Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Japanese national Izumi Chvykov and her Ukrainian husband, Konstantin, lived in the city of Kharkiv. Not far from the Russian border, the city and area surrounding it has experienced significant attacks and destruction of civilian property.
Konstantin had previously worked as an engineer for Japanese tech firm i3DESIGN, which has an offshore development base in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. The couple initially believed the conflict would be over within a few days. However, it soon became clear that they needed to evacuate their home on the outskirts of the city.
It was then that they received a call from a representative of i3DESIGN.
“It had been some time since my husband worked there, so it was quite a surprise to get a call from them,” Izumi said. “But they asked us how we were and what we planned to do. We told them we would evacuate to Tokyo and they asked us to visit them at the office in Shibuya when we arrived.”
There they met with i3DESIGN President Yoichiro Shiba, who has been leading the company’s efforts to provide support to those affected by the conflict. This has included guaranteeing the pay of local staff, helping secure and maintain procurement opportunities for local businesses and helping to administer financial aid in collaboration with regional charities and aid agencies.
From May, Konstantin was able to take up a role at i3DESIGN’s Tokyo office, a transition he describes as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Of course, the way of doing things is quite different, and it’s a much bigger operation with more staff, but I’m definitely learning a lot from the experience,” he said. “Actually, it’s just good to be here after everything that’s happened in Ukraine. So much of our city has been destroyed. Ultimately we want to go home, but everything will need to be rebuilt when we do.”
In Japan, a domestic shortfall of information technology specialists is expected to rise to as many as 790,000 by 2030. Business leaders and commentators alike are now taking note of prewar efforts inside Ukraine to make the country an integral part of the so-called Silicon Valley of Eastern Europe, and some see lessons for Japan as it attempts to level up its own digital economy — a key driver of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s “new capitalism” plans.
As of January, 57 Japanese companies had operations in Ukraine. One of them is Monstarlab Group, a digital consultancy firm headquartered in Tokyo with operations throughout the world, including the Ukrainian cities Kyiv and Lviv. For the company’s CEO and founder, Hiroki Inagawa, Ukraine is a valued and trusted source of tech-savvy workers.
“The country has an abundance of talented young IT professionals, and while labor costs are not as low as those found in parts of Asia, they are certainly lower than in other parts of Europe and the U.S., while the skill level is very high,” he said.
Other former Soviet-bloc countries such as Belarus and Armenia have large numbers of specialists in digital fields such as artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. However, Ukraine stands out given its much larger population and the desirability of a career in tech-related fields.
“If we compare the situation to Japan, Ukraine has numerous great universities with dedicated software development programs,” Inagawa said. “And unlike Japan, where careers in banking or law are seen as more lucrative and prestigious, senior software positions in Ukraine can be extremely well paid and sought after.”
The result is a population motivated to contribute to the country’s digital development. The IT Ukraine Report 2021 revealed that 54% of Ukrainian high school students now want to work in IT, while the prewar labor market of 18.1 million people included a total of 289,000 IT specialists. Of those workers, 80% also boast an English ability that is intermediate or higher, the report added, bolstering their employability at international companies.
As of early June, the war had forced almost 7 million people to leave Ukraine. However, even prior to the Russian invasion, the country had experienced population decline in part due to “brain drain” — the exodus of skilled workers to economies with higher salaries and more plentiful employment opportunities.
Yet for the 20,000 Ukrainians classified as highly skilled workers abroad, very few choose Japan as a working destination, despite government efforts to attract overseas workers with their specific skill sets.
“The labor shortage in the information industries is only going to get worse in Japan over the mid-to-long term, so we need to pick up efforts to attract overseas talent” said Inagawa, who as Monstarlab CEO has overseen the safe evacuation of his Ukrainian employees from affected areas within the country.
“In the current Ukraine situation, for example, the IT professionals we work with are highly talented individuals who could go anywhere — the Middle East for example — where the level of spoken English is higher than in Japan and is therefore a more comfortable transition,” he continued. “We can’t simply say, ‘We are sorry for you, so come to Japan,’ but instead should be saying, ‘Please come join us here in Japan.’”
Municipal governments and recruiters in different parts of the country are also starting to recognize the depth of Ukrainian talent in various fields.
Employment agency Pasona Group’s branch on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, for one, has set up the Pasona Group Ukrainian Support Project, which offers support to war-affected Ukrainians with specific skills arriving in the region. The first two arrivals — both professional ballerinas — came to Japan last month and will receive language training, living expenses and support finding work. Specialists in the fields of IT and engineering are expected to follow.
Elsewhere, SAMI Japan is working with Monstarlab and the local municipal government to bring highly skilled IT specialists from countries throughout the former Soviet Union to the city of Izumo in Shimane Prefecture. The move is one aspect of wider efforts on the part of the local government to thoroughly embrace digital infrastructure across the city.
Hit hard by a declining birth rate and a rapidly diminishing local workforce, Izumo aims to become a smart city — one that uses internet-connected sensors and devices to carry out municipal functions — that can attract and retain young workers. For SAMI Japan CEO Hiroshi Makino, the efforts have a distinctly international, outward-facing flavor.
“Walking around the city, it is really surprising to see how open it is, especially to foreigners,” he said. “A lot of the restaurants have menus in English and even the local ojīchan and obāchan (older folks) want to talk and welcome any newcomers.”
For that reason, Makino and his partners decided Izumo could be the perfect place to start introducing highly skilled IT specialists from the former Soviet Union.
“There are already many Brazilian engineers working in the city, and local HR companies, industry and the municipal government have put a lot of effort into developing the concept of ‘multicultural coexistence’ alongside digitalization,” he said. “It’s an approach that we think will not only work in Shimane, but can work in smaller regions throughout the country.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.