After the major Russian attack began almost three years ago, the economy and labor market in Ukraine collapsed sharply. Death, injury or escape mean that many industries are desperately looking for staff.
In the production hall of the Biomedsklo glass company in Zhytomyr, long conveyor belts line up with bottles and glasses. 60 percent of this is exported abroad.
“We produce very high-quality glass,” says technical manager Oleksander Milevskyj. “The more neutral and lighter the color, the better the quality.”
The technical manager Oleksander Milevskyj is one of the 220 employees of the glass company Biomedsklo. There are currently ten open positions.
Desperately looking for specialists
Milevskyj is one of 60 highly qualified specialists out of a total of 220 employees. Mechanical or electronic engineers, as well as electricians or IT programmers, are important, says human resources manager Galyna Fesyuk.
There are currently ten vacancies; engineers, but also plant and machine operators or people on the assembly line are needed.
Mobilization after a major Russian attack
The major Russian attack on February 24, 2022 was also a traumatic turning point for Biomedsklo in many respects. 80 percent of the employees are men and from one day to the next ten percent were in the army.
“From February and March 2022, ten percent of our production capacity was missing,” said the human resources manager.
The tank in which the glass is melted is the “heart” of production. The Biomedsklo company lacks skilled workers.
Investments despite major Russian attack
In 2007 the Ukrainian glass production company was bought by the Greek investor Hellenic Glass Industry. Since the Russian war of aggression, he has invested around six million euros in Zhytomyr.
A sign of trust and willingness to take risks. “We don't produce mass-produced goods, that makes it easier for us and the market has supported us,” says Greek factory manager Ioannis Patrinos.
The attitude of the employees, who have often worked for many years, is also a motivation for the investor. “If people support you, you have to do the same.”
“We are losing the young generation”
The glass company also has to cope with colleagues being killed at the front. “We lost two,” says Biomedsklo plant manager Ioannis Patrinos and has to swallow.
Both were very talented engineers and their families were supported, HR manager Fesyuk adds quietly. “Unfortunately we are losing our young generation.”
Training specialists for the glass industry used to take up to five years. A disadvantage that became abundantly clear due to the Russian war of aggression. Fesyuk has therefore standardized and accelerated the transfer of knowledge and training.
“Challenge for the whole country”
Maksym Sheremet also has problems filling jobs. The 42-year-old is the operational director at Epizentr, a Ukrainian hypermarket chain where you can get practically everything from cat food, groceries, plants to generators.
After Corona and the Russian war of aggression, the company has to find new ways to find people, he says. Epizentr is fundamentally transforming training, for example developing programs with universities to interest students in training.
But the competition is also looking for people, says Maksym Sheremet. “It's not just us who are lacking staff, it's a challenge for the entire country.”
The Epizentr hypermarket chain is looking for skilled workers. 50 percent of the employees subject to military service have been released.
Uncertainty about exemption in critical infrastructure
As a company with critical infrastructure, Epizentr is also allowed to have 50 percent of its employees subject to military service released from the army. Of the group's 38,000 employees, 11,000 are subject to military service and around 2,500 are exempt, according to Scheremet. “But the state is constantly changing the conditions; today it works, tomorrow it won't.”
Around a quarter of the conscripts were mobilized. They continue to receive their salary and have a guarantee of return if they survive the front unharmed.
Some have been demobilized, but only 40 percent are able to work. 60 percent would need longer rehabilitation and five percent would not return. “This is what the dry statistics look like,” said Sheremet.
Millions of people are missing from the labor market
According to UNHCR, around seven million people outside Ukraine are registered as refugees, most of them in Europe. Hundreds of thousands serve in the Ukrainian army and, according to Ukrainian estimates, around six million have to live in Russian-occupied Ukrainian areas. Of these, 1.5 million are children.
Adults are missing from the labor market. The Ministry of Economy estimates that up to five million workers would be missing, according to Yevheniya Kuznetsova from the Work UA portal, which brings together employers and job seekers. “Employers used to be able to choose their applicants, but now they are fighting for them.”
Regional differences in the labor market
After the labor market practically collapsed after the major Russian attack, there are now around 110,000 vacancies on the platform again, about the same number as before the full-scale Russian invasion, said Kuznetsova. “The labor market appears to have recovered quantitatively, but has changed geographically and structurally.”
Things remain difficult in frontline regions. For example, in the Kherson region there are only 15 percent of the vacancies compared to the period before the major Russian invasion, and in the Kharkiv region there are less than half. In addition, companies have relocated to western Ukraine, where there is now more work than before the full Russian invasion.
“Above all, there is a lack of highly qualified personnel”
The IT industry, for example, remains difficult, says Kuznetsova. But employees are also wanted in other professions: psychologists, doctors, orthopedic technicians, lawyers and economists.
There is a shortage of personnel everywhere, but higher qualified positions in particular are difficult to fill. It is easier to find a paramedic than a surgeon. There is a shortage of qualified personnel.
Concern that even more people will leave Ukraine
Labor market analyst Kuznetsova predicts that the shortage of personnel in Ukraine will remain. The security situation is difficult. If Russia's systematically destroyed energy supply remains as difficult as expected, it is estimated that up to a million people could leave the country. “These would mainly be those of working age,” estimates Kuznetsova.
Maksym Sheremet from the Epizentr shopping chain puts it this way: “The darkest night is before the dawn. The harder it is now, the more we believe that it will be easier the day after tomorrow.”
Paul Vorreiter, ARD Brussels, tagesschau, December 27, 2024 1:25 p.m
