
CommunityOccasional meetupsFestivals, awards, AI-focused events
Gaps, and next year
□Pay and grade, from designers themselvesthe one thing no public source has
□A LinkedIn country totaldesigners with a profile, counted once
□A 2023 baselineso the trend is three points, not two
□A staff.am salary samplethe board we did not read
Method
- MEASUREDMeasured by us from a named source we can point at.
- REPORTEDSomebody else published it. I am quoting them, with the date.
- ESTIMATEMine, built from the sources named in the chart footer.
How we counted this
- “2024 vs 2025” means end-2024 vs end-2025, because the main source (ACA, Feb 2026) describes 2025.
- LinkedIn counts were read on 28 Sep 2026 from company People pages, filtered to location Armenia and job function “Arts and Design”.
- USD figures use 368 AMD to the dollar, the 2026 average.
- Davit Pedanyan teaches at Armenian Code Academy, one of the listed providers.
- LinkedIn company counts are rounded to the nearest ten on the page and shown exactly in the CSV. They are approximate in both directions: profiles go stale, and not everyone has one.
Sources
- ACA Tech Market Insights 2026 via Sputnik Armenia (22 Feb 2026)
- ACA Tech Market Insights 2025 via PAN.am (23 May 2025), EVN Report (3 Jun 2025)
- EVN Report “Triple Shock” (13 May 2026)
- LinkedIn company People pages (28 Sep 2026)
- hh.ru Armenia (28 Sep 2026)
- ITA Jobs
- Glassdoor Yerevan (UX, product, senior product, graphic, motion)
- Paylab.am
- Armtal Salary Guide 2026
- Armstat via ixbt.am / ARKA
- exchange-rates.org, ArmBanks
- KPMG, PwC tax summaries
- Revelio Labs (Picsart)
- Arminfo (HSE)
- Provider websites
- UX Tools survey, User Interviews UX Salary Report 2026
Where to go from here
If you design in Armenia
Answer the 2027 survey
Five minutes, anonymous. The part this report could not count.
Take the survey →If you are hiringWho you are bidding against
Every employer we could count, and what the bands look like.
Read chapter 2 →If you are choosing a courseWhat it costs, and what it leads to
Thirty-three providers, their prices, and what the market asks of a junior.
Read chapter 4 →Who counted it
Davit Pedanyan designs products in Yerevan and teaches design here. This count began as a question nobody could answer for him and turned into a month of opening company pages one at a time. Next year it is meant to be a shorter job, because the survey will do the part a public page cannot.