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SoftServe was named Winner in the “Peace” category of the Partnership for Sustainability Award 2024, an annual international campaign in which the UN Global Compact Network recognizes the best projects to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The 2024 awards focused specifically on projects supporting Ukraine during the full-scale invasion, as well as best practices of sustainable development that set examples for future recovery, which made the Veterans at SoftServe Program a compelling candidate.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, over 400 SoftServe associates have joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. To date, more than 70 of them have returned to civilian life after demobilization, said Mariia Kucherenko, Corporate Reputation & CSR Director. At SoftServe, we are dedicated to ensuring a smooth and supportive return for all our veterans. I am proud of the unwavering dedication not only of my colleagues who work tirelessly on our veteran support programs but also of the entire SoftServe team, whose collective efforts make this mission possible. Thanks to this commitment, our veterans successfully reintegrate into civilian and professional life at their own pace and with consideration for all their needs. We are also preparing to warmly welcome back our colleagues who are still serving, ensuring they feel supported when they return.
The Veterans at SoftServe Program aims to reintegrate people back into civilian life and the workplace after military service. It includes additional benefits for fellow veterans (e.g., financial support during their service period, extra vacation days, extended health insurance programs, and psychological support services), as well as retraining for tech skills and languages, educational and mentorship opportunities, and access to a supporting veteran community. Currently, the program has a 98% satisfaction rate, with participants saying they appreciate the company securing their roles and providing upskilling opportunities. The program is focused on creating a veteran-friendly workplace, which also includes special training and SHRM certifications like “Veterans At Work” for leaders and teams, improved recruitment and onboarding processes, and inclusivity accommodations from the physical office to the company’s digital infrastructure.
Impacting veterans in society, SoftServe’s EmpowerU courses provided IT education for almost 1,000 servicemen and women and their family members. The company’s charity fund Open Eyes has donated more than 200 ambulances to the Defense Forces, and SoftServe has already allocated over $25 million to various projects to support Ukraine.
This recognition is not the first for SoftServe since the company joined the UN Global Compact in 2021. Last year, SoftServe reached the final in the Partnership for Sustainability Award in the “Society” category with its EmpowerU and Generation Tech programs, initiatives that provide free training courses in various IT disciplines to diverse communities.
