Blue-collar professions have displaced realtors from the ranking of highest salaries in Ukraine

In four years of full-scale war in Ukraine, the structure of the most paid vacancies has significantly changed: if in 2022 truck drivers, realtors and repair masters were among the leaders, then in 2026 the majority of positions in the top are occupied by blue-collar professions.

This is evidenced by the OLX Job research, which compared vacancies with the highest median salaries and the largest number of ads on the platform in August 2022 and August 2026.

The most paid vacancy in August 2026 became sales manager with a median salary of 110 thousand UAH. Then follow mainly construction specialties: plasterer - 80 thousand UAH, facade worker and tiler - 70 thousand UAH each, bricklayer - 65 thousand UAH.

For comparison, in August 2022 the ranking was headed by a truck driver with a salary of 40 thousand UAH. A repair master and a facade worker were offered 30 thousand UAH each, a realtor and a straightener - 27.5 thousand UAH each.

Thus, the facade worker remained the only profession that entered the top five in both periods. Over four years, the median salary for this vacancy increased from 30 thousand to 70 thousand UAH, or more than twice.

The ranking of professions for which employers publish the most ads has also changed. In August 2026, the first place was taken by salesperson - 9306 vacancies with a median salary of 24.2 thousand UAH. In 2022, there were 4340 such ads, i.e. in four years their number more than doubled.

Drivers moved from the first to the second place, but the number of vacancies also increased significantly - from 4468 to 8331. The median salary during this time rose from 23 thousand to 40 thousand UAH.

The top five most demanded in 2026 also included handymen - 5011 ads with a salary of 30 thousand UAH, loaders - 4848 vacancies and 28.5 thousand UAH, as well as cooks - 3384 ads with a salary of 29.25 thousand UAH.

Cooks remained in the top 5 since 2022, but their median salary during this period increased from 12.5 thousand to 29.25 thousand UAH. Meanwhile, sales managers and seamstresses disappeared from the ranking of the most demanded, and handymen and loaders entered it instead.

OLX Job data show that over four years, both salary offers and demand for workers of physical and blue-collar specialization simultaneously increased. Especially noticeable shift occurred among the most paid vacancies, where four out of five positions in August 2026 fell on blue-collar or construction professions.

Based on: OLX Job