Anastasia Gorbacheva12:32, 01.12.25

It is noted that many industries are facing a labor shortage.

Ukraine faces a serious labor shortage, which is only worsening with each passing year of the war. Desertion, attempts to avoid conscription, and a minimum conscription age of 25 are hampering the country’s ability to defend itself from a full-scale Russian invasion.

Radio Liberty reports that Kyiv’s need to send people to the front exacerbates the labor shortage in the rear, where many industries are facing labor shortages, and in some cities there are practically no men of draft age left.

“The shortage of people with technical skills and education is catastrophic,” said Ukrainian economist Oleh Penzin.

According to the State Employment Center, the most acute labor shortages are observed in the education, ground transportation, metal production, furniture, and energy supply sectors.

At the same time, political analyst Konstantin Batozsky He noted that strategic enterprises such as defense industry companies and railways are largely exempt from conscription, but other enterprises across Ukraine are struggling.

According to the State Employment Center, conscription into military service has made it difficult to fill “male” vacancies, and agriculture has suffered in particular.

“With the intensification of mobilization, tractor drivers and machinists have switched their professions to military service. We are now facing a shortage of up to 15% of qualified personnel,” said Oleg Khomenko, director of the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club.

While many men and some women serve in the military, approximately 6-7 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. According to the International Labor Organization, approximately 1.6 million working-age adults have left Ukraine, but the majority of them are women.

“If we can bring back at least 40% of them, it will be a huge help to the economy,” Penzin emphasized, referring to men and women.

Labor shortage in Ukraine – latest news

Economic Discussion Club expert Oleg Pendzin reported that  Ukraine has begun importing migrant workers from Bangladesh . 

In turn, Vasily Voskoboinik, head of the Office of Migration Policy, noted that the state is short 8.6-8.7 million workers , so employers are increasingly inviting foreigners.

At the same time, the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, Mykhailo Nepran, pointed out that, given the needs of industry and general economic realities, Kyiv needs not so much unskilled labor as specialists at the level of a technical college .

(c)UNIAN 2025