In late January, Hanna Kompaniets received an email from Upwork, a website where she has been connecting with online clients for seven years as a virtual assistant. An email sent to the platform’s freelancers living in Ukraine said the company was monitoring the rising tensions in Eastern Europe. “First, we hope you are staying safe,” the email said. Upwork then made some suggestions to Ukrainian freelancers “to help minimize any disruption to freelancer and client relationships:” Keep your clients updated. “Make sure all work is up-to-date.” Back up computers and other devices. “Please stay safe, healthy, and connected,” the email to Ukrainian freelancers concluded.
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Less than a month later, Russia invaded Ukraine, and companies say they haven't heard from Upwork since.
Freelancers or gig workers working on online platforms are the hidden engine of the Ukrainian economy and the world. It seems that Ukrainians work on a lot of freelancing platforms such as: Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.com, Russian websites such as Fl.ru and Ukrainian websites such as Kabanchik.ua and Freelancehunt.com.
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A 2018 survey by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, estimated that about 500,000 Ukrainians were registered on web platforms – about 3 percent of the country’s workforce. The country is the seventh-largest online labor provider in the world, according to an Oxford report.
The Covid-19 outbreak may have pushed those numbers even higher. For companies in the US, Europe and elsewhere, Ukraine is an attractive source of work. Workers are educated, tech-savvy and often speak fluent Russian and sometimes English. They tend to work for lower wages than Americans or Western Europeans, although they are paid slightly more than the average Ukrainian wage.
The invading Russian forces have plunged the freelancers’ office into chaos and uncertainty. Vlad, a video editor living in southern Ukraine, says he has grown accustomed to the sirens and is hiding until the danger passes. The fighting is now taking place about 50 kilometers from his home. “But as long as there is water, electricity and internet, I can work,” Vlad says. “I have to work to eat and pay my rent.”
Amidst war, some freelancers are renegotiating with clients – and relying on their goodwill. Hanna Kompaniets agreed with two regular Upwork clients to stop their projects, but she continued to work for two others, sometimes in the basement of her home in Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast of the country. She says one client even sent her a bonus through the platform. A product designer, who asked not to be named, says he can’t bring himself to continue his work since his family fled Kiev, but says he appreciates the flexibility the employment contract provides.
See also: Ukraine calls for Russia to be cut off from videogame production
Of course, Upwork says in a statement that it is working "to do everything in its power to ensure the safety and well-being of its many team members living in Ukraine.".
Source of information: wired.com
