Who has fallen by the wayside of the labor market in the last few years – a study
28 March 2025 16:14
The full-scale war has significantly reshaped the Ukrainian labor market. Although the total number of vacancies has almost returned to the level it was before February 2022, this does not mean that the market has remained the same. The demand for some specialists has increased tenfold, while others have not found work. This is stated in an analytical review on the Work.ua platform, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
To find out which professions have become unnecessary in the new reality, and for whom employers have dozens of job offers, Work.ua experts compared the vacancies posted by employers in January 2022 and February 2025. In these months, the portal had almost the same number of job offers: 97,349 and 98,736 respectively.
“On Work.ua, employers post vacancies in 28 categories covering all possible professions, and compared to January 2022, there are more jobs in 16 categories and fewer in 12. This gives grounds to draw a cautious conclusion that the situation has become more balanced over the past year. After all, a similar study last year showed a decrease in the number of vacancies in as many as 19 categories,” the review notes.
As expected, the most noticeable changes occurred in the category of “Security, Safety”, where the Defense Forces post vacancies. Today, more than 600 units post almost 9,000 job offers on the platform.
Comparing January 2022 and February 2025, the absolute leaders in terms of vacancies are: deminer – from 1 to 377; rifleman – from 3 to 735; mortar commander – from 1 to 135; drone engineer – from 5 to 202; drone operator – from 18 to 702; and squad operator – from 6 to 198.
The rapid increase in vacancies also applies to doctors. The large number of job offers, on the one hand, is related to the challenges of a full-scale war. But on the other hand, the increase in the number of vacancies is also due to a shortage of personnel, which is a common challenge for the labor market in all areas. However, in medicine, this trend is global.
Over the last 3 years, the demand for the following specialists has increased significantly: anesthesiologist (plus 170%); rehabilitation therapist (plus 152%); neurologist (plus 147%); urologist (plus 145%); surgeon (plus 144%); traumatologist (plus 103%).
And finally, the third category with a significant increase in vacancies is “Law”.
You can’t envy IT people
Job offers in the IT sector decreased by 36%. A significant reduction in vacancies is a new reality for such specialists: Game Developer (minus 87%); Java Developer (minus 86%); JavaScript Developer (minus 84%); Android Developer (minus 83%); iOS Developer (minus 81%); layout designer (minus 75%); game designer (minus 71%).
This trend is observed for almost all IT positions. And this is not just a Ukrainian story: globally, 2022-2024 was a period of layoffs at large tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. So competition has increased not only in the Ukrainian but also in the global market.
The development of the public sector has led to demand for some positions
Over the past 3 years, the number of vacancies in non-profit, charitable, and public organizations has increased 10-fold. However, it is not so much about the number as about the trend: director of a charitable foundation (from 2 to 12 vacancies, plus 500%); grant writer (plus 406%); coordinator (plus 53%).
More work for teachers, less work for translators
One of the interesting patterns is that during the full-scale war there has been a significant increase in vacancies for foreign language teachers, while there has been less work for translators.
“The first is fully explained by the fact that a large number of Ukrainians were forced to go abroad and need to learn a new language,” the survey states.
Regarding the second trend – the decline in demand for translators – Work.ua experts put forward several hypotheses. First, companies can use AI for simple translation to save their budgets. Secondly, the reason could be a reduction in cooperation with foreign companies and citizens in tourism, education, etc.
Here are some figures that clearly demonstrate this trend:
polish teacher (plus 195%), Polish translator (minus 25%);
spanish teacher (plus 183%), Spanish translator (minus 24%);
Demand for mental health professionals has increased
In 2022, only 7% of Ukrainians consulted psychologists or psychotherapists, and by early 2025, this figure had risen to 17%. This is evidenced by the results of the study “Mental Health and Attitudes of Ukrainians Toward Psychological Assistance during the War.”
In addition, 53% of employers believe that they must take care of the mental well-being of their employees, as shown by the Work.ua survey. It is not surprising that the demand for mental health professionals has increased: psychiatrists (up 156%) and psychologists (up 149%).
The war has adjusted the demand for some specialties
On February 24, 2022, the country officially closed its airspace to civilian aircraft. As a result, some professions have almost lost their relevance: flight attendant (minus 65%); air traffic controller – no vacancies in 2025.
The tourism sector has not recovered from the shocks associated with the pandemic, then with the full-scale invasion – this has affected the need for specialists such as visa managers, tour guides, tourism managers, etc.
Artificial intelligence sets trends in the labor market as well
Over the past 3 years, the tech world has seen a lot of dynamic changes and events, which has contributed to the demand for such specialists:
artificial intelligence specialist (from 1 to 15 vacancies, plus 1,400%);
direct manager (specialist in order processing in an Instagram store (plus 596%).
2024 was marked by special trends in the labor market
A new report by the Economy Tracker of the Center for Economic Strategy states the following changes in the labor market:
– Unemployment is decreasing. The average unemployment rate in Ukraine fell to 14.3%. For comparison, it was 17.4% in 2023 and 18.5% in 2022. Despite the improvement, one in seven Ukrainians remained unemployed.
– High demand, low employment. Although there were more vacancies, the labor market remained uneven, indicating structural unemployment. Businesses continued to face a serious shortage of people.
– New trends in the labor market. The shortage of personnel has intensified competition between employers, which has contributed to the growth of real wages, even higher than before the full-scale war. To cope with the shortage of workers, companies actively recruited women, students, and older workers to fill positions previously held by men.
– Women in unusual professions. In 2024, women increasingly took up new professions: they worked as truck and public transport drivers, welders, and mechanics. This was facilitated by national and international training programs.
