How We Continue to Operate and Deliver Results in Ukraine
23. February 2023
It has now been one year since Russia has started its all-out war against Ukraine. It’s difficult to say that anyone can ever completely get used to war. But it is fair to say that Ukraine, its people and businesses are meeting all the challenges thrown up with bravery and dignity. And new ones are met with even higher resilience.
In this article, Iryna Kosareva, General Manager at Conscensia in Ukraine, looked back at the past year and shared her thoughts, experiences, fears and hopes on how to successfully operate an IT company in a country at war.
Our Ukrainian colleagues met the first days of war in Lviv, where our development center is located. Lviv is one of the westernmost Ukrainian cities.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war it also has become a hub for IT specialists who relocated from the front-line zones (including Kyiv and Kharkiv). Before February 2022 there were about 30,000 techies in the city. During 2022 that number tripled. Even during the first few weeks of the war, which were full of uncertainty and anxiety, Conscensians managed to deliver results while adjusting to this new reality. After the first stress passed, they did their best to continue living and working, considering new challenges and developing new behavior. Since February 2022 almost all of what we do has an additional value and supports Ukraine in one or another way.
Working with Ukraine is supporting Ukraine
Throughout 2022 Ukraine has become a template of flexibility, resilience and strength. This applies to every Ukrainian, including Conscensians. Almost all of the Ukrainian people reinvented the usual path of their lives to keep it productive and meaningful. For some of them it meant moving from the city to the countryside with Starlink and an electric generator, some came back to daily office life, some moved abroad.
And each of these choices was right. According to Lviv IT Cluster, IT is the only export sector that has grown during the past year. The export revenue grew by 5.85% and brought $406 million more than in 2021.
Conscensia did a client survey according to which, the Ukrainian Development Center received the best customer ratings ever.
In Ukraine we were happy to meet more than 30 new specialists who joined Conscensia during the past year and two new clients who trusted us with their businesses.
Maintaining “normality” and creating a “new normal”
Conscensia continues to operate in Ukraine, supporting its people and economy. As a company, we are doing our best to support our people, maintain our routines, traditions and live life. We preserved almost all traditional corporate events, such as Company Day, Developer’s Day, Christmas Gathering and team buildings. We believe it helps our colleagues to come together, communicate and keep each others spirits up.
In May 2022, Conscensia moved to the new spacious office which we now call “Lviv Hub” and we started to follow the hybrid work mode concept. During the small opening ceremony Conscensia held a charity auction to support the Ukrainian army.
During the Company Day (Conscensia’s 16th anniversary) in October 2022 we held an auction with unique collections of art, gifts, jewelry and clothes by small Ukrainian brands, craftsmen and artists. After the event we donated 673.000 UAH to the charitable fund “Vidchui”.
In total in 2022, Conscensia as a company donated more than 25.000 EUR to Ukrainian humanitarian and military aid. In addition to this, our colleagues are actively involved in volunteering to help the Ukrainian army or people in the de-occupied territories.
Our Christmas Gathering was special in 2022 as well. All our colleagues got unique gift-sets where all items were hand-made by Ukrainian craftsmen. This was done to support small Ukrainian entrepreneurs, and thereby also the Ukrainian economy.
Of course, maintaining normality is nonsense without adjusting to a new reality. That’s why we incorporated special educational trainings for our colleagues. There were first aid courses, mental health training, legal trainings, consultations with lawyers regarding volunteer activities and others.
We also prepared for a possible blackout. The Lviv Hub has Starlinks which are regularly tested, electric generators with fuelled and ready and portable power stations. We use internet connection by PON and CWDM technologies which don’t need an electricity supply on the way from provider to user. So all our colleagues are able to work from a warm and light office no matter the external issues.
”I‘m tremendously proud of our colleagues who demonstrate the values of responsible outsourcing as our cornerstone of success in delivering the best results to our clients. Our people are truly dedicated, flexible and loyal and this ensures our joint success and contributes to the upcoming future victory. Likewise, I am enormously grateful to our clients for their support and feedback on how impressed they are by our results, and how they keep their hands up for Ukraine.”
– Iryna Kosareva, General Manager at Conscensia
The main lesson 2022 taught us was that we are unbreakable when united. The war is not over yet, but we are looking into the future with hope and courage. If you’re still hesitating, it is the right time to work with Ukraine. Together we are capable of achieving great things and overcoming any challenge.
