The death toll is rising in Ukraine since Russia invaded this sovereign nation just three weeks ago. Anywhere from 700 to 3,000 Ukrainian civilians and between about 1,000 and 4,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died, according to numerous conflicting reports.
This is heartbreaking to me not only because of the growing humanitarian crisis, but also because my tech-enabled staffing company was actually developed in the Ukraine. So there’s very much a personal connection that chills me to the bone. I have found the Ukrainian people to be purpose-driven, creative and extremely intelligent. There’s an abundance of freelance computer programmers in the region, which is a hub of software development. I wonder what will happen to all these hard-working individuals in the coming weeks, months and years.
More than 2 million of 40 million citizens have left the country so far, fleeing to nearby Warsaw, Moldova and other parts. This mass exodus is creating a vacuum. We can only hope that people there aren’t too traumatized by what’s happening and will be able to return, depending upon the scope of destruction in this unprovoked war. It will be interesting to see to what extent that this reliable and talented workforce is able to continue operating at such a high level both from within war-torn zones and beyond those borders. The situation in Ukraine could fuel an employment trend we’re seeing take shape all over the world, which is the growing number of people whose work has been tethered to their nomadic lifestyle.