Almost every Ukrainian employer recognizes the importance of employees’ mental health, but not all of them act systematically to support their teams. A new survey conducted by the Ukrainian Psychotherapeutic League in cooperation with HURMA System and the European Business Association covered more than 120 companies of various sizes and industries to find out how they support the psychological well-being of their employees.
The survey was conducted using questionnaires and in-depth interviews with HR professionals and managers of organizations ranging from NGOs and consulting companies to pharmaceutical production and retailers. This approach made it possible to see the situation from two polar sides – from the side of change initiators and key decision makers.
The results are thought-provoking:
98% of employers are aware of the importance of mental health, but only 68% of them are implementing appropriate measures.
The main barriers to systematic care for the psycho-emotional state of teams in every fifth company are budget shortages and lack of support from owners.
The most popular tools are educational events, professional psychological assistance, creating a supportive atmosphere, and measures to maintain work-life balance.
In 51% of companies, employees can get psychological help from both internal psychologists and external specialists.
About 70% of organizations have adapted their support programs since the outbreak of war, focusing on stress resistance, burnout and the development of self-regulation skills.
“The survey has shown that most Ukrainian companies understand the importance of caring for the well-being of employees and are ready to invest in this process. But so far, they are implementing tools and measures on a spotty, ad hoc basis, and therefore cannot fully assess their effectiveness. In order to increase productivity and have a motivated team, comprehensive actions are needed: monitoring the emotional state of employees, preventive and edutainment measures, formalizing procedures and implementing them in all business processes. And only then – psychological counseling,” explains Khrystyna Kudriavtseva, the initiator of the survey, vice president of the Ukrainian Psychotherapeutic League, founder of the mental health service Mozhna.space.
This survey shows the real picture of how Ukrainian businesses are responding to new challenges in the area of mental health of their teams.
Companies still have a long way to go to create a healthy work environment and implement comprehensive policies, but they are already taking the first steps in the right direction.
More details and detailed findings of the survey can be found in the full version of the report.
Optima Distance Learning School announced on its Facebook page that it has joined the European Business Association (EBA), one of the largest and most influential business communities in Ukraine.
According to the school’s founder, Maria Miletska, this step is intended to accelerate the further development of the educational institution and improve educational programs based on innovative approaches and methods.
“EBA membership opens up new opportunities for Optima to cooperate with leading companies and experts, which will help improve the quality of educational services and allow the school to invest more effectively in educational projects using modern technologies and approaches to learning. Students and their parents will have access to even more innovative and high-quality curricula that meet international standards,” Miletska said.
She also emphasizes that membership in the European Business Association is a recognition of its reliability and professional level. This confirms that Optima continues to move towards providing high-quality education for its students, helping them prepare for a successful future.
Thus, joining the EBA is an important step in strengthening Optima’s position in the educational services market, providing additional opportunities for its students, their parents and teaching staff.
Earlier, at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine, Optima School Director Olga Bilodid announced that Optima School had received a permit to conduct educational activities in Poland and had started teaching high school students (grades 10-11) in this country.
Optima School was established and licensed in 2015. Currently, the school has 20 thousand students and is the largest online school in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in New York for a meeting of world officials at the United Nations, held talks with the leaders of Germany, India and Japan on Monday in an attempt to win support for Kiev’s military action, Reuters reported.
“We talked about how to bring a just peace closer,” Zelensky said on his messaging app Telegram after his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The main thing is to keep unity,” he said.
“We talked about how to bring a just peace closer,” Zelensky said on his Telegram messaging app after his meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Zelensky said he also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Germany has been one of the most significant European supporters of Kiev’s defensive struggle against Russia”.
Following the UN General Assembly sessions, Zelensky will travel to Washington later this week to present his “victory plan” to influence White House policy on the war regardless of who wins the Nov. 5 U.S. election. “We are dynamically developing our relations”, he said in Telegram after the meeting.
Reuters reported earlier this month that artillery shells sold by Indian arms makers were diverted by European customers to Ukraine and New Delhi did not intervene to stop the trade despite protests from Moscow, India enjoys warm relations with Russia, its main arms supplier for decades, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to join a Western-led sanctions regime against Moscow.
Zelensky also held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida over Japan’s energy aid to Kiev.
“Restoring power supply after Russian shelling and preparing for winter are the tasks we are now actively working on,” Zelensky said in a message on messaging app Telegram.
“Together with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, we discussed the situation in the energy sector.”
Japan was one of several countries sending aid, including $4.5 billion this year, according to the Japanese foreign ministry’s website.
Leading global chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. are considering building large factories in the UAE to meet future demand for artificial intelligence chips, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the newspaper, representatives from these companies recently visited the UAE to discuss building state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in the coming years.
Plans for these projects are in the early stages, facing significant hurdles, and may not be realized, the paper noted. The total cost of the plants could exceed $100 billion. The projects will be financed by the UAE and its sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
“We are always open to constructive discussions on ways to promote the semiconductor industry, but we remain focused on our current global expansion projects and currently have no new investment plans” to disclose, a TSMC spokesman told the newspaper.
Samsung did not respond to WSJ’s request for comment.
Ukraine exported 2.24 mln tons of wheat in August of this year (2024-2025 marketing year), the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA) reported on Facebook.
According to the published infographic, 492 thousand tons of wheat were shipped to Spain, 426 thousand tons to Indonesia, 240 thousand tons to Vietnam, 191 thousand tons to Algeria, and 146 thousand tons to Egypt. Thailand (96 thsd tonnes), Portugal (82 thsd tonnes), Yemen (61 thsd tonnes), Tunisia (79 thsd tonnes) and Italy (68 thsd tonnes) also became the top 100 buyers of Ukrainian grain.
“Interestingly, in August, Indonesia and Vietnam took the 2nd and 3rd place in terms of imports of Ukrainian wheat, pushing Algeria and Egypt to the 4th and 5th place, respectively,” the association noted.
According to the UGA, Ukraine exported 1.277 mln tons of wheat in the first half of September, which is already higher than the volume for the same period last month, when it amounted to 1.266 mln tons.
The number of corporate bankruptcies in the U.S. in January-August 2024 reached a four-year high for the period and was the second highest since 2010, according to calculations by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The country recorded 452 bankruptcies in the first eight months of this year, up from 466 in the same period in 2020 and 604 in January-August 2010.
Sixty-three companies declared insolvency in August compared to 49 in July. A higher number of bankruptcies were only seen in June and April, 72 and 68 respectively.
The three companies that filed for bankruptcy court last month have debts above $1 billion are solar energy technology provider SunPower Corp. whose stock trades on the open market, as well as perfume and cosmetics seller Avon International Operations Inc. and gas station and convenience store operator SQRL Service Stations LLC.
“U.S. companies continue to face a number of challenges this year, including high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty,” S&P said in the report.
In 2023, 634 companies declared insolvency in the U.S. (up from 441 in January-August). In 2020, there was a peak of bankruptcies (638 companies) after the previous peak in 2010, when 827 companies collapsed.
The Experts Club think tank recently released a video on the history of defaults and a table of countries at risk of default in the medium term. For more details, see the video on Experts Club’s YouTube channel:
