The Ukrainian Railways joint-stock company (Ukrzaliznytsia) has a shortage of employees that has reached 20-30% in certain professions.
This was stated by Ukrzaliznytsia’s head Yevhen Liaschenko, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Forbes Ukraine publication.
According to Liaschenko, the number of Ukrzaliznytsia’s employees has decreased from 226,000 in 2021 to 184,000 as of September 2024.
"Ukrzaliznytsia’s affiliated enterprises employ about 5,000 people. In addition, 10,500 Ukrzaliznytsia employees are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with about 2,000 returning to work after the start of the full-scale invasion. Although personnel costs account for 50-60% of the company's total costs, wages at Ukrzaliznytsia remain below market levels," Liaschenko said.
Therefore, according to him, the shortage of personnel at Ukrzaliznytsia reaches 20-30% in certain professions.
"Our challenge for the next three to five years is to retain key personnel in areas that are critical to our operations," Liaschenko said.
According to him, the company plans to do this by pursuing several strategies simultaneously. He believes one approach is to increase salaries.
"Another approach is to implement new technologies and merge functions where possible. However, in the next one to two years, automation will allow Ukrzaliznytsia only to redistribute targeted personnel, not to reduce the overall need for them," Liaschenko said.
In 2023, Ukrzaliznytsia remained the largest employer in Ukraine, with 187,620 employees. The number of the company's employees has decreased in one year, as it employed 210,742 people in 2022. Even before the Russian invasion, the number of Ukrzaliznytsia's employees was expected to reduce by 14,000 to 223,800 in 2022 compared to 2021. By comparison, Ukrzaliznytsia employed 285,200 people in 2016.
