Ukraine’s largest retail chains face a personnel crisis due to the war.

According to Forbes, there is a significant shortage of men to work at ATB, Auchan, and Comfy stores. The main obstacle is that these positions are usually filled by draft-age men. Among the reasons for the staffing shortage are the departure of Ukrainians abroad, a drop in consumer demand, and the reluctance of men to take up official work.

To illustrate, in January 2023, five people applied for every retail vacancy. During the year, the number of applicants fell steadily until it reached 2.1 applicants per vacancy in December. In December 2023, the number of retail vacancies increased to 94% of the pre-war period. The ATB network noted that men do not want to officially register for work because the company submits information to the Territorial Procurement Center.

In January 2024, employers published 91,021 vacancies. This is 6% less than in December 2023 and 7% less than in January 2022. According to the number of job offers, the labor market has recovered by 93%.