The beginning of 2026 has been marked by an activation of the Ukrainian labor market. During January and February, over 41 thousand employers contacted the Employment Service, offering more than 111 thousand vacancies. On average, about 35% of job offers are filled across the country, but these figures vary significantly by region.
This is reported by Finway
Professions with the Highest Demand
The greatest need is currently observed for specialists in skilled trades and the service sector. In particular, the most vacancies are open for drivers of motor vehicles (4.5 thousand), sellers of food products (4.1 thousand), and laborers (3.5 thousand requests for workers).
Regions with the Most Vacancies and Hiring Speed
Lviv region leads the ranking for the number of open positions – it accounts for over 14% of all vacancies in the country, which amounts to nearly 16 thousand offers. Next are Dnipropetrovsk region (7 thousand vacancies), as well as Kyiv region along with Kyiv (each with 6 thousand vacancies).
Overall, over two months, specialists from the Employment Service helped fill 38.5 thousand job positions. On average, the search for a candidate for one vacancy takes 17 days. Meanwhile, in some regions, vacancies are filled much faster. The record for efficiency is held by Donetsk region, where the filling rate reaches 68.5% (compared to the national average of 35%), and closing a single vacancy takes only 5 days.
High efficiency in closing vacancies is also demonstrated by the employment centers in Vinnytsia, Zakarpattia, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, where over 50% of offers find their workers.
“At the same time, the Employment Service emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between the percentage of closed vacancies and the absolute number of people employed. In terms of actual employment, other regions lead – Dnipropetrovsk, where 4 thousand clients of the Employment Service found new jobs, Lviv (over 3 thousand employed), and Ivano-Frankivsk (2,700 people).”
It is worth noting that earlier the government announced the launch of the digital employment system “Obriy,” which aims to unify the labor market in a single online environment.