How did the Ukrainian job market change in 2024?

Last year was certainly not easy for the Ukrainian labor market, but it marked the beginning of a return to pre-war levels in many ways. 2024 was the year of upward trends towards remote work, digital transformation, and finding a balance between the expectations of job seekers and the offers of employers.

By the end of 2024, Ukraine had reached about 90% of the pre-war vacancy rate. And this creates the foundation for further development and growth of the labor market in 2025.

In general, the trends of the past year can be characterized as follows: a shortage of qualified personnel, the growing role of vocational education, the involvement of women and veterans in blue-collar professions, the demand for infrastructure restoration specialists, and flexible work formats.

Some trends are driven by global changes in the worldwide labor market, while others are the result of the unique Ukrainian context, including full-scale war, economic challenges, and societal transformations.

Salary expectations: reality, forecasts, and prospects

At the end of 2024, the average salary expectations of candidates were 24,982 hryvnias, while the average offer from employers was 22,070 hryvnias. And this gap of about $100 indicates that the market is still looking for a balance.

As for the study of candidate expectations across all regions of Ukraine and across all professional fields, the largest group (30% of job seekers) aspire to a salary of 25 to 40 thousand hryvnias, while a quarter of candidates (24% of job seekers) are ready to consider offers of 15 to 25 thousand.

“According to our research, employers’ plans for the next year are very optimistic — 67% of Ukrainian companies and 71% of companies with foreign capital plan to increase employee salaries this year. According to our forecasts, in 2025, the shortage of workers will stimulate further growth in the level of wages,” says Valeriy Reshetnyak , CEO of robota.ua.

Development of the Ukrainian labor market by region

Speaking about the plans of Ukrainian businesses for the next three years, they look optimistic — 54% of managers expect staff growth.

However, it is already clear that the figures will vary greatly depending on the region. Five Ukrainian cities are becoming centers of labor market development — they are leaders due to population, distance from the front, and relative safety.

• Kyiv (Central Ukraine) retains absolute leadership due to business concentration and relative safety.
• Lviv (Western Ukraine) is developing rapidly due to its proximity to the EU border and a large number of relocated companies.
• Dnipro (Central-Eastern Ukraine) maintains its position due to developed industry and logistics, ensuring the country’s defense needs and creating additional demand for technical specialists and labor professions.
• Odesa (Southern Ukraine), despite temporary difficulties with the functioning of port infrastructure, remains a key business center of the southern region.
• Kharkiv (Northeastern Ukraine), given its proximity to the front, has slightly reduced its indicators, but still demonstrates the stability of the labor market, especially in the IT sector and services.

Hybrid work vs. office work: 2024 and beyond

Flexibility of working conditions is one of the key priorities in the conditions of high competition for talent.

In December 2024, the number of remote vacancies on robota.ua was 8% of the total. And this tells us about the flexibility of Ukrainian employers: companies attract talent regardless of their geographical location. It also creates opportunities for low-mobility groups and those who have changed their place of residence due to the war.

As for the long-term forecasts, they are fundamentally different for Ukrainian and global employers. Thus, if we compare the results of a survey of CEOs on how they imagine the working environment in 3 years for employees whose roles are traditionally based on office work, 77% of Ukrainian CEOs see the future in a hybrid work format, while in the world the majority of managers (83%) plan to completely return employees to the office.

“I see this as a feature of Ukrainian business — we have learned to be flexible. The war forced us to reconsider traditional approaches to organizing work, and we saw that efficiency does not depend on the place of work. It depends on people, their motivation, and the conditions created by the employer,” says Valeriy Reshetnyak , CEO of robota.ua.