In front-line regions, salary offers are predominantly increasing, although in many sectors the number of vacancies and responses has decreased. The study covers five regions and shows an uneven demand for workers depending on the industry. This is reported by OLX Work, comparing September 2026 with September 2025.
Salaries in front-line areas: how much was offered in September 2026
In logistics, the median salary offers in all five researched regions exceeded 26,000 UAH. The regional figures are as follows:
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Kharkiv region: logistics – 30,500 UAH, an increase of 11%; manufacturing and working specialties – 27,500 UAH, an increase of 22%; retail trade – 20,500 UAH, an increase of 17%.
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Sumy region: logistics – 27,500 UAH, an increase of 22%; construction – 28,750 UAH, an increase of 15%; manufacturing – 22,000 UAH, an increase of 5%.
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Mykolaiv region: logistics – 26,550 UAH, an increase of 13%; manufacturing – 22,815 UAH, an increase of 14%; retail trade – 19,700 UAH, an increase of 9%. In construction, the figure changed very little and amounted to about 29,900 UAH.
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Zaporizhia: logistics – 30,000 UAH, an increase of 20%; manufacturing – 26,000 UAH, an increase of 8%; retail trade – 20,000 UAH, an increase of 11%.
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Kherson region: logistics – 30,000 UAH, an increase of 17%; manufacturing – 24,000 UAH, an increase of 19%; hotel and restaurant industry – 17,500 UAH, an increase of 40%.
The largest cited increase of 40% does not mean the highest pay. In Kherson, the salary offer in the hotel and restaurant industry remained 12,500 UAH lower than in logistics.
The median divides the stated salary offers in half: half are lower than it, and half are higher. As well as the national salaries in logistics, this data characterizes the announcements on the platform, not the guaranteed income of each worker.
Vacancies and responses near the front: what has changed in September 2026
The most noticeable increase in the number of vacancies occurred in logistics in the Kherson region – by 28%. In Kharkiv, offers in this sector increased by approximately 5%, while in Mykolaiv a similar increase was recorded in construction.
At the same time, in Kherson, the number of responses in manufacturing and working specialties decreased several times, while in logistics and retail, it more than doubled. The opposite dynamics were observed in Kharkiv: candidate activity in retail increased by 20%, in construction by 17%.
Maria Abdullina, head of the OLX Work direction, connects the situation with a demographic crisis, the movement of goods, and the destruction of production capacities. According to her estimate, employers have to invest more in personnel search.
The growth in the number of announcements alone does not show how many new jobs have been created or how many people have been hired. For a candidate, it is essential to compare specific requirements, schedules, and guaranteed pay: the overall shortage of workers in Ukraine does not mean equal chances for employment in every profession.