Russian IT pros fleeing the country, says local tech industry lobby
- Reference: 1648015033
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/03/23/russia_it_pro_exodus/
- Source link:
A Tuesday [2]post by Association director Sergey Plugotarenko says the exodus is the result of tech workers being denied access to the platforms on which they make their livings, because sanctions have seen Russian residents denied access to those services as punishment for the illegal invasion of Ukraine.
"Many specialists faced a choice: to leave the country and be able to work with the infrastructure they are accustomed to, or to stay in Russia," Plugotarenko wrote (after machine translation from Russian).
[3]
The 50,000–70,000 estimate was gathered from open source intelligence and information offered by professional communities. Plugotarenko added that the Association's assessment of the situation suggests a second wave will depart in April and could see another 100,000 techies leave.
Global consultancies quit Russia [4]READ MORE
Foreign employers, Plugotarenko said, will happily snap up Russian tech workers. He named multinational companies as one threat and startups from the Netherlands, Spain, and Germany as another likely lure for Russian techies.
Freelancers are felt to be especially susceptible to the prospect of a job outside Russia.
[5]
[6]
Those concerns are being taken seriously at a very high level. A March 22 [7]post from the Association states that Plugotarenko attended a meeting of the IT Committee of the State Duma (Russia's parliament) at which ministers restated the [8]new incentives offered to tech companies – such as low-interest mortgages for tech workers – designed to help Russian tech companies attract and retain staff.
At the meeting, new incentives such as tax holidays for Russian tech companies were touted.
[9]
Also discussed were plans to create local versions of imported technologies that Russians can no longer buy. The Association's post states that Russian businesses have agreed to jointly fund such efforts across 20 industries – and to buy the resulting products – to accelerate import substitution efforts. Android is a focus, due to its openness (and fears Apple could brick all iPhones in Russia).
[10]Biden says Russia exploring revenge cyberattacks
[11]Russia labels Meta an 'extremist' organization, bans Instagram
[12]Moscow to issue HTTPS certs to Russian websites
[13]Cloudflare, Akamai: Why we're not pulling out of Russia
A marketplace of such products will debut in May, complete with comparisons to Western products and the chance to review Russian efforts.
A reminder: Russia no longer has anything remotely like a free press, and contradicting the government line in public will land locals in severe trouble. The Register therefore suggests the reviews on this marketplace may not be entirely frank and fearless.
Plugotarenko suggests those developing import substitution products do so with exports in mind, but admits the West will be closed to Russia. He pondered markets to Russia's east as an alternative, but there's little sign China would consider Russian software over home-grown efforts. And North Korea is not a big market for anything.
Russia has already admitted that sanctions could hurt its technology businesses. The Association's messaging suggests the nation appreciates that most businesses rely on technology and technologists, and that massive efforts are required to ensure both remain available for Russian life to continue as anything like normal. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://raec.ru
[2] https://raec.ru/live/smi/12988/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yjr94QuyCOTOxR3TGMtF7QAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/07/dxc_pwc_kpmg_accenture_quit_russia/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yjr94QuyCOTOxR3TGMtF7QAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yjr94QuyCOTOxR3TGMtF7QAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://raec.ru/live/branch/12995/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/07/russia_tech_stimulus/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yjr94QuyCOTOxR3TGMtF7QAAABg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/biden_cybersecurity_statement_warning/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/14/russia_meta/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/11/russian_ca/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/08/aws_cloudflare_russia/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Russxit
Could work both ways, imagine Putin and his cronies getting an endless stream of information telling him how much better the world is outside of his grasp!
Re: Russxit
Given that no one had the bollocks to tell him the truth about how difficult it would be to "walk into" Ukraine, Putin's probably under the impression that we still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
Re: Russxit
...we still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.
They are, aren't they? I think it is a neat idea.
(we desperately need an old fart icon and the possibility to combine it with a some liquid sarcasm)
Re: old fart icon
I always thought it was this ——->
Re: Russxit
no they arn't, and coming down from the trees was a bad idea , we should all go back!
Re: Russxit
They already have enough of them and the exodus is not directly to the west but to other former communist countries such as Georgia where being discovery of involvement in pro-Russian activities might carry a slightly higher price.
The fact of the matter for Russia is that it doesn't have enough engineers to maintain the war effort as it is and many of these are leaving if they get the chance. This is the direct consequence of the kleptocracy that has eroded the status that used to be attached to such employment.
Logistics software?
If reports are to be believed, the armed forces could be a customer.
Re: Logistics software?
They probably were already. See where that got them.
Re: Logistics software?
Not really the software as much as everything else: food, fuel, munitions. But also the engineers and technicians required not only for the weapons but for the trucks that keep breaking down on the way.
I like it when El Reg putin some puns into their headlines/taglines/articles.
That ---> is for the good punnery, keep it up.
Interesting thing to note.
Qualified and technical people are leaving South Africa due to politics.
And it seems Russia's havening the same issue.
Things sure will get interesting going forward.
Wonder if the ransomware punters and other internet-ne'er-do-wells will also follow suit?
Wonder if the ransomware punters and other internet-ne'er-do-wells will also follow suit?
They wouldn't dare, life wouldn't be good for them outside of Russia's protection (inside a western prison).
Wonder where they went
I doubt they're welcome in Europe or the US at the moment.
Anyway I recall some article recently saying Russia was panicking over a potential exodus and was basically offering them a 0% tax rate, exemption from military service and other incentives to get them to stay.
On a side note, Russia's annual conscription cycle starts in April. I wonder how many will fail to present themselves for training knowing their likely fate if they do.
"the reviews on this marketplace may not be entirely frank and fearless."
Published reviews might not but the intended market will be quite capable of forming their own views.
However I wonder if Russian idiom lends itself to comments such as "You will be very fortunate to have this operating in your system."
Russxit
It will be a good occasion for the FSB to try to implant some moles in hi-tech western companies.