PROBLEMS OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN UKRAINE UNDER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The article studies the problems of unemployment in Ukraine under the impact of the recent COVID19 pandemic. The reasons for unemployment growth in the country during 2020-2021 have been analyzed. They include strict quarantine restrictions on doing business, imbalance of supply and demand in the domestic labor market, inadequate wages in some industries, the economy’s structural changes such as transformations due to lockdowns. The combined impact of these factors caused a 1.5-fold increase in the number of registered unemployed during the first wave of quarantine restrictions in the spring of 2020, while the unemployment rate in the national economy declined in the subsequent lockdown waves in 2020-2021. In this context, the consequences of mass unemployment in Ukraine have been identified and substantiated. Among them are: lowering living standards, increasing social insecurity of citizens; reduction of tax incomes, problems with filling the Pension Fund; disparities in the development of different types of economic activity; rising crime level; exacerbation of employment issues for migrant workers who returned to the country; worsening demographic situation. However, positive trends in employment growth emerged in some areas such as online commerce, digital banking, home delivery, and teleworking. Instead, a significant reduction in jobs was observed among HR managers, marketers, IT specialists, administrative staff, hotel and restaurant business employees, etc. Based on the conducted analysis, there have been formed ways out from the current crisis in the Ukrainian labor market. They include creating new jobs under multilevel infrastructure modernization programs, support of small and medium-sized businesses, remote employment development, repatriation of migrant workers, etc.