Priorities of preserving the labor potential of ukrainian regions and their justification in the conditions of war and post-war recovery

The war created extraordinary challenges and threats to the human potential of Ukraine’s regions. The most significant is the deepening of the disproportionality and imbalance of the labor market due to the loss of a significant number of qualified personnel (due to migration and mobilization) and changes in the employment structure. This was particularly acutely reflected in the structure of labor resources, particularly its gender-age and professional (educational and qualification) elements. One of the most important factors influencing this structure was foreign migration and the illegal deportation of Ukrainian citizens to the Russian Federation. Effective mechanisms and tools from the regional governing bodies are necessary to ensure compliance between all social and labor sphere links, considering the regional and qualification imbalances in the labor market. Also, to further minimize the risks of the development of the labor market in Ukraine and to preserve the labor resource potential, it is advisable to determine the main socio-economic levers and drivers of regional policy, which will contribute to reducing regional and qualification imbalances, increasing marginal labor productivity and, as a result, increasing the productive capacity of regions. The article evaluates the tools that influence the productive capacity of the economy of the regions of Ukraine in the context of preserving their labor resource potential in the conditions of war and post-war recovery. The main challenges and threats to the human potential of the regions of Ukraine in the conditions of the war and subsequent post-war reconstruction are identified, the most significant of which is the deepening of disproportionality and imbalance of the labor market due to the loss of a significant part of qualified personnel (due to migration and mobilization), as well as changes in the employment structure. Based on the threat analysis, the factors currently fundamental for ensuring the functioning of regional labor markets in Ukraine have been determined. The instruments that influence the economy’s productive capacity were studied with the help of a survey of state authorities in the regions. Based on the research, the main socio-economic levers and drivers of increasing the regional economy’s productive capacity in preserving Ukraine’s labor potential in the conditions of the war and post-war recovery are substantiated. Keywords: labor resource potential, productive capacity, labor market, region, structural disparities, human potential, employment, war, post-war economic recovery.