The number of Russian teleworkers has exploded since the start of the war against Ukraine.
Many of them have moved to countries bordering Russia, from where they work full time… for Russia.
10% of digital employees have left Russia
This is another unintended consequence of the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine. Since the start of the hostilities, a large number of employees in the digital sector have migrated outside the territory to settle in the neighborhood. Turkey, Armenia, Georgia or Central Asian territories have thus served as refuges for these employees, who have even pushed towards the United Arab Emirates.
And there are many of them. ” Up to 10% of IT company employees have left the country and not returned. In total, some 100,000 IT specialists are located abroad “, explained the Minister of Digital Development Maksout Chadaïev.
An impressive figure, however, 80% of them continue to work for a Russian company, working full time remotely.
Russia should not put pressure on these teleworkers
It must be said that jobs in the digital sector are perfectly suited to the practice of teleworking. A godsend for these employees who fled in large numbers for the first time during the first weeks of the conflict, and a second time during the partial mobilization in September, when 300,000 reservists were added to the regular army.
But despite what could be considered a desertion by the Moscow authorities, their situation should not experience any significant change. With Western sanctions affecting the electronics sector in particular and the fear of suffering a brain drain, the Russian government wants to be tolerant on this issue.
Thus, according to Maksout Shadayev, in order not to push them to look for work in foreign companiess”, companies are asked not to impose severe restrictions on these teleworkers full-remote.
Source : West France
17