The Ukrainian economy is currently experiencing a severe shortage of labor resources and requires an additional approximately 4.5 million workers. Of the 31 million citizens currently living in the country, only 13.3 million are employed, while about one million are unemployed. At the same time, there is a significant reserve among people who are not actively engaged in the labor market.
This is reported by Business • Media
Hidden Labor Potential of the Country
The category of those who are currently not working includes 7.5 million retirees, 2 million students, 1 million women on maternity leave, and 400 thousand people with disabilities. Additionally, about half a million individuals are engaged in household duties. There is also a certain portion of people who are not working for other reasons unrelated to the aforementioned categories.
“Among the millions listed lies a potential labor reserve for the national economy,”
– emphasize the State Employment Service.
Additional Sources of Labor Resources
Another important reserve is internally displaced persons. Of the 4.6 million Ukrainians who have received this status, 860 thousand are currently unemployed, although they are able to work. Furthermore, in the future, the labor potential may be supplemented by refugees currently abroad, as well as military personnel who will eventually return to civilian life.
The State Employment Service believes that the issue of attracting foreign labor should only be on the agenda after fully utilizing the internal labor potential:
“Only when the state and businesses can engage all internal labor resources and have exhausted them should we talk about migrants,” – the agency is convinced.
Otherwise, increasing the share of foreigners in the labor market may lead to rising social tensions within the country or even raise concerns among Western partners about the potential transformation of Ukraine into a transit hub for migrants heading further to Europe.