While IT brain drain is not new in Russia, the trend has accelerated dramatically in 2022 following Russia’s war on Ukraine, the subsequent international sanctions and new waves of political repression across the country.
Speaking at the Russian parliament on December 20, digitalization minister Maksut Shadaev provided his estimate of the number of IT professionals who left the country this year.
“Up to 10% of the employees of IT companies left Russia and didn’t come back. Some 100,000 industry professionals have established themselves outside the country, with around 80% of them still working remotely for Russian companies,” RBC.RU and VC.RU quoted Shadaev as saying.
The minister is not calling, though, to prohibit such remote activity: “Tough restrictions would only push them to be hired by foreign companies, he believes.
Shadaev would only consider restrictions for those work involves government IT systems. The ministry has also proposed to launch a repatriation program in a bid to incentivize this valuable workforce to come back.
On its side, Russian software development association Russoft estimates that “from 10% to 40%” of Russian IT professionals left the country this year.
In the first half of 2022. Russia lost up to 25,000 software developers, including 13,000 employees of software development companies.
Companies that stopped activity in Russia accounted for a large fraction of these numbers. Meanwhile, the majority of other employers in the software development industry say they have found ways to muddle through the issue, according to a Russoft survey.
Russian startup story in Uzbekistan
Many of Russia’s new IT émigrés have found a new home in such former Soviet republics as Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan.
Artem Panferov, a former senior product owner at Ozon, a major Russian e-commerce company, moved to Uzbekistan in the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I had fairly a good position and a comfortable salary in Moscow,“ he told East-West Digital News, “but even before February 24 my wife and I were resenting Putin’s policies. Around one in four of my former colleagues and acquaintances from the IT sector left Russia as well.”
At least thousands of Russian IT expats have established themselves in Tashkent, the country’s capital, Panferov said. They are fuelling the fast growth of the young local tech industry.
Panferov initially saw Uzbekistan as a temporary relocation, with a view to moving further to a Western country. He finally opted for staying in Uzbekistan, where he founded a mobile development studio called EndCode.
“We enjoy the tax reductions and other perks offered by the local IT Park — but also truly appreciate Uzbek hospitality,” says the Russian émigré.
EndCode has hired several relocated Russians to serve a growing number of local and international clients.
The company could open soon an office in South East Asia, and is exploring opportunities in Western Europe.
