Last week the European Business Association together with Global Business Ukraine representatives meet with Yuliya Zhovtyak, Director of the State Employment Service of Ukraine. The discussion focused on the Service’s functions, opportunities for collaboration with businesses, assistance programs, and support for both employers and job seekers, among other topics.
Ms. Yuliya explained that the Service is involved in professional training, retraining, job placement/employee search, grant programs, various compensation programs, systematic recruitment, and more.
Regarding statistics, in 2024, 417,000 people received assistance from the Center, 26,000 underwent professional training, and 16,000 were employed through compensation programs (of which 889 were people with disabilities). Currently, about 76,000 employers across Ukraine are cooperating with the State Employment Service. Additionally, in 2022, the Unified Job Portal was launched, which now lists over 254,000 vacancies.
It’s worth noting that the State Employment Service has grant programs: “Own Business,” which began in July 2022, and the “Grant for Veterans, Veteran Spouses, and the Second Spouse,” as a component of the “Own Business” program.
The “Own Business” grant provides up to 250,000 UAH, while the “Grant for Veterans and the Second Spouse” offers up to 1 million UAH. Of these, 82% of grants are taken by existing businesses, and 18% by individuals starting new businesses.
There are also compensation programs, such as the “Compensation for Workplace Adaptation for People with Disabilities” program. The compensation amount for Group 1 is 107,000 UAH (949 employers have used this program), and for Group 2, it is 71,000 UAH (854 employers have used the program). Additionally, there is a compensation program for the employment of specific categories (people with disabilities, combat veterans, citizens 55+), which covers up to 50% of actual labor costs.
Yuliya Zhovtyak informed that by the end of the year, 80 “Made in Ukraine” offices will be opened at regional employment centers to support micro and small businesses. Currently, there are 22 such offices. This is another opportunity for the development of both employees and employers, as they can receive consultations on all existing state programs.
Another service provided by the Service is the issuance of training vouchers, which can be received by both unemployed and employed individuals. For example, among the categories eligible for vouchers are persons aged 45+ (over 10,000 vouchers have already been issued to such individuals), IDPs (2417 vouchers), people with disabilities, those who have been injured, etc. Vouchers can be obtained for training in 124 professions, and 14,000 vouchers have already been issued. Ms. Yuliya also noted that the State Employment Service operates 8 vocational education centers across Ukraine (located in cities such as Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Odesa, Sumy, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Dnipro), where 96 vocational professions can be obtained, and over 400 areas of advanced training are available.
A separate and highly relevant issue discussed was the employment of foreigners in Ukraine. Yuliya Zhovtyak informed that the employment procedures have been simplified as much as possible (although there are still some questions for certain services involved in this area). To date, 2,865 foreigners have been employed. At the same time, an important requirement remains the payment of taxes; despite the simplified procedure, if an employer does not pay taxes for a foreign worker within two months, the permit for the foreigner is revoked.
We sincerely thank Yuliya Zhovtyak for the meeting, for her willingness to provide more detailed information to businesses about the services of the State Employment Service, and for listening to comments and suggestions for improving its work. We also sincerely hope for continued dialogue!
Comments