Indian tech firms on hiring spree in ‘talent pool’ Ukraine

Technology companies from India have taken up the responsibility to provide jobs to Ukrainian engineers displaced by the war and looking for employment opportunities in Europe.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and HCL Technologies and gaming companies are in the forefront of hiring engineers from the war-torn country, reports Economic Times.

TCS is keen on hiring Ukrainian engineers for its Budapest facility while Infosys announced a skill development programme for 25,000 people, who will be eventually absorbed in its Poland facility.

HCL conducted ‘walk-in’ for engineers in Poland and Romania.

While the Indian tech companies look keen on helping build ravaged lives, the fact is that the Ukrainian tech community, with about 50,000 professionals, is considered one of the best in Europe. TCS stated that getting Ukranians on board makes perfect sense because their talent pool in the technology space is vast, a TCS official said.

Some of the best technology companies, like WhatsApp, Grammarly, Gitlab and Solana, were founded by Ukrainian engineers and software developers. Multinational majors like Google and Samsung too have research and development facilities in Ukraine.

The move towards Ukranian talent pool is also because companies like TCS shut down their Russia operations after the country declared a war against the tiny nation. Infosys too withdrew from that country recently following uproar in the British parliament over Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murthy’s stake in the company, which was started by her father Narayana Murthy.

Infosys has started a drive to skill displaced technology professionals in the region. Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the company is ready to reach out to 25,000 job-seekers from Ukraine for its Poland centre.

Pooling talent from Ukraine would also mean the Indian tech firms will be available to find a way out to beat the high attrition levels. As per reports, TCS and Infosys reported attrition rates of 17.4% and 27.7%, respectively, in the January-March period.

The Indian tech majors are confident of managing such a huge workforce remotely because the world has seen during the pandemic that work-from-anywhere model is achievable and manageable.

Also read: Over 45 crore Indians are not even looking for jobs: CMIE data

Among others, Vikram Ahuja, founder of Talent500, said the company is looking for fresh talent among refugees in Poland, Turkey and elsewhere. “Quality of talent, time zone proximity and attractive costs make Ukraine a sought-after global hub for technology talent. Spots in capital Kyiv, relatively secure amid the ravaging conflict, have played host to Ukrainian talent working for global firms,” Ahuja said.