In modern Ukraine, the war brought serious changes to the labor market, in particular to the issue of gender equality and the role of women in the professional environment. In the conditions of a shortage of personnel, especially in "male" professions, women increasingly begin to occupy positions that were traditionally considered exclusively male.
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, there has been a shortage of personnel in many areas of the Ukrainian labor market. Doctors and farmers sound the alarm: "golden hands" serve in the ranks of the Armed Forces, go abroad or to safer regions. There is a shortage of specialists in the so-called "male" professions. Employers are ready to attract women to non-typical positions, but do Ukrainian women want to retrain and learn new skills?
Are you ready to become a forklift driver? "Yes", "No", "What salary?"
As Vitaly Mykhaylov, director of the Mykhaylov and Partners consulting company, explained, retraining takes place under conditions of clear motivation.
"The specialty is changed if a person has a profession, but he cannot find a job in his specialty, or he is not interested in this profession. Salary also plays a significant role. What, for example, can prompt you to change your profession and sit down, let's say, behind the wheel of an excavator, a journalist or a doctor? At the same time, the situation has now improved due to the fact that all professions and opportunities for their acquisition have opened up for women. If earlier women were hired as drivers mostly in exceptional cases, now it is more often. And they even launch retraining programs, which I, in particular, only support," Mykhaylov said.
Excavator or driver of 4th, 5th grade construction equipment not in the combat zone receives from 25,000 to 50,000 UAH. They mostly offer contract work and provide housing
Note that, according to the Ministry of Economy, a free retraining program is being launched in Ukraine for women who wish to acquire the skills to manage construction equipment.
Program participants will have the opportunity to learn how to work on excavators and front-end loaders. The program is organized by foreign organizations with the support of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine. Twelve women over the age of 18 who already have a valid driver's license of any category and driving experience, a letter of recommendation from an employer, "clear motivation" and good health will be selected for the pilot group. Therefore, for almost three months, the future drivers of grade 5 excavators and grade 4 loader drivers will have a free theoretical course and offline training in a camp in the Kyiv region with conditions for food, 24-hour accommodation and regular medical check-ups.
Lack of workers: all industries face
The need for women's retraining and their mastering of "male" professions is confirmed, in particular, by a study by the Ministry of Economy: in 2024, almost every second enterprise faced difficulties when filling vacancies. Mobilization (67%) and migration (54%) are cited as the main reasons for the lack of workers.
Vitaly Mykhaylov also agrees that the shortage of personnel in Ukraine is becoming crisis-like.
Mobilization (67%) and migration (54%) are cited as the main reasons for the lack of workers
"In view of the fact that the pre-war and current situation with the number of vacancies in Ukraine has not changed, and the number of people in the country has decreased (about 6-7 million people have gone abroad). That is, the working population became smaller, and the number of vacancies remained at the same level as before the full-scale war. Plus, count how many of our people went to the Armed Forces. Therefore, we have little left of the free labor market, which was evaluated based on those who pay taxes (which is approximately 11 million), - explained Mykhailov.
Tymofiy Badikov, executive director of the Coalition for Vaccination, agrees with the expert and emphasizes that Ukrainian communities, which have up to 30,000 inhabitants, are primarily experiencing a shortage of personnel.
"If we talk about medical workers, there are Ukrainian communities that survive only thanks to medical practice. Therefore, the shortage of doctors is a challenge for cities and towns in general: will they be able to exist, finance their current expenses. That is, the lack of personnel in the medical field is a problem not only for patients, but also for the heads of administrations," Timofy Badikov explained.
According to nationwide monitoring conducted by the Ukrainian Center for Economic and Political Research named after Razumkov, in Ukraine there are certain tendencies to decrease work motivation among the population. Both employers and employees have recognized that the country still has a significant labor reserve that is not being used, namely among those who are currently unemployed.
According to the study, 80% of the unemployed in Ukraine are not looking for a job. And they have no intention of looking for it. An average of 16% are actively searching
There are discussions in expert circles about how exactly to increase this labor reserve. And it is about more active involvement of women in the labor market. After all, according to the study, 80% of the unemployed in Ukraine are not looking for a job. And they have no intention of looking for it. An average of 16% are actively searching.
"This is a very low percentage. And this is happening against the background of an increase in the number of vacancies," said Olga Pyschulina, an expert on social and gender programs at the Razumkov Center.
She also questioned whether Ukrainian employers are ready to hire women for so-called "male" professions.
"We hear many interviews with representatives of big business that they recruit women for the so-called "male" types of employment. However, our research has shown that there are actually not that many such successful examples. These are only isolated cases," the expert added.
Gender gap: women's salary expectations are more modest than men's
A study conducted by the job search site Work.ua proves that not only employers are not ready to offer women to master male professions. Ukrainian women themselves still have not gotten rid of gender stereotypes regarding salary expectations. Currently, they are up to 20% smaller than in men. According to the results of the study, 26% of women agree to a salary of up to UAH 10,000, while among men, 13% agree.
"Our analytics from last year are still relevant today. The fact that women indicate a salary lower than that of men is still a constant trend. That's how everything stays in the labor market," Viktoriya Bilyakova, PR manager of the Work.ua portal, Focus
Women are more modest in their financial expectations. Applicants for the same vacancy of different categories evaluate their professional value in the labor market differently
So, according to the expert, the salary expectations of job seekers differ by 20% for some positions. Such trends are observed, among other things, in the IT sphere. Salary expectations for women here are 10-30% lower than for men.
"Unfortunately, my experience as a manager confirms that women are more modest in their financial expectations. Applicants for the same vacancy of different categories evaluate their professional value in the labor market in different ways. How to overcome it? First, definitely don't call the number just like that. Only analysis and arguments. My experience suggests that you need to honestly calculate your income and expenses in all points, to understand the real state of affairs. Eventually, I should set a goal, how much I want to earn and what I need the money for. Step three: analyze your professional experience and strengths, write down why I am worth so much and what I should do to be worth more," advises HRD Tetiana Kipiani.
