As Ukrainian men head off to fight, women take up their jobs
Read more of our recent coverage of the Ukraine war The war has upended the lives of countless Ukrainians, as well as the country’s labour market. Some 4.8m people lost their jobs almost overnight when Russia attacked. Unemployment is estimated to have eased to 18.4% in October this year, from more than 30% in the spring of 2022, but remains well above pre-war levels.
According to one survey, 17% of Ukrainian workers have changed professions since the start of the war. Hundreds of thousands have been conscripted. American officials estimate that at least 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war, and that up to 120,000 more have been wounded.
As more Ukrainians are called up, demand for workers in sectors traditionally dominated by men is growing. Enter Ukraine’s women. War and occupation have made collecting good data impossible.
But there are signs that women are increasingly powering Ukraine’s hobbled economy. Of the 36,000 small- and medium-sized companies registered in Ukraine so far this year, 51% are run by women, says Yulia Svyrydenko, the country’s economy minister. More women are starting to work in industry, construction, and mining.
“We will see this on a larger scale once we start reconstruction," she says. In the coming years Ukraine will need an army of doctors and psychologists to look after its war veterans, including thousands of amputees and traumatised soldiers. Many if not most of those care-givers will be women.
Read more on livemint.com
