Ukrzaliznytsia Faces Staff Shortages: How the Company Plans to Address the Shortage of Specialists?
06.09.2024
The staff shortage at JSC Ukrzaliznytsia has reached a critical level, this is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.
In some professions, the shortage of specialists amounts to 20-30%. This was reported by the company’s chairman, Yevhen Liaschenko, in an interview with Business Breakfast on Forbes Ukraine.
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Since 2021, the number of Ukrzaliznytsia employees has decreased from 226,000 to 184,000 (as of September 2024).
An additional 5,000 employees work at affiliated enterprises. Currently, 10,500 Ukrzaliznytsia employees are serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with approximately 2,000 having returned to their jobs since the onset of the full-scale invasion.
Despite personnel expenses accounting for up to 50-60% of the company’s budget, wages at Ukrzaliznytsia are significantly lower than market rates, which contributes to a severe shortage of staff in key professions.
Yevhen Liaschenko emphasizes that the primary goal for the next three to five years is to retain qualified employees in critical areas.
To address the issue, the company plans to implement several strategies. One approach is to increase salaries, another is to adopt new technologies and combine professions where possible.
However, in the next one to two years, automation will only redistribute labor resources without reducing the overall need for them.
It is expected that automation will only significantly reduce the need for personnel after four years.
It should be noted that Ukrzaliznytsia ended July-August with a loss of 600-700 million hryvnias.
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