Ukrainian labor market in the context of digitalization, the Covid-19 pandemic and martial law

Many Ukrainians lost their jobs at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and during the fullscale
war. At the moment, some of them physically have no place to work due to the occupation of
Ukrainian territories by the Russian Federation, and many simply fled their cities from the bombing,
leaving their homes and places of work behind. And now the number of workers and entrepreneurs
who are actually out of work is in the millions. Obviously, some of the temporarily unemployed will
find new jobs abroad or in Western Ukraine, and some businesses will adapt to the new conditions
to some extent, thus providing employment. Without retraining, most unemployed people will not
be able to maintain their social and income level.
In the 21st century, international socio-economic development has acquired new characteristics,
including rapid development of technology, innovation and digitalization, the growing importance
of the service sector, and accelerating globalization. The transition to the information society
in the context of changes in communication technologies and motivation of labor activity implies a
serious change in labor relations, the emergence of "long-distance relations" between employees
and employers and the intensification of remote work, i.e., it is possible to say that there is a
process of decentralization of labor movement in time and place, namely, the process of a flexible
labor market is being formed. It can be assumed that the digital economy will eventually increase
the share of intellectual labor compared to traditional physical labor, which will make it possible to
make greater use of non-remote employment and atypical types of employment that are becoming
increasingly in demand.
The most important factor in the development of the knowledge economy is human capital,
in particular its creativity and talent, which is expressed in new creative ideas and perspectives.
Creative human capital, in turn, is the core of the creative class, a social stratum engaged
in science, technology and the arts, whose work results in innovative products and services.
So, it is safe to say that the Ukrainian and global labor market will not remain unchanged, and
while we used to depend directly on the external environment, today it is the war in Ukraine
that is changing the old standards, principles and paradigms on which the economy and labor
market functioned.