{"id":29699,"date":"2026-05-15T17:31:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/?p=29699"},"modified":"2026-05-15T17:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T14:32:10","slug":"defence-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry<\/a>, together with CORE Team, has published<\/a> a study on the staffing situation within Ukraine\u2019s defence industry. The survey covered 27 companies operating in the fields of UAVs, unmanned ground vehicles, electronics, electronic warfare, miltech software, and dual-use technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the study, 74% of companies expanded their teams by at least a quarter over the past year, while almost half experienced growth exceeding 50%. All surveyed manufacturers project further hiring within the next 6\u201312 months. Concurrently, 25 out of 27 companies currently have open vacancies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Study on the staffing situation in Ukraine\u2019s defence industry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Defence companies are primarily seeking design engineers, production technicians, electronics specialists, embedded developers, and software engineers. Technical specialists remain the most challenging positions to fill. Nearly half of the surveyed companies identified design engineers and electronics engineers as the hardest roles to recruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers state that the primary challenges stem from a shortage of candidates with the required qualifications and fierce competition between companies for the same talent pool. On average, filling a technical vacancy takes 1\u20132 months, while some positions remain open for considerably longer periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Study on the staffing situation in Ukraine\u2019s defence industry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, 89% of companies indicated that they had increased salaries over the past year, most commonly by 10\u201320%. However, manufacturers noted that these adjustments had not resolved the systemic staffing shortage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study also demonstrated that the defence sector does not consistently offer higher remuneration than the broader market. Specifically, 42% of companies stated that their compensation aligns with, or falls below, other sectors. Higher salaries are predominantly concentrated in niche technical fields, including electronic warfare, avionics, embedded development, and RF technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another instrument for securing talent remains mobilisation deferment, with 74% of companies utilizing it as an additional employment benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the primary market needs for the coming years, companies highlighted an increase in the engineering talent pool and more predictable state procurement cycles. Manufacturers also emphasised the necessity for closer cooperation with universities and the expansion of professional retraining programmes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":29704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","_featured_category_order":0,"_article_badge":"featured","footnotes":""},"categories":[2589,1],"tags":[579,216,409,202],"class_list":["post-29699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arming-with-talents","category-state","tag-education","tag-industry","tag-ucdi","tag-vacancies","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUkrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defender Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"873\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"515\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Olha Pokotylo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@DefenderMediaUA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Olha Pokotylo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Olha Pokotylo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d7494a91ba053fba64eeaaea4b649b1\"},\"headline\":\"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":338,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"education\",\"industry\",\"ukrainian council of defence industry\",\"vacancies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Arming with Talents\",\"State\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp\",\"width\":873,\"height\":515,\"caption\":\"\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430 \u0440\u0430\u0434\u0430 \u0437\u0431\u0440\u043e\u044f\u0440\u0456\u0432\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/defence-jobs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0413\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0430\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"DEFENDER\",\"description\":\"Defence Tech\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Defender Media\",\"alternateName\":\"Defender Media\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/cropped-ico.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/cropped-ico.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Defender Media\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/DefenderMediaUA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/DefenderMediaUA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/defender-media\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/t.me\\\/DefenderMedia\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2d7494a91ba053fba64eeaaea4b649b1\",\"name\":\"Olha Pokotylo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Olha Pokotylo\"},\"description\":\"Journalist at Defender Media Over 20 years of experience in media, having worked as a journalist, section editor, and news editor. Since 2016, specialised in SMM, managing social media pages for humanitarian and news projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/pokotyloolha\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/thedefender.media\\\/en\\\/author\\\/olha-pokotylo\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers","description":"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers","og_description":"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.","og_url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/","og_site_name":"Defender Media","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DefenderMediaUA","article_published_time":"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":873,"height":515,"url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Olha Pokotylo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@DefenderMediaUA","twitter_site":"@DefenderMediaUA","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Olha Pokotylo","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/"},"author":{"name":"Olha Pokotylo","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2d7494a91ba053fba64eeaaea4b649b1"},"headline":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers","datePublished":"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/"},"wordCount":338,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp","keywords":["education","industry","ukrainian council of defence industry","vacancies"],"articleSection":["Arming with Talents","State"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/","url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/","name":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-15T14:31:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-15T14:32:10+00:00","description":"25 out of 27 companies have open vacancies that take 1\u20132 months or longer to fill. Read more on the Defender Media.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/znimok-ekrana-z-2026-05-15-16-49-53.webp","width":873,"height":515,"caption":"\u0423\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0457\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0430 \u0440\u0430\u0434\u0430 \u0437\u0431\u0440\u043e\u044f\u0440\u0456\u0432"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/2026\/05\/defence-jobs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0413\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0430","item":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ukrainian defence companies report a shortage of engineers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/","name":"DEFENDER","description":"Defence Tech","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#organization","name":"Defender Media","alternateName":"Defender Media","url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-ico.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-ico.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Defender Media"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DefenderMediaUA","https:\/\/x.com\/DefenderMediaUA","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/defender-media\/","https:\/\/t.me\/DefenderMedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2d7494a91ba053fba64eeaaea4b649b1","name":"Olha Pokotylo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f2854b9ec0478c3a72a54b57c3dbaaf3ee8990f8fc04ca611038848374fa1e2e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Olha Pokotylo"},"description":"Journalist at Defender Media Over 20 years of experience in media, having worked as a journalist, section editor, and news editor. Since 2016, specialised in SMM, managing social media pages for humanitarian and news projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pokotyloolha\/"],"url":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/author\/olha-pokotylo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29699"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29706,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29699\/revisions\/29706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefender.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}