Women in "male" professions: how the war is changing the labor market in Ukraine

During and after World War II, many countries engaged in similar practices. For example, in Poland women were actively involved in industrial production. Since the mid-50s they were replaced by men, but according to sources, women relied on this because the jobs in industry were better.

In Ukraine, where there has long been an explicit ban on hiring women in certain professions, most work in the traditionally low-paid fields of education, health care, service and trade. This is the main reason why women on average earn less than men, although there are more people with higher education among them. It is also interesting that among the 2 million FLPs, where women and men are approximately equal, the spheres of activity are reproduced in the same way - women are mainly engaged in trade and services, and men - in repair work.

This situation is typical of most countries in the world. However, Ukraine, which is going through a shock due to Russian aggression and is also actively removing discriminatory norms for EU integration, has a window of opportunity for certain changes.

Socialportal asked the expert to tell us how Ukraine's legislation on women's employment has changed in recent years and whether we can expect significant attraction of women to "male" professions.

Yulia Dmytruk, a lawyer with La-Strada, an organisation dedicated to the protection of women's rights. La Strada also advocated for the adoption of the Istanbul Convention and opposed restrictions on women's rights to hold certain professions.

• How have legal norms on women's labour changed in Ukraine?

Until 2017, Ukraine had a Ministry of Health Order No. 256, adopted in 1992, which had a list of 450 prohibited professions for women. This order violated women's rights as it put them in an unequal position with men. The state believed that the main role of women was reproductive. So they don't need a decent level of wages. Although we realise that not all women live in families. There are those who bring up their children on their own and provide for their families by their own efforts. (There were about one million incomplete families in Ukraine as of 2021. Due to low female wages and limited social support, they have a high risk of falling below the poverty line- ed.). And the jobs on the prohibited list of occupations, for the most part, guaranteed a decent level of pay. Of course, some of them involve hard physical labour. It was considered to be harmful to a woman's life. Although no one thought that it also negatively affects the life and health of men. The cancellation of this order drew attention to improving working conditions for all.

In 2022, the Verkhovna Rada amended the Law of Ukraine "On the Organization of Labour Relations under Martial Law". According to article nine, paragraph 1, women are allowed to be employed even in underground work. (Although in reality in industrial regions, where underground work was the only way to earn a decent living, restrictions were circumvented and the issue was rather "in the grey zone" - ed.). Now there is a very big shortage of personnel in many areas. Large-scale work is being carried out to retrain specialists, and opportunities are opening up for women to work in jobs that involve physical labour. But employers are improving working conditions and employing robotic mechanisms to help women do physically demanding work.

• Can the impact of these changes be measured? Are many women taking up "male" professions?

The Public Employment Service confirms the trend of women changing careers. With its assistance, 158,000 women found new jobs in 2023, among others choosing the following professions: crane operator, machine operator, underground plant operator, loader, driver, mechanic. In addition, 1.2 thousand women found jobs in construction last year with the assistance of the DSZ. They now account for 38 per cent of all those employed in the industry. Back in 2021, women in construction were 20 per cent.

The Ministry of Economy is currently raising the issue of the need to retrain women who are learning new professions, as the demand for such workers exists and is growing. It is known that in a number of different spheres women are already working in specialities for which they used to look mainly for men, for example:

• The share of women in distribution centres has increased in the OKKO petrol station chain. And to make their physical tasks easier, the company has increased the amount of auxiliary equipment.
• Women hold the positions of drivers, petrol attendants, loaders and security guards in the UPG petrol station network.
• In retail, women are invited for positions of security guards and drivers. For example, in the ATB chain more than 900 women work as security guards. Also, those who wish to do so are retrained as forklift drivers.
• And in Fozzy Group women are employed as lorry drivers.
• At ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, more and more women are working as crushers, fitters, and typists.

(Other well-known examples include Kernel Agro Holding, which for the first time began hiring women as boiler and production operators, and the Ministry of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, which trains women to drive lorries. Kyiv Metro has also announced the hiring of women for "male" professions (ed.). We were very happy that the first female typist has finally appeared in "Kyiv Metro". We also heard about possible bias on the part of some managers. (One of the applicants for the position said that the manager during the interview ridiculed the initiative to hire women - ed.). But La Strada has not received any inquiries or complaints about such discrimination.

• How should women respond in case of discrimination?

If a woman squeezes, faces such situations, she can, based on the legislation, make a complaint, firstly, to the top management of the enterprise or institution in question, secondly, to record the complaint with the State Labour Service. Thirdly, appeal to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Also, the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" prohibits publishing vacancies where gender, age and other such information is specified. But we can still meet adverts that say "Only women under 30 years of age are invited". In such a case one should complain to the State Labour Committee with a written statement and a reference to the resource where they met such an advert.