Escalation in Ukraine: Israeli high-tech companies are against temporary evacuation of workers

The escalation in relations between Russia and Ukraine and estimates that the situation could explode in the coming days, prompted this week the Israeli high-tech companies and the manpower companies that work with them, which together employ about 15,000 workers in Ukraine.
The companies were organized ahead of time for temporary evacuation of workers and their families within the country (from east and south to west); For their transfer to neighboring countries such as Poland and Bulgaria; As well as finding alternative workspaces in case of need and providing satellite internet in case of internet crash.
However, according to reports from several industry sources, at the moment the vast majority of workers in Ukraine prefer to stick to the work routine and do not want to vacate. A source at a company that employs several hundred workers in the east of the country - an area more prone to Russian invasion and aggression - said: "Despite the escalation, only a few agreed to temporarily evacuate the area. We booked a plane for the workers, to evacuate them to a nearby country. "The plane was forced to return as it came."
According to the source, who asked not to be identified by name due to the sensitivity of the situation, "so far there has been no disruption to continuous work in Ukraine, and no decline in productivity is seen, despite the constant tension. The cyber attack in the middle of the week was very limited. They interact closely with the guys in Israel, and that's how they spend the day.
We wanted to bring the workers and families here. The Ministry of Health demanded that they wait 14 days after receiving the booster, and the Ministry of the Interior fears that they will apply for political asylum. "
Einat Gaz, CEO of Papaya Global: "Despite this, it is clear that there is harm to Israeli high-tech and companies are now looking for other sources of employees, outside of Ukraine. In the last nine years, an amazing ecosystem has been built in Ukraine that serves Israeli companies, and it will not be easy to find a replacement for it. But there may be no choice. "
An Israeli high-tech company that employs about 50 workers in Ukraine, most of them in the west of the country, also said that the workers were not happy to vacate, so so far they have not been evacuated to a nearby country, although they have received an offer to do so. "It seems that the cow wants to breastfeed more than the calf wants to suckle," said a senior company official.
"We gently inquired if the workers wanted to vacate," say another company, which employs about 20 workers in Ukraine directly. "The question was a little strange to them - 'If there was tension in Israel now, would you have vacated?' "We sent a message that we would be happy to know if there is any way to help - through a financial grant, transfer of the families and more. But in the meantime nothing."
A few companies, including Papaya Global, considered bringing the developers from Ukraine temporarily to Israel, and encountered a lack of cooperation from the Israeli authorities. According to Einat Gaz, CEO of the company, which employs about 40 people in Ukraine, "We wanted to bring the workers and families here, to find them an immediate solution. The Ministry of Health demanded that they wait 14 days after receiving the booster, and the Ministry of the Interior fears that they will apply for political asylum. "
A source at another high-tech company that was in contact with the authorities on the subject said that "the government was actually attentive and had some conversations with us on the subject. It has sensitivity at the diplomatic level, but it is possible that if the companies insisted on bringing developers "The high price in Israel, and the fact that most of the workers are not happy to come here anyway, has taken it out of the question. Most companies are not interested in that."