Ukrainian “work from anywhere” saga for an auto software company

As in other industries, the cliché of automotive employers that emerged from the pandemic was “work anywhere you can” arguably best versioned by Mary Barra’s assertion that GM employees would “work appropriately.” The practical translation of this for the average, white-collar worker is fewer commuting hours, fewer showers per week and more complaints about socialization, co-creativity, and the inability of “hotel cubes” to store prototypes or defective parts.

Spoiler alert: They haven’t seen anything.

Nearly five thousand miles away in Ukraine, the war continued to ravage its land and people while protecting a nation from its aggressive neighbor, Russia. On the evening before the interview for this article, 35 drones were shot down while attempting to damage its capital, Kiev. Despite what many would call a successful ending, those fallen destruction-bots created collateral damage and gaping holes in some office buildings. “We heard very loud crashes,” said Vladislav Hadz, a 20-year-old developer at Fordewind, an Internet of Things (IoT) engineering and development company headquartered in Kiev.

This kind of war-torn hybrid work must mentally push the limits of the imagination for many readers: not only developing cloud-content for vehicles while living under a literal cloud of attacks, but simultaneously feeding displaced families. running a successful business. A bottomless battle in itself.

And yet, it seems to have been taken almost in stride.

According to Vladimir Broyde, an executive at Fordewind, “The war definitely affected sales and marketing…”Yes, it did disrupt our operations for a few weeks at the start of the war, but that’s all.”

Sure, it must be very difficult to secure a business remotely.

“We have been in the market for almost ten years. We are very narrowly specialized in IoT and automotive. [In some cases] They find us on some graded lists of development companies, and we have lots of references from companies that have worked with us in the past. Actually, the automotive industry is very small [world] … many times, I already know someone who knows a [new customer],

The crazy part: The coronavirus actually helped these companies in some cases. “The pandemic was a training for everyone on how to work remotely; to work in a new environment and new processes,” Broyde explained. “And, of course, there was travel [also] An issue during the pandemic. Asked if this will be the way of working for the near future, “Now, most of the people are coming to office and working at one place. you know what’s interesting, [during the pandemic] Everyone started working from home, but in the end it became very boring for everyone and people wanted to come back to the office. Then the war began, and then everyone was dispersed throughout Ukraine, and part of the team fled to Europe. So, yes, the situation goes back and forth.”

So what does it mean to “act appropriately”?

It’s a really good question when, like Hedge, your entire adult, working life has been post-war pandemonium. “The war changed everything in my life, but it also gave me a great opportunity to work in this company because I [was forced away] From my previous work and ‘shells’. In Ukraine also a lot of people had to change their region because they had to move to another city and [a new line of work], This is a big challenge for everyone, but we adapted and Ukrainian companies continue to operate in these strange and difficult conditions.

OK, so maybe the rest of us should stop complaining about our socialization issues.

author’s note

I’ve noticed a possible convergence of two trends: the almost-ubiquitous desire to support the Ukrainian people remotely (for example, renting an AirBnB in Ukraine without the intention of hosting) and the exponential approach to software development. Global need.

Perhaps these Ukrainian companies make the highest quality code on the planet. Maybe they’ve made every delivery on-time, on-content and on-experience. I really don’t know because I didn’t assess them, look for references or test their app.

But I do know that he does not shy away from challenges.