Where in Ukraine is the greatest shortage of personnel: what the State Employment Service says

Ukraine has the largest shortage of skilled workers. These are professions such as seamstress, electrician for electrical equipment repair, plumber, electrician, track fitter, emergency repairman, welder, electric and gas welder, car mechanic, etc. Yulia Zhovtyak, Director of the State Employment Service, told RBC-Ukraine in an interview.

"Today, the situation on the labor market remains difficult. Before the full-scale invasion, there was a shortage of vacancies on the market, but now there is a shortage of personnel. So now is the time of the employee," she said.

According to her, there is a shortage of personnel in almost all types of economic activity. "And we expect further growth of competition for employees: retention of staff and search for new ones," the official added.

According to the State Employment Service, the greatest difficulties with filling vacancies arise in the transport sector, construction, and manufacturing.

"Obviously, the situation will get worse during the post-war recovery period. The Ministry of Economy is already estimating a labor shortage of 4.5 million people in the next ten years," Zhovtyak said.

Not only the war

The director of the State Employment Service noted that a similar trend was observed before the full-scale invasion.

"This is the so-called structural unemployment. But it worsened with the outbreak of war. Thus, after Russia's temporary occupation of the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, a significant number of local residents, including many mine workers, left for other regions of the country where there is simply no need for such specialists.

In her opinion, the reason for structural unemployment is that Ukraine has not popularized these working professions for many years. For years, they were considered unprestigious and low-paid.

"I recently talked to the design community. And they say that Ukrainians don't want to work as seamstresses, for example. This is due to the belief that this field pays very little money. In fact, the real salaries of seamstresses are much higher. And, for example, electric welders are offered salaries of up to UAH 100,000, and operators of computer numerical control machines are paid up to UAH 120,000 per month," Zhovtyak said.

According to her, the war will be followed by economic recovery and reconstruction of the territories, in particular after de-occupation.

"So, we will need people primarily in the field of housing construction and reconstruction, restoration of energy infrastructure, water and gas supply. The healthcare sector will also need to be developed. There will be a growing need for junior medical staff and social workers," she said.

Author: Ruslan Kyslyak, Oleksandr Bilous