Unemployment structure: officially, there are only more than 100 thousand unemployed in Ukraine, but in reality there are 2 million
4 March 16:03
On the one hand, the government claims there is a shortage of workers, and businesses are even planning to attract workers from abroad, while on the other hand, there are on average 5 to 15 people applying for one vacancy. And the number of unemployed is not so clear: almost 123,000 Ukrainians have official unemployment status, and about 2 million people have unofficial status. Which specialists are out of work and who has a chance to find a job, studied
In February of this year, the State Employment Services offered 51463 vacancies, which were applied for by 122949 unemployed Ukrainians. And, as it turned out, there is a clear shortage of jobs in most areas.
The situation is worst in agriculture, with 14,765 people applying for 2027 vacancies.
For example, agronomists are out of work – 115 people for 48 positions.
In the wholesale and retail trade, as well as in the repair of motor vehicles, the situation is not so good either: 8086 job offers and 20946 job seekers. At the same time, if we take wholesale trade, then about 4000 people apply for 2256 positions. Retailers are in trouble – 16548 people are unemployed, but all they can be offered is 5293 jobs.
Grocery salespeople are in trouble – almost six and a half thousand people are unemployed, and they have been offered only 1,500 jobs. Sales consultants are a little better off, with only two applicants for one position. However, the number of vacancies is quite small – just over a thousand.
The situation is slightly better in the financial and insurance sector, as 14645 people are applying for 268 positions. Real estate specialists are not in demand – there are at least two applicants for one vacancy.
There is also a shortage in law enforcement agencies – about 600 people for almost 200 positions. Although there is a shortage in the patrol police, there is an opportunity for 159 applicants to get a job, the situation is worse for those who want to apply for other positions.
In the education sector , both teachers and educators cannot find jobs. For example, 270 people are being recruited for preschools, while 518 are unemployed. Although universities are experiencing a shortage of teachers.
Even hairdressers are out of work. Not to mention waiters and bartenders, even cooks can’t find a job, as there are 2-3 people applying for one place, but there are not enough baristas.
There is a shortage of jobs for cleaners. There are no job offers for secretaries of Central Election Commissions, and 10 people are looking for work, and for members of the CEC – 141 people are sitting idle.
In the medical field, not everything is smooth sailing. There are only 13 applicants for 197 vacancies of family doctors, and only 28 people apply for 100 pediatricians. At the same time, most nurses and paramedics cannot find a job. Furniture manufacturers are in a very bad situation – there are many vacancies, but no workers. Similarly, city and intercity carriers are in the red – they cannot find drivers.
Ukraine is experiencing “structural unemployment”
Today, there are about 2 million unemployed in the country, according to the methodology of the International Organization for Migration and Labor, and at the same time, the number of unemployed registered at the employment center is slightly more than 120 thousand people, said
“Ukraine has a big problem called: “structural unemployment”. The qualifications of job seekers do not meet the requirements of employers. In addition, there is a war in the country, and people have dispersed unevenly across the country, for example, employees of Mariupol Iron and Steel Works ended up somewhere in western Ukraine, where there is no steel industry. And people start looking for jobs that don’t match their qualifications, which can be low-paying jobs. And these people begin to retrain, and this process of adapting to the labor market will take a long time. And “structural unemployment” will continue for some time,” says Vasyl Voskoboinyk.
At the same time, the shortage of kindergarten teachers can also be explained by certain specifics – this applies to cities, especially large ones, where salaries do not correspond to the standard of living. And this is usually a woman’s job, and most women have left the country.
“Approximately 3 million women are abroad today, and some of them are in the field of education. And the number of students has decreased. Today and in the future, we will lack not only teachers, but also those to teach – children and young people,” Vasyl Voskoboinyk believes.
The shortage of jobs in trade is due to both a reduction in the number of individual entrepreneurs, a record number of which closed in January, and the fact that the purchasing power of the population is falling, which leads to a decrease in sales and salespeople are left without work. Furniture production and passenger transportation are facing big problems due to mobilization. And these are purely male professions, so there is a shortage of men who are either at the front or at home. There is a physical shortage of people in various fields, and it will be like this until the war ends, emphasizes Vasyl Voskoboynyk.
Remote work breaks records
At the same time, according to job search intermediaries, job seekers have become more active and there are more job offers. Since the beginning of 2025, employers have posted 94,985 vacancies on Work.ua.
“In January, the labor market had almost the largest number of candidates since the beginning of 2023, when the period of staff shortages began. As a result, we recorded almost 1.5 million responses to vacancies in January. This is 39% more than in December,” says Yevheniia Kuzenkova, editor of Work.ua.
However, as noted on the Work.ua website, today the competition for remote work is 5 times higher than the market average. This is one of the most effective tools to overcome the staff shortage. And while the most competitive positions used to be a layout designer and Front-end Developer, now the leaders are a direct manager and a chat specialist. These are professions that involve processing incoming customer requests, usually on social media.
“But the least competition is observed for vacancies in the categories of Security, Safety, Working Specialties, Production, Construction, Architecture, Transport, Auto Business, Medicine, Pharmaceuticals,” emphasizes Yevheniia Kuzenkova.
As for the demographic profile of job seekers, the share of women and young people under 35 has increased by several percentage points in the labor market. This also explains the current situation when men prefer to stay at home.
Author: Alla Dunina
