Kyivvodokanal faces acute staff shortage: one specialist replaces four

Critical shortage of technical personnel

Serhiy Horkutsenko, Deputy General Director of Kyivvodokanal, reported that the enterprise is facing a serious personnel crisis. According to him, as of today, one employee is effectively performing the volume of work previously calculated for four people. Management estimates that the company has lost approximately 40% of its staff over the last four years, with a fourfold shortage of electricians, fitters, and welders.

October 8 emergency: load on specialists

Horkutsenko recalled the events of 8 October, when an emergency situation occurred. At that time, two electricians worked on a shift basis to restore backup power supply at several stations. The process was complicated by the fact that while specialists were working on some facilities, outages were occurring at others. This load indicates that the existing staff cannot keep up with servicing all necessary water supply nodes.

Causes of staff outflow

Among the main factors that caused the outflow of employees, the official highlighted several points:

• low level of wages;
• multi-year freezing of tariffs for services;
• previous restrictions on employee protection from conscription.

Horkutsenko cited the example of a fitter who earns 15,000 hryvnias. Of this amount, the employee spends 10,000 on the commute from Chernihiv to Kyiv. Thus, only 5,000 hryvnias remain for daily needs.

Impact on service quality

The shortage of qualified personnel complicates the restoration of pumping station operations after power outages. According to Serhiy Horkutsenko, Kyivvodokanal serves approximately 4 million consumers in the capital and adjacent areas.