Safe Expansion Through People: Hiring in Ukraine During the War

Last Updated on 2 weeks ago by International Employment Specialists

Ukraine’s labour market presents an unusual situation for international employers.

The country remains at war. Millions of Ukrainians have moved abroad, many people have been internally displaced, mobilisation affects workforce availability, and businesses continue to operate under conditions that can change quickly.

At the same time, companies continue to hire.

Ukraine’s State Employment Service reported that employers submitted more than 240,000 vacancies through its services during the first half of 2026, with 131,500 filled. The broader 2026 data also show a gradual increase in the number of employed workers alongside continuing labour shortages across many occupations.

For international companies, this creates a market that should be neither underestimated nor approached as business as usual.

Hiring in Ukraine today requires a different type of planning.

The question is not simply whether a company can find Ukrainian talent.

It is whether the company can build a hiring and employment model that reflects the realities of the Ukrainian market while remaining sustainable for both the business and its people.

That is where local knowledge matters.

Table of Contents

Is It Possible to Hire Employees in Ukraine During the War?

Yes.

Ukrainian companies continue operating, recruiting and employing people, and foreign businesses continue working with Ukrainian professionals.

But employment relations currently operate within both Ukraine’s general labour framework and special wartime legislation.

Law No. 2136-IX introduced specific rules governing employment relations during martial law. Where these provisions regulate employment differently from the general Labour Code, the wartime rules take priority for the duration of martial law.

This means an international employer considering Ukraine should distinguish between two questions:

Can we hire in Ukraine?

and

How should we hire in Ukraine?

The first answer is generally yes.

The second requires considerably more analysis.

Ukraine Still Has a Functioning — but Changed — Talent Market

It would be misleading to describe Ukraine’s labour market only through the consequences of the war.

It would be equally misleading to ignore them.

The International Labour Organization identifies displacement, demographic decline, labour shortages and skills mismatches among the major challenges affecting Ukraine’s labour market. At the same time, its 2026–2029 programme treats employment, skills development and productive enterprises as central components of Ukraine’s recovery and European integration.

The market has therefore not disappeared.

It has reconfigured.

Recent research on Ukraine’s wartime labour market found that the labour force contracted substantially after the full-scale invasion, while recruitment adaptability, wage flexibility and remote working helped employment mechanisms remain comparatively resilient outside frontline and occupied regions.

For employers, the practical consequence is important:

pre-war assumptions about Ukrainian recruitment are no longer sufficient.

Candidate availability varies by profession, location and seniority. Some specialists are abroad. Others have relocated within Ukraine. Competition for particular skills has increased. Salary expectations have changed. Flexible and remote arrangements have become more important.

Successful recruitment therefore starts with understanding the talent market that exists now — not the market that existed before 2022.

Labour Shortages Are Now a Business Issue

One of the biggest mistakes a foreign employer can make is assuming that hiring in Ukraine automatically means access to a large pool of inexpensive candidates.

That assumption is outdated.

Ukraine’s State Employment Service reports that labour supply remains constrained because of war, migration and military service. Its 2026 statistics also show rising salaries, with the average monthly wage of employees exceeding UAH 30,000 during January–July 2026 and considerably higher averages in sectors such as information and telecommunications and financial services.

The Ukrainian government has also described workforce availability as a major economic challenge. In April 2026, it reported that 74% of companies were experiencing difficulties finding workers.

For international employers, this changes the recruitment equation.

Ukraine can still provide access to strong professional talent, but companies need realistic expectations regarding:

candidate availability;
compensation;
recruitment timelines;
location;
remote and hybrid work;
retention;
competition for specialist skills;
and workforce continuity.

Hiring strategy needs to reflect the actual market rather than historical perceptions of Ukraine as a low-cost labour destination.

Start With the Person the Business Actually Needs

At Brain Source International, we do not start an international expansion project by asking which employment product the client wants.

We start with the business requirement.

Why does the company need someone in Ukraine?

Perhaps it needs a software development team.

Perhaps it wants a finance or shared-services function.

Perhaps the company needs a Country Manager capable of developing the Ukrainian market.

Or perhaps it needs access to a particular specialist whose expertise happens to be available in Ukraine.

Those situations require different recruitment strategies.

Before discussing payroll, Employer of Record services or contractor arrangements, employers should define:

What business result should this person deliver?

Which skills are essential?

Does the employee need to be physically located in Ukraine?

Could the right Ukrainian candidate currently be living elsewhere in Europe?

Is this one strategic hire or the beginning of a larger team?

This is particularly important in Ukraine because geography and talent availability have changed significantly.

Recruitment should follow the talent market rather than force the talent market to fit a predetermined structure.

Hiring in Ukraine Requires a Wider Talent Search

Location flexibility can materially change recruitment results.

A candidate originally from Kharkiv may now live in Kyiv.

A specialist from Kyiv may currently live in Poland or Germany.

Another candidate may have relocated to western Ukraine but continue working remotely for companies elsewhere in Europe.

This means that defining a vacancy too narrowly by city can unnecessarily reduce the available talent pool.

For roles that can be performed remotely, companies should consider whether the real requirement is:

a person in Kyiv

a Ukrainian professional with the required skills and market knowledge.

These are not necessarily the same thing.

For senior and highly specialised recruitment, search strategy becomes even more important. The strongest candidate may not be actively applying for vacancies.

That is where direct search, market mapping and executive search can outperform conventional job advertising.

Remote Work Is Part of the Employment Framework

Remote work is not simply an informal arrangement in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Labour Code formally regulates remote work. It defines remote work as work performed outside the employer’s premises at a location chosen by the employee using information and communication technologies.

The framework also addresses working time, equipment, expenses and periods during which the employee has the right to disconnect from communication with the employer.

This gives employers a legal framework for building distributed teams.

It also means that remote employment should be properly documented.

Employers should establish how equipment is provided, how information is protected, how working time and communication are organised, and how expenses are handled.

For international businesses, these details become part of operational resilience rather than simply HR administration.

Build Business Continuity Into the Hiring Model

In many countries, business continuity is discussed primarily at company level.

When hiring in Ukraine, it should also be considered at role and team level.

The objective is not to predict every possible disruption.

That is impossible.

The objective is to avoid designing a workforce where one predictable disruption can stop an entire function.

Depending on the role, employers may need to consider:

remote-working capability;
alternative internet access;
backup power;
secure access to company systems;
geographical distribution of teams;
documented processes;
knowledge transfer;
cross-training;
backup responsibilities for critical functions;
and clear emergency communication procedures.

The exact requirements will depend on the position.

A remote software developer does not require the same continuity plan as a warehouse manager or production specialist.

This is another reason why generic “Ukraine hiring packages” have limited value.

The employment solution should follow the operational reality of the job.

Understand Mobilisation as a Workforce Planning Factor

Mobilisation is one of the issues international employers frequently ask about when considering hiring in Ukraine.

It should be treated carefully.

Employers should not attempt to make assumptions about an individual candidate’s future military status. Nor should recruitment strategy be built around trying to predict individual mobilisation outcomes.

But mobilisation does affect the overall availability of labour in Ukraine and therefore needs to be recognised at workforce-planning level. Ukraine’s State Employment Service explicitly identifies military service alongside migration and the consequences of hostilities as factors limiting labour supply.

The appropriate business response is resilience.

Critical knowledge should not sit with one employee.

Processes should be documented.

Teams should have appropriate backup arrangements.

Business continuity planning should be built around functions rather than assumptions about individual people.

This is good workforce management in any country. In Ukraine, it is particularly important.

Employment Compliance Still Matters During the War

Emergency conditions do not eliminate employment law.

They change parts of the framework.

Ukraine’s wartime employment legislation modifies certain rules governing employment relationships during martial law, while other provisions of Ukrainian labour legislation continue to apply where they do not conflict with the special wartime regime.

Foreign companies therefore need to understand how employees will actually be engaged.

Questions include:

Who will be the legal employer?
Which employment contract should be used?
How will payroll be managed?
How will taxes and social contributions be handled?
Will the employee work remotely?
What employment records are required?
What happens if working conditions change?
How will termination be handled?
Which wartime employment provisions apply?

These questions should be resolved before onboarding, not after a problem occurs.

Employee or Independent Contractor?

Ukraine has a strong history of working with international companies through independent professional and contractor structures, particularly in technology and professional services.

That does not mean every role should automatically become a contractor relationship.

The decision should reflect the actual nature of the engagement.

If the company needs a person integrated into the organisation, working under company direction in an ongoing role, an employment model may be more appropriate.

If the relationship is genuinely independent and project-based, a contractor structure may make sense.

The important point is not to choose a contractor simply because it appears administratively easier.

International employers should evaluate control, integration, working arrangements, duration and the commercial reality of the relationship before choosing the model.

When an Employer of Record Can Make Sense in Ukraine

A foreign company may want employees in Ukraine without immediately establishing its own Ukrainian entity.

In that situation, an Employer of Record can provide a local employment structure.

The EOR becomes the formal local employer and manages employment administration such as contracts, payroll and statutory processes, while the client company manages the employee’s day-to-day business activities within the agreed model.

This can be particularly useful when a company:

is making its first Ukrainian hire;

wants to test the market before establishing an entity;

needs to hire several employees quickly;

does not have Ukrainian payroll infrastructure;

or wants local employment support while evaluating a longer-term expansion strategy.

But the same principle applies in Ukraine as in every other country where Brain Source International operates:

EOR is an instrument, not the destination.

If the business eventually builds a substantial Ukrainian operation, the employment structure should be reviewed.

The model that makes sense for employee number one may not be the model that makes sense for employee number fifty.

Recruitment and Employment Should Not Be Separate Decisions

International companies sometimes treat recruitment and employment infrastructure as two unrelated projects.

First they ask a recruitment agency to find someone.

Then, once the candidate accepts the offer, they start thinking about how that person can legally be employed.

That sequence can create unnecessary delays.

Compensation may have been agreed without understanding the total employment cost.

The preferred candidate may live somewhere that changes the employment setup.

The planned contractor model may not fit the actual relationship.

Or the company may discover that its intended hiring structure cannot be implemented as expected.

A better sequence is:

Business objective → Talent market → Candidate → Employment model → Compliance → Payroll → Onboarding

Recruitment and employment planning should run together.

Retention Matters as Much as Recruitment

In a talent-short market, replacing people is expensive.

Retention therefore needs to be considered from the beginning.

Salary matters, but it is not the only factor.

Employers should also think about stability, management quality, flexibility, communication, career development and the employee’s confidence in the company’s long-term commitment.

This is particularly relevant when an international employer enters Ukraine for the first time.

Candidates may want to understand:

Is this a permanent role?

Who actually employs me?

How will salary be paid?

What happens if the company’s plans change?

Is there a real team behind the operation?

How will the company respond if working conditions are disrupted?

Clear answers reduce uncertainty.

And in a market already dealing with significant external uncertainty, employers should avoid creating unnecessary internal uncertainty.

Do Not Treat Ukrainian Talent as “Cheap Talent”

Cost remains one reason international companies consider Ukraine.

But positioning the market purely around labour arbitrage is increasingly disconnected from reality.

Skills shortages are pushing salaries upward. Competition for experienced professionals remains significant in a number of sectors, and the strongest candidates often have access to international employment opportunities.

The better question is therefore not:

How cheaply can we hire in Ukraine?

It is:

What capability can we build in Ukraine relative to the total cost?

That changes the conversation from cheap labour to business value.

For strategic hiring, this distinction matters enormously.

Think About Inclusion as Part of the Talent Strategy

Ukraine’s workforce is also changing structurally.

Internally displaced people, veterans, people with disabilities, returning Ukrainians, women entering new professions and Ukrainians currently living abroad are increasingly important parts of the country’s evolving labour market.

The ILO identifies women, youth, veterans, internally displaced people, returnees and people with disabilities among groups facing specific labour-market barriers during the war. Its current programme places inclusive employment and skills development within Ukraine’s longer-term recovery strategy.

For employers, this is not only a social-policy issue.

It expands the way companies should think about talent pools.

Flexible working arrangements, accessible recruitment processes, skills-based hiring and structured reskilling can open candidate pools that traditional recruitment filters may overlook.

Common Mistakes When Hiring in Ukraine During the War

Using Pre-War Salary Benchmarks

The labour market has changed substantially. Historical salary expectations can produce unrealistic budgets and weak candidate pipelines.

Use current market intelligence for the specific profession and seniority level.

Restricting Recruitment to One City Without a Business Reason

Remote and relocated talent can significantly expand the candidate pool.

Define where the employee genuinely needs to work before putting a city into the vacancy.

Treating Every Ukrainian Specialist as a Contractor

Choose the employment structure according to the actual relationship rather than administrative convenience.

Ignoring Business Continuity Until Something Happens

Continuity planning should happen during workforce design.

Critical roles, knowledge and systems need appropriate backup.

Selecting the Employment Model Before Understanding the Hiring Strategy

Entity, EOR, direct employment and contractor arrangements are mechanisms.

The business objective comes first.

Assuming Ukraine Is Primarily a Low-Cost Market

Companies competing only on cost may struggle to attract experienced professionals.

Look at skills, productivity, market knowledge and total employment value instead.

Managing Ukrainian Employees Exactly Like Employees Everywhere Else

Consistency in company culture is useful.

Ignoring local reality is not.

Good international HR combines global standards with local understanding.

How Brain Source International Approaches Hiring in Ukraine

Ukraine is not a new market for Brain Source International.

It is part of our home market and our operational experience.

That changes the role we can play for an international company.

We do not look at Ukraine only through payroll calculations or a standard country checklist. We understand the candidate market, recruitment behaviour, employment environment and practical realities behind building teams here.

Our work can combine International Recruitment, Executive Search, Employer of Record, Payroll, Contractor Management and HR Consulting depending on what the client actually needs.

But the process starts before any of those services.

We first need to understand:

What is the company trying to build?

Then:

Which people are needed to build it?

Then:

Where can those people realistically be found?

And only after that:

What is the safest and most practical way to employ them?

For some companies, the answer may be one senior hire.

For others, it may be a distributed Ukrainian team.

Another company may need an EOR initially and its own local infrastructure later.

There is no reason to force all three into the same model.

Our role is closer to being a local pilot: the company decides where it wants the business to go, while we help navigate the local talent market, employment environment and practical risks required to get there.

Expert Tip: Build for Change, Not for a Perfect Scenario

There is no employment model that can remove geopolitical uncertainty.

Trying to design one is the wrong objective.

Instead, build an organisation that can adapt.

Recruit people who can operate in distributed environments.

Document critical knowledge.

Avoid unnecessary single points of failure.

Create clear remote-work procedures.

Build backup processes around critical functions.

Review the employment model as the team grows.

And maintain local HR and compliance knowledge rather than relying entirely on assumptions made at headquarters.

The objective is not zero risk.

The objective is controlled risk with operational flexibility.

That principle is particularly relevant in Ukraine, but it is also one of the foundations of responsible international expansion.

FAQ: Hiring Employees in Ukraine During the War

Can foreign companies still hire employees in Ukraine during the war?

Yes. Ukrainian businesses and international companies continue recruiting and employing people. However, employers need to account for the special rules governing employment relations during martial law as well as the broader Ukrainian labour framework.

Is the Ukrainian labour market still active in 2026?

Yes. The State Employment Service reported more than 240,000 vacancies submitted by employers through its services during the first half of 2026. At the same time, significant labour shortages remain in many areas, meaning candidate availability varies considerably by occupation and location.

Is it difficult to recruit employees in Ukraine?

It depends heavily on the role. Labour shortages, migration, displacement and military service have reduced workforce availability, while competition remains significant for some specialist and senior positions. Recruitment therefore requires current market data rather than pre-war assumptions.

Can Ukrainian employees work remotely?

Yes. Ukrainian labour legislation formally recognises remote work and regulates issues including workplace arrangements, working time, equipment and communication with the employer.

Can a foreign company hire someone in Ukraine without establishing a Ukrainian entity?

Depending on the structure, alternatives may include using an Employer of Record in Ukraine or engaging a genuine independent contractor. The appropriate model depends on the nature of the relationship, the number of people being hired and the company’s long-term plans in Ukraine.

Should we hire Ukrainian professionals as employees or contractors?

There is no universal answer. The structure should reflect the actual relationship. A genuinely independent professional engagement may support a contractor model, while an ongoing role integrated into the company’s organisation may require a different employment structure.

Is Ukraine still a cost-effective hiring market?

Cost can remain attractive for certain roles compared with some Western European markets, but employers should not base their strategy on old assumptions about low Ukrainian salaries. Labour shortages and competition for experienced specialists have contributed to rising wages.

How should employers manage wartime risks when hiring in Ukraine?

Focus on operational resilience rather than attempting to predict individual events. Remote-work capability, geographic distribution, backup power and connectivity, documented processes, knowledge transfer and succession or backup arrangements for critical functions can reduce operational dependency.

Can Brain Source International recruit and employ people in Ukraine?

Yes. Brain Source International supports companies through recruitment, executive search, Employer of Record, payroll, contractor management and HR consulting. The appropriate combination depends on the company’s hiring requirements and longer-term strategy.

Final Thoughts

Hiring in Ukraine during the war requires realism.

But realism works in both directions.

Ignoring the war would be irresponsible.

Assuming that the war has made Ukraine impossible to hire in would also be wrong.

The labour market continues to function. Companies continue operating. Professionals continue building careers. International businesses continue working with Ukrainian teams.

What has changed is the level of planning required.

Employers need current talent-market intelligence, flexible recruitment, appropriate employment structures, strong compliance processes and realistic business-continuity planning.

Most importantly, they need to start with the business objective rather than the employment product.

At Brain Source International, we describe the principle simply:

Move as fast as possible, but never faster than compliance, local reality and common sense allow.

For Ukraine, that principle matters more than ever.

Build Your Team in Ukraine With Local Expertise

Planning to hire your first employee, recruit a senior executive or build a team in Ukraine?

Brain Source International can help you understand the talent market, find the right people and establish an employment structure that fits your business.

From recruitment and executive search to EOR, payroll and HR support, we connect the people strategy with the practical infrastructure required to operate locally.

Expand through people. Safe.