For first time since February, Ukraine’s labor shortage shows a slight decrease
Nowadays, the top obstacle to doing business in Ukraine is labor shortages. Nevertheless, a July survey demonstrates a 5 percentage points decrease of the share of companies citing this problem compared with June. The Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting (IER) conducted it among 472 industrial enterprises.
For the first time since February 2026, the share of companies reporting a labor shortage decreased to 66%, compared with 71% in June. Mainly microbusinesses drove the decline: 34% of respondents in that segment cited staffing as their main obstacle, compared with 49% in June.
By contrast, midsize businesses showed a slightly worsened picture: 74% of respondents cited labor shortages as their top problem in July, down from 73% in June.
The reason of such results may be a break in the negative labor-market trend, or adaptation of businesses to difficult wartime conditions. They had to make more flexible schedules, train workers without relevant qualifications, and take similar measures.
Geographically, more than 80% of surveyed businesses facing a labor shortage were situated in Chernivtsi, Lviv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Zhytomyr oblasts.
According to Oksana Kuziakiv, executive director of the IER, 73% of businesses answered positively when asked directly about feeling a labor shortage.
She specified that the problem is felt most by midsize (85%) and large (88%) enterprises. Chemical manufacturing (84%), construction-materials production (79%), and metallurgy and metalworking (78%) are the most concerned among industries. The situation is the best in microbusinesses (34%) and the printing industry (55%).
As 79.4% of businesses said, labor conscription significantly affects staffing levels. Second most acute problem is restrictions on draft deferrals for workers, according to 57.8% of respondents. The third obstacle is workers leaving the country (52.3%).
Also, the second-biggest overall obstacle to doing business is rising prices for raw materials, supplies and goods remained. The share of companies citing it rose to 57% from 50% in June. The IER said that it is the highest level in three years, since August 2023.
The third major difficulty is safety. 44% of business representatives named it their main problem, compared with 41% in June. It means that, for six months in a row, safety concerns have ranked among the main three difficulties.
Traditionally, workplace safety is a more acute problem for large enterprises (54%). Meanwhile, only 28% of microbusinesses consider it as their main obstacle.
Overall, approximately 70% of Ukrainian businesses reported labor shortages in June 2026.
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