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We Did Not Have Any Significant Project Shutdowns - Favbet on Working in a War

We continue a series of publications on the work of business and labor relations with employees in a war. This time, Sergey Koshil told Favbet HRD about the experience of the company.

We Did Not Have Any Significant Project Shutdowns - Favbet on Working in a War

Valentyn Ihnatiev

14.07.2022 | 02:11

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Whether it was necessary to reduce the staff with the onset of hostilities, whether the management reduced wages and whether the hiring process has changed - read about this and much more in the interview.

How many staff members were at Favbet before the war and did it have to be reduced with the outbreak of hostilities?

Favbet is a diversified holding, which includes several business areas, so it would be incorrect to name any single number of employees.

As for the reductions, the Company's management has adopted a strategy to preserve jobs as much as possible: we believe in the victory of Ukraine and the stabilization of businesses. And together with a strong well-functioning team, the way out of the crisis will be fast and confident.

Many Favbet employees had to move with the onset of the war: to Western Ukraine or abroad?

In the first month of hostilities, this was difficult to calculate, because. people moved daily: 12% of employees were abroad. Of those remaining in the country, about 40% stayed in Kyiv and the region. The rest are mainly in the west of Ukraine, but a significant part was with their families in the Central regions. The front-line areas were the least.

How many employees work remotely and do not visit the office at all?

Since the beginning of hostilities, the company has completely remote work. In principle, most of the Company stayed there before, due to the pandemic. At the moment (July), part of the employees already regularly visits the office of their own free will.

Did the management have to make unpopular decisions on personnel: to reduce wages or transfer them to a part of the rate?

From the beginning of hostilities, the company observed the principle of remuneration for the hours actually worked. It is important to understand two factors here: the presence of tasks on the part of the company, and the ability of employees to be in working mode.

If we talk about loading, we did not have significant shutdowns in projects: some of them were revised - but replaced by others that are of higher priority at the moment. In general, the load has partially decreased in business areas where employees do not have the opportunity to work remotely (including because many of them have left Kyiv).

At the same time, especially in the first months, many were on the move, in connection with which they took a vacation or non-working days.

How many employees left the company voluntarily since the beginning of the war? Perhaps due to moving abroad or for other reasons?

The percentage of voluntary layoffs has decreased: for example, in March-April there were practically none. Since May, there have been isolated cases of leaving due to moving abroad, or for family reasons. But at the moment there are not enough of them to display some kind of trend.

In recent years, the labor market in Ukraine has changed a lot and will continue to change towards remote work and Europe. Also, the gap between IT and non-IT industries has become even larger - the number of vacancies and candidates confirms this. This will increasingly affect the retention of employees in various areas.

What is the situation with the staff at Favbet now? Is the company hiring new employees? Perhaps there were new positions in the state that became relevant precisely during the work of the business in the conditions of war?

At the moment, we are actively hiring - more than 40 vacancies in various areas are open. To some extent, the current crisis situation has contributed to the revision of the company's long-term goals and the development of new projects, for which we are now staffing teams. Basically, this is hiring typical vacancies for our business: developers, digital marketing specialists, customer support, etc.

Tell us about the specifics of recruiting in the gaming niche. Perhaps some special difficulties arise precisely because of working in the gambling field.

The gambling niche is very dynamic, diverse, and customer-oriented. Many employees, coming to it, stay here for a long time.

The time when the gambling business was compared with something unethical has already passed - now it is a modern Entertainment direction, with international competitors, technological projects, and a large number of employees. And thanks to better regulation at the state level, the industry attracts foreign customers and operators, which makes us develop even stronger.

Therefore, the difficulty of hiring in our niche depends on the same factors as in other industries: the competencies of the applicant and the willingness to work at our pace. We have several stages of interviews with HR and managers so that we and the candidate can be 100% sure that we are suitable for each other. If we see that the applicant has doubts about the gambling industry, most likely we will not take this applicant ... but at the same time, he or she may have the same doubts about other niches: outsourcing, fintech, crypto, etc. Therefore, we, as a big business, understand the risks of hiring the “wrong” people, and we are looking for candidates aimed at long-term productive cooperation.

How does your company handle the onboarding of new employees? Has the process of adaptation changed with the advent of the war?

With the pandemic in mind, our onboarding process has already been adjusted to work remotely. It lasts 3 months and includes welcome meetings, periodic syndications with an employee/manager/HR, as well as collecting feedback for HR analytics. The outbreak of hostilities only affected the increase in the mailing of documents and welcome packs, otherwise, the process remained the same.

We know that Favbet implements many charitable initiatives that support the army and internally displaced people. May you tell us about this?

T We continue to take care of two orphanages. Before the war, they were engaged in the development of the state program for the digitalization of libraries, but, unfortunately, now the process has been temporarily stopped due to hostilities in the country.

Important:

Today, the main goal of 95% of the projects of our FAVBET Foundation is to help the country and internally displaced people, support the army, and rehabilitate wounded soldiers.

To date, the company has transferred more than four million hryvnias and five tons of fuel directly and through charitable organizations for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We also purchased three ambulances, which are already used by Nikolaev doctors, and bought two armored vehicles for the front. Starting from October 2021, the FAVBET Foundation transfers 100 000 hryvnias monthly for the rehabilitation of soldiers.

FAVBET also actively supports Ukrainian refugees who have settled in Croatia. We started by organizing a trip to a football match for peace between Dynamo Kyiv and Dynamo Zagreb. A free language school has also been opened, based on which a whole center is already operating for Ukrainians to communicate and receive the necessary support.

The foundation projects and the company can no longer be divided into two separate areas. If before the war about 15 people actively worked in the fund, today every third of our employees takes part in charitable projects on their own initiative within the framework of the fund or company.

What are the immediate goals of Favbet, in terms of the development of the company as a whole and the team of employees, in particular, can you share with us?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you in detail, because. this is a trade secret of the company. But if in general - then the preservation of current positions, as well as the development of new projects that have appeared in connection with changes in recent months. And, of course, one of the important directions of the company now is the support of the army and employees who are in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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