Lack of personnel remains the number 1 problem
In July, labor shortages remained the most common obstacle to doing business. Despite the decrease in the overall indicator from 71% to 66%, the personnel deficit continues to significantly limit the capabilities of enterprises.
The situation improved most noticeably in micro-businesses — the share of enterprises that called the lack of workers a problem decreased from 49% to 34%. Among small businesses, the indicator decreased from 66% to 61%, and among large companies - from 79% to 75%.
At the same time, medium-sized businesses showed the opposite dynamics: the share of enterprises experiencing a personnel shortage increased from 73% to 74%.
The problem is especially acute in Chernivtsi, Lviv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Zhytomyr regions. In each of these regions, more than 80% of surveyed enterprises indicated a lack of workers.
It has become more difficult to find employees
After the improvement of the situation in June, the business faced again the deterioration of the situation on the labor market.
Share of enterprises that were difficult to find qualified specialists, increased from 46.3% to 54.3% in July. In parallel, the share of companies that could not find unskilled workers increased from 30.4% to 34.4%.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, finding both categories of personnel remains more difficult than for large companies and micro-businesses.
At the same time, the business does not expect massive staff expansion in the coming months. Only 1.2% of enterprises plan to increase the number of employees over the next 3-4 months.
At the same time, the share of companies planning layoffs increased from 3.4% to 4.9%. Another 2.9% of enterprises can send employees on forced vacations.
Which industries experience the greatest shortage of personnel
According to a separate survey by the IED, the labor shortage was directly reported 73% of enterprises.
The problem is most acute in large and medium-sized companies — 88% and 85% of enterprises reported a staff shortage, respectively.
Among the industries that suffer the most are:
- chemical industry — 84% of enterprises;
- production of construction materials — 79%;
- metallurgy and metalworking — 78%.
Micro-businesses are the least concerned about staff shortages — 34% of enterprises, and printing has the lowest figure among industries — 55%.
Mobilization remains the main reason
The main factor in the lack of employees is the company mobilization. It was mentioned by 79.4% of respondents as a factor that significantly affects staffing.
In second place — restrictions on booking employees, indicated by 57.8% of enterprises.
The third factor became departure of employees abroad — 52.3%. Almost the same number of enterprises - 51.6% - called the insufficient number of candidates on the labor market a problem.
Among other reasons, the business cites the inconsistency of candidates' qualifications with job requirements — 46.9%, internal migration of employees — 45%, and uncompetitive salary levels — 38.2%.
So, it is military factors that remain the key source of personnel shortages, and not only the level of remuneration or professional training of candidates.
How business changes salaries
Despite the difficult situation, a large number of enterprises have already increased the salaries of employees.
From the beginning of 2026 38% of surveyed enterprises increased wages, another 59% left it unchanged. Only 3% of companies cut salaries.
The ability to increase payments largely depends on the size of the business. Wages increased by 27% of micro-enterprises, 32% of small and 56% of large enterprises.
The average increase was 11%. Wages increased the most in metallurgy and metalworking — by 15%, as well as in the chemical and woodworking industries — by 12%.
Among the regions, the largest growth was recorded in Chernihiv region — 19%, and Khmelnytskyi — 15%. It was the smallest in Kharkiv Oblast — 5%.
Another third of businesses plan to increase
Personnel deficit forces enterprises to compete for workers in the future. 29% of companies plan to raise salaries by the end of the year, by an average of 12%.
The largest number of such plans are in the printing industry — 55% of enterprises. This is followed by the food industry — 37% and woodworking — 34%.
Machine-building enterprises are the least willing to raise wages — only 17%. According to the size of the business, the most likely to talk about the future increase are small - 33% and medium-sized enterprises - 32%.
It is becoming more and more expensive for business to operate
In second place among the main obstacles for enterprises was rising prices for raw materials, materials and goods. In July, this indicator rose from 50% to 57%, the highest level in the last three years.
The third problem remains dangerous working conditions. 44% of enterprises complained about them against 41% in June.
This problem is especially acute for large companies: it was mentioned by 54% of large enterprises, 48% of medium and 34% of small ones.
In the Kyiv, Odesa, Rivne, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions, more than 80% of respondents consider unsafe working conditions to be a serious obstacle.
Power outages are not a major problem yet
At the same time, the situation with electricity supply in July was relatively stable. 89% of enterprises either did not experience outages or did not feel their impact on work.
The average loss of work time due to power outages was 3% in June, the lowest since August 2025.
The largest losses were recorded in micro and small enterprises — 6% each. Among the branches, metallurgy and metalworking were the most affected — 10%.
Simultaneously only 3% of enterprises named corruption and pressure from law enforcement agencies as a significant obstacle, therefore, against the background of personnel shortage, high cost of resources and security risks, these factors remain secondary for business.
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