Salary and vacancy growth and hybrid schedule. What labor market showed in 2021

Author

Diana Polunina

The labor market in Ukraine at the end of 2021 showed significant changes indicating that business is adapting to new conditions. Who in the country has earned the most this year, what specialists are most in demand in Ukraine, what are the dynamics of salaries in different regions of the country and the trends in the labor market— shares the details.

Top salaries in Ukraine in 2021

According to the personnel portal grc.ua, the average salary in open vacancies in all professional fields in 2021 has increased compared to 2020. Currently, it is 17,100 UAH. "However, the Ukrainians do not earn more, given the official inflation rate," the report says.

The top salaries are as follows:

IT, telecom—on average it is almost 54,000 UAH per month;
senior management—43,600 UAH;
consulting—26,200 UAH;
construction, real estate—24,700 UAH;
public service—23,100 UAH.

The lowest salaries are in tourism and restaurants (13,100 UAH); healthcare (13,000 UAH); starting career (12,100 UAH); blue collars (11,900 UAH), and administrative personnel (10,600UAH). The portal grc.ua emphasizes that payments to the latter increased by only 1,000 UAH during the year.

Professionals and vacancies top in 2021

The following areas showed the most growth in vacancies this year: sales, IT, banking, marketing, advertising and PR, as well as transport and logistics.

The sales rank first. During the year, the number of vacancies here increased by 137%—up to 57,400. The "sales" make up 26% of the total number of vacancies on the grc.ua portal. IT specialists rank second. During the year, the number of vacancies here increased by 91%—to 50,100. In the banking sector, it increased by 157%—to 26,100, in marketing, advertising and PR—by 68%, to 22.,300, in transport and logistics—by 174%, to 20,200.

The least growth was shown by insurance (16%), senior management (10%), and lawyers (9%). The decline was recorded in vacancies related to sports clubs (-41%), as well as public service and non-profit organizations (-9%).

As for the dynamics of all vacancies on average per year, in comparison with 2020, the increase on average amounted to 104%—from 13,300 vacancies to 27,300. It is interesting: if in January and February employers did not open new jobs and hardly looked for the new staff, then in March the situation changed dramatically—every month more and more vacancies appeared.

What regions of Ukraine offer more jobs

In 2021, the city of Kyiv became the leader in the number of posted vacancies. It accounts for 23% (11,800) of current vacancies. The following regions show the high rates:

Dnipropetrovsk—2,600 vacancies (growth for the year was 156%);
Kharkiv—2,100 (+ 312%);
Odesa—1,500 (+ 113%);
Lviv—1,300 (+ 240%);
Kyiv region—1,200 (+ 238%).

The smallest number of posted vacancies is in the west of Ukraine—in the Zakarpattia, Rivne, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, despite the fact that there are also more job offers here in comparison with 2020.

How much do Ukrainians work: Type of employment and work schedule

In 2021, the expectations of employers and job seekers in the spectrum of the employment types and work schedules differ. For instance, 93% of employers offer full-time employment (2% less than in 2020), but only 72% of job seekers can work this way. 6% of employers offer part-time work, while 16% are looking for it (+2 and +3%, respectively). 0.5% of employers (-0.6%) invite personnel for an internship, and 3% of potential employees (+1%) are looking for it.

"Only 59% of employees want to work fulltime in the office (however, 71% of employers offer such work). Remotely—15%, with a flexible hybrid schedule (office + remotely)—10%,with a flexible schedule—14%. Some employees do not want to return to offices after a lockdown. They prefer those companies that offer either a completely distance format or the option to combine working at home and in the office. The companies that are more flexible and able to meet the interests of job seekers will benefit here," grc.ua’s press release states.

Labor market trends 2021

The company notes that due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, companies entered 2021 in a mobilized state. "Business foresaw new challenges that it would have to face, so it approached working in new realities more consciously and systematically," the report says.

The following trends can be noted in the labor market:

companies has begun to more systematically implement hybrid workspaces the possibility to work remotely;
because of remote work, employees have disengaged from corporate processes, there is a weakening of social ties and the difficulty in distinguishing between personal life and work. To remedy the situation, the companies are introducing well-being programs, digitalizing processes even more, establishing internal corporate communications, personnel training and developing, and adapting corporate working rules to the format of distance working;
employees can work from anywhere in the world if the company does not require to stay in the office offline permanently;
employees have changed their values and began to pay more attention to life/work balance, as well as value psychological and physical comfort;
accelerating the digital transformation of training projects, communications, and personnel management. Corporate chat bots, social networks, and gaming applications for training and communication within the company are becoming more common in companies in various fields.

"Thus, we can conclude that the labor market is developing. To maintain market power, the businesses need to keep up with trends and innovate in HR processes ahead of time. The digitalization and automation will continue to intensify and change approaches to the familiar processes at all levels. The companies should listen more to the needs of their employees, take care of them and be more "human", the personnel portal draws conclusions.