
On the Road to Recovery: Addressing Ukraine’s Transport Labor Shortages © 2025.The World Bank1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC., 20433. USATelephone: 202-473-1000; Internet: www.worldbank.org Some rights reserved. This work is a product of The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not nec-essarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the data included in this work and doesnot assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the information, or liability with respect to theuse of or failure to use the information, methods, processes, or conclusions set forth. The boundaries, colors, denomina-tions, links/footnotes and other information shown in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bankconcerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The citation of worksauthored by others does not mean the World Bank endorses the views expressed by those authors or the content of theirworks. Nothing herein shall constitute or be construed or considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immu-nities of The World Bank, all of which are specifically reserved. Rights and Permissions The material in this work is subject to copyright. Because The World Bank encourages dissemination of its knowledge, thiswork may be reproduced, in whole or in part, for noncommercial purposes as long as full attribution to this work is given. Attribution —Please cite the work as follows: “Kurshitashvili, Nato; Lungu, Elena; Hoftijzer, Margo; Vazhnenko, Anna;Bespalov, Dmytro; Myroshnychenko, Oksana; Hanushevych, Inna. 2025. On the Road to Recovery: Addressing Ukraine’sTransport Labor Shortages © World Bank.” Any queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to World Bank Publications, The WorldBank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA; fax: 202-522-2625; e-mail:pubrights@worldbank.org. Contents: On the Road to Recovery: Addressing Ukraine’s Transport Labor Shortages Contents Acronyms and AbbreviationsLists of Figures, Tables, and Boxes2Acknowledgments3Executive Summary4Chapter 1: Labor and skills needs in the transport sector in Ukraine5Chapter 2: Education and training for critical occupations in the transport sector16Chapter 3: Recruitment and retention of workers for critical jobs in transport29Chapter 4: Initiatives addressing workforce and skills shortages in transport40Chapter 5: Recommendations44Annexes49Annex A: Stakeholder interviews61Annex B: Forecasting Personnel Needs in Road Transport61611.1. Labor market context102.1. An overview of Ukraine’s skills development system182.2. Educational and other requirements for critical occupations in transport193.1. Recruitment and retention challenges and practices323.2. Women’s recruitment and retention in critical occupations in transport333.3. Integration of veterans in the transport sector362.3. Education and Training for Critical Occupations: Providers and Students232.4. Education and training for critical occupations: access, quality and relevance261.2. Jobs and skills needs across transport subsectors111.3. Skills gaps and mismatches in the transport sector121.4. Future skill demand and supply: drivers and maintenance workers13 Annex C: Analysis of Ukraine’s job portal (www.Work.ua) Acronyms and Abbreviations Lists of Figures, Tables, and Boxes List of Figures List of BoxesBox 1.1. International shortages of drivers and maintenance staff in the transport sector14Box 2.1. A Law on Vocational Education20Box 2.2. Different categories of drivers’ permits23Box 2.3. Transport-related VET programs27Box 2.4. Transport-related programs provided at pre-higher education institutions27Box 2.5. Transport-related programs at universities28Box 3.1. International evidence on recruitment and retention challenges34Box 3.2. Initiatives to attract and train workers as drivers and maintenance workers36Box 3.3. Safety and sanitation at rest-stops is a major concern for women internationally38Box 3.4. Do veterans’ skills match local labor demand?41Box 3.5. Ukraine’s New Law on Veteran Entrepreneurship43Figure 1.1. Transport Jobs in Highest Demand13Figure 2.1. Overview of Ukraine’s formal education system19Figure 2.2. Number of graduates from VET, PPHE and HE institutions (x 1,000) 2020/21–2024/2521Figure 3.2. Share of job advertisements with gender-inclusive wording (% of total)39Figure 3.3. Preferred support measures for veterans to access civilian jobs (% of veterans surveyed)41Figure C.1. Number of vacancies for critical jobs in the transport sector (2020–2025)66Figure C.2. Advertised monthly salary for drivers (median midpoint, category C and D permits)68Figure C.3. Nonregulatory common industry requirements in Work.ua job postings (per occupation)69Figure 3.1.