The Russian Language is Disappearing from the Ukrainian Labor Market – Study.

The Ukrainian labor market has almost completely switched to the Ukrainian language, a conclusion drawn from research published by the recruitment portal Work.ua.

The authors of the study claim that there is almost no Russian language left in the Ukrainian labor market. In October 2022, 84% of job vacancies were composed in Ukrainian, and by October 2023, this figure had increased to 95%. By September 2024, Ukrainian-language job offers constituted 97%, whilst only 1.5% of vacancies were in Russian, an historical low.

However, employers post vacancies in Russian across all regions of Ukraine. The highest number of such vacancies is in the Odesa region - 5.6%, compared to the previous year when it was 11%. Vacancies requiring Russian language constitute only 85.8% of remote jobs, as many job offers are composed in English.

The language of vacancies also depends on the company's activity sector. The most Ukrainianized vacancies are found in the sectors of “Defense Forces” (99.6%), “Governmental Organizations” (99.3% of vacancies in Ukrainian), and “Design” (98.2%). In September of this year, there were no vacancies composed in Russian in these two sectors. However, the least Ukrainianized vacancies are found in non-profit, charitable organizations, and the IT sector. This is related to the large number of job offers written in English.

Ukrainians most often respond to vacancies requiring English language skills. Researchers explain that English-language vacancies most often offer higher salaries and the opportunity to work remotely. Comparing vacancies written in Russian and Ukrainian, employers using the Ukrainian language receive 17% more responses from job applicants.

There is also a Ukrainianization of candidates' resumes. According to statistics, in 2022, 71% of resumes were in Ukrainian, in 2023, this number grew to 88%, and by September 2024, it reached 90.5%. Young people and women most often compose resumes in Ukrainian, with the least Ukrainianized resumes found among candidates aged 55+, where only 64.5% of this age group's resumes are in Ukrainian; notably, they more often use Russian - 34%. It is also worth noting that these figures have not improved compared to October 2022, analysts point out.

Previously, researchers from the Razumkov Center found that the working-age population in Ukraine had decreased by 40% compared to 2021.