Mobilization, customer support and work. How russia’s invasion impacted Ukraine’s IT industry

The survey conducted by Lviv IT Cluster examines how the war impacted the tech industry in Ukraine. In the IT Research Monitoring project, over 200 companies were interviewed about working in new conditions — relocation, business activity, mobilization, employee support and volunteering.

IT Research Monitoring is a short systematic survey of IT companies that are members of the Lviv IT Cluster.  Each survey focuses on a particular topic. This survey focuses on how companies operate during a wide-scale war. The survey was conducted from March 4-7, 2022.

Restoration work process and cooperation with clients

Since the first day of the wide-scale Russian military operations in Ukraine, IT companies have focused on several areas such as relocating employees in war zones, maximizing business continuity, communicating with customers, and supporting the army.

As of the first week of March, 98.5% of surveyed companies say they were still operating. 48.4% of respondents indicated that the volume of business activity decreased due to the Russian invasion. However, the figures of those who noted that the volume of work has not changed since February 24 remains high – 42.8%. 7.8% of respondents said that business activity even increased during this period.

Lviv IT Cluster companies note the favorable attitude of customers from abroad. From the first hours of the attack on Ukraine, customers were deeply concerned about the situation, offering help and support. Only 27.7% of companies received notifications from customers about the suspension or transfer of projects due to the situation in Ukraine. However, the percentage of terminated contracts reaches only 15.4%. While 72.3% of respondents said they continue to work on projects with a continued timeline. Another 29.2% received new orders after February 24.

Mobilization, relocation and support of employees

Even before the start of Russia’s wide-scale invasion of Ukraine, IT companies were preparing BCP plans. Support and assistance in developing and implementing a business continuity plan for companies is also provided by Lviv IT Cluster which has created a special team for this purpose.

According to the IT Research Monitoring survey, 63.1% of respondents had offices or employees in the regions of Ukraine that were attacked by Russia’s invasion on February 24. Therefore, one of the priority areas was the relocation of people to safer cities. Relocation assistance was both financial and organizational. 59% of the surveyed companies provided organized departures of employees and their families. To support employees, 64.6% of companies have paid salaries in advance. In addition, some companies have introduced one-time financial assistance to either all employees or those moving from hazardous areas. The average amount of compensation was $957.

In addition, the companies revised the policy of payments to employees who joined the Armed Forces, Territorial Defense, or volunteered. In particular, 26.7% of the surveyed companies kept their full salaries and another 26.7% of the surveyed companies kept half of the salaries of those who were drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Most companies have developed their own compensation option, depending on the area of ​​defense and assistance involved.

According to an estimate based on the results of the IT Research Monitoring survey, more than a thousand employees of the IT industry were drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine or joined the Territorial Defense. 1,710 people were registered in the army. These are data as of the time of IT Research Monitoring – from March 4-7, 2022.

Volunteering

Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the IT community actively supported the army and specialized funds. The result was hundreds of millions of hryvnias transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces.

The wife-scale war has only intensified the assistance and support provided by IT companies to Ukraine. According to the survey, on average 36% of employees are also involved in volunteering in addition to their main activities; an average of 5% of employees are fully involved in volunteering. Within each volunteering company, all employees have been engaged.

Lviv IT Cluster will continue to conduct short surveys of IT companies to understand what is happening in the industry and how it reacts to the war. In particular, the Lviv IT Cluster is working on a new IT Research Resilience 2022 study, which will focus on a study of the IT market in Lviv and other regions where IT companies have moved due to the war.  In particular, the Cluster will study the current number of IT companies, conduct profiling which will give an idea of ​​the new market landscape and its features, determine the socio-demographic profile of the IT specialist, and much more.