Ukrainian women are replacing men in construction, mines and security

The labor market in Ukraine is gradually reorienting itself towards the involvement of women. Ukrainian women are increasingly taking up jobs in professions that were previously dominated by men. In 2023, 1.2 thousand women found work in construction and currently they constitute 38% of those employed in the industry.

Until 2017, there was a list of professions prohibited for women in Ukraine due to difficult and harmful working conditions. The list, approved thirty years ago, included over 450 professions in the field of metalworking, construction, manufacturing, and rail transport. Currently, employment opportunities for both sexes are not restricted by law. In Ukraine, as a result of the war and mobilization, more and more women are taking up jobs in professions that were previously dominated by men.

The Ukrainian State Employment Service claims that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find workers in professions that were traditionally dominated by men. These include builders, drivers, electric and gas welders, locksmiths, and electricians. "The labor market is gradually reorienting itself towards the involvement of women in professions that are mentally considered male," the employment service says.

The Ukrainian labor market is changing. Ukrainian women are replacing men

Last year, only 3% of Ukrainian companies did not feel a shortage of qualified workers, writes the portal Liga.net. "Employers have mastered the shortage of personnel by various methods. One of them is the involvement of women in professions traditionally considered "male"" - said Yevgenia Kuzenkova, editor of the work.ua platform.

Kuzenkova predicts that employers in Ukraine will continue to train women in new professions for them in order to minimize the shortage of workers. This practice, according to the expert, will be increasingly used by large enterprises that have the resources for training.

According to the Ukrainian State Employment Service, the labor market is gradually reorienting itself towards the involvement of women in professions that were previously dominated by men. "These include: pump operator, crane operator, woodworking machine operator, mechanical assembler, underground installation operator, loader, driver, CNC machine operator, miner, mechanic-repairman, trolleybus driver and others," they say.

They also inform that last year 158,000 women were employed with the help of the employment service. Among them, 677 women found work at gas stations as operators, 253 as pumping station operators, and 14 as forklift operators.

The State Employment Service in Ukraine also helps in taking up studies. As they say, the choice of directions is also changing. There are women who are increasingly choosing such professions as tractor drivers, welders, security guards, equipment electricians, forklift drivers, machinists and boiler operators, as well as locksmiths. Some Ukrainian women are training to be sappers or machinists.

More and more women in Ukraine are working in construction

According to the State Employment Service of Ukraine, in 2023, 1.2 thousand women found work in construction and currently they constitute 38% of those employed in the industry. Before the full-scale invasion in 2021, only 20% of women worked in construction.