Despite the high unemployment rate among Ukrainians, 160 migrants from Bangladesh are set to be employed at a furniture factory in Zakarpattia

Despite the high level of unemployment among Ukrainians, a furniture manufacturer in Zakarpattia plans to bring in 160 workers from Bangladesh.

This was announced by the head of the Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration, Myroslav Biletskyi. According to him, negotiations on the matter are already underway with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Currently, the company has 700 positions, but only 430 of them are filled. Each employee earns a salary of 25,000 hryvnias (approximately €570).

“This is an important signal for all Zakarpattians—our region is developing rapidly, with factories and plants operating here that need workers. There is no need to leave for European countries; you can find decent salaries and working conditions at home,” writes the head of the Zakarpattia Regional Military Administration.

Meanwhile, the head of the Consumer Utility Services Union, Oleh Popenko, commented on the news, highlighting that there are “hundreds of thousands” of refugees and internally displaced persons in Ukraine who “are unemployed and on the brink of biological survival.” He also questioned the effectiveness of the employment service and the reasoning behind bringing in foreign workers.

In response, the employment service noted that over the past year, they helped more than 250,000 people find jobs, including 42,000 internally displaced persons.

“I don’t know the specifics of this particular enterprise and am not ready to discuss why this business decided to hire migrants without further research. However, overall, the situation is as follows: unemployment is rapidly declining and being replaced by a labor shortage, as millions of people are at the front or abroad. The challenge of finding workers already exists and will only grow… Labor migration is inevitable, and we can’t avoid it,” wrote Andrii Yanitskyi, head of the communications department of the State Employment Service.

Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s Economic Discussion Club, Oleh Pendzin, reported that there are about two million unemployed in Ukraine, while some industries are “suffocating” due to a lack of workers.

At the same time, the Lviv region is experiencing an acute shortage of workers due to stricter mobilization measures. This issue is particularly severe for businesses requiring traditionally male-dominated professions.