Salary, Schedule, and Booking: What Motivates Ukrainians to Change Jobs

The willingness of Ukrainians to change jobs has significantly increased over the past year. In 2025, only 15% of respondents expressed such plans, but that figure has now risen to 38%. The most important criteria when choosing a new employer remain salary level, proximity to the workplace, and flexible schedules.

As reported by Delo.ua, this is discussed in a study by OLX Ukraine.

The Labor Market is Changing

Despite more Ukrainians considering changing jobs, for those who do not plan to resign in the near future, the main argument remains a convenient schedule. This factor was cited by 56% of respondents—almost the same as last year (57%).

The second most significant reason was satisfaction with salary levels. In 2025, 28% of respondents noted this, but now this figure has risen to 41%.

Workers also value a comfortable atmosphere in the team (35%), opportunities for professional development within the company (29%), as well as job stability and security (26%). Another 26% noted that they do not see alternative vacancies in the labor market that meet their expectations.

For 12% of respondents, significant factors include an attractive social package, opportunities for free training and development, as well as issues related to mobilization or military accounting.

What Stimulates Ukrainians to Look for New Jobs

The most powerful incentive for changing employers remains the opportunity to earn a higher salary. This factor was chosen by 84% of survey participants, compared to 64% a year earlier.

At the same time, Ukrainians are increasingly paying attention not only to income levels but also to working conditions. Almost half of the respondents (45%) are willing to change jobs for more comfortable working conditions.

42% of respondents cited career development opportunities and flexible schedules or remote work formats as important. For comparison, last year these figures were 28% and 22%, respectively.

Additionally, 32% are willing to move to a more stable and reliable employer, while 29% are looking for better motivational packages or more interesting professional tasks. For 23%, a significant argument is the possibility of employee booking, while in 2025 this factor was mentioned by only 16% of respondents.

What Difficulties Arise When Searching for Jobs

The biggest problem for Ukrainians when searching for jobs remains low salaries in vacancies. This was indicated by 47% of respondents, compared to 44% a year earlier.

Another 37% of respondents complain about a lack of vacancies in their region. This is significantly more than last year when 26% of study participants noted such a problem.

Among other common difficulties are insufficient vacancies in their specialty (34%), job offers with excessive responsibilities (28%), inflated employer requirements for candidates (22%), and cases of discrimination based on age, gender, or other characteristics (20%).

Only 3% of respondents stated that they had not encountered difficulties when searching for jobs or had not yet started an active search.

What Vacancies Do Ukrainians Choose

The study indicates a shift in the professional priorities of Ukrainians. More than half of the respondents are now looking for jobs related to physical labor. The most in-demand vacancies are for cashiers, cooks, drivers, builders, production workers, and other representatives of working professions.

Another 30% of respondents are interested in vacancies for middle-level specialists, including office administrators or store managers.

What is Decisive When Choosing a New Employer

The most important criterion when choosing a new job remains the salary level. This factor was cited by 90% of survey participants, which is 10 percentage points higher than last time.

Other priorities include the proximity of work to the place of residence (67%) and flexible schedules (61%).

At the same time, the importance of official employment has decreased: if in 2025 its importance was noted by 40% of respondents, now it is only 28%.

Ukrainians place less importance on the ability to work remotely (16%), booking and the company's reputation (8% each), as well as housing provided by the employer (7%).

What Work Format Do Ukrainians Choose

Despite the decreasing role of official employment as a criterion for choosing a vacancy, official employment remains the most popular work format, chosen by 57% of respondents.

At the same time, 55% are open to working without official registration. Another 23% are willing to work under civil law contracts, while 14% are ready to cooperate with employers as individual entrepreneurs.

It is worth noting that the IMF predicts that the unemployment rate in Ukraine will be 11.3% in 2027, which is higher than the expected figure for 2026. At the same time, official statistics indicate a decrease in the number of registered unemployed, but employers continue to face a severe shortage of qualified personnel.

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