Ukraine's Labor Shortage Forces Firms to Rewrite Hiring Rules

Ukrainian companies are moving away from searching for the perfect candidate with a ready-made set of skills. Faced with mobilization, migration, a mismatch between workers’ skills and the needs of the economy, businesses are training people from scratch, opening vacancies to new groups of workers, changing working conditions, and automating processes. Drivers, couriers, loaders, warehouse workers, and production staff are among the positions for which Ukrainian businesses are currently struggling to find qualified workers. In 2026, the labor shortage remains one of the main obstacles to business operations across the country, particularly in logistics, transportation, construction, manufacturing, and retail.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Whether businesses can find or train enough workers affects the pace at which stores and terminals can open, order fulfillment times, the quality of service, and the cost of goods and services. Employers are rethinking not only the requirements listed in job postings, but their entire approach to workforce management: who they are willing to hire, what they are prepared to teach, how they can retain employees, and which processes can be handed over to technology. More resumes, but the shortage persists At first glance, the labor market appears to be gradually improving. According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as reported in the Inflation Report for July 2026, the number of resumes posted on Work.ua increased by 26% in May 2026 as compared to May 2025, while the number of vacancies grew by just 4%. On average, there were 1.8 candidates per vacancy, compared with 1.5 a year earlier. Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Reaches Winter Gas Reserve Target of 14.6B Cubic Meters Early Ukraine has accumulated 14.6 billion cubic meters of gas, reaching its winter reserve target a month ahead of schedule. The share of businesses reporting a shortage of skilled workers as a factor limiting production, by sector, Q1 2021-Q2 2026. (Source: National Bank of Ukraine July 2026 Inflation Report) Аlthough the general number of resumes exceeds the number of vacancies, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to find the right specialists. According to the NBU, as reported in the Macroeconomic and Monetary Review for June 2026, the difficulty of finding qualified workers increased significantly in March and April. The NBU links this to a growing mismatch between job seekers’ skills and employers’ requirements. At Nova Poshta, Ukraine’s largest private postal operator, the biggest staffing shortages are in operational areas – logistics, address delivery, terminal operations, and transportation. The company has the greatest difficulty recruiting drivers, couriers, loaders, and receiving clerks, according to Anna-Maria Bondarenko, Director of Human Resources at Nova Poshta. “The right candidate may simply not exist” The shortage of workers is forcing employers to abandon some of their traditional hiring filters. According to data provided by Work.ua to Kyiv Post, 46% of vacancies are now open to candidates without prior experience, compared with 39% a year earlier. One in four job offers is available to students. “Businesses are already getting used to the fact that the right candidate may simply not exist,” Work.ua said in response to a Kyiv Post inquiry. According to the platform, internal training, reskilling, mentoring, and short practical programs tailored to specific positions are gradually becoming the new norm. Hiring has also become slower and more expensive. Vacancies could previously be filled within two to three weeks on average, however, now the search for a worker often takes two to three months. Highly specialized positions can remain open for up to a year. This does not mean employers no longer have requirements. Instead of a degree or years of experience, they are increasingly prioritizing the ability to learn quickly, reliability, basic digital skills, teamwork, and customer orientation. “Nova Poshta is focusing not only on candidates with experience, but also on training new employees,” Bondarenko says, in a Kyiv Post inquiry. The company has also expanded its pool of potential candidates and is actively recruiting veterans, students, women, internally displaced people, older workers, and people with disabilities. Mass recruitment gives way to a more individual approach Retail, where companies need to staff existing stores while recruiting additional workers for new locations, has been particularly exposed to the labor shortage. The combination of continued expansion, high demand for frontline workers, and the loss of workers to mobilization and migration has made it increasingly difficult for retailers to rely on traditional hiring models. “The concept of mass recruitment no longer works, and finding an employee requires an individual approach,” says Hanna Prykhodchenko, Human Capital Operations Lead at the Aurora multimarket chain, in a comment to Kyiv Post. She added that candidates look beyond salary levels. Flexibility, opportunities for development, the nature of the work, and how a company treats its employees all matter. That is why Aurora, one of Ukraine’s largest retail chains with more than 1,900 stores across the country, focuses not only on a candidate’s previous experience, but also on their motivation, potential, and willingness to grow with the company. Avrora employees wear traditional Ukrainian vyshyvanka shirts during one of the company’s corporate events. (Photo courtesy of Avrora) In summer 2025, the chain launched the New Generation program for teenagers aged 16-17, adapting work schedules and internal processes to allow participants to combine employment with education. In May 2026, Aurora said it was continuing to develop the program, which has become part of its equal-opportunity strategy and gives teenagers a chance to gain their first professional experience while still studying. The company, which employs nearly 17,000 people, also operates its own training center offering more than 60 programs and covers 50% to 100% of the cost of external professional training. “People and teams have become one of the key factors in business competition. The companies that win are not simply those that look for employees, but those that build partnerships with them,” Prykhodchenko says. A new talent pool Faced with labor shortages, businesses are turning to groups that were previously underrepresented in the labor market: veterans, internally displaced people, people with disabilities, older candidates, young people without experience, and women entering professions traditionally considered “male.” According to the survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and Citi Ukraine, published in June 2026, 60% of respondent companies already employ veterans. Overall, 71% of companies have either introduced comprehensive veteran reintegration policies, are developing them, or have already begun implementing individual initiatives to support demobilized employees. At Aurora, this area has been formalized at the management level through the creation of Chief Inclusion Officer and Chief Veteran’s Officer roles. They are responsible for accessibility and inclusion, as well as support for veterans and people with disabilities. Meanwhile, Nova Poshta is redesigning work processes to make some operational positions accessible to a broader pool of candidates. This approach should not be viewed solely as corporate social responsibility. When the supply of labor is limited, inclusion becomes an economic necessity and a way to expand the talent pool. Increasing productivity Olena Boychenko, co-chair of the Human Capital Management Committee at the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine and Head of Consulting at Deloitte Ukraine, believes the market is moving toward a deeper transformation of the traditional employment model. “We are currently seeing a shift in the business focus from traditional extensive hiring toward increasing the productivity of existing human capital,” she said in response to a Kyiv Post inquiry. Companies can no longer assume that every problem can be solved by expanding their workforce. Instead of constantly searching for new employees, they are investing in reskilling, internal mobility, automation, and more efficient use of existing teams. At Nova Poshta, terminals are introducing automated solutions, electric pallet trucks, and lighter equipment for couriers. This reduces physical strain while also making certain positions accessible to a broader range of candidates. Artificial intelligence is also being viewed as a way to partially offset labor shortages. However, according to Boychenko, its systematic use remains concentrated primarily in the technology sector. In other industries, the use of such tools is often still fragmented and informal. Salary is no longer enough The labor shortage is intensifying competition for workers and supporting wage growth. According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the average monthly wage of full-time employees reached Hr.735,19 ($16) in June 2026, up 25.4% from a year earlier. Compared with May, wages increased by 5.9%. In real terms, after accounting for inflation, the increase was approximately 17%, according to the statistics. But business cannot raise salaries indefinitely, so the competition shifted towards working conditions, safety, training, flexibility, career development, and employee support. At the end of 2025, Aurora opened a facility at its Poltava office similar to a child development center for employees’ children. The company also provides psychological support, corporate leisure programs, support for employee volunteering initiatives, and compensation for professional training. Work.ua is also seeing the growing importance of employer branding. It is no longer enough for companies to be well known among consumers. They also need to explain to potential employees why their company is a place worth joining, developing within, and staying with. The market is also seeing more dedicated positions for employer-brand managers and internal communications specialists. The rules that will remain after the war The labor shortage has not simply forced businesses to temporarily lower their requirements. It has changed the very definition of what makes a candidate suitable. Experience and education remain important, but potential, the ability to learn, and adaptability are increasingly taking precedence. For employers, this means a new responsibility: not only to find a person, but also to prepare a suitable workplace, provide training, create opportunities for growth, and give employees reasons to stay. For employees, it means more ways to enter a profession without an “ideal” resume. The war has accelerated these changes dramatically, but demographic losses, migration, and shortages of specific skills will not disappear immediately after it ends. Hiring for potential, internal training, inclusion, and automation are therefore likely to become not temporary crisis measures, but permanent features of Ukraine’s labor market.