‘More than 50,000 IT workers left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine’

Between 50,000 and 70,000 IT workers have left Russia after that country invaded neighboring Ukraine at the end of February. That writes The New York Times. Up to 100,000 more IT professionals could follow in the coming months.

It is estimated that there are between one million and two million IT people in Russia, so a small proportion of them have gone abroad in the last month and a half. Many of them left because they disagreed with the raid or because they no longer wanted to live under President Vladimir Putin’s regime. writes The New York Times.

There are also many IT professionals at international companies who have removed their Russian employees from Russia after the sanctions were imposed. Because IT people earn relatively much in Russia, they have the means to flee the country. The IT people went to Armenia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Georgia, all countries where they could enter without a visa.

The Russian government is trying to keep IT workers in the country, including by promising them that they will pay less tax and buy a house more easily. Russia wants IT people to set up their own ecosystem of software, such as its own alternative to the Google Play Store. That is difficult, because many software tools for building software do not work or are limited due to the sanctions.