The regional labour market as an object of human-geographical research

The relevance of studying Ukraine’s labour market under wartime conditions resulting from profound transformations across economic, demographic, and social dimensions. The full-scale invasion has caused a sharp decline in economic activity, mass job losses, intensified regional disparities due to population displacement and relocation of enterprises, and a rise in informal employment. These processes have not only short-term and long-lasting consequences for the national labour market as a whole and for regional labour markets in particular. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the socio-geographical approach to studying the regional labour market based on a review of previous research and to define both theoretical and practical tasks in the context of the current situation in Ukraine. An analytical overview has been carried out of dissertation studies in the field of specialty 11.00.02 – Economic and Social Geography, which examine various aspects of labour potential functioning, employment, the spatial distribution of labour resources, the spatial characteristics of labour supply and demand, as well as the analysis of local and regional labour markets in Ukraine. The labour market is viewed as a spatially organised, polystructural system of socio-geographical and socio-economic relations that interacts with other elements of the sociogeosystem. The application of methodological approaches – including geographical, systemic, synergetic, and informational – is substantiated for the comprehensive study of regional labour markets, their functioning, development, and transformation. A set of key issues concerning the functioning and regulation of Ukraine’s regional labour markets has been identified, which require a socio-geographical rethinking in light of current realities – more than a decade since the onset of Russia’s war against Ukraine, nearly three years of full-scale invasion, unprecedented population displacement and structural demographic shifts, enterprise relocations, and changes in the economic potential and structure of regions. Analysing the labour market in wartime is crucial important for understanding its current transformations, identifying new patterns in the distribution and use of labour potential, and for developing an integrated policy aimed at ensuring the adaptability, resilience, and future development of Ukraine’s regional labour markets. Socio-geographical research enables the identification of structural and dynamic features, spatial disparities, and offers scientifically grounded approaches for overcoming them through regional policy aimed at adapting to wartime challenges and strengthening Ukraine's regional resilience.