‘Some kind of wild field.’ An IT entrepreneur described how mobilization is destroying business

Ukrainian IT entrepreneur Taras Filatov has detailed how military recruiters are mobilizing qualified IT specialists.

Filatov shared his industry’s challenges in a Facebook post.

According to Filatov, employees of the territorial recruitment center took his 50-year-old PhD employee directly off the street.

“They take people right off the street. Going home to grab something or to hand over work tasks isn’t possible. When they take someone, there’s an option to ‘fight back’ – many people run or fight off the recruiters, and then the recruiters switch to someone easier to catch. Our employee, a polite and respectful PhD, went with them as told. But many others run or fight back, turning it into a bit of a wild scenario. Those who are caught are taken immediately to the military medical commission, which is completed in 10 minutes on the principle of ‘two hands, two legs – healthy.’ The next day, they are sent to training for a month,” Filatov described the mobilization process.

He mentioned that there are limited options to exempt IT workers from mobilization. The first option is obtaining a reservation (deferment), but this requires a state order for defense needs, which is “very difficult and time-consuming” for small companies. As a result, firms might have to “shelter their business under a larger company with a state order.”

“This is almost like closing your business… You’re throwing away years of work and just handing over your developments for next to nothing along with your team,” Filatov wrote.

The second option is to keep only those who are currently not subject to mobilization: demobilized personnel, postgraduates, students, disabled individuals, those with three children, or non-citizens.

“For businesses, this is more realistic than going through bureaucratic hoops for official reservations,” he concluded.

Another option is to operate “under the radar.”

“And another option, which I generally consider the best for everyone in the current situation, is to earn and support the team through sales in the US, while not trying to earn in Ukraine but instead supplying everything for the front,” Filatov noted.

However, this could potentially expose businesses to accusations of treason for exporting “state secrets” they created themselves.