Amdaris is still standing by Ukraine – Olga Snegur, Amdaris’ Ukrainian Centre Director

In March 2022, at the outbreak of the invasion, Amdaris pledged to stand by Ukraine and offered its support to its Ukrainian Employees, as well as the wider software development community. 

Before the war, Olga Snegur, Amdaris’ Ukrainian Centre Director, was based in Odesa. In February, she relocated to the Amdaris office in Moldova, where she has been ever since. Eight months on Olga reflects on how Amdaris has honoured their pledge to stand by her teams.

 

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Working to support employees in Ukraine

In March 2022, Amdaris publicly stated its commitment to helping the Ukrainian people grow back our economy by rebuilding our thriving software development sector. They have stood by this pledge and are continuing to grow in Ukraine. 

While many companies have been laying off Ukrainian employees since the beginning of the war, Amdaris has kept recruiting and has hired approximately 40 new Ukrainian developers since March.

Ongoing investment in new talent  

Amdaris is still running its highly successful three-month Internship Programme in Odesa. During this programme, Amdaris’ skilled Senior Mentors help bright and gifted students learn everything they need to enter the job market. 

 While Amdaris only accepts the top 10-20% of global talent onto these internships, 90% of our interns are offered a job at Amdaris afterwards. In this way, Amdaris continues to invest in the next generation of talent in Ukraine.

Allowing for flexibility 

Amdaris has encouraged our Ukrainian colleagues to move to safe locations at its other Eastern European delivery centres. In total, nine Amdarians have chosen to relocate, including me. Three went on the payroll from Romania and six went on the payroll from Moldova. 

Many of our Ukrainian team, of course, decided to stay behind. Amdaris has offered flexibility around how and where these individuals work. The Odesa office remains open to all our Ukrainian colleagues, however, many are now spread out across the country. 

Adjusting policies to reflect changing needs

At the beginning of the war, bank holidays were officially cancelled. It was left to each company to decide whether they wanted to keep these days off or not.

We initially decided to keep the Easter bank holiday but most of our colleagues requested to work, especially those whose families had been relocated elsewhere. They were keen to stay busy and thankful for the opportunity to keep having performance reviews and salary increases.

Now things have changed again as the Ukrainian people have become ‘used to’ the war – as much as anyone ever can be. Amdaris continues to respond to the needs of our colleagues and adjust its policies accordingly. 

Recently, the electricity towers were bombed. While everyone in our team was safe, they couldn’t get online. Amdaris made sure that these individuals received emergency leave pay, just like they did when the war began. The clients they were working for were not charged but the team still received their income and felt Amdaris’ support. 

Taking care of the Ukrainian team  

It’s hard to organise team-building activities and Christmas parties with the Ukrainian team now spread out across the country. However, we are still very much a team and doing our best to make everyone feel that way. 

Our biggest concern is always people’s safety. We regularly check in via Teams. If we don’t hear from someone, we follow up through all our other communication channels until we know they are okay. 

Like in the pandemic, we’re seeing how tech can be used for good, even in the worst circumstances.

We have a saying here at Amdaris that articulates our attitude to problem-solving: imagine the impossible. The Ukrainian people have embodied this maxim.

Hats off to those in Kyiv who’ve developed an app that ordinary citizens can use to help track and shoot down hostile missiles and drones. This is just one example of the ingenuity and determination of the Ukrainian people. 

An uncertain future but a sure ambition

None of us knows what the future looks like for Ukraine. It’s difficult to forecast anything as circumstances change daily, sometimes hourly. We continue making decisions as best we can, based on the new information we receive each day. 

Of course, Amdaris still want to grow in Ukraine. And my ambitions haven’t gone anywhere. I am determined to go back and finish what I started by building an office of over 100+ Ukrainians.  We are moving forward.

I’m proud to work for a company that is staying true to its word, standing by the brave people of Ukraine and continuing to invest in the future of this amazing country.