It’s a typical weekday morning in the snow-covered capital of Ukraine. All the hip cafes are packed with people connecting their laptops to their hotspots and WIFIs.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the mix of coffee, croissants and online hubbub is typical of those on a day off, but the reality is different.
Meet Ukraine’s remote workers – for whom the “9 to 5” is something of a relic, and flexibility and personal freedom the new order of the day.
Emerging in the 2010s, the remote workers’ culture has become a global trend. Boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic which has changed how many of us work, the concept is not simply about working from home, but working from anywhere. Furthermore, it is no longer the domain of the IT whizzkids but has now gone mainstream.
Makers, not takers
Kyiv-based graphic designer, Olha Fortuna, is a member of this class. Once a full-time employee at a Ukrainian not-for-profit, she opted for freelancing in 2019, joining the motley crew of workers offering a wide range of skills online – from content writing and SMM management to UX design and translations.
“I was tired of commuting and managerial control, which is why I started freelancing,“
explains Ms. Fortuna. “My income eventually increased two-fold and I learned a lot. Admittedly, the western design school is more aesthetically alluring.”
Whilst describing her English skills as rudimentary, she has found them to be enough to communicate with her clientele on platforms such as Itsy and Instagram. Her work now benefits from the most powerful marketing tool on the market: word-of-mouth.
Sitting in the kitchen of his apartment inside a lavishly restored 1885 house, Birmingham-born Shadi Paterson ended up in Kyiv six years ago and is on the other side of the remote working spectrum. He is the co-founder of the company “Make it in Ukraine” that sells high-tech and senior specialists and creatives globally, including Singapore and the U.S.
Describing Ukrainians as “makers,” not “takers” – a concept he finds virtually non-existent in the West – he explains how his company tried unsuccessfully to sell agency services abroad before pivoting the business model to individuals.
Paterson observes that
“the average Ukraine-based developer with five to six years of experience can earn between $7,500-15,000.“
Whilst he has found the salaries in San Francisco to be higher, Ukraine has another strong pull factor - the lower cost of living. “Professionals are getting paid a lot more here as FOPs,” he notes, referring to the Ukrainian tax system that enables independent contractors (FOPs) to pay as little as 5% in income tax.
This rise of the remote economy is also happening outside the capital as well. In other cities and towns, the number of remote workers is burgeoning too.
Antonia Celina, a graduate of Charles University (Prague, Czechia), is one of them. Unlike Ms. Fortuna, Ms. Celina is not a freelancer: She is a full-time remote project manager who has worked with several U.S. based companies without once traveling to meet her employers.
“I prefer American clients to European ones”, she says. “They are very easygoing and helpful so I love working with them.” She adds that remote working has enabled her to spend more time with her daughter.
Asked whether she has ever planned to relocate, Ms. Celina feels that it would break her heart to move out of Ukraine: “I’m not leaving unless the situation gets completely out of hand.”
“The next ten years will be crazy”
Until recently, Ukraine had been struggling to counter decades of negative social and political stereotypes. However, the rise of the remote worker economy is a breath of fresh air and an opportunity to curb the exodus of workers to the European Union, which intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014.
Although labor migration has resulted in stupendous remittances ($15bn in 2020, according to World Bank data) it has come at a cost for many Ukrainians in Poland and other EU member states who work in precarious conditions, despite holding higher education degrees.
However, the rise of the remote economy, combined with an educated population and high demand for Ukrainian workers, could be turning the tide in Ukraine.
“Back in the day, a German worker would have been preferred to a Ukrainian one. But I feel that’s really changing. And that is something I want to make heard,” Mr. Paterson notes, adding that the powerful STEM education in Ukraine gives an edge to its educated young people.
With competitive advantages such as a relatively lower labor cost, an educated population, a wide array of tech courses, and the desire to grow professionally, Ukraine's chances to become the top global remote workers' hub are strong. This is especially the case since global recruitment is becoming a reality of our time.
Patrick Collison is CEO of the U.S. and Ireland headquartered Stripe, a financial services and software company. He recently tweeted that in Q1 2021, 39% of Stripe’s hiring was outside Bay Area and Seattle. Last quarter it was 74%.
“Ukraine is already winning against all odds,” Mr. Paterson exclaims. “There is no angel investment here. But it still leads the way and the next ten years will be crazy!”
