A.M. asks:
After graduating from a technical university in northern Russia, I started as a design engineer at a US semiconductor company in Saint Petersburg ten years ago. I worked on IP development, verification, fault injection, software support and software development. In the spring of 2022, shortly following the invasion of Ukraine, I heard that the office would be closed.
Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to continue my work in Germany at another branch. My responsibilities were even extended to the development of the complete verification flow, including front-end and back-end IP models. When my team leader recently left the company, I therefore expected to be offered his position. However, to my great disappointment and surprise, I was passed over by a much less experienced engineer.
This lack of confidence made me look around a bit and I applied for a very interesting position at a leading technology company. It was such a good fit that it seemed like the position had been created especially for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to an interview as the company was mainly interested in my residency papers. Only with a permanent residence permit in Germany could I be considered for the position. I was told by the human resources manager that this was all because of the international sanctions against Russia. Is it really the case that I can’t change jobs until I have permanent residence papers in Germany?
The headhunter answers:
To get right to the point: yes, it does come down to that. Still, I think you should count your blessings. I know countless Russian engineers at Western companies in Russia who lost their jobs and didn’t get the chance to continue their jobs in the West. Some fled Russia because of their fear of being mobilized, but there are undoubtedly many still working outside their desired field. You were lucky enough to continue your work in Germany without much difficulty before the Western measures came into effect and all the embassies closed. Now is not the right time for you to change jobs, however unpleasant you may find this.
It might be good to realize that because of all the geopolitical tensions, engineers from many countries are banned from working with ‘sensitive’ technology. Recently, a client gave me a list of the number of restricted countries or nationalities. This list contains as many as 27 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cambodia, China (PRC), Cuba, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Libya, Macau, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen. Engineers from these countries can only work on certain technology if they have a permanent residence permit in a Western country (so not a temporary permit like you).
All Western countries are bound by the international measures, but I have noticed that not all companies are equally aware of the rules or they do not all adhere to them equally strictly. This may be a small ‘escape’ for you before you’ve secured permanent residency in Germany. When you make such a move, however, you increase the risk of losing your job. I once experienced an engineer in a similar predicament being dismissed during his probationary period, and the HR manager who had overlooked it got fired as well.
