“We have a significant presence of our engineering talent with around 14,000 people spread from around east to west [Ukraine] and it’s obvious the current events are impacting [us],” says Arkadiy Dobkin, CEO and chairman of EPAM.
Tens of thousands of engineers, and staff, from Ukraine's once-booming tech industry have joined 500,000 Ukrainians fleeing across the border to safety, while many remain to volunteer, or trapped by martial law.One engineer says, “I’m ready to fight.” Meanwhile, shares in outsourcing giant EPAM Systems slump more than 45% after it pulled its profit guidance while scrambling to evacuate its staff.
“We have a significant presence of our engineering talent with around 14,000 people spread from around east to west [Ukraine] and it’s obvious the current events are impacting [us],” says Arkadiy Dobkin, CEO and chairman of EPAM, which has an $11.8 billion market cap after its shares slumped 67% since the start of the year. “A lot of people are continuing to work but a lot of people are also sitting in a bomb shelter.
EPAM is not the only tech company to have had to pivot from organizing code updates to escape lines for staff. Israeli website builder Wix had offered its 900 Ukrainian staff, along with their families, temporary relocation to Turkey earlier this month as tensions mounted. The impact of the emergency evacuation of a fifth of Wix’s engineering and customer support teams had been softened by contingency plans activated earlier to move key staff outside of Ukraine, says Zohar.
“A two-month supply of components and finished products is being transported to the west of Ukraine and Poland right now,” says Konotopskyi, adding that Ajax data was on AWS servers outside Ukraine. “The priority today is the lives and safety of our employees. We are following the news carefully and relocating our teams to safe regions in Ukraine or Europe.”