Ukraine firms hire more women and teens as labor shortages bite
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STORY: Liliia Shulha has landed her dream job after years in what she described as "boring, sedentary" office work. Now she drives trucks with Ukraine's leading retailer, Fozzy Group. Ukraine has lost more than a quarter of its workforce since Russia's invasion in 2022, central bank data shows. And businesses are hiring more women in traditionally male-dominated roles. Childcare is in short supply though, and Shulha had to move back in with her parents for help with her two teenagers. "Yes, people are curious and shocked when they see me. They all film me on their phones when I deliver or load my lorry. They take pictures of me, whether it's passers-by or others, they're all shocked. Soon there'll be more us, and people won't be that shocked anymore. Soon it won't be news anymore that women work in such professions. Then people will leave me alone." Millions of people, mostly women and children, have fled abroad, and tens of thousands of men have been mobilized. Reuters spoke to representatives of nine Ukrainian companies who found that staff shortages and a growing mismatch of skills were big challenges. In the agricultural southern region of Mykolayiv, women like Maria Korolenko are being trained as tractor drivers, as well as tram and truck drivers, coal miners, security guards, and warehouse workers, companies say. "I understood how necessary it was for me to work. Not only for me and not only for my family. Right now, unfortunately, the men are being taken away - more and more of them are being taken away. And it's so hard. Now we do all the work that the boys used to do. // When the war is over, when we win, the guys will come back and give us holidays." Businesses have raised wages, and are hiring more retirees and teenagers. Vodafone has repackaged its youth program to bring more young people on board. Ilona Voloshyna is head of training and development in Kyiv. "Right now, we're feeling the shortfall even more. If we look at the numbers from last year, around 40 percent of our specialists have left our shops. So, we're feeling the lack of the workforce in the market." The government and foreign partners have launched several programs to help Ukrainians reskill. But analysts expect the jobs crisis to persist and warn it could endanger post-war recovery.
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