Comment by whimsicalism
2 years ago
Given the move from Russia to Israel and the timing of when most Russian techies left, I suspect it is more out of fear of the draft than out of principle.
Not that I blame them - I doubt I would leave the US even during an unjust war… but a draft?
> most Russian techies left
This was about them getting paid fat paychecks from western clients/employers not out of draft fears.
Not a new phenom, whereas the draft is.
IT Professionals and most other white collar jobs are draft exempted in Russia [0]
To make up for the unfairness, mobilized Russian soldiers are being paid Russian/Eastern European white collar level salaries ($2,500/mo) [1]
The issue is if you're a Russian contractor working for a western company, how is the western company supposed to pay you? Russia's banking system has been decoupled from the west, and even Asian banks in China and India (major trading partners of Russia) are hesitant to fill the gap out of fears of secondary sanctions.
If you want to earn dollars, best to move to a Russian speaking country that isn't sanctioned like Kazakhstan, Georgia, or Bulgaria or to an easy to move country for Russians like Turkiye, Serbia, UAE, etc.
[0] - https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-excludes-some-it...
[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/opinion/russia-ukraine-wa...
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>>> most Russian techies left
>> This was about them getting paid fat paychecks from western clients/employers not out of draft fears.
> Not a new phenom, whereas the draft is.
Russian techies started to leave immediately following the invasion that started in Feb 2022, because Western firms put in policies forbidding anyone in Russia from having access to their systems due to security concerns. If they were working for or contracting with those firms and stayed in Russia, they'd lose their jobs.
It looks like Putin first announced the draft in Sept. 21, 2022, but by then the techies working for or contracting with Western firms had already left or quit.
> Given the move from Russia to Israel and the timing of when most Russian techies left, I suspect it is more out of fear of the draft than out of principle.
Techies bring in $$$, so they are exempted from the mobilization.
100%. It's much easier than naturalizing in Germany, the UK, or US.