The extent of Ukraine’s personnel crisis and how to overcome it 

Perhaps the most pressing issue facing the Ukrainian economy amid the war is the personnel crisis. Without a sufficient workforce, it will be impossible to rebuild the energy sector, infrastructure, or the housing fund, nor will it be possible to increase tax revenues.

It would seem that to overcome the personnel crisis, a primary focus should be on facilitating the return of Ukrainians from abroad. According to UN data, approximately 6.5 million Ukrainian citizens are currently residing outside of the country.

The Center for Economic Strategy gives a somewhat more restrained assessment — 4.9 million Ukrainian men and women were outside Ukraine as of January 2024, but even this number would be sufficient for the current market needs.

According to the Center for Economic Strategy, it is projected that between 1.3 and 2.2 million Ukrainian citizens (representing 36-61% of all Ukrainian migrants and refugees currently abroad) will return to Ukraine following the conclusion of the war. The future trajectory is contingent upon the war’s length, its resolution, and the policies pursued by Ukraine and the EU,” explains Dariia Mykhailyshyna, the center’s senior economist.

She outlines several specific steps that will provide powerful motivation for citizens to return from abroad: rapid post-war reconstruction of affected regions, seamless reintegration of children into Ukrainian schools, streamlining the admission process for Ukrainian graduates of foreign schools, and cooperation with EU countries to facilitate the return of Ukrainians after the war.

Another important step is creating public-private partnerships, for example, where the state provides housing and businesses provide jobs, says Mykhailyshina. This can encourage people from occupied or destroyed regions who have lost their homes to return to the country.

Source: hromadske.