How to keep IT specialists in Russia (initiatives of market participants and the Ministry of Digital Affairs)?

Hire, hold or dissolve: how to be with expensive IT employees under sanctions restrictions

Russian banks on the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals List) sanctions list were deprived of access to a number of technologies, IT products and services. Some of them revised their development plans and began to optimize IT departments. Will Russian banks reduce IT specialists, will they retain developers within companies, will they continue to attract qualified personnel with high salaries. TAdviser asked about this Chief information officers, representatives of the personnel services of banks and leading HR consultants. Read more here

Heads of large IT companies - what really can now keep developers in Russia

The outflow of IT personnel from Russia remains one of the most pressing problems of the high-tech industry, which in February-March 2022 was further aggravated by the events in Ukraine, and both the state and business are making efforts to solve it. At the conference on April 7, top managers of IT companies and state organizations shared their thoughts on who is leaving now, and what can really keep ITshnikov in Russia^[1].

In the IT market, estimates of departed specialists are currently very different, and not only because by ITshniki different sources of such estimates mean different categories of employees. There is no consensus on how many "classic" IT specialists, such as programmers, have left against the backdrop of the crisis. The Telegram channel of the Cheka-OGPU, citing its sources on April 8, wrote that the Ministry of Digital Affairs, through interaction with the border service, is now trying to establish the exact number of IT specialists who left Russia after February 24.

Director of 1C Boris Nuraliev believes that the current moves are mainly a number of companies, large and not very, that have relocated and disowned contact with Russia: "we are no longer a Russian company." And if the company remained in the country, there, according to his observations, movement on the move is still small. In addition, a remote location became very common during the pandemic, and it is quite difficult to track the employees who continue to work for the same company, but at the same time moved.

Keeping IT specialists in Russia is one of the important tasks of the state level "(photo - hrlider.ru)"

Salaries at ITshnikov are already already high, including in the regions. The pandemic and the development of remote work contributed to the equalization of salaries throughout the country. Therefore, in addition to the salary factor, interesting tasks, large-scale projects are now important for IT employees, Nuraliev is sure. They need development, motivation - the opportunity to grow from small projects to larger ones.

1C itself needs strong specialists for large projects, the demand for company solutions has not decreased, says Nuraliev. And, it would seem, there are a lot of 1C specialists in Russia - about 300 thousand. But not everyone is ready to work on large projects. There are those who now work on small tasks, "stalls automate." They can be trained so that they then work on large-scale tasks.

General Director of BFT- Holding Alexander Monosov believes that clarity is needed as quickly as possible on how to apply the new industry support measures developed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs (more about the measures here). There are many questions: how to apply for a preferential mortgage, who in the company will provide a documentary process for reimbursement of personal income tax, etc. It's great that a delay order has already been issued from the army for IT specialists, but it is necessary that all the proposed measures are earned as quickly as possible in practice.

Monosov also spoke about the initiative of the first deputy governor - Minister of Digital Development of the Belgorod Region Yevgeny Miroshnikov, who assembled a team of more than 10 regional IT ministers and promotes the topic of mortgages at a rate of 0% when co-financing the regions. This can really be a tool for retaining young ITshniks on the ground, Monosov said.

Timur Akhmerov, general director of Bars Group, also notes that everyone is waiting for support with money, and with a delay from the army, and a preferential mortgage. At Bars Group, he said, employees were already interested in where to apply for a preferential mortgage. At the same time, Akhmerov believes, for ITshnikov, as for creative people, whose salaries, as a rule, are within or above the market, the salary factor determines only 25% the motivation to work in a particular company. And 75% of motivation is the confidence that what they do is the result, and that it is really useful for people, the country. An important factor is a comfortable working environment.

However, not everyone agrees with such an assessment of the importance of salaries. So, Dmitry Vertelo, deputy director of the Lanita corporate systems department, notes that salaries are "warmed up" quickly, but are blown away very slowly. And if when you meet the proposed salary of an IT specialist does not satisfy, then he will shake hands, turn around and leave. This is especially true for zumers. We will have to wait until, amid the current growth in the number of ITshnikov resumes, there will be some change in the level of salaries in the market, the representative of Lanita believes.

The deputy head of the Federal Tax Service, Alexander Egorichev, believes that the specialists who left the country did this not because they do not want to live in Russia, but because they are mostly pacifists. And they depend on the conditions in which they have to work.

They worry about whether they will turn off access to libraries, whether there will suddenly be any mobilization in connection with recent events, etc., "says Egorichev. - They experience human factors and working conditions to fulfill their duties. This is the main reason why they leave our country, and not in order to find larger salaries. Although you can't talk about everyone the same, but on average the situation is this.

The representative of the Federal Tax Service, like representatives of the above-mentioned IT companies, believes that you will not keep ITshnikov's salaries alone. They are primarily interested in working conditions, the environment in which they fall. For some, the points are important, up to what clinic allows you to receive services provided by the employer medical insurance.

And in the salary part, in turn, it is important, where it exists, to untie the dependence of income growth on whether ITshnik holds a leadership position or not, Yegorichev believes: "I know guys who are not ready to be leaders, but without whom my projects would just get up, and their posts do not allow them to receive the salaries that they would like or could." This is mostly characteristic of government agencies.

The general director of OTRSergei Manokhin partly agrees that mainly pacifists leave, but believes that still, to a greater extent, the fear of instability is a factor for departure. And first of all, those who mainly worked for foreign projects were relocated, they distance themselves from Russia.

As for the motivation of specialists in the current conditions, at least in the public sector, it is difficult to interest specialists with large-scale, interesting IT projects, Manokhin believes. The commercial segment comes out more attractive in a number of parameters, including salaries.

One of the factors that needed to be addressed in the IT retention policy package was tracking the emotional state of employees and sensitivity to their needs. So, the commercial director of Crypto-Pro, Yuri Maslov, said that they had people in the company, whose task is to track the mood of employees, their wishes. Especially for this, they hired, among other things, smokers to listen to conversations in smokers. This helps to better understand the needs of ITshniks and provide them with what they want.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs determined which IT officials will receive a reprieve from the army

The Ministry of Digital Affairs has determined which categories of IT specialists will receive a delay from the army. This was told by the head of the ministry Maksut Shadaev on March 22, 2022 at an expanded meeting of the State Duma committee on information policy, information technology and communications.

In systemically significant IT companies, the list of which will be prepared by the ministry together with market representatives, all employees will receive a postponement, regardless of their education and the position that they occupy.

In other companies, those specialists who have a specialized IT education will receive a postponement. The relevant education of the Ministry of Digital Sciences means not only IT specialties, but also related to them.

Large companies in which many IT specialists work, for example, in Russian Railways, worry that they may begin to outflow personnel. Since IT will strive to move to specialized companies. To prevent this from happening, we offer deferral benefits from the army to extend to IT specialists who work in non-specialized companies. Employees of banks, telecom operators or transport companies should also be able to get a reprieve from the army, "Maksut Shadaev shared.

Maksut Shadayev at an expanded meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications. Photo - State Duma

According to the minister, the draft resolution was submitted to the government.

Venture investors began to organize the export of IT developers from Russia

The founder of the London-based venture capital company Untitled Ventt Konstantin Sinyushin and venture investor Anton Antich created an operational headquarters for the evacuation of back offices of startups. They invite Russian developers and employees of innovative companies to leave the country. Konstantin Sinyushin wrote on Facebook on March 1, 2022 that the first charter flight to Armenia was being prepared, and there were already 30 people.

Earlier, Anton Antich wrote on Facebook that a mini-program is being worked out with the Ministry of Innovation of Montenegro to organize the work of startups.

It will be great if startup faunders write to me in the comments or in the personal website of your startup and how many people (approximate frames) you think will want to move to live and work for your company in Montenegro. We will all unite this and show potential. For the sake of 10 people, no one will twitch, but if it is 100 +, it is already quite real, "Anton Antich wrote on his page (spelling and punctuation of the authors).

Under the post 129 comments, more than a dozen from companies with an application for relocation from 1 to 30 people. In comments on the same post, Konstantin Sinyushin wrote that last week Latvia will accept a package of support for talent migration.

In connection with the attempt to organize the departure of IT specialists, TAdviser conducted a mini-survey among developers, finding out their attitude to this kind of initiative.

{{quote 'Representative of an outsourcing company :

Yeah, I heard about the initiative. And there are colleagues who have already moved to Armenia. However, I do not think that we can talk about the outcome of programmers. Most developers have very good conditions here. In addition, there are a lot of burdens: family, mortgage, friends, hulls. They leave, first of all, completely young people who are not burdened with anything. I do not think that we can even talk about 1% of the total number of programmers, I think that several hundred people will leave.}}

{{quote'VK Group Employee [1]:

There is such a topic. Many are considering the possibility. But this is unlikely to affect large companies, such as us or Yandex. Yandex employees were paid a premium, promise to compensate for options. We are also promised support. From startups yes, people ran.}}

{{quote'Independent Developer (contracted for UK):

My employers offered me to move to Armenia in February. I know that someone has already left for Georgia, Montenegro and even Croatia. Until I decided to leave or not. Let's see.}}

{{Quote'Avito Developer:

Actually, I'm a patriot. Moreover, we are not sitting in the office now. Moreover, the company told us that in principle, if we become very scared, the company is ready to support us with moving and arranging in a new place. In principle, where to work physically, it does not matter to us, there would be an Internet. It seems to me that now the conditions in Russian companies will be better than in foreign companies, the situation is this.}}

{{quote 'Retail CIO:

You know, we have a rather different trend, people are somehow trying to gain a stronger foothold in the workplace. Now the situation is uncertain, so any wrong decision is fraught with consequences. Everyone is waiting for the political situation to come to light.}}

Expect mass migration of IT developers abroad?

TAdviser asked experts to share expectations regarding the reaction of IT specialists to events related to the military special operation and sanctions. Opinions were divided.

Many developers will prefer working in foreign companies. This is due to both ethical and material issues: due to the devaluation of the ruble and exchange rate differences, work in foreign companies becomes much more profitable. Moreover, the process of relocation of developers will begin, that is, moving to other countries, since work in Russia will become more complicated both in terms of access to development tools and environments, and due to emotional discomfort, "said Ivan Begtin, head of the Association of Data Market Participants (AURD).

Alexey Novodvorsky, Deputy General Director of BaseAlt, partially agrees with this position. He also believes that personnel hunger in the IT industry in Russia will increase, and some programmers may leave the country in search of stability. At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that the work of Russian open source developers within the country will become much more, and the question will arise as to whether customers will be ready to pay for it. Spending on programmers domestically is likely to increase significantly, Novodvorsky expects.

Deputy General Director of Postgres Professionals Ivan Panchenko admits that sanctions can keep some programmers in the country.

Experience shows that sanctions come quickly, but then it's not easy to get rid of them, recall the Jackson-Vanik amendment. So new ambitious tasks await the domestic IT market - this concerns both outsourcing and product development. Do not reproduce the software of global Western corporations - this is boring, expensive and leads to lag. We need to focus on the new, the better, with an eye to the future. It is such projects that can attract young daring developers, "Panchenko shared with TAdviser.

Mishustin announced the exemption of IT companies from income tax, and programmers from military service

Opening the government meeting on March 2, 2022, Mikhail Mishustin spoke "about important decisions to support the domestic information technology industry":

{{Quote 'It is important to prevent a decrease in the pace of development of the IT industry in our country even in conditions of sanctions restrictions. It is necessary to ensure the stable and uninterrupted operation of the information infrastructure. And of course, to maintain personnel potential. Therefore, we will extend the current tax preferences to the creators of applications for mobile devices. They will also be available to organizations involved in the implementation and installation, testing, as well as supporting domestic solutions.

For three years, all IT companies will be exempt from income tax and inspections by regulatory authorities. They will be able to take loans on favorable terms for the continuation of work and new projects - at a rate not exceeding 3%.

The Government will also provide employees of such companies with the opportunity to issue a preferential mortgage. And specialists until they reach the age of 27 will receive a delay from conscription for the duration of their work in Russian IT companies.

We will expand the program of providing grants for the creation of domestic solutions. All this will be a good impulse for our IT sector, will help it continue to develop. The corresponding presidential decree has been signed. I ask the Ministry of Digital Development to quickly prepare all the necessary documents so that companies can take advantage of the new support measures as soon as possible.}}

The full list of benefits from the presidential decree is here.

Rostelecom-Solar canceled probation for newcomers

On March 2, 2022, Rostelecom-Solar decided to cancel the probation period for information security and information technology specialists. Employees who come to the company before September 1, 2022, from the first day of work will enjoy all the benefits and benefits of the company.

The unstable economic situation in Russia and the sanctions imposed by Western countries caused fears among IT and IB specialists about the sustainability of the industry, Rostelecom-Solar notes. "We are ready to offer all newcomers the connection of a full social package with VMS, bonuses paid for 100% sick and vacation days from the first day of work," the company says.

Yandex will pay all employees an additional salary

On February 28, 2022, it became known that Yandex plans to pay additional salaries to all employees in the near future, including interns and those on probation.

On February 27, Yandex Managing Director Tigran Khudaverdyan announced that the company would send employees to a remote location, "given that many are now morally difficult and would like to be with their family more."

Ministry of Digital Affairs proposed 10 measures to retain IT specialists in the country

The Ministry of Digital Sciences predicts the outflow of IT specialists from the country. On February 28, 2022, Minister Maksut Shadaev sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a list of measures that should keep developers.

List of measures:

1. Extend the mechanism of existing tax incentives to IT companies that receive revenue from advertising, providing additional services in their applications and online services or implementing, installing, testing and maintaining partner domestic IT products;

2. Exempt all employees of IT companies from personal income tax for the next three years, and the companies themselves from paying income tax, as well as from inspections by supervisory authorities;

3. provide all employees of IT companies with a preferential mortgage with a rate of 5% for the duration of work;

4. Grant deferral of conscription to IT employees while they work for them

5. Introduce a simplified procedure for obtaining a work permit and a residence permit for foreign citizens hired to work in Russian IT companies;

6. provide IT companies with grants for the development and development of IT products (reducing the requirement for mandatory extrabudgetary co-financing of projects to 20%, and in some cases to 0%), develop a concessional lending program for the introduction of domestic solutions at a rate of 1% for the borrower (banks participating in the program will be compensated by the Bank of Russia up to 100% key rate);

7. ensure accelerated import substitution of software at critical information infrastructure facilities due to targeted budget funding through the created industry competence centers;

8. introduce preferential lending to IT companies to ensure uninterrupted ongoing activities;

9. consolidate and stimulate government orders, including from state-owned companies, to finance new critical developments (PLM, ERP, etc.) with the possibility of its execution by large IT companies without holding tenders and auctions (tenders);

10. to provide target financing on creation in Russia of "mirror" of a repository of the open SOURCE software of GitHub.