Labor Market 2025: What Salaries in Ukraine and Who Will Lose Jobs Due to AI.

According to ТСН: The year 2025 will be a crucial stage for the labor market, where technological changes driven by artificial intelligence (AI) intertwine with demographic and geopolitical shifts, intensified by the challenges of wartime in Ukraine.

The TSN website studied:

• average salaries in Ukraine in 2025;

• expectations of hired workers for 2026;

• professions that may disappear due to AI, and those that will remain;

• recommendations on how to avoid losing a job due to AI.

Who is Paid Well in Ukraine

According to the State Statistics Service, the average salary in 2025 reached 26.9 thousand UAH per month, which is 25% more compared to 2024. However, this average salary does not reflect the full picture of the labor market.

The IT sector remains the highest-paying, where earnings often depend on currency. Systems architects earn over 270 thousand UAH per month, while beginners receive from 35 thousand UAH.

Employees with high responsibility, such as directors and financial managers, earn from 70 to 150 thousand UAH per month. Welders and CNC machine operators also have decent incomes.

Average salaries for various professions, such as logisticians, plasterers, and doctors, range from 40 to 70 thousand UAH, while sales managers and auditors earn from 25 to 40 thousand UAH.

Meanwhile, in the budget sector, salaries remain low, although they are approaching minimum market standards:

• security/safety - 22 thousand UAH;

• education/teachers - 15-21 thousand UAH;

• couriers/drivers - 18-28 thousand UAH;

• cashiers/room attendants - 17-20 thousand UAH;

• librarians/cultural workers - 12.5-14 thousand UAH.

The main conclusions: the gap in salaries between the highest and lowest paid professions reaches 20 times; in Kyiv, Lviv, and Dnipro, salaries are 20-30% higher than the national average; the shortage of working specialties, such as welders and builders, is approaching the incomes of office workers.

Wants vs. Realities

Workers always strive for more, while employers aim to pay less. However, in some sectors, employers are willing to offer more than candidates ask.

Here is a detailed overview by categories:

1. White-collar workers (office specialists): average desired salaries range from 31 to 37 thousand UAH, offers - from 26 to 32 thousand UAH. The difference is about 15%.

2. Blue-collar workers (skilled trades): average desired salary is about 33 thousand UAH, offers - from 28 to 45 thousand UAH, difference +5-15%.

3. Service sector: average desired salaries are about 24.5 thousand UAH, the offer is approximately 25.8 thousand UAH, difference +5%.

Forecasts for 2026: Need for Women, Children, and Pensioners

Experts predict that by 2026, the labor market in Ukraine will become a "worker's market" due to a shortage of personnel.

Key points:

• Businesses will not be able to curb salary growth, over 56% of companies are budgeting for salary increases of 10-20%;

• Increasing the minimum wage from 8000 to 8647 UAH will positively impact the budget sector;

• Employers will actively attract elderly people aged 60+ and teenagers aged 15-17;

• Women will be able to engage in traditionally "male" professions, such as trucking;

• The hybrid work format will become a common phenomenon;

• The majority of companies will adapt workplaces for veterans and people with disabilities;

• Artificial intelligence will continue to be implemented in various fields.

AI - The 'Second Pilot' or Replacement

AI is unlikely to be able to perform complex physical work in the near future, so some professions will remain safe in Ukraine. This applies, in particular, to builders, electricians, plumbers, and cooks. Education, medicine, and psychology will also not be under threat.

Professions related to information processing may be at risk of replacement. The year 2026 will mark the moment of real competition for jobs, especially in mental labor. Office managers, personal assistants, administrators, and lawyers will be threatened.

Low-skilled professions may also face changes; for example, the number of cashiers in supermarkets may decrease due to automation.

In the agricultural sector, traditional methods of work may be replaced by drones and automated systems, which will also affect the demand for labor.

What to Do to Avoid Being Fired

Workers in mental labor must acquire AI literacy to remain in demand in the market. This involves knowledge of AI tools that can help increase productivity and reduce the risk of dismissal.

Those who work physically should upgrade their skills, for example, by learning new technologies such as 3D printers or drones to remain competitive in the labor market.