“In VK, there is no talk of firing employees, since there is a shortage of IT specialists on the market, and not a single company in Russia will take such a step under current conditions,” said a source close to the company. she told RB.RU.

According to him, in IT companies, banks and government agencies there are some employees who have access to critical data and their work can only be done in the office. Such employees cannot work from abroad, so they are offered to return or take on projects that do not require access to important data.

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The VK RB.RU press service reported that the company operates in a hybrid format. “The schedule and format of the work of specialists is determined individually. Employees work part of the time from the office, part of the time remotely. Some categories of professionals have to work from the office most of the time. This is due to access to certain resources, it guarantees the security of the data of users, employees and counterparties”, explained the holding company.

Earlier, the We Can Explain telegram channel, citing its sources, reported that the VK management demanded the return of employees who left Russia, otherwise the company will fire them. Another source added that this is explained by server security issues and the desire to prevent leaks in the company.

At the end of December, Maksut Shadayev, head of the Ministry of Digital Development, announced that there were about 100,000 Russian IT specialists outside Russia. He noted that 80% of the employees who left the country continue to work for Russian companies from abroad.

Russia faced another wave of departure of IT specialists in late September after the announcement of a partial mobilization in the country.