---
title: "“We take everyone who wants to and train them on-site”: how Metinvest is rebuilding its HR system amid a labor shortage"
description: "Due to a labor shortage, Metinvest has cut retraining from 9–12 to 3–5 months, expanded the Steel Force program to three new countries, and employed 500 vocational school graduates in 2025."
date: 2026-08-24T10:38:02.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/metinvest-hr-strategy-labor-shortage
tags: [metinvest, labor-shortage, ukraine-industry, vocational-education, steel-force, retraining, human-capital]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# “We take everyone who wants to and train them on-site”: how Metinvest is rebuilding its HR system amid a labor shortage

![Metrinvest worker in a red hard hat and safety glasses learning on the job as part of the company's workforce training program](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/24/metinvest-kadrovaya-strategiya-deficit-rabochikh-ruk/metinvest-kadrovaya-strategiya-deficit-rabochikh-ruk-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Metrinvest has cut the worker retraining period from 9–12 to 3–5 months against the backdrop of a labor shortage
- The company cooperates with more than 40 vocational schools and employed nearly 500 of their graduates in 2025
- The Steel Force program was expanded in 2026 to Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria; 53 participants were selected from ~300 applications
- The Metinvest Polytechnic university trains more than 1,400 students, with about 30% of graduates staying at the company
- The staff shortage is already affecting the production planning of the Group's enterprises

Rinat Akhmetov's Metinvest Group is radically changing its strategy for training and attracting personnel against the backdrop of a persistent labor shortage in the metallurgical industry. This was stated by the company's Director of Sustainable Development and Employee Relations, Tetyana Petruk, at the youth forum “Generation of Renewal: The Return of Ukrainian Youth and the Development of Human Capital for Ukraine's Future,” held in Kyiv. According to her, the company has effectively built an “end-to-end pathway” for a future employee — from vocational or higher education to the first job, onboarding, and further career trajectory. “This is not just a matter of cooperation with vocational schools or universities. It is an end-to-end system that we are building within our company,” Petruk emphasized.

### An end-to-end system: from vocational school to career

One of the key directions of Metinvest's HR policy remains its partnership with vocational and technical education institutions. The company cooperates with more than 40 vocational schools in its regions of operation, where students complete industrial internships even while still studying. According to Petruk, in 2025 Metinvest employed nearly 500 graduates of vocational schools — about 13% of all new employees of the Group for the year. A separate talent reserve is the company's own university — Metinvest Polytechnic, where more than 1,400 students are currently enrolled. The university has already graduated over 100 bachelors and more than 300 masters, and about 30% of graduates stay to work at the company after completing their studies. Educational programs are designed with future production needs in mind: business representatives are involved in the scientific councils to help determine which specialists the enterprises will need in three to five years.

### Steel Force: attracting youth from abroad

In parallel, the company is actively working to bring back Ukrainian youth who are studying abroad. The Steel Force program is in place for this purpose. In 2025, 28 students in the United Kingdom and Poland took part in it, and in 2026 the program's geography was expanded to Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. Out of approximately 300 applications submitted, 53 participants were selected. After the young specialists join the Metinvest enterprises, the company applies onboarding, mentoring, and financial support programs during the first year of work.

### Retraining in 3–5 months instead of a year

The labor shortage has forced Metinvest to significantly accelerate professional retraining. If preparing a worker for a new profession previously took 9–12 months, this period has now been shortened to 3–5 months. “Previously, there were queues of candidates at Metinvest's enterprises. Today we take everyone who wants to and train them right on-site,” Petruk said. According to her, the shortage of people is already directly affecting production planning: enterprises are forced to take into account not only the availability of raw materials and equipment, but also the actual number of workers capable of ensuring the production process. The company emphasizes that overcoming the labor shortage requires simultaneous work with vocational education, youth, Ukrainians abroad, and people ready to master new specialties directly on the production floor.

### Veterans and engineers: the talent reserve of the future

It should be added that Metinvest has repeatedly been named the best employer for veterans and engineering students: the company currently accounts for nearly a third of veterans who have returned to work at large-business enterprises. The Metinvest Polytechnic university offers veterans preferential admission to promising engineering specialties — they are accepted without exams, based solely on interview results. Thus, the Group's HR strategy covers several dimensions at once: vocational education, higher education, international attraction of youth, accelerated on-site retraining, and the integration of veterans into the engineering workforce.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Metrinvest cuts retraining and strengthens cooperation with vocational schools: what is the reason](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/metinvest-skorochue-perenavchannya-ta-posilyue-1787567611.html) - Основной источник: заявление Т. Петрук на форуме, цифры по профтехам, Steel Force, срокам переобучения.
- [Fast retraining and multifunctionality: at Metinvest they explained how they are overcoming ...](https://www.unian.net/economics/other/bystraya-perepodgotovka-i-mnogofunkcionalnost-v-metinveste-rasskazali-kak-preodolevayut-deficit-kadrov-13405695.html) - Подтверждает тезис об ускоренной переподготовке и многофункциональности работников.
- [Metrinvest joins the Ministry of Education's project on training engineers](https://korrespondent.net/business/companies/4882444-metynvest-prysoedynylsia-k-proektu-mon-po-podhotovke-ynzhenerov) - Дополнительный контекст: участие в государственном проекте подготовки инженерных кадров.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: By how much was the retraining period shortened at Metinvest?
**A:** The period of preparing a worker for a new profession has been shortened from 9–12 months to 3–5 months. The company explains this by the labor shortage: now they take everyone who wants to and train them directly on-site.

### Q: What is the Steel Force program?
**A:** Steel Force is a Metinvest program for attracting Ukrainian youth studying abroad. In 2025 it operated in the United Kingdom and Poland (28 participants), and in 2026 it was expanded to Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. Out of ~300 applications, 53 participants were selected.

### Q: How many vocational schools cooperate with Metinvest?
**A:** The company works with more than 40 vocational schools in its regions of operation. In 2025, Metinvest employed nearly 500 vocational school graduates — about 13% of all new employees of the Group for the year.

### Q: How does Metinvest attract veterans?
**A:** The company accounts for nearly a third of veterans who have returned to work at large-business enterprises. The Metinvest Polytechnic university accepts veterans into engineering specialties without exams, based solely on interview results.