(Editor’s note: Dispatches Europe tracks the tech scene – startups, scale-ups and mature companies – because so many of our highly skilled internationals are engineers, physicists and developers. This special report on jobs for displaced Ukrainian talent is part of our Tech Tuesday series. This post will be updated as additional information becomes available.)
In the hierarchy of needs, there’s food, shelter and clothing. But to obtain these things, you need a job. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has – in 11 days – made more than 2 million people homeless and jobless, according to the New York Times.
In an unprecedented move, European Union officials have granted Ukrainian refugees the right to live and work in the EU for up to three years. We’ll just say it … this is a lifeline to both Ukrainians fleeing the violence and to European tech companies working through the biggest labor crunch since World War II.
Europe and the rest of the world have long depended on Ukrainian IT and tech talent. Grammarly, Upwork and Fivrr are just a few of the major digital companies there. An Oxford report found that the country is the world’s seventh largest supplier of online labor. There’s no doubt in our minds that this outflow of talent will accomplish one positive thing – it will lead people to new opportunities, no matter how painful the road getting there.
As the first step, many countries across Europe, including Poland and Lithuania, have cut the bureaucratic red tape and passed legislation to open their jobs market effective immediately.
Here are just a few of the organizations with jobs for Ukrainians, or creating job portals:
Portugal for the Ukraine
Most of the jobs on here are courtesy of companies. But the country of Portugal is all in, and their effort integrates housing, medical care and jobs. The government has waived all visa requirements and is allowing displaced people to immediately begin the integration process.
You can jump to the employment and training portal here. Portugal-based companies have already registered 20,000 jobs on the website.
Job Aid for Ukrainian Refugees
This new jobs portal brings together job seekers and employers in the European labor market. Most of the jobs currently listed are in the tech sector.
You can either apply for a job, or post a job, here, and the website is very straight-forward.
Wealthyhood
Wealthyhood cofounders Alexandros Christodoulakis and Kostas Faliagkas are hiring Ukrainian developers (iOS, Android, Web) remotely or based in Athens. Wealthyhood is an investment app designed to let ordinary people invest efficiently on a small scale.
You can see all their open positions here on Linkedin.
Kaufland Romania
One of Romania’s largest companies (and one of the largest retailers in Europe) is starting an initiative that includes 300 jobs for displaced Ukrainians. In collaboration with NGOs, Romania will create the jobs for those who want to stay in Romania on the medium or long term.
Kaufland is one of the largest employers in Romania, with more than 15,000 employees at 151 stores, 2 logistics platforms and at tis Bucharest headquarters. Recently certified by the Top Employers Institute in the Netherlands as a Top Employer for the seventh consecutive year, the retailer annually renews its commitment to pursue performance and ensure benefits that reward employees for their involvement and effort.
Anyone interested in a job can call 021 9132 or apply for a job at cariere.kaufland.ro.
UA Talents
Berlin-based Ukrainian entrepreneurs Ivan Kychatyi and Nikita Overchyk have launched UA Talents, a job platform for displaced persons from and within Ukraine.
UA Talents will initially focus on jobs in the technology sector, but Kychatyi and Overchyk plan to branch out to other sectors, according to their LinkedIn post. UA Talents is supported by the 2hearts Community, Europe’s largest tech community for people with migrant backgrounds, as well as by UkraineNow and MateTranslate.
This is an ambitious effort, even for the tech community.
From the media release:
- UA Talents launches with more than 5,000 job offers targeting displaced Ukrainian workforce
- Founded by Berlin-based Ukrainian entrepreneurs
- Supported by the 2hearts Tech Community, leading tech corporate Meta, and companies from StepStone and Axel Springer to scale-ups like Ada Health, Bolt, Flink, Gorillas and SumUp as well as venture capital firms, including Atlantic Labs, FoodLabs, Capnamic, Earlybird, HV Capital, Project A and Revent.
You can see the full media release here, including contact info and a link to a donations website.
Acorel
A Netherlands-based digital company is inviting Ukrainian talent to come work for them and will sponsor long-term visas for the right people. Acorel, which specializes in customer experience and SAP software, has several openings and is prioritizing talents fleeing the fighting.
From LinkedIn:
If you are from #ukraine region and looking for a #SAP#Integration#job in The Netherlands, please contact me or Radwan A. Acorel Technology can provide #visa#sponsorship to suitable candidates.
edit: There are a lot of people from other parts of the world contacting me. I do appreciate that but please help me reach out to the #ukraine based #SAP community.
OpenUp
OpenUp in Amsterdam works with companies to help their employees get through issues.
This consultancy is looking for two Russian/Ukrainian speaking psychologists citing the war.
You can apply here on LinkedIn.
Dept
This Amsterdam-based digital creative agency is only seven years old but has more than 2,000 employees in 17 countries. Dept just issued an open call to displaced Ukrainian digital professionals looking for employment.
Available roles include:
- Front End Developer
- Back End Developer
- Architect
- Software Engineer
- Interaction Designer
- UX Designer
- Graphic Designer
- Strategist
- Account Manager
- Project Manager
- And more…
Dept is also opening its offices to all Ukrainian professionals who need a place to work.
inPhocal
On Friday 4 March, our friends at inPhocal opened up one position for a Ukrainian person to join their team.
In conjunction with HighTechXL, inPhocal has developed a laser-based system that can do multiple tasks, including laser marking.
They’re in final tests to take their prototype technology to market, so this could be a huge opportunity for an English-speaking tech talent.
From their LinkedIn post:
We stand with the people of #Ukraine and we hope #peace will come soon. As a small startup we cannot do much but we like to help where we can. So if you like to become our service engineer and like to work with testing and developing our unique #laser system, then we will hire you. We offer accommodation for you and your family to get settled in the Netherlands as well. If you know somebody or if you are this person: please get in touch!
Both inPhocal and HighTechXL are based at High Tech Campus Eindhoven.
Au Pairs
As you would expect, a lot of young Ukrainian women are trying to find jobs as au pairs or are seeking to return to positions in Paris and other cities.
You can see more here on AuPair.com
Uni Systems
This Athens-based IT company is aggregating jobs in Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, Romania, Italy and Spain. The IT positions are in the areas of software development, testing, Infrastructure and security, cloud engineering.
For more information, contact [email protected]
MORE RESOURCES
Jooble has dozens – maybe hundreds – of listings for Ukrainian speakers.
Jobs for Ukraine is an ongoing effort in Romania to match Ukrainian tech talent with companies that need them in Romania and other countries. They already have dozens of openings listed.
People for People is an effort organized by executives from three successful Amsterdam-based startups/scale-ups – bunq, Messagebird and Picnic. PfP uses its website to coordinate a large private relief effort in coordination with global relief groups, including UNHCR. That includes helping Ukrainians get long-term highly skilled migrant work visas.
Here’s a spreadsheet of companies hiring Ukrainians
See more here on Ukrainian relief and how you can help.
Co-CEO of Dispatches Europe. A former military reporter, I'm a serial expat who has lived in France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
