In 2025, over 56% of employers in Ukraine intend to increase salaries for their employees by an average of 10-20%. These expectations regarding salary growth were announced by the Director of the State Employment Service, Yulia Zhovtyak, during the presentation of the labor market research results and forecasts for 2026.
This is reported by Business • Media
Current Trends in the Ukrainian Labor Market
Currently, there is a clear trend towards increasing salaries in the country. Salary remains one of the main tools in the competition among employers for qualified labor, especially in the context of a persistent labor shortage. Despite the challenging situation, 67% of companies continued to hire personnel in 2025. Among the leading regions for employment are Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Kyiv regions, and Kyiv. The leading sectors where new jobs are actively being created include manufacturing, trade, healthcare, education, and agriculture.
Growth of Inclusivity and Youth Activity in the Labor Market
At the same time, the modern labor market demonstrates an increase in inclusivity. Employers are increasingly considering the possibility of hiring veterans, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, workers over 60 years old, as well as youth without work experience.
“After the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, the number of young people who turned to the State Employment Service for job search requests decreased by more than half, to 302,000 individuals. In the following two years, this number fell to 144,000, but this year, the number of people under 35 began to rise – an increase of about 4,000 individuals.”
This positive dynamic indicates a gradual restoration of interest among youth in legal employment in Ukraine, despite the difficult socio-economic conditions and the consequences of military actions.