More than half of Ukrainian veterans face significant difficulties when searching for work after returning to civilian life. These conclusions were provided by the study “Employment of Veterans: Barriers and Adaptation Challenges,” organized by the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs in collaboration with the platform robota.ua.
This is reported by Finway
Main Barriers to Employment
The survey results showed that 57% of respondents experienced problems with employment after completing military service. Among the most common reasons, veterans indicated:
- salary not meeting personal needs — 37.3%;
- health issues — 36.3%;
- psychological state — 25.5%;
- discrimination — 23.3%.
These same factors often lead to resignations from the first job after returning to civilian life. As explained by the head of the analytical department of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund, Anastasia Selyanina, the barriers can be conditionally divided into educational and value-based. During service, the labor market and employer expectations change, and not all veterans manage to adapt to the new realities. Additionally, society often does not understand the military experience, complicating their integration.
“The key to integrating veterans into civilian life is the joint efforts of the state, business, and society. Veterans possess not only resilience and teamwork skills but also management competencies, experience in logistics, and decision-making in critical conditions. It is often the misunderstanding of these competencies that creates barriers, rather than their absence,” emphasized the Minister of Veterans Affairs, Natalia Kalmykova.
Veterans’ Skills and Employer Expectations
During service, veterans acquire a wide range of skills that can be beneficial for employers. Among the most common:
- ability to adapt quickly — 73%;
- first aid skills — 67.4%;
- teamwork — 66.5%;
- personnel management — 64.6%.
Most of these competencies fall into the category of soft skills — these are the skills valued in modern business. According to a separate survey of companies, the most in-demand skills are teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking, and communication abilities.
What Support Do Veterans Need and How Do Employers Respond?
According to the veterans themselves, the most sought-after support includes:
- retraining programs — 50%;
- job quotas — 49.7%;
- official recognition of military experience as work experience — 47.2%;
- additional education, psychological support, assistance in job searching — about 45%.
Among employers, 32.9% have already implemented retraining programs, 22.6% offer flexible schedules, and 21.9% provide psychological support. However, 34.2% have no special programs or consider them ineffective.
More than 40% of employers stated that under equal qualification conditions, they would prefer a candidate with veteran experience. At the same time, when it comes to lower qualification levels, the choice increasingly leans towards civilian candidates.
It is worth noting that according to OLX Work, there is a growing demand for employees with combatant status in Ukraine. Job postings increasingly mention a willingness to hire veterans, especially in the fields of logistics, manufacturing, security, and trade.
Additionally, the President of Ukraine signed a law that reduces the cost of “auto insurance” by 50% for veterans and individuals with disabilities due to the war. The discount will be effective from January 1, 2025, during the period of martial law and one year after its conclusion.
According to the State Statistics Service, the average salary in Ukraine at the end of 2024 was 21,500 hryvnias.