'I Think There Will Be No One Left Here By Fall'

• 11.04.2022, 15:15

Will EPAM close its office in Belarus?

On March 8, it became known that EPAM was leaving Russia because of the war in Ukraine, which "was started by the Russian government." The company said it condemns what is happening "in the strongest terms." In Belarus, EPAM has the largest office with over 10,000 employees. Whether they plan to close it and what is happening now in the Belarusian branch, the company's employees told zerkalo.io. At the request of the interlocutors, their names in the text have been changed.

"It has become toxic for many clients to work with teams from Belarus"

The media outlet spoke with two dozen EPAM employees, and they all say that the Belarusian office is operating as usual and there have been no talks of closing yet.

"Arkady Dobkin has repeatedly said on calls that EPAM will stay in Belarus for as long as possible and will leave only if it becomes impossible to continue working," says Ryhor, an employee of the company. "EPAM in Belarus and EPAM in Russia are different things. In Russia's case, leaving is more like an image-related move. But the withdrawal from Belarus, if it happens, will be associated with external circumstances: either new laws of the Belarusian authorities that will make it impossible to work here, or new sanctions against Belarus like the Crimean ones, or if our country enters the war.

According to employees, with the outbreak of war, it became toxic for many clients to work with teams from Belarus. Most of the customers put EPAM before a choice: either relocation or transfer to another contractor.

"They say: we can have another team, not from Belarus. It doesn't necessarily mean that the team is bad, but the location itself, unfortunately, is already unacceptable for them," says Albert, an employee of the company. "Therefore, for such customers, EPAM takes teams and people (who agree, of course) to other countries."

"Many were given 1-4 months to relocate the team. If not, then there will be dismissal from the project. Not right from EPAM itself. But, I think, in the future, the company will still remove such people," says Siarhei, who works for the company's clients from the United States.

So far, not all customers do this. There are those who are ready to continue working with programmers who are in Belarus. Our interlocutors say that there are about 25% of them, the rest either refused or remain undecided. In addition, there are orders within the country.

"Given that there are a lot of personnel in Belarus whose work is tied to the functioning of the inner workings, the offices here are unlikely to be closed," says Yauhen. "I think this is a purely financial issue: as long as there is an influx of money, the office will remain open. But, as you understand, the situation can change in just a few weeks."

Although there is no talk of closing the office in Belarus yet, many are worried about the future. The number of orders for those who remain in the country is declining inexorably.

"New customers do not come, so among those who decide to stay, there is a lot of competition inside. Even the "seniors" experience difficulty to get settled, not to mention those who are lower," Henadz shares his thoughts.

Therefore, as our interlocutors say, the company does not insist, but welcomes departure to another country for at least 9-12 months, or a business trip for a couple of months.

"General relocation has not been officially announced, but the number of requests for it, of course, is increasing. And the company supports it in every possible way," says programmer Ivan.

Mass departures

The wave of departures of employees abroad began in 2020. Interlocutors note: over time, it has intensified. The new critical point was the war in Ukraine. Interlocutors give different estimates of how many employees of the Belarusian office have already left the country. The figure goes up to 40%.

"The relocation was already proceeding at a very high pace, and has only been gaining momentum and scale since 2020. Now it’s almost every second for sure," says Uladzimir. "It feels like after the start of the war, the pace accelerated many times over. Additional programs and options appeared, criteria decreased. It looks like the company wants to take out as many people as possible."

"I know for sure that almost everyone I know has left," says one of the company’s employees. "I stayed on the project in Belarus with another person, who is flying away in the coming weeks. The rest with whom I worked before, talked — almost all have already moved.

"Of my team (about 100-150 people), about 40-30% are now here," Siarhei explains. "Some returned after the initial shock to resolve some paperwork issues. Many families are waiting for May to give their children the opportunity to finish the current school class.

I don't think there will be anyone left here by fall. Maybe only HRs who will hire people and immediately send them to other countries. Perhaps a couple more managers so as not to close the office at all. There are almost no jobs left."

"Normal projects will not start coming to Belarus soon due to reputational and business risks. Quite a few colleagues have already moved, I myself am in the process," adds Yauhen.

"There are people I know from other companies, the situation is similar there. Someone left, someone is trying to sit still, but everyone is thinking over plans — how to do it," says another employee.

"Everyone understands that it is unlikely that in 3-6 months there will be anything left of the sphere here at all, if active hostilities do not end. In short, there are three days of programmers left, and this joke is starting to become a reality.

"There is a one-time relocation bonus: $1,500 plus another $500 for each family member"

According to the interlocutors, there are many options for moving for EPAM employees. You can choose almost any country. Both the one in which there is an office of the company, and the one in which there is none. According to the programmers, it all depends on the project.

"There are countries for quick relocation: for example, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey," the employees explain. "They also quickly relocate people to Poland, Lithuania and Montenegro.

Also, they are ready to send employees to Azerbaijan, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria. Of the unusual countries, there's Vietnam, Mexico, Colombi, and India.

"If desired, they also talk about the possibility of relocation to Australia, to Thailand. But these are rather isolated cases," the employees add.

As for the conditions, in addition to assistance in legalization, the company helps with finding housing, obtaining medical insurance for the family, arranging children in a kindergarten, transporting luggage, and so on.

"There is also a one-time bonus for relocation. A minimum of $1,500 plus another $500 for each family member," says the programmer. "They promise that the salary will be reviewed after re-registration, according to the market salary."

"If you look at the situation with a cool head, now it will be difficult everywhere in the world"

There are those who do not leave yet because of children, sick relatives or health issues. Still, they say they have a backup plan just in case.

"I was the one who wanted to be here until the end, to stay here for the maximum time, in order to somehow influence the situation from the inside for the better," explains the EPAM employee.

"It seems that now even people like me understand that in 2-3 months you can be left without a job at all. Therefore, almost everyone has either left or is planning to."