The Ukrainian labor market faces a paradoxical situation: companies are experiencing a shortage of qualified employees, while many job seekers are unable to find work. One of the main reasons is the mismatch between employers’ requirements and candidates’ professional skills. For example, businesses need engineers, but marketing specialists make up the majority of available candidates. This was reported by Dengi.ua, citing Ekonomichna Pravda.
What Kinds of Specialists Do Ukrainian Companies Need?
The structure of demand in Ukraine’s labor market remains relatively stable. As early as the beginning of 2026, the largest number of job postings on the Work.ua platform was for blue-collar positions. This trend continues into the fall.
The high demand for such employees is attributed to a shortage of qualified professionals. In the retail and service sectors, high employee turnover is an additional factor. In addition, employers are actively seeking staff for the security, retail, transportation, and automotive industries.
According to Work.ua data, the largest number of job postings is for sales associates—6,900 vacancies. Drivers rank second with 5,500 postings, followed by military personnel (4,900). Other in-demand professions include sales managers, cashiers, administrators, order pickers, loaders, and account managers.
The fewest job openings were recorded in the “Insurance” (178 vacancies) and “Culture, Music, and Entertainment” (414) categories.
The mismatch between employers’ needs and job seekers’ choices is evident as early as the educational stage. Majors that are popular among college applicants often do not meet the actual needs of the Ukrainian economy.
How Business Needs Are Changing
According to OLX Jobs, demand for personnel in the logistics sector has been increasing recently. In particular, companies need drivers. At the same time, some businesses are revising their approaches to product storage, reducing inventory levels and accelerating inventory turnover, which also affects their staffing needs.
Another in-demand profession is electricians. Over the past 12 months, the number of job openings for such specialists has increased by a third.
At the same time, certain segments of the labor market are seeing a decline in the number of job openings. Compared to August, the most significant drop occurred in the category of job openings for students and entry-level professionals—a 34% decrease. In the culture and entertainment sector, the number of job openings decreased by nearly 30%; in the hospitality and tourism industry, by 27%; and in the beauty, fitness, and sports industry, by 25%.
What Salaries Are Employers Offering?
According to the State Statistics Service, in September, the average salary for full-time employees in Ukraine reached 33,100 UAH. This is 24.5% higher than the figure for the same month in 2025.
The highest earnings were recorded in Kyiv, where the average salary approached 49,000 UAH. Next are the Luhansk region with 37,800 UAH and the Lviv region with 33,800 UAH.
At the same time, the average salary listed in job postings on Work.ua increased by 15% over the year, reaching 31,000 UAH. The capital remains the leader in terms of offered salaries, with an average of 37,500 UAH.
Among other cities, Lviv (33,000 UAH), Uzhhorod (30,500 UAH), as well as Dnipro, Odesa, and Ivano-Frankivsk stand out, where employers offer around 30,000 UAH.
The most significant annual salary growth was recorded in Kropyvnytskyi—25%—and Mykolaiv—22%. More moderate growth was observed in Poltava (+11%), Chernivtsi, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia (all +14%).
Which Professions Saw the Biggest Salary Increases?
Statistics from Work.ua show that over the past year, the incomes of specialists in certain professions have increased the most noticeably. Industrial climbers took first place in terms of growth rates: their average salary rose by 93% to 67,500 UAH.
This high average figure may have been influenced by job postings from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which offer salaries ranging from 25,000 to 120,000 UAH for such specialists.
Next are information security specialists and copywriters—salaries in both categories rose by 78%.
A significant increase was also recorded for parking attendants: their average earnings rose by 60%, to 26,700 UAH. At the same time, the number of job openings in this category grew by 42%.
Confectioners and candy makers also made the list of professions with the highest rates of wage growth. Their average salary rose by 51% and now stands at 32,500 UAH.
Overall, the highest earnings in Ukraine are traditionally earned by senior executives, real estate specialists, and employees in the transportation and sales sectors. The average annual salary for real estate agents remained unchanged at 59,500 UAH.
In addition, “Telecommunications and Communications” made the top five sectors with the highest offered incomes, where the average salary reaches 40,000 UAH.
In the most popular occupational categories, annual compensation increased by 12–20%. At the same time, the increase for obstetricians, neurologists, and urologists was minimal—just 2%.
Why It’s Becoming Harder for Companies to Find and Retain Employees
Fall figures paint a mixed picture. The number of job openings was 15–18% lower than a year earlier, yet the number of applications per job posting reached its highest level since 2023. As a result, competition among job seekers is intensifying, despite the ongoing labor shortage.
The problem of labor shortages remains a pressing issue for Ukrainian businesses. According to a survey by the Institute for Economic Research, 67% of companies cited labor shortages as the main challenge facing their operations.
Under these circumstances, employers are forced to focus more not only on recruiting new employees but also on retaining their current staff. To this end, companies are implementing additional support programs. In addition to adjusting salaries, they may cover the cost of mental health counseling, provide extra days off to recover from shelling, and compensate employees for housing rent or the purchase of charging stations during power outages.
Flexible schedules and the option to work remotely are becoming another way to retain specialists. For example, some employees are considering moving to safer regions for the winter. If job responsibilities allow for remote work, offering this option helps companies retain valuable employees.
However, not all employers can implement such measures. The ability to support staff is largely determined by the company’s financial situation and the characteristics of its corporate culture.
