Beetroot, a Swedish IT service company that builds teams of tech experts in Ukraine, has just released a report on the “critical role” of sustainability in its operations — offering an example of how an IT company may put sustainable development principles into practice.
The report identifies some of the ways the company has contributed to the achievement of sustainable development goals, or plans to do so — from economic development (focusing on small and midsize cities), to education, to gender equality, to well-being, to climate action.
Among the key facts and numbers highlighted in the report are the following:
In the field of employment and work conditions:
- The total number of direct and indirect jobs created by the Beetroot Ecosystem in Ukraine reached 2,000-2,500.
- During the COVID-19 outbreak, Beetroot enabled a rapid transition to remote work and initiated extra payouts for team members who got sick in addition to regular health insurance (the payout amount of which grew by 30% in 2020 compared to 2019).
- Beetroot aims to provide more opportunities for women in tech with a corresponding goal of reaching 50/50 gender parity in the Beetroot Ecosystem’s team by 2030.
The Ukrainian Corporate Equality Index awarded the company a 2020 Top Employer prize.
Engaging more people in Ukrainian tech is a significant driver of Ukraine’s economic growth, with the average tech salary almost six times higher than the national average, notes Beetroot.
In the field of education:
- Beetroot Academy educated about 4% of all talents who joined the Ukrainian tech industry in 2020.
- Members of the Beetroot Ecosystem in Ukraine and Sweden hosted a combined total of more than 250 online and offline educational events that attracted over 15,000 attendees.
- In partnership with Ioco Arma Nostra, Beetroot provided 75 scholarships for individuals from Ukrainian families affected by the war to take a Beetroot Academy course and start a career in tech.
Other sustainability goals or achievements include the following:
- While claiming “continuous efforts to reduce the carbon footprint,” Beetroot invested in a reforestation project in Castillo y León, Spain, to compensate for the CO2 emissions that could not be avoided.
- Beetroot is moving towards a client base composed of “at least 80%” of impact-oriented industries (including but not limited to greentech, medtech and edtech).
- Beetroot is in the process of “finalizing the ISO 27001 implementation” as the first step in developing a sustainable cybersecurity strategy.
“Beetroot has been an impact-oriented company from day one. Sustainability is hard-coded in everything we do as a tech ecosystem. Rather than being an add-on policy, it is central to how and why we do business,” claims Andreas Flodstrom, Co-founder and CEO of Beetroot AB.
“Keeping our sustainable impact targets aligned with the global goals and standards is critical to us. Translating them into actionable initiatives is no less important,” the Swedish entrepreneur added.
The full version of the report is available here.
