EXTERNAL LABOR MIGRATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE LABOR MARKET OF UKRAINE

Abstract

This paper reports a study into the trendsand patterns of the impact of external labor migration on the effectiveness of the functioning of Ukraine’s labor market, as well as defining those areas where migration processes could be coordinated in order to preserve the labor potential of this country. The scale and characteristics of the external labor migration in Ukraine have been considered. A tendency has been identified towards increasing the number of potential labor migrants among the population of Ukraine. The main destinations for migrant workers are the EU, primarily Poland, Italy, and the Czech Republic. It was found that the main labor migrants are men aged 30 to 49 with secondary and secondary specialized education, which indicates a significant outflow of «labor» from Ukraine. The main motives that encourage Ukrainians to work abroad have been determined. The main one has been investigated, related to the low level of wages in Ukraine, which is several times lower than the level of remuneration in the recipient countries. The positive and negative consequences of labor migration for Ukraine as a labor donor country have been given. Among the direct positive consequences, the main ones are the reduction of pressure on the labor market and the decrease in unemployment. Among the negative ones is the migration of the most active part of the labor force, the migration of young people and the most qualified specialists, which causes a shortage of labor in Ukraine’s labor market. The ways to improve the coordination of migration processes have been proposed, in order to preserve the labor potential of this country. The first is to improve the information support of the labor migration management process; the second is to promote economic growth and social development in Ukraine. The implementation of these measures could reduce the motivation for labor migration and provide conditions for the return of migrant workers.