Ukrainian women train for blue-collar jobs as labor shortages grow

Kuzmina is one of many women joining the essential services as the war against Russia progresses.

Between January and May, the number of women employed rose from about 45,000 to almost 48,000. Those numbers could rise: The number of women taking vocational training, like Kuzmina, has risen by 75 percent over the same period to nearly 17,000, according to a state website.

Due to a shortage of workers in fields such as driving, mechanical work and road construction, the Ukrainian government launched a program that provides women with training vouchers. It allows them to benefit from free training in educational institutes or directly with an employer in their chosen profession. But Ukrainian women still have to contend with employers and even family members who don’t always agree with more women accepting traditionally male jobs.

Serving in the military

Kuzmina is no stranger to difficult jobs. She served in the Ukrainian army for two years. She joined the army in 2020 as an office clerk after studying bookkeeping and accounting. He later became a grenade launcher in the 46th separate assault, or Donbas Battalion.

But shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Kuzmina’s commander disbanded the unit due to a lack of resources.

“We had nothing – no ammunition, nothing to defend ourselves with,” she said. Her unit commander “told the battalion commander that, ‘I will not waste my men as cannon fodder.’

He also had personal obligations. Heavy military operations in her hometown of Torestsk made it impossible for her sick father to receive treatment. He moved him to another city and discharged himself from the army to focus on nursing.

In May, she wanted another way to actively support Ukraine’s war effort and decided to join a local electrical substation.

“Working on the power grid is important to me because this extremely critical infrastructure is currently under constant bombardment,” she said of Russian attacks on power facilities. “The enemy is attacking us from all sides. They are trying to bend us to their will.”

The attacks on Ukrainian power facilities are part of Russia’s campaign to blackout the entire country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that Russia had damaged or destroyed more than half of Ukraine’s electricity production.

In 2024 alone, there were 11 sets of missile and drone attacks on power stations and gas stations, according to Reuters. Locals are worried about how the infrastructure will hold up in the colder months when energy is needed for heating.

Ukraine is also targeting Russian oil refineries and terminals to weaken the Kremlin’s military capability.

Hiring gap

In its third year, the conflict created a great need for workers.

Tens of thousands volunteered to join the army, while 650,000 men left the country to avoid conscription, according to a Eurostat estimate. Some 6.3 million people, mostly women and children, have left Ukraine as refugees, and 3.7 million people are internally displaced, according to the UN, creating a large gap among young and skilled workers.

“It would be fair to say that there are both blue-collar and white-collar job vacancies that are affected,” said Yana Lukashuk, head of recruitment at Lobby X, a Kyiv-based employment agency. “Men who joined the Army and women with or without children who fled the country from all fields formed a huge talent gap in the market.”

Kuzmina is one of two employees at her plant, but she is one of several women stepping up to fill blue-collar jobs that are now vacant because they were filled primarily by men.

“More and more female candidates are becoming factory workers, technicians, drivers, etc., because they cannot do anything but fill many important vacant jobs in some regions where men are lacking,” Lukashuk told BI.

Effects of a Soviet-era law

One expert told BI that the trend is particularly notable because of a Soviet-era law that banned women from a list of about 450 occupations.

Ukraine repealed the law in 2017, but its effects are still ingrained in society, said Olga Kupets, a professor of labor economics at School of Economics in Kyiv.

There is still a legal debate over whether to maintain the restrictions, and some trainers and lecturers in the vocational education system are not yet ready to train women, Kupets said. Even if these two problems can be overcome, there is a strong pushback from society, according to Kupets.

“On the one hand, there is a lack of people, a lack of men, and there is an official desire from the government to help women work in these previously male areas,” she said of the government training programs that have been introduced this year. “But at a very low level, we’re seeing this huge opposition and resistance from employers.”

There have been cases where companies have opened roles to everyone, but bosses have discouraged women from applying, Kupets said.

“This discrimination in the labor market comes from stereotypes, not only from men, but also from women like mothers or mothers-in-law,” Kupets said.

However, Kuzmina, an electrician, said she sees women working around her and on social media.

“I was in the army, but I realized that I could no longer be useful there,” said Kuzmina. “But I want to help our country, Ukraine. I couldn’t just sit around.”

If you are from Ukraine and have a story to share about the war and how it affected your career, please contact: [email protected]