Swedish construction equipment manufacturer Volvo CE will launch next month its Iron Women program, a reskilling initiative to train women to operate construction machines, in Ukraine, the company said in a press release on Monday.
The program aims to address the labor shortage in Ukraine amid reconstruction efforts, a refugee crisis and military conscription. After training, participants will earn a government-recognized certificate qualifying them to operate both excavators and wheel loaders, Volvo CE said.
"The Iron Women program tackles our country's challenges by equipping women with special skills that will enable them to take on a new, stable and rewarding profession in the construction industry, a field traditionally dominated by men, while also helping grow a workforce critical for our nation's societal development and rebuilding efforts in the long-term," said Anastasia Marisenkova, program lead at ETS Group, Volvo CE’s retail partner in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, the program will be carried out under the Reskilling Ukraine initiative by Swedish not-for-profit Beredskapslyftet, and supported by Swedish corporate donors and private foundations, as well as the Swedish government.
Since the start of 2024, over 200 Ukrainian women have been trained as truck or bus drivers, and the project is expanding into new industries and professions, aiming at reskilling and upskilling 1,000 women in 2025.
Volvo CE said it plans to implement the program in several countries over the coming years, including in India.
Ukraine's workforce shrank by 40% due to the refugee crisis and military mobilization since 2020, head of the Ukrainian Parliament's committee on local governance, Elena Shulyak, said last week.
