An iOS developer from Moscow, Lev Zhuravlev, worked for a large American IT company, and when, due to sanctions, the company began to close cooperation with Russian projects, the employer offered him a relocation: pay for the flight and accommodation of the family to another country, change the salary depending on the chosen place . 

“At first, my family and I thought about leaving for a while and working from another country, looking at possible places to live.

But doing so, when so many did, was unwise: ticket and property prices skyrocketed, news began to appear about the difficulties with paying with Russian cards abroad.

It was right in this situation not to panic and not make decisions based on emotions, and like everyone else, there were quite a few of them, ”says the 25-year-old developer.

As a result, Zhuravlev stayed in Russia and found a job with a salary three times higher. 

Not just a startup

At the same time, according to the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, at the end of February and March, 50-70 thousand IT specialists left the country.

In the association of software developers Russoft, the number of IT specialists who left since the end of February was estimated at 18-20 thousand people.

That is why over the past month and a half, state support for the IT industry and Russian specialists has become one of the most important issues in the field of import substitution.

So, in early March, the President of the country signed a decree that exempts IT companies from paying income tax for three years, introduces other tax benefits, makes it possible to receive loans at a reduced rate (no more than 3%), and gives young professionals a deferment from conscription into the army, as well as preferential mortgages.

Meanwhile, government departments and subordinate companies have doubled the number of IT vacancies in the labor market since February 24.

This is evidenced by data from a study by the recruiting service HeadHunter, published in mid-March.

In just three weeks, from February 24 to March 15, 108% more ads were published on the portal to search for IT specialists in a state-owned company. 

One of the largest state-owned IT companies, Research Institute Voskhod, only in early March published about 20 ads looking for IT specialists: developers, system administrators, testers, project administrators.

At the same time, as explained in the company, the search for new employees is not associated with the outflow of specialists, but with the emergence of new projects and work tasks.

Research Institute "Voskhod" develops IT solutions for state Internet portals, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Health, the Federal Security Service, the Prosecutor General's Office, and Rosstat.

“We are looking for new staff for three reasons: to work on new projects, to strengthen teams working on projects, and to replace employees who have been promoted.

Raising effective employees is our regular practice, a vivid example of this is several top managers of the Voskhod Research Institute, who built a career at the Institute, starting with an ordinary specialist, ”said RT acting.

Director of Research Institute "Voskhod" Maxim Rymar.

According to him, over the past two months, the situation with hiring IT specialists for a state-owned company has changed for the better, as applicants began to pay more attention to the stability of the company.

“The criteria for choosing a company-employer have changed for candidates.

The stability, scale and duration of projects have become more of a priority.

Startups or short projects — to come up with and implement some new functionality in two months — are of little interest to anyone now,” Rymar said.

The interlocutor believes that Voskhod has a very important advantage in attracting new employees - the ability to create automated information systems of federal significance, which have no analogues not only in Russia, but also abroad.

“We have been cooperating with the state since 1972 and have exceptional competencies and expertise in the development, implementation and maintenance of such projects.

In addition, all the benefits introduced to support IT specialists apply to our employees.

Plus, we offer a competitive salary, vocational training, as well as good medical insurance, a gym in the office and secure parking for all employees,” Maksim Rymar added.

Research Institute employee Anton Polynsky has been working in the IT field for more than 12 years, and during all this time, according to him, the question “leave Russia or stay” did not even arise for him.

He says that working in a state-owned company attracts him with the opportunity to create information systems and software unique for Russia.

“For example, now I am working on the development and support of the National Certification Authority.

This is a completely new project for the Russian IT segment: we provide an opportunity for Russian site owners to obtain security certificates without contacting foreign certification centers,” says Polynsky.

According to him, IT professionals who think about moving out of the country do not always decide to do so due to financial risks, the stress of moving and ambiguous attitudes towards Russians.

“A high level of salary is no longer a determining factor for moving abroad - most experts look at the stability of the company, the nature of the project and living conditions,” the source said.

"They are trying to keep us"

Another RT interlocutor, a programmer and developer, the author of a Telegram channel about developments in the field of IT technologies, Alexei (name changed), says that specialists leave the country because they are afraid of uncertainty.

“Before, developers usually moved when they found a job with a relocation - this is when the employer pays you all the costs of moving, helps with documents.

There are not many such employers.

That is, the main motivation was this: to move only if you do not lose in the standard of living.

Now this has changed: people are afraid that life in Russia will get worse, and they are ready to pay for the move themselves, to lose their standard of living.

At the same time, I personally have the feeling that many did not leave forever, but to sit out the uncertainty, ”says the interlocutor of RT.

According to him, IT-specialists who decide to emigrate mainly choose countries close to Russia - Georgia, Armenia, Serbia.

Aleksey admits that in Russia IT specialists are being offered very good salaries, but he fears that when foreign companies completely leave the country, employers will stop competing for employees. 

“The market provided us with high salaries due to the fact that our companies competed with foreign ones for workers.

Now it is important that we can leave, and therefore they are trying to keep us.

And if we can’t, we won’t have to try anymore, the market will dictate new conditions - and we will have to plow for 50 thousand rubles, ”explains Alexey.

According to him, among IT specialists, especially in March, there were persistent rumors that the border was about to be closed or the authorities would prohibit IT specialists from leaving Russia.

“But none of my close acquaintances had any problems with leaving.

It is important to note that fear has large eyes.

No one is sure of anything, no one knows how the situation will develop further: perhaps everything will return to normal, perhaps our IT will go to the Chinese market.

Many of us are hoarding loot in currency and crypto and waiting for where everything will go, ”says the programmer.

Tester Alice told RT that she temporarily moved to Turkey with her husband, who works in tech support.

Both spouses work remotely and flew to Turkey here "for reconnaissance" - to find out the living conditions.

“You can legally live in Turkey without a visa for a couple of months, we don’t think further, we hope that the situation will stabilize.

I am worried about how life will turn out in Russia in connection with the imposition of sanctions: the loss and rise in price of food and animal feed, the impossibility of contactless payment by phone, the shutdown of services, ”she added.

"Pay tripled"

Valentin Makarov, president of the association of software developers Russoft, is confident that over the next eight to ten months, from a third to a half of the departed IT specialists will return to Russia.

This is connected both with the difficulties of emigration and with the fact that the number of interesting and large projects will increase in Russia.

So, in countries where many Russians have been coming in the past month and a half - Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Thailand - property owners have raised housing prices several times.

Often, apartments simply do not remain due to high demand, because not only programmers have left, but also many young people who are accustomed to living abroad or who are afraid of mobilization, the expert adds.

At the end of March, it became known that due to the influx of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, the rental of real estate in the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, increased by 30-50% compared to the end of February, in Yerevan - by 30%, in the Turkish cities of Antalya and Alanya - by 2 ,5-3 times.

“In these countries, in general, because of the crisis, prices for food and gasoline are rising.

People are faced with unexpectedly high prices for medical care, education of children,” says Makarov.

In addition, Russians who have emigrated face growing Russophobia, which is constantly being whipped up by the media and Western governments.

“This Russophobia is not created against children and not against those who leave Russia, but paradoxically, it hits them first of all,” he adds.

The head of Russoft is confident that Russian companies will be able to attract IT specialists, as the state is already increasing the number of large projects that create demand for their services.

“IT-specialists are primarily interested in a big job with prospects for developing their skills.

Over the past month and a half, the number of IT specialists who want to get a job in Russian companies has increased from 1.8 per vacancy to almost 3,” adds Valentin Makarov.

iOS developer Lev Zhuravlev said that when he posted his resume on a job search website, he received several dozen responses with invitations for an interview in the very first hours.

As a result, he accepted an offer from a Russian bank with a salary three times higher than that which he received in a foreign company.

“Then the question arose: do I want to stay in Russia and work for rubles, or still take the opportunity to move and work for foreign currency.

In the end, my family and I decided to stay.

This was due to difficulties during a full-fledged move, separation of the family from the familiar environment and immersion in another culture in a short time, ”says the interlocutor.

Over the past month and a half, there has been a serious shuffling of IT specialists between companies in Russia, Lev believes.

It hit novice developers the hardest: companies canceled internships for beginners, and they are ready to hire experienced specialists.

“I have a good experience in development: for the programmers of my level and above, the shuffling has been, for the most part, favorable.

But for beginners, finding a job is even more difficult than before, says the developer.

- I think that those specialists left who even before the sanctions were thinking about moving.

Experienced IT people who wanted to improve their working conditions got the opportunity to take these vacant positions.”