The Russian government, in response to the outflow of specialists, has introduced a large-scale program to support the IT sector.
100 thousand or fractions of a percent: how many specialists left Russia?
According to a member of the operational headquarters for support measuresIT industries under the Ministry of Digital Development, Telecommunications and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Ilya Massukh, IT specialists differ from the rest in that they need “a laptop, a head and peace of mind” for development. Therefore, such waves of departure were in the early and mid-2000s. “The wave of emigration really happened, but because of foreign corporations that started to leave the market and tried to take away specialists.” He noted that an IT specialist who “worked at Google or IBM and now moved to Yerevan, Serbia or Lithuania did so little good for the country. His move will not bring damage to the state. Another thing is if he worked for a Russian company, but this happens on a very small scale - a fraction of a percent. Massukh believes that government measures will help to keep or return them - he does not expect the next stage of emigration because of "interesting projects that have appeared in Russia."
Mikhail Gribov referred to the data of the Ministry of Digital Development - according to themAccording to estimates, even before the massive outflow of IT employees, the country lacked 100 thousand specialists, and now another 50-100 thousand people left. At the same time, according to Habr Career, every third person is looking for a job in a foreign company. “The problem is definitely solvable - the Ministry of Education has allocated 160 thousand places for IT specialists, and 71% of them are in the regions. We are launching about 50 courses to improve the skills of employees - people who are left without a job can retrain and find a job.”
Even before the mass outflow of IT employees, the country lacked 100 thousand specialists, and now another 50-100 thousand people left
“There is an outflow, the numbers are serious, and they are onlyintensify in April, we just have to admit it. Even in online courses, the demand for learning English for relocation has sharply increased,” says Andrey Krylov, CEO of the Skillaz HR service. - But an IT specialist and a programmer are a person of a very fine mental organization. Previously, it was possible to travel and work, but the pandemic has shown that major tasks can be solved. The guys who left admitted to themselves that they were only ready to take on small tasks, perhaps for foreign companies.” Krylov expects the return of a large number of specialists, but it is possible only if the task is set correctly - "not a repetition of a foreign product, but the development of its own, which can become a leader in the world."
Overheated market and shortage of specialists
“There was and is a shortage - it is associated with the volumedigital transformation in Russia and in the world. But before, the Russian economy bought Western software, which was developed by our IT specialists. Finally, this scheme is now collapsing,” says Andrey Chernogorov, founder of the Bidzaar platform. - The level of demand and tasks is colossal - this should keep specialists in the first place, a lot of things need to be replaced and rebuilt. The measures taken by the headquarters are important because they remove the shock effect. Russian companies have interest and drive, here you can participate in large-scale projects that can change the world, and not perform “waiter roles” in foreign corporations.”
According to him, in addition to measures to support the statewe need an initiative from large state-owned companies that resist the introduction of Russian products. “They are looking for how to order Western software, exclude themselves from sanctions, bargain, but not order directly from a Russian supplier. If anyone is working against the Russian IT industry, it is Russian customers.” None of the major Russian state-owned companies have announced their replacement strategies, he said.
None of the major Russian state-owned companies have announced their replacement strategies
Who is leaving?
Chernogorov believes that people are leaving the country nownot developers, but technical specialists who are engaged in the production, control, testing and promotion. “Developers do not leave, who wanted to leave has done so over the past 10 years. But professions like a product manager were bought out, who quickly completed some fashionable course and received 300-400 thousand rubles. Many companies plugged holes with them, specialists felt their demand for this hype. They think that in other countries there will be the same demand - it won’t, there are local specifics. And these are not hundreds of thousands who left, they are measured by several hundred.
Not a mortgage, but tasks: how to retain specialists
Krylov believes that the developers have already been onglobal labor market, but the situation swayed them in the direction of departure. You can return them only by "global calls". “These people have already reached a certain level, they won’t earn less, they can work for Google from Kostroma and live well. But then the level of the problem decides - if he tries to repeat Western solutions, then he is unlikely to like it, but now we have the opportunity to make our own product that does not look at anyone and we can attract specialists with this. This is a huge horizon – people will come back not for money or mortgages, but for tasks.”
Russia is not Iran: can Russian software replace foreign software?
According to Massukh, all software classes have"worthy Russian counterparts". “We are compared to Iran, but we are a completely different country, an absolutely self-sufficient IT industry that does not depend much on foreign supplies and technologies. It’s just that in the nineties and zero there was an imposition of the use of Western solutions, and until the 10s there was a change in the paradigm and it was believed that a good IT specialist is a “Western software customizer”. Now the situation is radically different.”
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