Like the other e-solutions companies popping up in Russia, Moscow-based software developer Luxoft says it goes the extra byte to ensure that personal quirks and creativity aren’t steamrolled by more traditional ideas of what corporate culture should be.

"Even if the person looks a bit freaky, we will keep working with him, so long as he has balanced nerves, doesn’t cause too much conflict and obeys company rules," says Dmitry Loschinin, the company’s general manager.

For a country with so many people skilled in the sciences and computing, IT companies like Luxoft and the alternative office environments they provide are slowly becoming attractive workplace destinations.

Loschinin said that with the growth of more options in Russia, programmers are becoming more unwilling to leave the country. "We even have problems when some of our people refuse extended travel outside the country for work," he said.

Luxoft has a staff of 270 people, including sales teams in the United States, one on the East Coast and one on the West. Ninety percent of its clients are abroad.

Back in Moscow, the structure is easy and informal. The company’s full-time workforce is divided into six departments, each intended to tackle problems in a specific technical area. Luxoft also has interns, with the current number of university students to have received training over 30.

When a project comes along, employees are selected from the different departments to form problem-solving teams. Individual Luxoft specialists cannot turn down a project if they do not like it, Loschinin said, but if they are unsatisfied with their department work they are entitled to transfer to another one — provided they meet certain requirements.

According to Loschinin, projects can last anywhere from two months to several years. When the project is completed, a team is disbanded to form a new one. There are times when employees enter new projects only an hour after finishing the previous one. In other cases, the break can last much longer. It all depends on the market, he said.

He added that Luxoft always tries to have reservists available in case of unexpected orders. If the entire staff is busy with projects, the firm immediately starts recruiting.

"But we don’t lay people off if several projects end simultaneously and there is a delay with new orders," he said, adding that there are always some things that can be done in the interim. During the most active part of the market cycle, Luxoft hires around 20 people a month.

Currently, the IT sector is an employer’s market, Loschinin added, pointing out that the slump in the Internet economy has pushed many skilled specialists into the job market. However, he expects the situation to change in a few months.

Still, no matter which way the market goes, Luxoft recruiting procedures are not likely to change. Employment procedures will still require applicants to pass six interviews and several knowledge-assessment and psychological tests, he said.