Employers in panic: how the departure of men aged 18–22 is hurting business
Фото: Pixabay
After the government allowed men aged 18–22 to leave Ukraine, young people began leaving the country en masse. And although there are no official statistics from the Ukrainian side, data from Polish border guards indicate a sharp increase in migration in this age category.
This is stated in the material of Hromadske.
In the week from August 28 to September 3, more than 10,700 Ukrainian men aged 18–22 arrived in the Podkarpacie and Lublin voivodeships of Poland alone. The net outflow is more than 7,400 people, as some of the young men return or go further – to Georgia, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
This decision already has tangible consequences for Ukrainian business.
Young people are traditionally employed in sectors that require physical endurance and flexible schedules: retail, restaurant business, logistics, warehouse work, security. These industries were the first to report an increase in the number of layoffs.
“The departure of young people can destabilize the labor market for 3-4 quarters. Businesses will need time to find new solutions,” says Vlada Lyashchenko, head of the recruitment agency Talando.
Who is already losing employees: company cases
Oregano Cafe (Rivne)
Small businesses have suffered the most. A well-known cafe closed after five years of operation, with 10 employees leaving in just two weeks.
“This is critical for a small business. There are simply not enough people to keep up the pace of work,” the owners explain.
Emotions Holding !Fest (Lviv)
A well-known player in the restaurant market lost 22 guys aged 18–22 — that’s more than 10% of all employees in this category.
Silpo supermarket chain
At least 3% of the 3,000 young men in the company have quit since the rule change. The company says layoffs are on the rise.
ATB
The losses are even more serious: up to 25% of young male workers have either already quit or have announced their intention to do so.
New Mail
In 10 days, there were 170 layoffs in the age category of 18–22, and 64 were hired, meaning a net loss of 106 people.
The IT sector has not yet experienced significant losses. Young IT professionals are either already working remotely or are just planning to move. Companies are not recording mass layoffs, but they predict a possible wave closer to winter.
Carlsberg Ukraine reported only 2 layoffs among young people due to active internship programs.
According to Korn Ferry analysis, the most common people who are fired are:
Employees with a salary of up to UAH 15,000
Those who do not have a family or children
Young people who can quickly “pack up and go”
Companies also note the influence of parents – some young people are fired under pressure from their families, who want their son to “leave while they can.”
Experts say that the loss of this category of employees is especially painful – they are difficult to replace.
“Young workers are capable of performing physically difficult, but unskilled tasks. Older age categories are not always an alternative,” notes economist Olga Kupets.
While some businesses are trying to fill the gap with new hires, the overall trend is worrying, especially for small businesses that lack the resources to quickly retrain their staff.
Without a new strategy to retain young people, the labor market could lose even more, and some companies risk not surviving another season.
We would like to remind you that after the Ukrainian government allowed men aged 18–22 to travel abroad on August 28, there has been a noticeable increase in the flow of young citizens towards European countries. This is especially noticeable in the Polish direction, where the number of departures increased more than 10 times in the first week after the changes came into force.
As reported, after the government allowed men aged 18 to 22 to temporarily cross the state border in late August, Ukraine has seen an active movement of young people from a number of regions. The dynamics are especially noticeable in the western part of the country.
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