After the war, Ukraine will face a shortage of construction workers — demographer
The construction sector is expected to face the greatest labor shortage in Ukraine once the war ends. According to demographers, the shortage of workers in this sector is already significant and may worsen in the future.
Ella Libanova, director of the M.V. Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, spoke about this during a televised marathon.
"A very severe labor shortage will be felt, particularly in construction. After the war ends, we will be forced to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure. This is inevitable; nothing can be done without it," Libanova said.
According to her, this is the first step, without which all others are pointless. And Ukraine does not have enough of its own workforce.
The demographer noted that even today, builders are saying there is a labor shortage. Moreover, it is not always possible to replace men who have gone to the front.
Libanova emphasized that the construction industry is quite specific. She identified three areas that must be addressed simultaneously.
One of them is trying to keep all citizens in Ukraine so that Ukrainians leave for extended periods as little as possible. But this doesn’t mean an “iron curtain”; rather, it means making sure people don’t want to leave, that their lives are better in Ukraine.
“Second, we need to bring back everyone who has left. If we can’t bring them back, then at least turn those who remain abroad into our advocates. And third, we need a balanced, very moderate—perhaps even strict—immigration policy,” the demographer added.
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