Young people turn down jobs paying less than UAH 500

Fear of being jobless and search for a better-paying job are among the top five problems reflected in public opinion polls in Ukraine. Therefore, young people are not too choosy and take up full-time, part-time, and seasonal jobs alike, with money remaining as their primary concern. Kyiv students are actively involved in the advertising business. Some advertising agencies even organize contests to select participants of targeted advertising campaigns. Incidentally, drama students are given preference. Successful applicants can earn as much as five hryvnias an hour regardless of the type of advertising job. Students claim that distributing handbills is the easiest job in advertising. They get paid both by the hour and for the quantity of handbills distributed. Young people, however, prefer the more amusing form of advertising known as degustation, when passersby are offered to taste samples of food or beverages.

The Kyiv Youth Employment Center has recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. The center is the brainchild of a group of young enthusiasts that tried to assist young people on the job market and provide legal and economic protection. Young people have launched various projects and supported one another. Soon some projects became permanent, and the center divided up into departments, namely, the youth labor registry, business center, repairs and construction service, and international department. Soon a whole network of similar youth employment centers spread throughout Ukraine.

In 2002, the Kyiv Youth Labor Registry received over 8,000 applications from young people. Some received counseling, others were instructed for an interview with the employer or signed up for training programs. Over 1,500 applicants got jobs, with almost 2,500 young people turning down job offers. General Director of the Kyiv Youth Employment Center Valery Yaroshenko attributed this to the fact that today young people refuse to work for less than UAH 400-500 per month, that it is very difficult to talk them into doing odd jobs unrelated to their future profession, that many of them expect to get paid as much as people get paid for similar work in Russia.

One could see how the young people crave economic independence at the exhibition, Education-Employment-Business, at the Kyiv Teachers House dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Youth Employment Center. Oksana Homonets, a sophomore at the National University of Food Technologies and future economist, came to the exhibition looking for a part-time job to get professional experience. Two years ago she came to Kyiv from Sarny, a district center in Rivne oblast, and justified the title of a high-school medallist, making it into three Kyiv universities at a time. Her skimpy stipend, UAH 100 of Chornobyl victim benefits, and the little money she gets from home is obviously not enough. Maybe she will choose to work in a McDonalds outlet, since their work schedule is flexible and she could earn up to UAH 500. Taras Plishko came to the exhibition looking for a paid job as a paralegal. He has already done his internship but was not paid for his work. The young man “feels uncomfortable” taking money from his parents anymore.