New labour legislation, empowerment of women in the labour market, training and retraining programmes for IDPs, people with disabilities and veterans were among the topics discussed by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and Thea Lee, Deputy Undersecretary for International Labour Affairs at the U.S. Department for Labor. The meeting was part of the visit of the Ukrainian delegation headed by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko to the United States.

"The Ministry of Economy is working on updating the Labour Code, which will, among other things, take into account binding international legal documents. International partners, business and the public sector are involved in this work. Our goal is to guarantee both decent working conditions and economic protection in the event of a job loss. We are striving to abandon the Soviet legacy and adopt the best international practices that will make the Ukrainian labour market attractive to investors and donor organisations. That is why I am grateful to Ms Lee for her offer to provide technical and expert support in reforming labour legislation in Ukraine," said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

The US has been actively supporting labour market reform in Ukraine. This week, the team of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine presented the draft Labour Code to the member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine. In addition, the USAID RADA: The Next Generation project provides support in covering the reform.

The parties also discussed programmes for training and retraining Ukrainians. According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, the shortage of personnel is currently one of the most pressing issues for Ukrainian business. The American partners agreed to support Ukraine's efforts in this regard as well. In particular, they promised to share their best practices and ideas of projects that are currently being effectively implemented in the United States. These include programmes that will facilitate the training and employment of internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, youth, and veterans. As well as programmes to promote entrepreneurship.

Another topic of the meeting was empowering women in the labour market and closing the gender pay gap. In Ukraine, as of 2021, this figure was 18.6%. This is how much women's salaries are on average lower than men's salaries in similar positions.

"The United States has a long experience in combating the gender pay gap. This experience can be useful for Ukraine to improve the situation with gender equality. We look forward to sharing knowledge of best practices and developing and implementing joint projects so that women have more opportunities to fulfil their potential," summed up Yuliia Svyrydenko.