COVID-19 vs. Armenia’s tech industry: Flux Technologies

Technological companies have switched to remote working because of the coronavirus pandemic. Itel.am has talked with Armenia’s tech companies about the impact of the pandemic on their activity, as well as the specifics, positive and negative aspects of remote working, and their vision of the post-coronavirus world.

***
Armenian company Flux Technologies (founded in 2015) has switched the team to remote working a month ago.

Flux Technologies PR Manager Ani Rshtuni has told Itel.am that the working process has not been impacted at all, because the team’s efforts have been coordinated since day one of the lockdown.

“When we were first considering 100% remote mode of work and trying to find our own methodology, we expected more problems. Apart from the work itself, the key aspects were motivation, maintenance of corporate culture, keeping the employees’ schedules filled, and technical maintenance among others. We solved all issues quite quickly and had no problems with the technical aspect at all. The work proceeds as usual,” she said.

12:13 | 02.04.20 |

US and Armenia-based platform EditMentor to teach creative video editing

Positive and negative aspects

Of course, the positive aspect is the time we get to spend with our families. We can rest a bit more, and obviously, we can avoid traffic jams. Additionally, we all have more free time for studying and self-development. Our company focuses on this point as well: we have provided the team with the resources for productive organization of their free time. We provide links for self-development and update them regularly.

The negative aspect is the distance between the colleagues during the working hours. We really miss the routine in our office, the real communication, even the low noise of the office.

11:22 | 16.04.20 |

COVID-19 vs. Armenia’s IT industry: SoloLearn

The change of plans

Of course, the spread of COVID-19 made us cancel some plans, but it also opened many opportunities.

As we have our own startup product, which is designed for online learning (it is very relevant now), we have registered increase of interest toward our platform. In addition, we are already working on projects and hiring new staff.

Staying in touch with partners

Now more than ever we maintain and cherish our traditions. Flux Talks, Flux Days, birthdays and Flux Anniversaries have moved to the virtual plain. The company continues making nice surprises for the staff, even remotely. We just started working from home when the company sent us amazing packages with vitamins, essentials, and toys for the children. The most impressive moment and memory is the online wedding of one of our colleagues.

Our main means of communication is Slack. We have a new channel there, WFH, where we share fun stories and photos that bring back good memories, and challenge each other. In this period, it is very important to maintain positive mood and fill our days with good vibe. We use various platforms to communicate with the team via video calls.
We also continue hiring new talents, using Google Meet.

Work after COVID-19

All of this will have a positive impact on us, making the team more united. I think we will have more appreciation for our time together and the warm relationship we have, the happy atmosphere of our office, its comfort and orange-colored joy.

When we first announced we were switching to remote working, our executive director assured we would overcome the difficult period very successfully. A month later, he pointed out the huge efforts of the team and said we could have WFH in the future as well as an acceptable format for organizing work.

Changes in tech industry

Of course, these events have impacted the IT industry a great deal. We consider the effect to be positive, because it is thanks to IT that people can study, communicate, shop and do other things online.

This is one of the few industries where work is even more intense these days. IT companies are working more and with a renewed pace.

We believe the trend will stick and after this relative pause, the tech industry will continue growing at an accelerated speed.

Narine Daneghyan