US technology firm terminates employment of Russian expatriates
AI-powered business service company ABBYY has significantly downsized its R&D department, which primarily consisted of Russian programmers. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
ABBYY's recent decision to close its R&D department has resulted in the termination of hundreds of software engineers who had relocated from Russia and Belarus in 2022 to continue with the company.
Established in the USSR in 1989, ABBYY specialized in intelligent automation solutions and later expanded internationally, relocating its headquarters to Silicon Valley.
In the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict starting in February 2022, ABBYY offered relocation options to numerous Russian developers in locations such as Cyprus, Hungary, and Serbia. However, most of these developers received notice of their layoffs via conference call on Monday.
According to a spokesperson for ABBYY USA, the company has “embarked on a path of business transformation and modernization” and has “reorganized” vital operations, including its Research and Development department.
“This global transformation allows us to reinvest in future growth and accelerate product and solution innovation for our customers,” they indicated.
ABBYY has chosen not to reveal the precise number of employees affected by the layoffs. However, various Russian media outlets have reported, based on the accounts of dismissed programmers wishing to remain anonymous, that the number ranges from 200 to 400. Notably, the Cyprus office was reportedly closed entirely.
Claims circulating on social media included statements like, “They fired everyone who had a Russian passport.” Some former employees alleged that they were replaced by less expensive coders from India, although this allegation remains unverified.
Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Khinstein responded to the situation by warning that Russians would face ongoing discrimination in the West.
“I don’t intend to gloat about this, people found themselves in a difficult situation,” he shared on Telegram. “But their example should serve as a good lesson for everyone going forward: don’t rely on a caring foreign uncle. It doesn’t matter whether you are a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ Russian, you are still Russian, and therefore a second-class citizen.”
Former employees have speculated that American investors might have urged the company to eliminate all Russian and Belarusian workers, although some reports suggest that a few individuals managed to retain their positions through the cuts.
Kira Kuzmenko, founder of the recruiting firm NEWHR, asserted to Forbes Russia, “It wasn’t the Russians who were fired, but the entire development team. The remaining employees [with Russian citizenship], for example from the business development department, remained in the company.” She emphasized that historically, all of ABBYY’s development occurred within the Russian context.
Former staff members expressed concerns on social media that no one remained at the company capable of managing service contracts, while one former employee dismissed rumors about a potential sale of the business, stating that such a move would require value, whereas the current management had effectively “flushed a huge amount of value down the toilet.”
ABBYY was founded in 1989 by David Yang, an Armenian who graduated from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology. Interestingly, the company’s website does not acknowledge its origins and lacks a presentation in Russian.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
Established in the USSR in 1989, ABBYY specialized in intelligent automation solutions and later expanded internationally, relocating its headquarters to Silicon Valley.
In the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict starting in February 2022, ABBYY offered relocation options to numerous Russian developers in locations such as Cyprus, Hungary, and Serbia. However, most of these developers received notice of their layoffs via conference call on Monday.
According to a spokesperson for ABBYY USA, the company has “embarked on a path of business transformation and modernization” and has “reorganized” vital operations, including its Research and Development department.
“This global transformation allows us to reinvest in future growth and accelerate product and solution innovation for our customers,” they indicated.
ABBYY has chosen not to reveal the precise number of employees affected by the layoffs. However, various Russian media outlets have reported, based on the accounts of dismissed programmers wishing to remain anonymous, that the number ranges from 200 to 400. Notably, the Cyprus office was reportedly closed entirely.
Claims circulating on social media included statements like, “They fired everyone who had a Russian passport.” Some former employees alleged that they were replaced by less expensive coders from India, although this allegation remains unverified.
Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Khinstein responded to the situation by warning that Russians would face ongoing discrimination in the West.
“I don’t intend to gloat about this, people found themselves in a difficult situation,” he shared on Telegram. “But their example should serve as a good lesson for everyone going forward: don’t rely on a caring foreign uncle. It doesn’t matter whether you are a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ Russian, you are still Russian, and therefore a second-class citizen.”
Former employees have speculated that American investors might have urged the company to eliminate all Russian and Belarusian workers, although some reports suggest that a few individuals managed to retain their positions through the cuts.
Kira Kuzmenko, founder of the recruiting firm NEWHR, asserted to Forbes Russia, “It wasn’t the Russians who were fired, but the entire development team. The remaining employees [with Russian citizenship], for example from the business development department, remained in the company.” She emphasized that historically, all of ABBYY’s development occurred within the Russian context.
Former staff members expressed concerns on social media that no one remained at the company capable of managing service contracts, while one former employee dismissed rumors about a potential sale of the business, stating that such a move would require value, whereas the current management had effectively “flushed a huge amount of value down the toilet.”
ABBYY was founded in 1989 by David Yang, an Armenian who graduated from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Technology. Interestingly, the company’s website does not acknowledge its origins and lacks a presentation in Russian.
Max Fischer contributed to this report for TROIB News
