US Tech Companies Have a Lot at Stake in Ukraine

[Commentary] An astounding number of American technology companies employ engineers in Ukraine, but you might never know it. The Ukrainian tech industry is responsible for Ford’s in-car infotainment systems, Reuter’s award-winning photography app, Nokia’s customer retail experience, and Deutsche Bank’s Risk Management System, among many others.

Most US companies don’t have formal offices in Kiev, preferring to hire people through intermediaries. And many companies would prefer to not publicly acknowledge these employees exist, given that “outsourcing” is a dirty word in US politics. Ukraine’s IT sector is impressive.

As one of the country’s largest industries, IT in Ukraine is a key component of its future economic success. Today, the volume of exports of software service and development from Ukraine is about $2 billion annually. By 2012, there were more than 4,000 IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine, and the sector was growing 25 percent year over year; economists project that the $2 billion industry will grow 85 percent over the next six years. But given the continuing political crisis in Ukraine, now is the time to stand up and speak out. Many companies might think they are powerless to do anything but wait out the crisis -- but they’re wrong.

What can you do?

• Assure your Ukrainian coworkers that their jobs are safe through these trying times.
• Allocate travel funds for them if the situation escalates.
• Donate to nonprofit organizations like the Brain Basket Foundation, which provides educational opportunities for aspiring IT specialists, or this IndieGoGo campaign to send a Ukrainian startup to IDCEE, a respected international developers conference, held this October in Kiev.

[Wilson is Co-Founder and CEO, TubeMogul]