Solidarity and kindness serve as a light that can guide us through dark times.
Ukraine continues to be in its darkest chapter—one that tells a story of conflict, violence, and turmoil as a result of a war that is taking a catastrophic toll on a nation and its people. It’s times like these when generosity and empathy are very much needed to spark hope within one another, allowing us to keep on moving no matter how difficult.
For all her efforts, Anna Volkova, our colleague from Teleperformance Poland, has truly become a source of light. Together with a team of Teleperformance volunteers from three countries, Anna coordinates the UA Support Hotline, a hotline that helps our colleagues in Ukraine remain connected with their families. The hotline also supports colleagues and their families who require help crossing borders from Ukraine, providing accommodations, psychological support, and employment.
Anna, who has been working at Teleperformance for over five years, is currently based in Warsaw at Teleperformance Poland. We recently reached out to her to ask about the work she has been doing together with the UA Support Hotline’s volunteers. To us, their stories of compassion and selflessness offer hope—and hope, in right amounts, is powerful enough to guide us through. Read our interview with Anna below.
TP: Hi Anna! First of all, thank you for your efforts in helping our colleagues in Ukraine. We are extremely grateful. Can you please share a little bit about your TP story?
Anna: I’ve been working at TP Poland in Warsaw for more than five years. I started as a Russian/Ukrainian-speaking agent in one of customer service projects. After that, I was transferred to a technical support line for clients from Russia.
In 2019, I was promoted to a supervisor position, and in 2020, I was promoted to an ACM position. I am managing two projects—projects that I was a part of when I started at TP.
TP: We understand you coordinate all the hotlines for our colleagues in Ukraine. Can you please tell us a few specifics, and tell us more about what you’ve been doing to help our colleagues?
Anna: We opened a support hotline for our Ukrainian colleagues on the 28th of February. Our goal is to help not only our colleagues and their families in Ukraine who are running away from war, but to also support Ukrainians at Teleperformance throughout the CEMEA region.
Our volunteers from Poland, Czech, and Romania help through the UA Support Hotline. 20 volunteers from these three countries run the hotline 24/7. We assist TP employees and their families with legalization issues, transportation, accommodation, psychological help, and employment. I believe we are doing a good job!
TP: How many colleagues have you spoken to and have helped so far?
Anna: We have helped a lot of people who wanted to know more about legalization in EU, as well as those who are asking for more information about local transport. We arranged transfers for three families to Portugal. We helped a few families by arranging accommodations in Poland, Romania, and also in Portugal. We also helped one family reunite in Greece. We assisted a colleague to move and stay in Switzerland. We also found long-term accommodations for a few people in Poland.
We have seen many cases, and each of them we treat individually. We are aware of the fact that our help is so important and needed in this moment, and sometimes families can only rely on us. Behind each case are the lives and histories of people. So, together with our colleagues in CEMEA, we try to take care of one another and do everything possible to support people who are facing a cruel situation like war.
TP: You keep colleagues and their families connected during a difficult time. Is there a particular moment or story that became memorable or close to you while you were running the hotline? Please share it with us if you don’t mind.
Anna: I helped one family who ran from Ukraine and wanted to reach their daughter—our colleague from TP Greece. I stayed in touch with her for almost 24 hours because I wanted to help her family in every step. When her family crossed the Polish border, I was so happy because they were already safe. We arranged a short accommodation for the family in Warsaw and took care of their flight to Greece. Meanwhile, in Greece, our colleague sent me over a hundred messages to thank me—and it was so touching and heartfelt.
I think we did what every person should do in that kind of situation: offer support. In the end, we had a deal with our colleague’s family—that if ever I come to Greece someday, we will all have dinner together. It is a big honor for me to help them.
TP: You’re truly making a difference as you play a key role in supporting our colleagues in Ukraine. What does this mean to you, and how does this make you feel?
Anna: I’m Ukrainian, and for me, it’s a very personal story. I can understand how those people feel like. Every time I think about how our hotline is helping many people, I understand that we are doing good deeds. So, I’m very happy and honored.
I believe that all volunteers who are running the UA Support Hotline have the same feelings. For all of us, it’s an honor. And I am truly proud to work with them.
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Interview text is edited for clarity and brevity. Teleperformance is still accepting donations to support Ukraine through the International Red Cross webpage, which you can access here.
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