Code hosting platform GitLab is considering stopping hiring professionals from China and Russia. 
The reason why this issue was raised for discussion is the concerns of customers regarding the geopolitical climate of the two countries.
Companies use GitLab to host their source code projects and to allow their employees to work on code, syncing it to a cloud-hosted server. In addition, companies have the option to host their own version of GitLab locally, and they also have access to various enterprise. If there is a problem, GitLab has specialized staff to help customers.
The ban on hiring from China and Russia will affect two job positions: Site Reliability Engineer and Support Engineer. Employees in both of these positions provide technical support to GitLab's enterprise customers.
These two important positions have full access to customer data , and that's exactly the problem. Customers don't trust staff from China and Russia because they fear they might share data with services their countries' intelligence
GitLab's vice president stated that permission to access systems is based on the employee's nationality.
The ban on hiring Chinese and Russian professionals is not a final decision. Discussions on this issue have been going on for about a month. The final decision will be made on November 6.
The discussions began after the publication of a report by CrowdStrike, according to which Chinese hackers- spies recruited employees of Western companies to help them steal data
Many believe that both Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies could do the same to GitLab staff to steal customer data.
GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij said the company does not have staff from China or Russia in these jobs, so even if the ban ultimately goes into effect, no employees will lose their jobs.
However, according to what is being heard, the most likely scenario is the implementation of the ban.
Additionally, if the hiring ban is approved, personnel in these support positions will not be able to travel to China or Russia.
GitLab stressed that the ban only applies to these two jobs. Other positions will not be affected. In addition, the platform will continue to host code from Russian and Chinese developers.
