Cooperation NGO «Progressive&Strong» and Odesa Regional Employment Center

Those who closely follow the activities of the NGO «Progressive&Strong», know that the organization has already grown far beyond the teaching community. The following is about a pilot project launched this spring in partnership with the Dutch organization Glocalshift and the French organization Cegos.

The idea of the project is to study the labor market in the South of Ukraine to support residents of this region, including internally displaced people who now live in the South.

As part of the project, Bohdan FERENS, founder of the NGO «Progressive&Strong», met with Mykyta KORENIEV, the head of the Odesa Regional Employment Center (hereinafter referred to as the Center). The meeting helped to clarify the understanding of the labor market in Odesa region, to understand how state and grant support works in terms of retraining and employment in general. The participants of the meeting talked about the opportunities that are available today, as well as plans. They talked about existing retraining programs and business requests for workers.

At the meeting, Bohdan FERENS emphasized the importance of involving non-governmental organizations in the retraining process, spoke about the capabilities of the NGO «Progressive &Strong», and its intention to actively engage in the retraining process in the South to provide modern and practice-oriented approaches, as well as European methods and motivational tools.

Mykyta Korenev expressed support and readiness for cooperation. Among the main requests of the labor market, the director of the employment center noted: a shortage of male professions; issues of social security and payments to citizens; the possibility of obtaining vouchers for education in professions (currently, vouchers for training can be obtained in 124 professions); a request for employment of displaced persons and former military personnel; and requests for retraining. The state promotes retraining through various programs. In particular, employers who are willing to hire combat veterans can take advantage of this state program. For example, the state finances the costs of arranging workplaces for disabled people of groups 1 and 2. The amount of these expenses can be up to UAH 106,500.

Recently, employers have been looking for the following employees: assistants in various fields, secretaries, accountants, mechanics, plumbers, electric welders, drivers, seasonal workers, etc. The key areas of need are retail, government, and business. The Ukrainian labor market today faces the following problem: demand for workers exceeds supply. At the same time, in 2024 alone, 3,600 people applied to the center for employment and retraining. 96 people received services such as advanced training or retraining.

However, despite the existing system and opportunities for retraining citizens, the head of the center notes the need for further development and improvement of both existing retraining mechanisms and the introduction of new methods and tools in this process. The issue of establishing systematic communication between all participants involved in the retraining process needs to be addressed urgently. It is worth noting the special interest and involvement of business, as effective retraining is possible only at enterprises. It is there that employees could acquire practical skills and abilities. At the same time, there is an urgent need for short-term courses lasting 1-1.5 months, which will help to deepen the professional knowledge that employees need for a new profession or to improve their working methods. Such courses should be modern, accessible, and user-friendly.

During the meeting, many important issues were touched upon and ways of further cooperation between the NGO «Progressive &Strong», and the employment center were identified.