Would you hire a Ukrainian developer/marketer now?

I know that it may seem like an insane idea to hire someone from a country at war. But being a Ukrainian myself, and having been in the tech recruiting field for over 14 years now, I think this time can actually be a window of opportunity for tech businesses.

Here's 7 reasons why I believe that:

1. Candidates' availability

The war has undoubtfully affected the Ukrainian tech industry. A number of companies affiliated with Russia or Belarus have left the market for the foreseeable future.

Another chunk of businesses have closed their projects in Russia and Belarus and had to lay off entire teams of developers, others have lost American and European clients who panicked and fired their teams.

That means hundreds of senior developers are out of jobs and on the market right now.

2. Lower average market salaries

For the first time in two years, the average salaries for senior developers have stopped skyrocketing. The job market is going through a shock phase right now, but it won’t last long.

3. Your developers won’t be drafted

The rumours of and concerns about the full-scale mobilization in Ukraine did not confirm and as of this moment, there is no reason to think that there will be a need for one judging by how many volunteers are still on hold.

4. Government supports those who fuel the economy

The Ukrainian economy is definitely not having the time of its’ life but the government fully acknowledges that and they are doing their best to save every bit of business that can work and fuel the economy.

Tech and digital industries are on the top of that list.

IT specialists have officially been booked by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to be excluded from the draft, most have relocated to safer regions of Ukraine, where local tech clusters have set up an infrastructure and Starlink terminals to ensure the uninterrupted access to high-speed internet.

5. Banking and financial systems are stable

In the first days of war, there have been concerns regarding Ukrainian bank and financial systems.

The first thing we at Indigo did when the war started was to pay out salaries earlier, so our employees could cash more money out in case they wouldn’t be able to use ATMs or credit cards later on.

In reality, in most parts of Ukraine, to this day you can still pay for pretty much anything with cash, cards or Apple pay even in the villages.

Moreover, since the beginning of war Ukrainians have also gotten an access to PayPal previously unavailable in the region, which made the already easy transactions even easier.

6. Fast and easy kick-off

The typical notice period in Ukraine is only 2 weeks. So even if your perfect candidate is currently employed, the wait won’t be too long.

Ukrainian tech companies have adopted all the best practices of project management and team communication, so on-boarding won’t be a problem as well.

7. The power of resilience

Last but not least: the resilience, creativity, honesty and professionalism you’ve all seen from Ukrainian politicians in the last several weeks is not an exception.

All those things are a national trait that makes working with Ukrainian talents a pure joy.

So what do you think?