GlocalShift and its Ukrainian partner Progressive&Strong, together with Cegos Group (France), have closed the second phase of a professional retraining programme that has equipped 75 young people in the Odesa Region with new skills for jobs currently in demand, from skilled trades to accessible infrastructure work.
The milestone was marked at a public event, "PRO Youth and Employment: Cases for Odesa Region," which brought together programme graduates, employers, local government, educators and civil society for a day of discussion and hands-on exchange on youth employment and inclusion in a region under continued wartime pressure.
The event was organised by Progressive&Strong with Cegos and GlocalShift, in cooperation with the Odesa Region Employers' Association, the Southern Qualification Centre, and the Odesa Regional Employment Centre.
Skills training meets accessibility
Now in its second stage, the programme trained participants across seven tracks spanning three areas: accessibility work (accessible restrooms, welding for ramps, tactile paving), hospitality (confectionery, baking, waiter and barista skills), and port and corporate security. Organisers say the focus reflects two urgent regional needs at once: a shortage of tradespeople as rebuilding accelerates, and the push to make new and repaired infrastructure genuinely accessible for veterans, people with disabilities, and others with limited mobility.
Project coordinator Liudmyla Kornuta summed up the approach simply. "We teach, we support, and then we help them get hired," she said, adding that young women had taken up physically demanding accessibility trades with a confidence that surprised even the trainers.
A dialogue between generations and sectors
The day opened with a panel bringing together government, employers, vocational educators and civil society to discuss how to strengthen youth employability in the region. Bohdan Ferens, founder of Progressive&Strong, said the goal is to keep young talent in Ukraine. "What we build here in Odesa should work everywhere else too," he told participants.
Olena Mazur of the Odesa Regional State Administration told participants that as some professions disappear and others emerge, young people are best placed to adapt, with the right support from institutions.
Joining remotely, GlocalShift founder and CEO Yannick du Pont praised the resilience of the Progressive&Strong team through more than four years of war and confirmed GlocalShift's continued commitment to the partnership. "Their persistence keeps inspiring us," he said, pointing to plans for a third phase with potential expansion to new regions.
Employers on the panel backed up the message with numbers. Ihor Dubchak of the Odesa Region Employers' Association pointed to strong pay in skilled trades like welding and mechanics, while Liliia Ostapiuk of engineering firm Everlast confirmed a motivated new welder can match an experienced colleague's salary within a year. "No machine can weld a tank," she added, "that still takes a trained pair of hands."
Svitlana Tabakova of the Regional Employment Center reported that in five months, outreach had reached 13,000 young people across Odesa Region, the highest such engagement rate in Ukraine, alongside grants and incentives available to young jobseekers and entrepreneurs.
Hands-on learning through a "Living Library"
The second half of the day used a "Living Library" format, pairing graduates directly with professionals for practical guidance on workplace conflict, first job anxiety, hospitality careers and CV writing, building the soft skills that complement participants' new technical qualifications.
Among the day's graduates were young women newly trained in trades once considered male-dominated, and veterans returning from the front for whom retraining offered a path back into civilian working life.
Looking ahead
Closing this second stage took real work, from redesigning training tracks to coordinating a growing network of employers and institutions across the region. But organisers were clear that the effort doesn't stop here: the programme's third phase is already being planned and will launch soon, to carry the model's lessons into new communities across Ukraine.
This project was supported by Cegos Group and Stichting GlocalShift Foundation, in partnership with NGO Progressive&Strong, as part of ongoing work to strengthen youth employment and inclusion in Ukraine.
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