Glens Falls Post-Star
March 9, 2001

Area high-tech firms find skilled labor overseas

 

By MAURY THOMPSON
thompson@poststar.com

When Valdimir Kuperman was a youngster, factories in his hometown of Tula, Russia, produced many of the weapons that fueled the arms race between the Soviet Union and United States.

Today, Kuperman is manager of Demidov's Style, a Russian technology consulting firm, and he wants to become a partner with Albany and Glens Falls area technology firms as they take on competitors in the Silicon Valley.

Skilled high-tech workers are fleeing upstate New York for high-paying jobs in California and Boston, making it difficult for fledgling Albany area technology firms to find staff, executives say.

Meanwhile, experienced software engineers in Russia sit idle, sidelined by poor economic conditions since the collapse of the former Soviet government.

"The only thing that they want and can do is work with computers," Kuperman said of his colleagues in Russia.

Kuperman is serving a three-month unpaid internship at Logical Net Communications in Albany, during which he is arranging independent contractor agreements between area technology firms and his own company in Russia.

Logical Net provides communication services, including Internet service under the names Logical Net and Capital Net.

Demidov's Style has an arrangement with the U.S. government that allows programmers to come to New York for two to three weeks at a time to consult on projects without waiting for visas.

"It takes longer to get a flight out than it does to arrange the paperwork," said Tush Nikollaj, president and chief executive officer of Logical Net.

The remaining work can be done via the Internet.

Kuperman's internship was arranged by the Albany-Tula Alliance, a sister city program that began in 1991. The program promotes links between Albany and Tula, a city about 120 miles south of Moscow that was the home of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Historically, Tula's leading industries have been agriculture, mining and armaments, according to a history posted on the Albany-Tula Alliance's Web site.

Albany and Tula view the Silicon Valley as a common competitor, Kuperman said, explaining that West Coast firms are recruiting workers from Russia as well as the East Coast of the United States.

Both sides benefit from high-tech employment links between Russia and the eastern United States, he said. For Russia, the advantage is that skilled workers may choose not to abandon their native country.

"I'd like to keep the brilliant Russians, talented software engineers, in Russia," Kuperman said.

For U.S. companies, contracting with so-called offshore programmers can be cheaper than hiring local workers.

Troy Hewitt, president of EZWAy Web Services Inc. in Schenectady, said his firm saves about 35 percent on its net costs by contracting with programmers in India. Labor is much cheaper in India, he said, but high-speed Internet access is more expensive.

Lower operating costs give fledgling firms a competitive advantage over established companies that have name recognition, Nikollaj said.

Kuperman stressed that his aim is not to displace any local workers.

Craig Gravina, chief executive officer of Systems 1, a software design firm in Saratoga Springs, said he may use offshore programmers for temporary projects.