In Russia, there is a saying, [normal thing] [verbs] you!", coined by Yakov Smirnoff. It describes the unusual way of doing this in Russia, where frigid coldness in winter, heatwaves in summer, causes normal activities to become difficult.
In Russia, Russia outsources you…
As many educated scientists, doctors, academics free from Russia, they describe their lives in fear, starvation and despair.
While Delphi developers in the west get good salaries - those in the upper-east, not affected by Euro pricing (think of Hungary, Poland, Romania, … and Ukraine), those in Russia stagnated, often shrinking as years go by.
Do you want to hire Russian developers?
If you want to hire two or more developers, you need to rent a posh office (preferably in the St. Petersburg) with heating, and… a big pantry with big freezer.
Sometimes the staff buy in-bulk when there are shortages, or, if there is a snow-storm, they can eat inside instead of going outside for lunch.
Bonus points if there is central heating, or small supermarket down-stairs or near-by.
While there are good Russian developers, there are those, who take advantage of foreigners who think Russia is a good place to invest in.
While it is easy to hire Russian developers (who use TurboPascal, or Borland C++ at University or Polytechnik), firing developers is a different story.
Russian Labor Code (2002), employers must provide 2 months' notice for layoffs. So let's say you sign contracts with Russian employees, and for some reason, you lay them off, without explanation without following proper procedures… they can sue you for 2+ months (of what they asks for, or even more, depending on how long a labor dispute may take in Russia) and …
Do nothing every day, while debts chalk up.
These cases takes long time for judges to render judgement. By 6 months, you owe 2+ months, 4+ of back-pay.
If, there are stall tactics - like, delays, a year will pass, and you owe 2+ months, 10 months of back-pay… and so on.
To make matters worse, they'll probably report you under (Federal Law No. 187-FZ), demand social security contributions back-pay until labor dispute is arbitrated or settled.
Many foreign IT shops go out of business after a year or two. Firing someone, could potentially require at least 3 to 6 months of back-pay. If you hire 10 developers, expect to pay 2 or more months1 of back-pay if you lay them all off.
Before Russia sanctions took effect, there were foreign law firms enforcing Russian debts in Eurozone, UK and Ireland. This is now prohibited, and imagine the horror of sending money to Russia to pay off debts…
Serge2, a Russian developer does nothing all day long, and his wife is fine with that.
If you want to post-online about this, using real names, beware, in Russia, you might get a visit at your house regarding certain posts made on-line. You could get jail time or huge fine, or both.
In other words, Russia outsources you, sleepless nights haunts you.
Let us know your comments below.
Comprising of back-pay, severance pay, unused vacation pay, social contributions, mass layoffs require following specific procedures with labor authorities, and… procedural or administrative mistakes can be very costly.
Not his real name.