Labor market: demand for specialists has reached pre-war levels, up to 100 thousand Ukrainians have changed their profession
Kyiv • UNN
The demand for specialists in Ukraine has reached pre-war levels, and the government has launched dozens of retraining programs. In 2025, it is planned to allocate 700 million euros to retrain another 180,000 Ukrainians.
The demand for specialists in Ukraine has reached pre-war levels, and almost 100,000 Ukrainians were retrained by the state in 2024, the Ministry of Economy reported on Tuesday, UNN reports.
Details
"The economic recovery, which is now in its second year, requires skilled workers, especially in the labor sector. The demand for specialists has reached pre-war levels, as evidenced by the data from the Unified Vacancy Portal. At the same time, we face the challenge of structural unemployment. In response to this, the Ministry of Economy and its partners have launched more than a dozen training and retraining programs that have enabled about 100,000 Ukrainians to learn new professions," said First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko.
All educational opportunities can be found at link. They cover various categories of the population: unemployed Ukrainians, people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, veterans, youth, people aged 45+, and others.
In 2025, as noted, even more training opportunities will be available to Ukrainians, including the Skills Alliance for 700 million euros, which will allow 180,000 Ukrainians to be retrained over the next three years. "The government is currently working on a mechanism for implementing the program," the Ministry of Economy said.
In addition, in 2024, the government expanded the voucher program, increasing the number of available professions to 155. It also launched separate vouchers for women seeking to master professions that were previously statistically dominated by men. "We are planning to expand the categories of voucher recipients, which currently include people aged 45+, combatants, IDPs and people with disabilities. The relevant draft law is already under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada," the Ministry of Economy said.
Svyrydenko also said that in 2024 the Ministry of Economy drafted a new Labor Code, which is awaiting approval by the parliament.
"In the draft law, we are introducing 8 types of employment contracts, including those for home-based and remote work. The draft law strengthens the capacity of people with disabilities and will help to close the gender pay gap, when women in similar positions to men receive less. In general, it transforms approaches so that they meet the challenges of today, rather than Soviet rudiments. This year, our team has held dozens of meetings with representatives of civil society, business, and international organizations to jointly finalize the draft law so that it meets the needs of both employees and employers," Svyrydenko said.
Another area for improving the situation on the labor market is the creation of new jobs. This, as noted, is facilitated by the "Made in Ukraine" policy. Also in 2024, the government launched the Create Ukraine pilot project, which helps talented Ukrainians return home to work in government projects.
According to the Minister of Economy, next year the Ministry of Economy will continue to work on these initiatives and will work on launching new projects.