Ukraine has a severe labor force shortage, prompting employers to seek help from pensioners.

The personnel shortage is particularly acute in the capital, where there are 75,000 open vacancies, yet only 3,000 registered unemployed individuals, as stated by Yulia Zhovtyak, Director of the State Employment Service. She noted that the situation is similar in other regions; in the Lviv region, there are 5,000 available candidates for 24,000 vacancies. The most significant personnel shortages are noted in industry and education.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Economy Ukraine’s unemployment rate was 18.2% last year, and it is projected to drop to 17.7% in 2025, further decreasing to 16.5% by 2027.

In this context, the number of vacancies that are suitable for pensioners has surged by 50% over the past year. Although this remains a small fraction of all job offers with 4,391 vacancies for pensioners in February 2024 compared to 6,150 in February 2025, the transport industry, automotive industry, manufacturing, service sector, and healthcare have the highest number of vacancies available for individuals aged 50 and over. The median salary for vacancies targeted at pensioners reaches ₴20,000 ($484).