The Transformation of the Labor Market in the Conditions of War: Challenges and Strategies for Labor Force Renewal

The national economy suffers significant losses because of the russian-Ukrainian war due to the destruction of industrial enterprises and infrastructure facilities, damage to agricultural sector, and blockade of logistics routes. Business is trying to mitigate the negative impact and adapt to new operating conditions, but it is difficult to minimize the consequences of the devastating effects of war. Destruction and losses of human capital, contractions of business activity form new and deepen the existing imbalances of the national labor market. The purpose of the article is to study the transformation of the national labor market under the influence of the war, changes in supply and demand, labor force renewal and set strategic directions for post-war labor market reconstruction. The article identifies and characterizes transformation vectors of the national labor market, determines changes in its characteristics during war, and outlines the main imbalances. Disadvantages of the labor market in the pre-war period were labor surplus conjuncture, labor migration, learning and qualification gaps and unregistered employment. The digital segment of the labor market has an upward trend in its development characterized by active growth, while the IT services segment is characterized by lack of specialists. The destructive impact of the war has exacerbated the imbalance between supply and demand in the labor market, led to regional disparities and revealed a reduction in demand for getting assistance in setting up businesses among the unemployed, making complete labor force renewal impossible. The analysis of labor force renewal is conducted according to the following types of movements: natural, migratory, social, economic and digital. The expediency of pointing out digital movement of labor force renewal is substantiated. Natural movement is characterized by a long-term labor force shrinking, age imbalance and aging, which is exacerbated by the loss of human capital during war. Migratory movement in the conditions of war takes place along two vectors: external and internal, the first has led to a significant labor force shrinking; the second one has resulted in distortions in regional labor markets. In social movement, the emphasis is on the negative change in the professional social and economic social status of the workforce. It is determined that the war complicates economic movement of labor force renewal. It is found out that two vectors characterize digital movement of labor force renewal: upward for employees who were forced to switch to a digital form of employment and downward for those who had already been engaged in it before war. The strategic priorities of labor force renewal in the post-war period are set and substantiated, in particular: technological restoration of industry, strengthening of the scientific component of the economy, reforming the educational system, revitalizing the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.