Work despite everything: many Ukrainian IT specialists continue their activities by relying on Polish companies. The experience of an Italian recruiter living and working in Poland

One of the worst pages of current European history began on 24 February: with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Exactly four days later, here in Poland, we started receiving numerous contact requests from IT companies active in Ukraine and interested in expanding their team of developers. We work in IT recruitment and selection, and we found that 90 percent of our requests for cooperation came from one country. A unique case in our experience.

The conflict has disrupted the lives of these people in a drastic way, and the area of work has certainly been no exception. ‘Remote work’ and ‘IT‘ are often found in the same sentence, and the possibility of continuing to work without being in a specific place is helping part of the Ukrainian population to remain productively active, and also to take their minds off (at least for a moment) the sad reality that surrounds them. An interpretation of the concept of resilience, applied to work.

Ukrainian programmers to Poland: work, despite everything

Losing part of their team’s programmers, either because they were fighting to defend their country or for even worse reasons, prompted several IT companies to rethink their strategy. In terms of human resources, this has also resulted in seeking out neighbouring countries in terms of culture and IT skills, such as Poland.

Furthermore, according to UN data, Poland had already taken in 60 per cent of the total number of Ukrainian refugees, more than two and a half million people, by April. Initiating cooperation even in terms of partial relocation was an almost natural step.

According to a report by the Ukrainian IT Association, in 2021 the country estimated around 200,000 programmers out of a population of 45 million. Many of them worked at Ukrainian outsourcing companies, with even well-known international customers. Other programmers worked directly (with B2B or remote collaboration contracts) for foreign IT companies that chose Ukraine for the skill and availability of its specialists, at a competitive price compared to their domestic market.

What working in Ukraine looks like: overcrowded ‘offices’ and bomb sirens

The need to understand other markets stems from the desire to survive and continue to grow. For us, it turned into several intro calls where we found ourselves presenting the Polish IT job market and trying to understand whether we could help to our interlocutors.

These were Heads of Talent Acquisition or HR Managers, 90% of them women managers who had had to flee to Romania, Poland or the Czech Republic, or who had remained in Ukraine, perhaps moving to the western part of the country, to cities considered ‘relatively safer’ such as Lviv (a city only 80 km from the Polish border). Courageous women who tried to smile while explaining to us that they were forced to stay in eight in a shared three-room flat and that we would hear noises in the background because they were not alone in that temporary office. People who were working out of the office not by choice, but forced by a situation they could never have imagined.

During one of these calls, we happened to talk to a marketing manager when sirens had sounded and her HR colleagues had had to take refuge under bomb shelters. The new normal of a country that continues to work despite many difficulties.

Work as resistance and apps that warn of bombings

As hard as it is to imagine what it feels like in such a situation without living it, it is easy to feel immediate empathy for these ‘colleagues from another company’ living in a surreal situation. Expressing our solidarity and offering support, even without starting a collaboration, has always been part of our many conversations, and it has always been important for them to feel that the world is trying to understand them. It certainly makes them feel less alone.

From first interviews in some cases, we went on to start working together. Talking to each other almost every day, they explained some of the ways in which they try to maintain an apparent normality in a tragic context.

Just as we check the weather forecast on our smartphone app, they too have software that alerts them of bombings connected to messaging apps widely used in Ukraine, such as Viber and Telegram. In the same way, the same telephone operators, who here in Poland inform us when there is going to be a particularly violent thunderstorm, in Ukraine alert by text message when a bombing is in progress.

I have a lot of respect and feel deep empathy for all these people we have spoken to during this time. People who do not give up, who through their work convey the will to resist, to go on and perhaps soon return to the privilege of a ‘normal’ existence.

As the Ukrainian poet Oleksandr Ivanyts’kyj says, in translation from Ukrainian: ‘Help yourself, begin to
love life. Where there is peace, there is happiness. Never look for evil’.

On 24.02.2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia’s war against Ukraine is a heartbreaking attack on humanity. As an international company collaborating with brilliant, caring and hardworking Ukrainian clients and candidates, many of whom we consider friends, we stand united in support of the Ukrainian people and against all forms of aggression against them.

Since the beginning of the war, we were contacted by many companies that were forced to relocate their IT team from Ukraine to Poland. In this article, we will cover some of the most frequently asked questions. These questions and answers are applicable to companies from any country; however, we will be referring to the companies that moved to Poland from Ukraine.

Many companies in Poland are using the B2B agreement instead of an employment agreement (Umowa o pracę). What is peculiar about Poland is that the companies will not treat people working as pure contractors but they will try to offer terms and conditions very close to the employment agreement. This is a great advantage even for companies that do not have a legal entity in Poland as they can simply receive an invoice from their IT developer at the end of each month. Some of our customers that needed to relocate from Ukraine to Poland asked us these questions:

1- In a B2B contract, is it required to provide employees sick leave?
With a B2B agreement, by law, there’s no obligation of providing vacation or paid sick leave.

2 – In a B2B agreement, is it required to have non-payment day-offs in the social package, or are vacations and paid sick leave enough?
No, it is not required to have non-payment days off. It is however common practice for IT companies in Poland to grant their B2B employees within some days (usually from 20 to 26 based on juniority and seniority).

3 – What is the most common payment method in Poland? What’s the date for the salary payment?
The most used payment method in Poland is bank transfer while receiving the invoice. Some companies pay their employees between the 25th and 27th of every month while other companies do it before the 10th day of the following month. However, we do not recommend the second approach in order to keep the collaborators motivated.

4 – Do IT companies usually provide full PE accounting support?
No, in Poland B2B employees are responsible for hiring their own accountant.
*This question is one of the main difference from Ukraine. As we understood from our clients, there is the company to cover the cost of accountancy for their IT developers collaborating on a B2B agreement.

5 – Are the national holidays always days-off in Poland?
Yes, polish labor laws require employers to provide all employees with a paid day off for all the national holidays.

6 – What is the usual compensation for training/certification?
Some companies are offering a compensation that goes from 500 pln to 1000 pln per quarter.

7 – What is the average benefit cafeteria provided to employees?
In Poland, for the benefit cafeteria (for example, https://www.mybenefit.pl/en/), companies usually offer both private medical insurance and a Multisport card.
For private medical insurance companies, some well-known companies are:

• LUXMED
• MEDICOVER
• ENELMED

Typically, companies provide a full Multisport card: https://www.kartamultisport.pl/en/
Please note that these data are just indicative, and each company is adapting that in a different way.

How can ITSELECTA help companies from Ukraine in this situation?

In case a company would like to relocate their business to Poland, either being by opening a brand-new legal entity or just by finding IT developers remotely from Poland, we can:
• Introduce them to our trusted and experienced Polish lawyer and accountant, besides speaking fluent English, they also have experience dealing with international customers.
• We can provide our recruitment services in order to set up your IT team in Poland:
In this case, our process includes also a “free of charge” feasibility studio for 3 positions. You can send us your detailed job description and we will come back with the right salary for the actual Polish market. Moreover we can provide you with a full market research paying a fee that will be deducted from your first invoice for recruitment with us.

If you need more information, feel free to contact us at info@itselecta.com or via phone at +48 508 033 065. We would be more than happy to help. #PrayForUkraine