Metinvest calls for improvement of the booking system

In addition to the challenges posed by the economic downturn during the war, logistics and domestic demand, the business faces another important issue: the lack of staff. This was stated by Tatyana Petruk, Director of Sustainable Development and Human Resources at Metinvest Group.

According to her, the group employs about 50,000 people, and one in six is mobilized.

The company does not have enough staff to increase production in the steel segment and extract ore, and some assets cannot even reach 50-60% of pre-war production due to a lack of staff. This is a common problem for large businesses operating in Ukraine.

Tatyana Petruk believes that the reservation system is inefficient.

«It is necessary to analyze economic feasibility and efficiency, to take into account how much the company pays in taxes, how it helps the country and the Armed Forces, how many jobs it creates, and what region it is located in,» she said.

The Director of Sustainable Development and Human Resources at Metinvest explained that the company can currently book only 50% of its employees, and this quota has been chosen at almost all enterprises. She believes the problem should be addressed comprehensively, taking into account the specifics of the industry.

«Service companies may still have 50% of their employees booked, but manufacturing companies should really have a higher percentage. Ultimately, there needs to be a dialog between the government and business to find mutual understanding,» Petruk said.

Every business understands the importance of replenishing the Armed Forces, which is why Metinvest is already one of the leaders among Ukrainian companies in terms of the number of mobilized employees. However, there is a need to maintain a balance between recruiting for the Ukrainian army and maintaining production and paying taxes.

Petruk also noted that the current reservation system is not flexible and does not allow for the recruitment of new employees. Potential candidates choose shadow employment because of the possibility of being mobilized at the stage of employment.

«This bureaucratic problem can be solved by allowing companies to donate a certain percentage of their staff for the year, thus solving the problem of staff shortages,» she said.

The total staff shortage at Metinvest’s enterprises compared to the pre-war level is now more than 4,000 employees. A significant share of them are traditionally male occupations with physically demanding working conditions, technological and maintenance positions. These positions, which, according to the law, could only be filled by men 100% before the war, have always been in short supply at the group’s enterprises due to working conditions.

In addition, when it comes to the most scarce specialties, it takes 3-6 months to train a new specialist to obtain an initial qualification, and 1 to 3 years for a high-ranking specialist.

The company solves the problem of staff shortages by using its internal resources, retraining employees to acquire additional specialties in addition to their main profession. The group also retrains women, but some work is physically demanding for them. In addition, the company has implemented a motivation system: it has introduced an additional bonus for team performance at all its enterprises, which is paid monthly.

Metinvest expects tax payments to increase to UAH 4 billion in the first quarter. The company emphasizes the need to address key issues in Ukrainian taxation, including tax consolidation.