HN call for help: Thousand of IT specialists flee Russia as job market collapses
I believe that situation on Russian IT market is not being represented 100% clear right now in Europe and US.
Yesterday I had to emergently evacuate my family from Moscow on a flight to Dubai, leaving behind my apartment, car and my whole life. Every single one of the people I know in IT considers doing the same, or is already in the process (I have 12+ years of networking in this industry, this is fully subjective, but should be representative evnough - I talked to more than 50 people I know directly). Out of my close friends 50% have either already left, or purchasing tickets as you read that.
Every single person I know has either full blown panic attacks, averages 2hr of sleep per night, or has extreme anxiety. Four close friends whom I met through IT are hiding from bombs in Kiev and Sumy. Every single one is shocked by decisions made by authoritative Russian government with no care for peoples lives, either in Ukraine or in Russia itself. As you read this, laws are being arranged to set criminal charges even for things like acknowledging the war.
My whole investment portfolio got frozen in the St. Pete stock exchange for indefinite period and little hope to get them back. On February 27 I was lucky to quickly get a $10k loan in rubles and purchase already expensive dollars to mitigate the risks, right before inflation skyrocketed to %20+. Most people are not that lucky, and banks have tightened any loans. My salary has already devalued by 50% after one week of war.
If anyone can provide any help, Russian IT community needs it. Please reach in comments below by providing your contacts and type of help you can offer, I will do my best to connect you with Russian-speaking communities on Telegram: three of them are communities of developers with 10k+ people in each of them.
_Any_ help with remote work or relocation offers to UAE, Georgia, Turkey, Serbia would be immense.
You can also reach me directly on 224.0.0.25@gmail.com
Hacker news, this is a crisis of extreme proportions. Please, we need your help.
126 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 217 ms ] threadLong story short: this post has no aim to focus on helping only Russians, if you have resources to support any kind of IT relocation regardless of nationality, please step forward.
We had no real election over the last 18 years, even the one on 2000 was fueled by fear and manipulated people to vote for a certain candidate. It was all downhill from there.
We had constitution revised in a major way twice just by popular vote, with all edits being made to keep people in power staying in power and destroying institutions.
He was at pearl harbor when it was bombed, he was in a submarine under Tokyo bay during the war, he was part of many battles in the pacific, and finally nearly killed in a collision and received the purple heart among other medals. He was then part of the occupation of Japan after the war.
What did he decide to teach me after all that?
That the Japanese people are/were good people that were fooled and otherwise coerced (forced) into the war by evil leaders. Much like Russia today.
I've carried this with me my whole life. And will continue to try to spread it around (compassion).
Every once in a while the train stopped, and each stop they asked random people to step forward. These people were executed in front of others. However, majority of passenger have arrived to the final destination (prison camp) alive.
Those who made it alive were never the same, they were broken, psychologically.
Their families too. My grand-grand mother hang herself shortly after his arrest. My grandmother was deeply traumatized for the rest of her life by that (she was a little girl who found her mother hanging from the chandelier).
0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrosskaya_Tishina
It was even in TV Series .. I forgot title but that moment I remember very clear.
It was shocking. Unbelievable!
For learning more, I personally recommend starting with "Kolyma Tales" by Varlam Shalamov. Aside from the educational part, it's a great piece of literature.
About educational part: it's a frequent misconception. "Kolyma Tales" are not autobiography, it's a fiction.
E.g. His depiction of thieves wars reads as documentary but it's not. There is not a single personage that has direct match in reality. For some: it looks like combination of several real persons, some has no real analogues. The same with events, chronology and geography.
To write a documentary was never the goal for Shalamov.
And keep in mind that it's a perception of Shalamov who always was a man of weak health.
Dostoevsky was in similar or even harsher conditions but he found the strength to see in criminals around him not only infernal bad.
If you suppose that Dostoevsky is not relevant: there are other authors with similar experience.I
For example: Ahto Levi, Estonian, Hitlerjugend on start of WWII, conscripted in SS near end, after war - criminal, repeat offender, member of nationalistic gang -he's one of thieves that Shalamov depicts.
His "Notes by Gray Wolf" shows both degradation to beast and then return to human.
TG/Whatsapp: +7 985 614-16-87
I'm sorry that you and many other innocent people have to suffer in this madness.
Contact me on the same twitter handle as this hn one for nonpublic info.
P.S. I do agree - Ukrainians in even more need.
Supporting them with just a work outside of Russia - will help a lot.
"I do agree - Ukrainians in even more need." -- oh, really? Getting someone's country with its people demolished and that's funded by your taxes is "even more"?
Job details on LinkedIn, we’d welcome experienced and qualified professionals from Ukraine or Russia
Disclaimer: I work there / hiring manager
Not "any Russian bank". Of course it's possible that in future all Russian banks will be under sanctions.
Right now even bank transfers between Russia and Ukraine works fine. My ex-girlfriend still has a way to support her parents in Kyiv.
If you meant possibility of total blockade: it's probable.
Zelensky campaigns exactly for that.
At least his ideas more realistic than Macron voiced: to block bitcoins in Russia.
There is a huge Russian-speaking community in Ukraine. Most non-regional IT communities in Telegram have lots of Ukrainian people, many relocated back and forth between two countries in the past.
Long story short: this post has no aim to focus on helping only Russians, if you have resources to support any kind of IT relocation regardless of nationality, please step forward.
You need to understand the scale. Just today Yandex (one of the largest IT companies in Russia, think “Russian Google”) has announced[0] they are at risk of default. That’s 10 000 people, and Yandex is not the only large IT company.
Companies like EPAM also have plans to evacuate people, that’s north of 30k people in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and it is not clear how many layoffs there will be.
0 — https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5240531
But you are right, people who stay will need help as well.
The ruble took another massive hit again last night. Any Russian financial company is probably already wiped out.
I wouldn't be shocked if the market doesn't open next week, it is not reopening and everything is going to have to be nationalized.
We have never seen this before with a modern economy. In the 1929 market crash 25% of the US population were still farmers. Russia is 5% farmers. Most people are directly exposed to the fragility of the modern economy.
Our team is in process movingto Bulgaria thanks to BESCO (write letter to them right now if Bulgaria is an option for you). We are getting some help acquiring visas fast, but getting tickets out of Russia is harder with every minute (literally). We are leaving all our lives behind and fleeing in shock, hoping one day to be able to return, to help those who couldn't leave.
Stay strong.
I have no idea if anything might work out. But it might be a chance.
[0]: https://sinnerschrader.jobs/en/
We all hope to receive more clarification on that part. Personally I might understand that this is a difficult situation even if all involved persons really mean well (and from what I could experience especially the Accenture leadership are actual well meaning people - at least the ones I got to know). While also navigating difficult political waters.
How do you pay people without Swift? What can be done to help our (now sadly former) Russian colleagues without putting them in danger for working for a US/western company?
Can you transfer people? But still - how to pay them?
I don't have any more insights than the official communications from HQ. But I still am hopeful that as much as is possible is being done.
But yeah - the situation is s*t. Sorry for the language.
(and all that coming from me who has quite a difficult view on/relationship with our parent organization)
I think its very funny, him speaking about 2hours a day, like his in grave danger. He didnt mention anything about being presecuted.
I happen to know people stuck in Ukraine fearing for their life so please excuse me that I find it hard to emphatize with him. I would feel bad if he dint overstate how bad his situation is.
People who look for remote work need it to stay somewhere _outside_ of Russia and work remotely from there. Relocation is no easy feat, at least to do it quickly. Especially with half of the flights out of Russia being shut down.
million people get together? you need some kind of leadership. this mean u have someone u can aim your snipers at / throw KGB at to disappear into a gulag and never be seen again...
russia is not exactly usa where you are free to buy assault rifles in grocery store, or where you can buy even a small gun for that matter... its not like bunch of guys decide to storm Kremlin over the weekend and magically overthrow the gov
I mean it happened in russia in the past, but it was literally at a cost of several millions dead, not sure if this is the right solution
Two examples of not "single leader" protests happened in 2013, in Brazil and Turkey
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_protests_in_Brazil
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezi_Park_protests
P.S.: I don't have an opinion regarding whether Russian people are "responsible" for staying in Russia and "fixing" their government, but I upvoted everyone answering to this part of the thread/topic in a civil manner. Not many other places I could witness a discussion like this that does not degrade into insults
All this is achieved by perpetrator through fear and manipulation. There is a reason why societies keep ending in this kind of situation, and this reason is not a lack of will to “stop the abuse”.
Human mind has dozens of biases, those who exploit them and add physical abuse to the mix very often end up on top. In USSR this exploitation was made into an art, especially at earlier times (30s and 40s).
Have you considered, as an able-bodied young man, doing the honorable thing and "cleaning up" your country?
Young American patriots did the same back in 1776. Maybe it’s time for your people and country to enter the modern era.
The OMON, military and state media will also loose their life savings and suffer under the war and sanctions.
There's just so much protests they can handle and with more and more people with nothing left to loose, the momentum can quickly overwhelm them.
It's not gonna be easy but you're running out of options. Best of luck if you choose to fight.
Highly recommended read.
[0]: https://twitter.com/AlinaLeonovaSF/status/149945792856210227...
It didn't, because the colonist didn't let it happen.
Democracy and freedom aren’t privilege, they are rights earned with blood.
The modern idea of a police force didn't even exist at the time.
* What method(s) of payment are capable of receiving that could help?
* Are you able to establish a bank account in another country or is it down to cash or crypto? If crypto, do you have a way to reliably withdraw into local currency for food/shelter?
* Do you require special work visa's? Or is the only alternative a "under the table" (i.e. off the books/unofficial) type of arrangement?
* If someone were able to hire/pay for work, what assurances are there that you can produce work on a daily basis? (I assume risks include many things if someone is mobile, doesn't have internet, etc.)
What happened? Were you in danger?
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Some of the responses on this thread are appalling. Misanthropes are dehumanising people based on nationality. I wonder:
Does every German bear responsibility for WW2?
Does every US citizen bear responsibility for the genocide in Yemen (I could about 60 countries here...)?
Does every Ukrainian bear responsibility the Azov regiment crimes?
WTF is wrong with you ppl? Get your shit together.
You're acting as if a 5-year old in Russia is a lesser human being compared to a 5 year old in Ukraine. They're both 5-year olds.
</rant>
I have spoken to Russians and Belarusians over the last few days. They're against what their government is doing. Leaving is one of the only options.
In some ways, IT leaving is worse for Russia than just the sanctions. That 'talent' will never return. That loss will linger.
A generation of Germans made the choice not to let the past define them, and through hard work bootstrapped themselves and their country to become a leader for human rights, democracy and economy.
Time for citizens of Russia and its allies to make the same decisions.
Maybe we should make a table with a no. of victims per country so we can distribute blame more fairly? Can also probably automate and gamify this. Good thing most leaders who made these decisions are gone and we can shift anger to actual citizen instead.
AU/NZ are looking on and supporting Ukraine, but they lack the deep involvement.
AU/NZ can be a bit of pain visa wise, but there are plenty of IT jobs. You do need to be able to speak English, but in my experience dealing with teams overseas (mostly China), it's not unusual to have to pause a conversation while someone looks up the meaning of the word before continuing.
Similarly, there is a large expat population in Thailand, and there are definitely opportunities for tech people. Thailand only has 30 days visa free for Russians, however it's possible to extend the visa for a further 30 days by going and sitting in a government office waiting in line for a few hours.
It's also possible to do a border run to reset this (it's not like Europe where it 90 days in 180 days.
There are various agencies that can help get longer visas once you're there as well.
[0]: https://visafreecountries.com/russian-passport
Regarding Thailand, I would not be so optimistic. There is a report (https://lenta.ru/news/2022/03/05/problemsss/) that Russian bank cards just stopped working in Thailand (Edit: hotels only). So one would somehow need to rely on cash only while searching for the opportunities.
Edit: I should have checked the source: https://www.atorus.ru/news/press-centre/new/59021.html which says that Russian cards still work e.g. in shops.
Regarding portfolio - exchange has been frozen indefinitely, depending on measures taken by central bank nobody can predict what would happen to the stock price. They have also blocked most ways to move money out of the country. Possible economic default is also a possibility.
However, I would advise everyone to try to be a freelancer if possible. It is a LOT easier for companies to hire then, even from other countries.
We lost connection to our iOS dev living in Kiyv couple of days ago.