Almost 15% of Ukrainians who became victims of the full-scale Russian invasion have lost their jobs, according to a sociological survey conducted by the Razumkov Center at the request of the ZN.UA media outlet. Among them, seven out of ten were forced to change their qualifications while looking for new employment opportunities.

According to the survey, 77% of the unemployed did not have a job before the war started, and another 5% retired after the conflict began. Among those who lost their jobs after February 24, 2022, 10.4% became unemployed due to the closure of enterprises, and 4.2% were dismissed on their own accord. The main reasons for job loss were the closure of businesses and forced migration.

In connection with changes related to job loss, 29.5% of respondents said that the reason was the closure of the enterprise, and 14.3% said that the reason was staff reduction. In addition, 12.9% of those laid off left their place of work, 8.7% temporarily went abroad and lost their jobs while away. More than 4% were against the relocation of the company and lost their jobs as a result.

Family circumstances that have changed since the outbreak of the war have caused job losses for about 10% of respondents, and low wages or non-payment of wages for almost 7.5% of respondents.

The ability to work has also changed for many Ukrainians: almost 40% of those who have changed their work schedule are working with the same set of responsibilities as before the war, and 12.6% have changed their jobs. Also, more than 11% work fewer hours than before, 5.5% have changed their position at the same company, and 4.6% have switched to remote work.

Some Ukrainians were able to find additional work on top of their main job - about 4% of them, and 2.2% started working after the war started, when they were not employed before.

Those who changed jobs after February 24 had to study and acquire new skills: over 70% of such respondents said they had to change their specialty. For more than 40%, this was due to significant changes in their field of employment, while 30% remained in the same field but had to learn new skills. Only 26.4% of respondents were able to change jobs without changing their qualifications.