Olga Leontenko

The relevance of the article is due to the need to determine the conceptual directions for strengthening the competitiveness of the national labor market in the context of intensifying international processes in the area of competition for highly qualified workers and investments in the creation of new modern workplaces. The purpose of the article is to develop the theoretical and conceptual foundations of ensuring the competitiveness of the national labor market. This problem is considered from the position of strategic importance for Ukraine, as it reflects the key societal socio-economic processes and forms the prerequisites for achieving the goals of sustainable development. As a result of the analysis of the state policy of Ukraine to overcome the negative consequences of the pandemic for the employment sector and the labor market, its ineffective practices were noted – the coronavirus restrictions were implemented against the background of the complete withdrawal of the state from real financial assistance and effective measures to support the employment sector. The main reasons that hold back the attraction of foreign investments for the creation of new jobs are indicated such as the disproportion of demand and supply; destructiveness of social dialogue processes in the labor market; low quality of labor legislation, low employment rates and a huge volume of the shadow segment. Recommendations have been developed on the use of practical tools for the development of the competitive advantages of Ukraine’s labor market, namely, strengthening the professional and qualification qualities of the workforce, modernizing the state policy of attracting capital investments, overcoming the shadow segment of the labor market, improving the legal and regulatory regulation of remote work, developing digital employment platforms, introducing progressive foreign practices of regulating the labor market in conditions of pandemic restrictions.

The pandemic and war in Ukraine have significantly transformed management processes. This has led to increased requirements for managers’ professional and general competencies. Hence, the higher education system should be reoriented, considering new challenges and needs of the labor market. This study aims to identify the demand for current management competencies in the labor market for the positions of state and corporate management specialists and develop a theoretical and methodological basis for updating the standards of higher education in Ukraine. This paper employed statistical analysis and grouping to identify the demand for management skills in the labor market of Ukraine by processing 4,500 job advertisements at job websites. In addition, sociological and expert methods were used to confirm their demand among Ukrainian employers with an expert pool of 101 experts with more than 3 years of management experience. As a result, current management competencies are highlighted. The demand for them is confirmed by the high frequency in job advertisements (expertise in professional activities – 100%, leadership skills – 71%, digital skills – 65%, organizational and communication skills – 59% each, strategic skills – 52%) and by the expert survey. This made it possible to develop a model of management competencies, which is a theoretical and methodological basis for updating the standards. Furthermore, this comparative analysis revealed that there are no specific skills in the standards for master’s training.