Workforce planning becomes an economic issue
Ukraine will need more than two million new workers by 2036, and the biggest shortage is expected among skilled employees rather than in abstract office roles. The estimate was presented by Serhiy Babak, head of the parliamentary committee on education, science and innovation, in the context of changing the state order for education.
The core idea is simple: the state should finance training according to future labor-market demand, not only according to the capacity or wishes of universities. If the economy needs builders, mechanics, engineers, technicians, healthcare workers and industrial specialists, the education system has to react before the shortage becomes a structural brake on recovery.
Where the demand will grow
The total need for employed people is expected to rise from about twelve point nine million in 2025 to fourteen point six million by 2036. Construction is one of the clearest examples. Employment in the sector may grow from roughly five hundred twenty thousand people to about one point two four million, driven by reconstruction, housing, infrastructure and modernization projects.
Manufacturing is also expected to expand, from about one point three million workers in 2025 to more than one point seven million by 2036. Professional, scientific and technical activity may grow even faster in percentage terms, because recovery requires design, engineering, audits, project management, technical supervision and applied innovation. Agriculture may become more productive with fewer people, while healthcare and education remain large stabilizing employers.
Why investors should watch the skills gap
For investors, the labor deficit is not just a social challenge. It is a question of project execution, cost predictability and regional competitiveness. If companies cannot hire welders, electricians, machine operators, builders, logistics staff or technicians, capital projects become slower and more expensive.
The coming reform of educational orders, including draft law No. 10399 and related government decisions, is therefore part of Ukraine's investment infrastructure. A better match between education and economic demand can support reconstruction, industrial growth and private projects. The most valuable signal will be whether vocational training, technical colleges and universities start producing the workers that companies will actually need over the next decade.
