«There will be a problem with the lack of people»: Sienkevych says unemployment in Mykolaiv may occur after war

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, believes that unemployment in Mykolaiv may occur after the war. Photo: NikVesti

The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, has said that there is no critical unemployment situation in the city at the moment, but there may be a shortage of workers after the war is over.

He said this in an interview with hromadske.

According to the mayor, there are currently many vacancies at municipal and private enterprises in the city. However, after the war, when the reconstruction and resumption of production begins, there may be a shortage of labour.

«We have a lot of vacancies at various city enterprises, and there is no critical unemployment situation. But this is a problem that may arise in Mykolaiv after the war is over. Because large enterprises are not working in the city. Mykolaiv has lost a significant part of its income from personal income tax. When it comes to launching businesses and dealing with reconstruction, we may have a big problem with the lack of people. If people come back, they will need to be provided with jobs,» explained Oleksandr Sienkevych.

However, the city is already facing a shortage of labour: some residents have left and some have been mobilised. Despite this, the city's infrastructure continues to operate stably.

«We really lack people. We are understaffed because many people have left and some have been mobilised. There are always vacancies — from street cleaning to critical infrastructure systems: heating, water supply, etc. But this is not critical. Today, we do not have a situation where we do not have enough people to supply water, electricity or heating. The situation is difficult, but the state provides for a 50% reservation for people in these professions,» said the mayor.

He added that the city authorities are already cooperating with foreign partners and employers' organisations to train staff to rebuild the city. One of the main areas of this cooperation is assistance in training labourers, purchasing equipment and training technical professionals through vocational schools.

As a reminder, the number of jobseekers in Mykolaiv region is twice as high as the number of available vacancies. A similar situation is observed in other frontline regions: in Kherson region, the figure is three times higher, and in Donetsk region, it is ten times higher.