The same drain on personnel that’s weakened Ukrainian forces staving off Russia’s onslaught on the battlefield is also sapping the productivity of the war-battered nation’s factory floors, construction sites, mines and restaurants.
The squeeze on labor has become one of the top concerns of businesses struggling to hire, with job searches taking up more of managers’ energy. In a time of war, wages are set to exceed their levels before Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
A mobilization law that went into effect last month is aimed at replenishing Ukraine’s military ranks with hundreds of thousands of troops. But the lack of able-bodied men and women is emerging as a burden for businesses large and small that make up the backbone of a wartime economy.
Nikolaychuk said a collapse in economic output compared with 2021 was linked with a contraction of about 27% in the available labor force from pre-war levels. In addition to an estimated more than 6 million people who fled the war, the vacuum has been exacerbated by men who’ve disappeared into a shadow economy of unregistered employees ducking conscription.
Source: https://archive.ph/q1POX
