The agricultural labor market has recovered to 80% of the pre-war level — study

During the war, the agricultural industry turned out to be more stable than the labor market as a whole. In February 2022, 2,745 vacancies from agricultural companies were posted on Work.ua, and in March the number of vacancies fell six times to 445 vacancies. As a whole, the labor market collapsed more than 10 times, according to a joint study by Agrohub and Work.ua, Forbes writes.

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Market recovery

The gradual recovery of the labor market began in April 2022. The active recovery of the agricultural industry was observed in the summer, from June 2022 (1159 vacancies) and lasted until September, when the first record was recorded – 1641 job offers, according to the comments to the analytical report.

The agricultural sector became more active in the first month of 2023, which is probably connected with the approach of the beginning of sowing work. In March 2023, the number of job offers in the agricultural sector amounted to 2,264 vacancies, which is more than 80% by February 2022.

According to the Agrohub survey, there is a rather large shortage of personnel among mechanics, work specialties, drivers and line personnel. A low level of personnel deficit is observed in elevators.

During the war, competition increased fivefold. There was little work, there were many people willing to work, so vacancies were closed faster. By March 2023, the number of job vacancies had almost reached the pre-war level. According to the Work.ua survey, 56% of employers already note that hiring candidates has become longer.

Most of the surveyed representatives of the companies do not intend to change the number of personnel this year. About 30% of respondents plan to optimize personnel by 5-10%. Only two of the surveyed large agricultural companies plan to hire up to 5% of employees.

Salary growth

More than 80% of Agrohub poll participants note that they have already increased the income of their employees. In terms of specialties, income growth on average by +15% compared to 2022 was also recorded.

According to Work.ua, the average (media) salary in Ukraine during 2022 was UAH 15,000. In February 2023, for the first time since the full-scale invasion, the average salary increased and now amounts to UAH 16,000. The median salary in the agricultural industry is UAH 16,500.

Workers in Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Khmelnytskyi regions receive a high average salary (from UAH 20,000 to UAH 30,000). The lowest (from UAH 13,500 to UAH 15,000) is in Poltava, Rivne, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zhytomyr.

Top 5 non-management positions with the highest median salary in March 2023: UAH 40,000 — international driver; UAH 28,750 — procurement manager; UAH 25,000 — manager of foreign affairs; UAH 24,000 — mechanic; UAH 23,250 — machinist.

From UAH 9,475 to UAH 12,500, security guards, accountants, packers, sales consultants, and handymen earn in agricultural companies.

14 largest agricultural holdings of Ukraine with a total land bank of about 2 million hectares took part in the survey conducted by Agrohub. Work.ua analyzed the data of vacancies posted on the site from 2021 to March 2023 by companies working in the field of agribusiness and agriculture.

Source: Ministry of Finance

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