THE EFFECT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE ON THE LOYALTY OF THE STAFF OF THE ENTERPRISES TO THE EMPLOYERS

Abstract

Since the onset of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the country has experienced significant changes impacting all areas of life, including the economy, society, and business. The conflict has created new challenges for businesses, which have had to adapt to new conditions, ensuring the safety of their employees, the stability of business processes, and the support of the country's economy. One of the key aspects influencing the ability of companies to function effectively in such conditions is employee loyalty to their employers. Employee loyalty is an important factor in the stability and success of enterprises, affecting productivity, motivation, and the ability of the company to retain qualified workers. In wartime, maintaining a high level of loyalty becomes an even more critical task for enterprise management. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that directly or indirectly influence employee loyalty in enterprises under the conditions of war in Ukraine. The main methods used in the study include employee surveys of Ukrainian enterprises, graphical representation methods, tabular methods, and the method of summarizing research results. Social networks were used to distribute the survey, Google Forms for the survey, and Excel spreadsheets for processing the results. The study was conducted by surveying employees of Ukrainian enterprises using Google Forms in February-March 2024. The survey included 16,250 respondents, with 46.3% women (7,524 respondents) and 53.7% men (8,726 respondents). The result of the study was an analysis of the factors affecting employee loyalty, which showed that the majority of respondents' loyalty levels remained unchanged (68.8%), but there were also cases of increased (16.4%) and decreased (14.8%) loyalty. Based on the survey results, measures to increase the loyalty of employees of Ukrainian companies during the war in Ukraine were systematized in areas such as financial support and stability; safety and labor protection; flexible working hours and conditions; social support and well-being; communication and informational support; professional development and training; employee involvement in decision-making; social responsibility and charity; improvement of working conditions; and reputation and branding.