‘Haven’t Worked For Several Months, Still Get Paid $4,600 Monthly’

The dream of many has become a reality for the Belarusian IT specialist.

Not working and getting paid sounds like a dream. But for some IT professionals, this is a reality. Yauhen, a Minsk resident, found himself in just such a situation — and he tells the CityDog.io publication how he likes such a life.

About the relocation: “On February 24, 2022, the intention to officially find a job in the Warsaw office increased”

“I have been working for about 6 years in an outsourcing company, specializing in the development of mobile applications for Android. We have representative offices in different countries, and a lot of our employees moved to Lithuania, Poland, Kazakhstan and Georgia through relocation.

For a long time I considered, albeit reluctantly, the option of moving to another country — from these thoughts I was held back by the potential difficulties associated with legalization, learning a new language, some personal principles and, perhaps, pathological laziness. But after a series of arrests and searches of my acquaintances and even more rapid isolation of our country, I thought: “On the other hand, we haven’t traveled for such a long time”, a new office in a new country “does not sound particularly bad at all, why not.”

So my wife and I packed up over the weekend and left for Poland. Instagram photos of my friends, where there are palm trees, the sea and abnormally warm weather, sometimes make me doubt my decision, but you can live here too.

Later, my wife and I returned, visited relatives, and lived in our homeland for a while. But on February 24, 2022, our intention to continue the legalization process and officially find a job in the Warsaw office increased slightly.

How it is not to work and get paid: “We have to consider other places of work so that there is an alternative option”

Even before I signed the job contract, I already had an active project, which involved three more developers, a tester and a project manager. The project was quite promising, in general, everything went well. And in January they refused our services — and I went to the bench, where I still am.

Judging by what I hear from my friends, things in other companies, plus or minus, are going the same way and a lot of people have found themselves in a similar position. But this, of course, depends on the market, the country, and the sphere as well — it is possible that in the direction of full stack or devops, it will be faster to find an order.

However, due to the crisis and inflation, customers are trying to save money, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for vendors to find new projects due to high competition, among other things.

How does sitting on a bench feel? It is very difficult. The salary has remained at the same level (I receive 20,000 zlotys — this is about 4,600 dollars), and I am paid steadily, but now is a difficult time, and disturbing thoughts often come to my head. Companies suspend recruitment and make cuts, so you have to look ahead to other places of work, go on interviews so that there is an alternative option.

Sometimes I am attached to internal events: for example, webinars — for the transfer of knowledge, for the exchange of interesting information or news. Also, I myself continue to maintain my level, gradually develop, study new technologies, fill in the gaps. For example, if I see something in the technology stack among the requirements of an open vacancy that I have not worked with before, then I start studying it. I tried to delve into React Native and Flutter — these are toolkits for developing cross-platform programs.

I also try to maintain my English level and be ready for any interview.

Skills need to be maintained, but still it is not easy to find time for this: you should not forget about studying various materials, new trends, popular media content, and assortment in stores.

I like art, I love cinema, and I can say that I am a big fan of watching various TV shows and movies. I try not to forget to allocate my time for this as well. You still need time for shopping, the gym, spa, cultural programs, outdoor walks — all this, of course, is necessary, yes. And therefore it is difficult to find time for absolutely everything.

And what's next: “Does this situation suit me? I'll definitely say no”.

I don't like uncertainty. I really hope that soon everything will turn for the better, and there will be confidence in the future. Anyway, there is no information about when the situation might change.

And of course no one is talking about how problems are solved by the management and how bad everything is. They try to resolve all issues pointwise and individually, look for clients and retain experienced developers for as long as possible.

I cannot predict how long all this will drag on: perhaps a year or more — this is directly related to the economic crisis. After the situation in the world begins to slowly improve, investors will again invest in both profitable projects and start-ups.