Ukraine Must Help Businesses and Bring as Many People with Disabilities into the Labor Market as Possible

What are the benefits for people with disabilities in the labor market, and why is this important for the state? Oleksii Miroshnychenko, President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, discussed these questions in an interview with “Kyiv 98 FM” radio.

Today, I would like to discuss changes in perceptions of people with disabilities, specifically in the context of the labor market. This is, in fact, extremely important. We are joined by Oleksii Miroshnychenko, President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine. Mr. Miroshnychenko, welcome.

Thank you. Glory to Ukraine!

Glory to the heroes! Mr. Miroshnychenko, I believe this topic is extremely necessary. Usually, people talk about accessibility, accessible environments, inclusion, and so on. But today, I want to discuss the labor market—what is happening there, how to integrate people with disabilities, and changes in perceptions about people with disabilities. What are the changes, and what is being discussed primarily? Is this solely about employment, or is it broader?

The issue is much broader. When people with disabilities seek employment, they often hide their disability. Why does this happen? Because they are afraid they won’t be hired. That’s the first point. We need to change these approaches so that employers are interested—and they really are interested—in having more workers, and so that people with disabilities are not afraid to disclose their health issues if those issues do not prevent them from working. These are people just like all of us, ready to work. I think about 85% of disabilities are invisible. We need to change our mindset. We are all the same; we can all do the same work together.

From your experience, has our attitude toward people with disabilities changed in recent times?

Yes, it is changing, and in my view, it’s changing for the better. Employers have started to look more broadly at those who were previously not involved in the labor market: people of retirement age, people with disabilities, women, youth. That was the first challenge. The second challenge is the war. And we see that many veterans will have certain employment limitations or disabilities. So, we are changing. There is some positive progress: the state is slowly but surely changing its approach to these problems. I mean legislative changes. Until the middle of last year, this problem was placed entirely on businesses: "Here is your employment quota for people with disabilities, and we don’t care where you find them; if you don’t, pay a fine." But they called it not a fine but an administrative-economic sanction.

What do we see in the labor market? Journalists often cover small businesses, such as bakeries in the Kyiv region, that gladly hire people with disabilities. How do employers today react to the idea of hiring people with disabilities?

As we discussed, when people work, in over 80% of cases it’s not apparent that they have a disability. Now, regarding the numbers. Statistics show there are about 3 million people with disabilities. Other sources indicate 2.8 to 2.9 million—the statistics have recently been restricted. Of these, about half a million are officially employed. What does "officially" mean? These are people who have registered as disabled, pay reduced pension fund contributions, and we see this figure through the Pension Fund database. So, 2.8 million people, and 500,000 are officially employed. According to some data, 15–20% of people with disabilities conceal their disability. This is bad for them, as they lose certain benefits, and it’s also bad for businesses, which could benefit from certain incentives. The law stipulates that if you employ up to eight workers, you are not obliged to hire a person with a disability. If you have eight to 24 employees, you are required to hire at least one person. If you have more than 25 employees, the proportion of employees with disabilities must be 4% of the total staff. That’s the current math. And since small and medium-sized businesses dominate, maybe such people aren’t present, or maybe they’re simply invisible. By the way, that’s also normal.

Please tell us, how can the situation be changed? Are incentives from the state needed for businesses so that Ukraine can make use of all available labor potential?

Well, you know, it’s a tricky question. Businesses are willing to hire people with disabilities—there aren’t enough workers, and, on the other hand, the quota must be met. But where to find people with disabilities if they’re not in the region? We have a business where, within a 50–60 km radius, they cannot find such people. The quota must be fulfilled. Here, the state should take a proactive position. The state should say: in such and such a region, there are this many people with disabilities; this many work, and this many do not. Let’s reach out to them together and ask what prevents them from working. If the issue is lack of qualification, then let’s provide training. If the issue is changing profession, let’s help with that. There are educational institutions and funds available. If there aren’t enough such people in the region, maybe quotas should be reduced. We analyzed the income structure of the Social Protection Fund for Persons with Disabilities. My question is: you collect funds from us, you fine us for not employing people with disabilities—why don’t you use these accumulated funds for employment, training, or short-term courses? A month ago, the President signed a law on the employment of people with disabilities, allowing the Fund to spend money on what we’re talking about: career guidance, retraining, skills upgrading, and changing professions. This system, I think, will start working from 2026.

You talk about using all available labor potential and specifically involving people of working age with disabilities. Why do I say "working age"? Because it is very important. This concerns our solidarity-based pension system, which needs reform. How can using the potential of people of working age with disabilities help? Can involving more people with disabilities in the labor market help stabilize the pension system?

To some extent, yes, because our solidarity-based system will sooner or later face bankruptcy. This is not unique to Ukraine. People live longer. When the solidarity system was conceived (in Germany under Chancellor Bismarck in the last century), people lived on average 50–60 years, and children could support their parents. Now, people live on average 70 years. Therefore, this system is not fully sustainable, which is why private pension funds are appearing. Today in Ukraine, there are about 11.5 million working people and about 10.8 million pensioners. For the system to function normally, there should be two or three workers for every pensioner. In our case, it’s one to one. Why can’t we raise pensions? There are few options: either raise the unified social tax, but this can’t be done, as business would go underground; or increase the number of workers. You are right: involving more people with disabilities means more workers, i.e., increasing their number. There are about 1.5 million people with Group III disabilities in Ukraine. These are people who generally do not require any special working conditions or accessibility measures. These people can work normally. The other question is, why aren’t they working? Are they satisfied with the 3,000 UAH ($75–$80) that the state provides? This, I think, is the problem that needs solving.

Yes. We have the issue of reduced international aid. There is the factor of a budget deficit, which is often discussed. For people with disabilities, this is also a serious challenge. What can stimulate the employment of people with disabilities?

There are very tough examples from other countries that have tackled this. One extreme is the requirement for a person with a disability to find a job within six months. If you don’t, you get no payments at all. This is the most extreme way to get working-age people with disabilities who are not employed onto the labor market. These people are registered as unemployed. If they don’t find a job, the state creates opportunities—training, skills upgrading programs. There is an interesting example from Japan: a person with serious health issues and 99% loss of work capacity works 15 minutes a week. Reducing working hours is an option, and this is absolutely correct. This will encourage legal employment and reduce the burden on the pension system. This is important, because currently our pension system is subsidized by our foreign partners. And they ask: why is the employment rate among people with disabilities 60% in our country, and only 18% in Ukraine? Therefore, the state will have to create conditions to involve people with disabilities in the labor market. People with disabilities must also think about their future and look for opportunities in the labor market. Work is not only about earning money; it is about integration, a full life, new friends, colleagues, and experiences.

Mr. Oleksii, thank you very much for joining us. Oleksii Miroshnychenko, President of the Confederation of Employers of Ukraine, was our guest.