Tech giant bans remote work from abroad

Russian tech major VK has prohibited remote work from outside the country, Forbes reported on Wednesday, citing the company’s press office.

The corporation, which runs the popular Russian social media platform VKontakte, also known as VK, told the media that employees would retain the option of working remotely, but to have full access to the workflow, including to user data, they would now have to be located inside the country.

“VK staff have an opportunity to work from the office, in a hybrid format and remotely. At the same time, full-scale remote work with all accesses, including work with user data, is possible from the office or remotely from the territory of Russia,” the company said.

Earlier, the media outlet The Bell reported that VK had informed its employees that they were being required to determine their working locations and have them approved by management.

“VK is a Russian company, our products are more focused on the Russian market. It is important for us to be in the same context with users and understand their needs,” the message reads, as quoted by the media outlet.

According to sources in the IT sector cited by the media, corporate security requirements for data and information systems generally oblige tech companies to keep data inside the country and allow access only to employees based domestically.

Sources familiar with the situation also told The Bell that IT companies usually do not fire key employees who have been working from abroad but rather reach agreements with them on the format of their work on a case-by-case basis.

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