You have probably heard, and perhaps said yourself, that there simply aren’t enough people. At the same time, vacancies are declining and some large companies are already cutting staff. This may seem contradictory, but these are two sides of the same structural imbalance: people are scarce where they are needed most, while places with available workers have few jobs for them. In this article, we explore what State Employment Service data and employer research show, why raising salaries does not solve the problem and what HR can do right now.
1. What is happening in the labour market
According to the State Employment Service, the unified jobs portal listed around 236,000 vacancies as of 1 September 2026, 3% fewer than a year earlier. Private platforms report a more noticeable decline: according to Work.ua, employers posted 82,533 vacancies in September, compared with 96,873 last year, a decrease of around 15%.
However, the overall figure misses the main point: the situation varies considerably by region. According to State Employment Service data cited by Minfin, September saw an average of 14 vacancies for every 10 applicants. In Kyiv, the figure reached 17 vacancies per 10 applicants, while Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kyiv regions had only two each. In Mykolaiv, Sumy and Kherson regions, applicants outnumber vacancies two to one, and in Donetsk region, six to one.
A labour shortage therefore does not mean that there are no people at all. Rather, people and jobs are often in different places, with a mismatch in skills.
2. Why the shortage is not about salary
The most common explanation sounds simple: raise salaries and candidates will appear. Unfortunately, the data does not support this.
The National Labour Market Study for 2025–2026 was conducted by the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, the State Employment Service and Helvetas. Almost 61,000 employers took part. They cited the following reasons for recruitment difficulties:
- 39.9% say there are simply no candidates;
- 20.4% say men do not want formal employment because of mobilisation;
- only 18% cite excessive salary expectations.
Another important detail: over 57% of vacancies appeared at businesses that are not expanding but merely maintaining or even reducing their headcount. In other words, businesses are currently trying to replace people who have left rather than growing.
Underlying all this is a decline in labour supply. The National Bank of Ukraine estimates that the share of people working or looking for work fell by approximately nine percentage points in 2022–2025. Add mobilisation, emigration and demographic change, and it becomes clear why money alone cannot bring people back into the labour market.
Vika Nahorna, HR Lead at Gearheart and former HRBP, shared her thoughts:
“Salary remains an important factor, and I would not underestimate its influence. But it cannot solve the problem when there are objectively few candidates on the market. People also evaluate more than the figure in an offer: they consider whom they will work with, how clear the role is, what development opportunities exist and how well the working arrangements fit their lives. In Ukraine, the security situation adds another dimension. Constant air raid alerts, drone attacks and shelling force businesses to adapt to new working conditions. Flexible hours, remote working options and clear safety protocols are no longer just additional benefits: they directly influence a candidate’s decision to join a company or stay with it. Another important area is inclusion and the employment of veterans. It is important not simply to be open to hiring, but also to create conditions that support adaptation after returning to civilian life: reviewing vacancy requirements, adapting workflows where necessary, and providing support and opportunities for professional development. In my view, HR should now do more than compete on salary. We need to answer honestly: why should a candidate choose us? And are we truly creating conditions in which different people can work effectively and develop?”
3. Where the shortage is most acute
The State Employment Service most often identifies shortages of skilled workers: drivers, sewing machinists, electricians, mechanics, turners, CNC machine operators, carpenters, cooks and bakers. Healthcare professionals are also in short supply, including nurses, doctors, pharmacists and psychologists.
Jobs that cannot be done remotely are a separate issue. Around one in five unemployed people would like to work remotely, but welders, drivers and tractor operators cannot do so. Moreover, only around 7% of all vacancies nationwide are remote.
There is also a mismatch in expectations. According to the National Study, only 42.6% of registered unemployed people are willing to work in their field of education. More than half of desired jobs are specialist and management positions, whereas employers primarily need manual workers. Around 70% of all vacancies are also concentrated in just 105 occupations.
What HR professionals say: survey results
We asked members of SmartExpert UA’s HR Besties Chat on Telegram which vacancies are currently hardest to fill. Multiple answers were allowed.
Drivers and logistics roles, together with skilled workers, topped the list: a third of respondents (34%) named each group. This matches the State Employment Service’s list of shortage occupations. Production and machine operators followed at 17%, with cooks and HoReCa staff at 12%.
The problems are not limited to manual occupations. Finance professionals and middle managers are hardest to recruit for 17% of survey participants, and marketing professionals and managers for 10%. In contrast, IT specialists, healthcare professionals and service workers were each named by only 8% of respondents.
The survey reflects community members’ opinions and is not a representative study.
4. What is happening to salaries
Salaries have indeed risen this year. According to the State Employment Service, average pay for staff employees exceeded UAH 30,000 in January–July, around UAH 6,000 more than last year. Differences between sectors remain large: around UAH 79,000 in IT and telecommunications, UAH 63,000 in finance and insurance, UAH 21,000 in healthcare, and UAH 20,000 in education and entertainment.
According to the Federation of Employers, 55.6% of employers planned at the end of 2025 to raise salaries in 2026, compared with 35% a year earlier. Most planned increases of 10–20%, while only around 5% of companies were prepared to offer more than 20%.
Businesses currently have limited capacity. Attacks on energy infrastructure and logistics, downtime, generators and more expensive electricity are direct costs that reduce the resources available for pay. The first signs of a slowdown are already visible: in August, the national average salary fell by 1.1% compared with July. One month does not establish a trend, but it is worth considering when planning budgets.
5. What HR can do
When money is no longer the only lever, other solutions become important. Here are five areas supported by the data.
5.1. Expand the candidate pool
The labour shortage is prompting us to reconsider whom we see as potential candidates. More employers are bringing older people, veterans, people with disabilities and women into occupations previously considered male, including trolleybus and tram drivers, forklift operators and long-distance lorry drivers. Ukraine has over 10 million pensioners, many with experience and a desire to work. The main barriers are not skills, but stereotypes and a lack of flexible arrangements.
What to do:review vacancy requirements, remove unnecessary age and gender restrictions, offer flexible hours and adapt the workplace where needed.
5.2. Train people for your needs
Retraining alone does not always work: only 23.1% of registered unemployed people are willing to change occupation. But it produces results when linked to a specific employer and a specific job. The state provides tools for this: vouchers, training through the employment service and qualification recognition. Businesses can also work with vocational education providers, offer placements and develop employees themselves.
The SmartExpert UA platform can help with this too: HR can train employees directly on the platform and develop their competencies. This makes HR’s work considerably easier, particularly when teams need to be developed in-house.
What to do:arrange placements with a relevant vocational college or university, and explain honestly during recruitment how much a person will earn after training and how quickly they can start the job. People need to see a path to a specific vacancy, not simply a course.
5.3. Offer more than money
Many employers retain people through working conditions rather than salary. According to the Federation of Employers, more than half of businesses provide social support, and 47.5% offer part-time work. For some candidates, this matters more than a pay rise: parents of young children, people aged 60 and over, people with disabilities and internally displaced people.
What to do:make a short list of what you can realistically offer without increasing salaries: flexible start times, a shorter working day, help with transport or meals, or a clear schedule.
5.4. Help with mobility and housing
The issue is not only that vacancies and people are in different regions. Some 78% of registered unemployed people are not prepared to relocate for work. The main reasons are family circumstances (74%) and a lack of housing (32%). Employers that help with housing, relocation or settling in therefore gain a competitive advantage.
What to do:if you are recruiting in another region, consider covering rent for the first few months, helping with the housing search and providing a mentor in the new location.
5.5. Do not overlook safety
Some candidates request additional pay because of security risks, and attacks on office centres have increased the number of professionals willing to work only remotely. In occupations where this is impossible, some employees resign voluntarily.
What to do:tell candidates what shelter the office has, what the air raid alert protocol is and where remote work is possible. Openness achieves more here than formal promises.
But where should you start to make recruitment more effective? Vika Nahorna, HR Lead at Gearheart and former HRBP, shares her approach:
“I would start by analysing our own recruitment, rather than immediately adding benefits or rewriting every vacancy: where are we losing candidates, why do they turn down offers, and what makes employees stay with the company or leave? The answers often provide much more than another review of market trends. Among practical solutions, I would highlight reviewing candidate requirements, developing people within the company and offering flexibility in working arrangements. But there is no universal formula: what matters to one professional may be completely unimportant to another. The most effective solutions are therefore based on the real needs of people and the business, rather than simply looking attractive in a benefits list.”
What HR professionals say: survey results
In SmartExpert UA’s HR besties Chat Telegram community, we asked: ‘What has helped you fill difficult vacancies during the labour shortage?’ Multiple answers were allowed.
Participants most often cited flexible conditions, selected by 69% of respondents, while 42% chose salary increases. This aligns well with the argument of this article: money matters, but it does not solve everything. Training for specific business needs came third (36%), followed by help with relocation and housing (24%).
It is also worth noting approaches that are only gaining momentum but already producing results: almost one in five respondents (18%) filled vacancies through new candidate sources, including people aged 60 and over, students and women in traditionally male roles, while another 12% cited open conversations with candidates about safety.
The survey reflects community members’ opinions and is not a representative study.
6. What to expect in the coming months
The labour market is developing in two directions. On the one hand, shortages in manual and technical occupations are likely to continue. On the other, the destruction of businesses, downtime and rising costs are leading to redundancies. Retail chains and large companies have already announced headcount reductions, while metallurgical enterprises are placing some employees on downtime.
Experts see the greatest redundancy risk for office workers, middle managers, marketing and PR professionals, and some sales and production staff. However, this depends on an individual employer’s financial position rather than the occupation as a whole.
The practical conclusion for HR is to prepare for two scenarios at once: retain and develop key people in shortage roles, while being ready to optimise staffing where the business needs to reduce costs.
7. This week’s checklist
- Review all vacancies open for more than two months and identify exactly what prevents them from being filled: a lack of candidates, conditions, location or requirements.
- List three candidate groups you have not yet considered, such as people aged 60 and over, veterans or students, and assess where recruiting them is realistic.
- Make a list of non-financial benefits you can offer without increasing salaries.
- Arrange placements or training with a relevant educational institution.
- Calculate the cost of retaining an employee compared with recruiting and onboarding someone new. This is often the strongest argument for management.
