IT specialists in Minsk have high salaries
“I came from Rostov-on-Don,” explains Alexey Kremsa, a developer at the outsourcing company CactusSoft. - I lived in Rostov for several years, but I didn't like the city. I realized that I had reached the salary ceiling and wanted to leave. I chose Minsk because they pay more here.
Kirill Asyamolov from Novosibirsk has a similar story: he thought of moving to Moscow or St. Petersburg with his family, and ended up in Minsk.
- In Belarus, they offered a higher payment. The difference was enough for my choice to fall on Minsk. I have a friend working here, also from Novosibirsk: three years ago I moved with my wife and four children.
According to dev.by, Minsk IT specialists earn about $ 1,700. This is more than in large cities of Russia - and comparable to the salaries of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Minsk programmers Objective C or Swift and C ++ get more than $ 2000 per month; specialists with more than seven years of experience can count on $ 3,000, despite the fact that the average salary in Minsk in January this year was less than $ 600.
Salaries are pegged to the dollar rate
The Belarusian ruble did not boast of stability for a long time. Therefore, IT companies have developed a tradition of tying salaries to the dollar exchange rate. Now, if the ruble falls, local IT specialists only benefit. This approach is less common in Russia.
- In Rostov, I worked in an outsourcing company. I had a salary fixed in rubles, - Alexey recalls. - In 2014, when the ruble fell, the work of developers at one point became twice as cheap. There was no question of compensation, although the customer was still paying the company in dollars.
There is a place to work in Minsk
“It is quite easy to get a job in Minsk,” says Alexander Slabinsky, who moved to Belarus in 2014. - I would search on LinkedIn, dev.by, jobs.tut.by. So far, the situation is when employees are needed badly.
There is a good IT market in Belarus, - Alexey shares his observations. - Lots of outsourcing projects. Recently, strong product companies have also been opening: Juno, Apalon, Gismart. Yes, if you are a good specialist, you can find an excellent job in any city, but if you take the "average temperature in a hospital", conditionally middle, then it is easier to find a job in Minsk.
Business incubator of the Hi-Tech Park. Photo: park.by
The IT sector in Belarus is developing rapidly. Since the Hi-Tech Park (a special economic zone for IT) appeared here in 2005, the export of IT services and products has grown 30 times. In 2017, 69% of HTP residents developed custom software for clients from the USA and Europe.
Recently, many companies, inspired by the success of MSQRD and AIMatter, are moving to product development, with more than 80 of them focusing on AI projects. At the beginning of the year, vc.ru published twenty promising Belarusian startups.
Decree No. 8 "On the Development of the Digital Economy" will come into force on March 28 : experts believe that it will make a breakthrough in the industry. Among the important provisions - he extended the existing benefits for HTP residents; allowed mining and cryptocurrencies; and, finally, saved foreigners from the need to obtain a permit and visa to work in HTP resident companies
CactusSoft Office
It's cheap to live in Minsk
Minsk is one of the ten cheapest cities in the world in terms of cost of living. In the latest Mercer ranking, he took 200th place out of 209 possible (Moscow, for example, was in 14th place). At the same time, the average Minsker lives on a salary that is almost three times lower than that of the average IT specialist.
- The cost of living in Minsk is about the same as in Rostov, - Alexey estimates. “For example, groceries are cheaper, but mobile communications, internet and entertainment are more expensive.
- Sausages, cheeses are cheaper here than in Novosibirsk, - Kirill calculates.
- As for the apartment, in Rostov I rented a one-room apartment for 18 thousand rubles, and in Minsk - for $ 350. I now get to the metro three or four minutes on foot, and by metro to the center - fifteen minutes. For comparison, my friend in Moscow is renting a "odnushka" for a little more than 40 thousand rubles. Spartan conditions, I would do a renovation.
For Alexander, the issue of renting an apartment is no longer relevant: last year he married a woman from Minsk, moved to her.
“In Russia, many people go to Moscow to earn money, but I don’t know how relevant this is for the IT sector,” says Alexey. - It is more profitable for a resident of Tomsk or Saratov to move to Minsk: the salary can be the same as in Moscow or St. Petersburg, and the prices are lower. It turns out to postpone more.
It's easier to feel local in Belarus, if you don't say "Belarus"
- The Russian-speaking population is a plus, - Alexander believes. - There is no shock from the move, as if he changed not the country, but the city.
You only need to get used to new money. In July 2016, a denomination was carried out in Belarus: they “cut off” four zeros from the price tags. The largest bill used to be 200 thousand Belarusian rubles, now it is 500 rubles.
“I ended up in Minsk when two types of money were in use in parallel: old ones with tens of thousands and new ones,” Aleksey recalls. - In new ones, it is convenient to count: you divide by two - you get the amount in dollars.
As elsewhere, you can feel like you are here as long as it does not turn to the local cultural context.
- My wife once walked down the street with a child, grandfather approached her, - Kirill describes. - He began to tell: "Well, the young people went, they don't know who Masherov is!" And with hope: "Well, you know for sure?" She kept silent and pretended to understand who she was talking about.
- Once colleagues discussed the singer Solodukha - I did not know who he was. I had no idea! - Alexey laughs. “And if you don’t know him, then you’re definitely not local computer engineering course.
“Before moving, I have never been to Belarus. I knew that the capital was Minsk, the president was Lukashenko. That, perhaps, is all ", - Alexey Kremsa admits
And, of course, many react painfully to the word “Belarus”:
“I’m already used to saying Belarus, and I want to correct others,” Kirill admits. - In Minsk they write like that everywhere: for example, on posters - “I love Belarus”.
There is little entertainment in Minsk and no IKEA
Together with Alexander in 2014, many acquaintances from Ukraine turned out to be in Minsk. Many have either returned or moved on to Europe. The main reason is boring.
- But I don’t understand how it can be boring in the city? - Alexander is surprised. - Every day I follow the work-home route. If I have free time, I try to go in for sports: last September I ran at the Minsk half marathon.
- I would like a variety of concerts, - Alexey admits. - Often famous artists come to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but not to Minsk. This was the case with The Pretty Reckless and many others. But there are cafes and bars, as well as parks and a bike path, so you can entertain yourself.
- In the summer I was on the local bar street - Zybitskaya, quite fun. There is no such street in Novosibirsk, - Kirill recalls. - But in general, my wife and I don't go to bars. There are no relatives in Minsk, there is no one to sit with the child.
You should be prepared for the fact that there are not so many world brands in Minsk - both in terms of clothing and in terms of catering. The first Zara store opened last year, Starbucks still does not.
- IKEA is very lacking, - Kirill complains.
Minsk is clean and good public transport
The cleanliness of the streets is what impresses all visitors.
- Even from the first business trip to Minsk, I remembered that here there is more order in communal things, - Alexander recalls. - And public transport works well. I myself do not drive, so this is important to me.
- Drivers do not smoke in the cabin. And in Rostov, this happened more than once, - adds Alexey. - All public transport there is private. Once I was driving a minibus, and the driver was carrying a cigarette. I was sitting not far away, I said: "Can you please not smoke?" - "Hey, change if you don't like it." In Minsk, it is generally less likely to run into open rudeness. People are calmer and more restrained. I could be wrong, but this is my personal experience.
It's expensive to travel from Minsk
Low-cost airlines do not fly from Minsk, and the national air carrier Belavia has high prices. Minskers are accustomed to travel by train to Vilnius (2 hours 30 minutes - for $ 20) or Warsaw, Kiev or Moscow - and get on a plane there.
Railway station square in Minsk
- But there is an opportunity to quickly get to Europe by bus or car, - adds Kirill. - It was not cheaper for me to fly somewhere by plane from Novosibirsk, and I could only go to Gorny Altai by road. But now, only in March, I visited Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
IT people have one more opportunity to travel - for work. The Belarusian CactusSoft, where Aleksey works, was recently bought by the Belgian company Litussoft, so the developer had two business trips to Belgium. Curiously, relocation is not attractive to Europe.
- Work in IT there is not super profitable. In Belgium, according to locals, lawyers and doctors receive the most. And if you don't want to feel like a stranger, you have to learn another language. But I'm trite too lazy. It's one thing to get an offer from a cool company in Silicon Valley, and it's another to change a typical office in Russia for a Polish or Czech one. You can, but I don't understand why this is necessary.
What else
- There are disadvantages everywhere: in every city, in every country. But if you don’t find fault, I don’t see big problems in Minsk, ”Aleksey believes. - I heard a complaint from Belarusians: "Our roads are bad." Yes, you have great roads! And what is called traffic jams in Moscow would be "we are going slowly."
Center of Minsk
The weather in Minsk is an ambiguous moment: rainy summer, prolonged winter.
- It's better in Novosibirsk -15 ° C with snow and sun than slush and -1 ° C here, - Kirill sighs.
It is difficult with public medicine, but there are no problems with private medicine. Good service in a cafe is the exception rather than the rule. But in the shops there are delicious products, and local markets delight with farm products. For a healthy lifestyle - ideal.
No comments:
Post a Comment