Ukrainians seeking employment can now join an electronic queue, find suitable job vacancies, or receive training vouchers from the State Employment Service on their smartphones

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, with financial support from the governments of Poland and Germany, has developed a mobile app for job seekers at the request of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the State Employment Service. The app is available on both the App Store and Google Play. By supporting this initiative, UNDP and its partners aim to foster comprehensive digitalization of public services in Ukraine and reduce the workload of employment centres.

In 2023, the State Employment Service provided support to 665,000 Ukrainians, with 357,000 people already benefitting from its services in the first six months of the year. With the launch of the mobile app, it is expected that the load on physical employment centres will decrease, while the number of users will increase thanks to the app’s convenient functionality.

The mobile app is designed to meet the needs of job seekers. After signing in with a qualified electronic signature (QES), Bank ID, Diia.Signature or as a guest, users can access a unified job portal to review available vacancies.

The app also allows users to apply for vouchers for specialized training, or to take online courses from the State Employment Service. Additionally, users can communicate with career advisors, schedule meetings with potential employers, obtain essential documents, or join the electronic queue. Ukrainians abroad can also use the app. Currently, the app’s features are fully focused on job seekers. The development of the corresponding functions for employers will be the next step of implementation of this initiative.

Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine, highlighted the strategic importance of labour market development. “We hope that this app will help as many people as possible find jobs, improve their skills, or acquire new professions. Structural unemployment is one of the key challenges for businesses. Therefore, alongside implementing training and retraining programmes, employment compensation, and other measures, we are also digitalizing processes. It is important to us that the State Employment Service’s offerings are accessible online, with just a few clicks – quickly and conveniently,” Ms Svyrydenko commented.

Yuliia Zhovtiak, Director of the State Employment Service, emphasized the importance of a comprehensive approach to addressing employment challenges. “We aim to simplify communication in the labour market and adopt more modern approaches to our services. Currently, the app offers services for individuals, and employer services to follow. The digitalization of public employment services brings us closer to providing an even higher quality service for all citizens,” Ms Zhovtiak stated.

Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, noted that UNDP is supporting the multifaceted process of digitization of public services in Ukraine, which is making them even more transparent and accessible to everyone. “Thanks to the generous support of our partners and fruitful cooperation with relevant line ministries and state services, we are promptly responding to the current needs and challenges in the field of employment and the labour market in Ukraine. Creating a mobile application for the State Employment Service is an undoubted step forward. We are confident that this application will ease the job search for thousands of Ukrainians,” Mr Cilliers said.