Main points
- There is a labor shortage in Ukraine. One solution is to attract labor migrants.
- Economist, member of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine Vasyl Furman explained his attitude to this idea.
Ukraine is indeed experiencing a labor shortage, which is worsening amid a full-scale war. There are various options for solving this problem.
Economist, member of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine Vasyl Furman told Channel 24 that there is indeed a shortage of workers in Ukraine. In his opinion, this is a completely common practice all over the world when foreign citizens are involved in work. This problem will become especially relevant when post-war reconstruction begins. Ukraine will need significant labor resources.
How else to deal with the labor shortage?
According to Furman, it is definitely not worth focusing only on migrants. Now, according to various sources, about 5-6 million Ukrainians have left since the beginning of the full-scale war. The state should do everything possible to make them want to return home.
We understand that not everyone will return. Therefore, it is important to implement state programs to attract Ukrainians who have left abroad. It is also necessary to implement programs to attract citizens of other countries. This will help, in particular, to quickly rebuild the state after the war,
– said Furman.
At the same time, the situation is not getting worse. At least over the past two months, the business expectations index has been increasing. This indicates that business has better expectations for development this year. Although business confirms that there is a labor shortage.
Pay attention! The head of the State Statistics Service, Arsen Makarchuk, says that the labor shortage in Ukraine currently amounts to about 2 million people.
Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov said that Ukraine may review the list of so-called “risk countries”. All this to make it easier for businesses to hire foreign workers. At the same time, he admits that we must not forget about security and social risks. There is an understanding that foreigners can use official employment only to enter Ukraine.
Not everyone supports the importation of migrant workers
The head of the Finance Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Danylo Hetmantsev, does not support the idea of attracting labor migrants to Ukraine. Despite the labor force, one cannot forget about language, legal and cultural barriers. Also, migrants are not always willing to work. In his opinion, Ukrainians need to be encouraged to return home. There are key issues that need to be resolved – housing and work.
Labor market expert Vasyl Voskoboynyk confirms that the shortage of people is currently felt in virtually all sectors of the economy. In his opinion, labor migrants will be able to partially overcome the problem of shortage in the labor market. But at the same time, there must be clear and strict conditions for deportation in case of violation of Ukrainian legislation.