Actions Your Company Can Take to Help Ukrainians

1. Create a comprehensive guide for those thinking about fleeing from the war in Ukraine to your country for safety. Moving somewhere new - especially as a refugee - comes with lots to think about:

What documents are needed to cross the border with/without a child?
What kind of support is available? Free housing/food/transportation/language courses? How to access them?
How long can I stay in the country? Shall I apply for Refugee or Temporary Protection status after entering the country? What’s the difference between these two?
Will I be legally allowed to work? If so, what are the best places to search for a job?
Am I entitled, as a refugee from Ukraine, to social security and (free) medical care?

And the list goes on!

Post the guide on your blog and promote it on social media. You can also share the link with your potential job candidates from Ukraine.

2. Hire Ukrainians. Here are some tips:

Use your local job boards - especially those that have a section for hiring Ukrainians. For instance, in Poland it’s robota.pracuj.pl.
Search for active job boards created by Ukrainians to help their fellow citizens who have lost/left jobs because of the war. Check out these three links as a starting point:

https://how-to-help-ukraine-now.super.site/hire-ukrainians
https://technation.io/resources-to-support-ukrainian-talent

Search niche groups/communities on Facebook, Telegram, and Slack with professionals in a specific field, (digital marketers, programmers, healthcare professionals, etc.), and post your relevant job vacancies there.
Do not think of the current situation in Ukraine as a chance to easily/quickly hire Ukrainians, especially software engineers, for your team. Do not thoughtlessly spam. Men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine now, as they are required to serve their country. Many of them, including those working in the IT industry, have joined the army or territorial defense forces to resist the Russian invasion. Many people have had to leave their homes, and changing jobs now is additional stress and risk. These are just some of the reasons to exercise caution when considering hiring Ukrainians, especially males currently in Ukraine.

Feel free to message me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.

3. Put together a list of verified employers in your country who offer “fast-track” hiring and/or relocation assistance to Ukrainians.

4. Talk to your Corporate Social Responsibility department. Good friends of mine managed to negotiate with their CSR squad about a monthly budget for charity.

5. Brainstorm within your organization for additional ways to help, especially if your product is related to things like finding employment, resume writing, renting apartments, health insurance, health care, and so on. For example, the healthtech company DocPlanner has created a list of Ukrainian and Russian speaking doctors in Poland who provide free medical consultations to Ukrainian refugees. CloudLinux, a remote-first software company that builds products for Linux-based web servers, makes a $3,000 donation to Ukrainian charities each time they hire a Ukrainian for their open tech roles and provides relocation help to those who are allowed to leave the country.

6. Take part in webinars and conferences organized to raise funds to help the Ukrainian people who have been impacted by this bloody invasion. You can also organize a sales day/a day of big discounts for your users to collect additional money for humanitarian aid for Ukrainians.

7. Make monetary donations. My suggestions:

Split your budget for charity efforts between different foundations.
Focus on local grassroots charities, as they’re the most knowledgeable about the actual needs.
It’s absolutely okay to work with small foundations. They are like startups - flexible and fast.
Large NGOs/foundations like the Red Cross are not particularly efficient because of their bureaucracy. I personally was in touch with the Red Cross in Odesa, and you know what? They expected my small foundation to help them!!?!! They receive zero funding from the national/main headquarters and have to operate on locally self-raised funds.
You can ask your colleagues from Ukraine to suggest/search for foundations targeting a specific population group, (e.g. children, or displaced people from the eastern regions), specific needs, (e.g. food or medicine), or a specific region.

8. Support Ukrainians by offering special promo codes, free or deeply-discounted access to Premium for a few months, a lengthier free trial period, free credit, etc. This is one of the simplest, (and perhaps one of the most tangible), ways you can help. For instance, Figma is granting continued access to paid features for its current Ukrainian customers. Digital banking app Revolut has simplified the account setup process for those displaced by the Russian invasion. Language learning platform Busuu is offering all Ukrainians full access to Busuu Premium free of charge for three months. Such acts remain in people’s memories for a long time and can help you get a large number of product/brand evangelists among Ukrainians.

9. If possible, add some content in the Ukrainian language to your site, as was done on the official website of the European Union. Here are a few platforms where you can quickly find Ukraine-based translators:

10. Ask your Ukrainian colleagues, contractors, partners, or friends how you can help. The closer the person is to the war regions, the better they’ll know what kinds of help are needed. The situation in cities/regions is changing rather quickly, and so are their needs. Therefore, before arranging delivery of any kind of aid to any specific destination, it’s always better to double-check whether it is still actually a viable option.

11. Big or small, every action counts. Do not try to put your effort into all the above. Little actions by many will make a big difference.