Industry down – Kaspersky urges IT professionals to stay in Russia

This is evident from the statements of former employees who left Russia because of the attack on Ukraine. Many of them want to keep their jobs, but prefer to do it from abroad – to avoid being called up.

If you want to go abroad, you will be asked to indicate this
But they did their calculations without the company founder. The “Motherboard” portal learned from several former employees now living abroad that they wanted to keep their jobs and work from home. However, Kaspersky’s human resources department did not accept this and urged her to resign.

A quote from the company founder has been preserved from an internal meeting at Kaspersky summarizing his stance on the subject: “If the captain stays on the ship, so should the crew. It doesn’t matter what the weather is like.” Kaspersky is also aware that the sea is stormy. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, he hinted that he hoped for a “compromise.”

“Either you come back or you go”
One of the Kaspersky employees says: “After February 24, 2022, our lives have completely changed. That was the last push for me to drop everything and move. And the company, especially Eugene, didn’t support me in that.” He was given the choice: “Either you come back or you leave the company.”

Why did he decide to leave Russia? The ex-virus fighter, who doesn’t want to give his name: “It’s simple: I don’t support what is happening now. I feel guilty and responsible for all these insane murders. This war is a disaster.”

How Kaspersky Responds to the Accusations
Kaspersky denies the allegations. “Kaspersky’s employees are our most valuable asset and our efforts have always been focused on ensuring a pleasant working environment that promotes professional and personal development.” Every employee has the opportunity to apply for an in-house international program – provided there is a suitable position in one of 35 Kaspersky offices in 31 countries.

Kaspersky struggles with loss of confidence
The Russian antivirus company is not only struggling with migration, but more generally with a global loss of trust. The founder of the company is said to have good contacts with the Russian secret service FSB and the government. Banned from US government IT networks in 2019 over spying fears, Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) is now also warning against Kaspersky.

According to the internals of the BSI, from which the IT portal quotes “Heise”, the warning from Germany was probably also politically motivated. The reputation of world-renowned IT security specialists, who reject any suspicion of espionage, is still badly damaged. And in the IT security world, trust is an extremely important currency.

Qualified staff are recruited in prisons
Of course, Western sanctions, the emigration of skilled workers and the loss of confidence have not only plunged Kaspersky into the crisis. The entire Russian IT economy is down. So many IT professionals have migrated – tens of thousands in the first few weeks of the war alone – that qualified personnel are now being recruited in prisons.

Russian IT economy falters
In the absence of western chips, Russian hardware companies build laptops with antique-looking Baikal processors from their own production. Businesses rely on black copies as they are no longer supplied by global IT giants such as Microsoft. Google’s competitor Yandex, once “Russia’s coolest company,” is facing a mess: One in six employees has left Russia. The planned international expansion has been canceled and the market value has fallen from 31 to 7 billion dollars.