“For 30 years of work in Ukraine, the Nestlé company has become well known as a reliable employer. But with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Nestlé, like many other businesses in Ukraine, was faced with the need to quickly change approaches to caring for its own team and hiring new employees. It was then that Nestlé’s HR team in Ukraine began to create projects that were a response to challenges within the company and on the external labor market. For more than two years”, — write on: ua.news
For 30 years of work in Ukraine, the Nestlé company has become well known as a reliable employer. But with the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Nestlé, like many other businesses in Ukraine, was faced with the need to quickly change approaches to caring for its own team and hiring new employees. It was then that Nestlé’s HR team in Ukraine began to create projects that were a response to challenges within the company and on the external labor market
For more than two years, the company’s HR initiatives have helped preserve the physical and mental health of the team, invest in the creation of new jobs, return veterans of the Armed Forces to civilian life, and obtain the first work skills for Ukrainian youth. What exactly the company did and which HR practices became the most successful during the war, we tell in this article.
First steps
Thousands of Nestlé workers across Ukraine needed immediate help as a full-scale invasion began. In response to this need, the company launched the Ukraine WeCare program, which became operational on the ninth day of the war. First of all, Nestlé organized the evacuation of workers from the most dangerous regions and relocation. The company also paid full wages and bonuses to all employees and made advance payments for three months. Salaries were also maintained for employees who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces.
Nestlé also purchased and delivered mobile shelters that allow creating safe conditions on production sites during air alarms. The company’s offices have been remodeled to meet the requirements of the times: they work as security points with 24-hour access for employees, and are connected to electricity and heat.
Initiatives for military reintegration
The return of the first veterans from the front created new challenges in the workplace. On the one hand, the experience of war made the transition to civilian life difficult for such employees. On the other hand, colleagues and managers of employees with experience of service in the Armed Forces needed help in adapting to the new composition of the teams.
Nestlé’s response to this situation was the workplace inclusion program. The initiative provides support for veterans and their family members. For example, webinars and trainings dedicated to veteran experience are held for Nestlé employees in Ukraine.
Another Nestlé program — Leadership in Wartime — helps to build effective cooperation taking into account new realities. The program consists of a list of activities that help prepare the team and its leader: assessment of the possibility of return to work, a plan before the first day of the veteran’s return, improvement of communication skills, retraining, etc. The first stage of training ended in April 2024, 300 managers graduated from the program.
Separate steps are provided for the most comfortable reintegration into the working environment.
“When returning from service, each employee can take additional paid leave before going to work and undergo a retraining program for another profession, if he cannot perform his work in his previous profession. Veterans receive additional days of leave, extended medical insurance, as well as financial support for treatment if necessary,” says Polina Karelina, HR director of Nestlé in Ukraine and Moldova.
Opportunities for professional development
Providing new knowledge and developing employees’ skills is an important priority for Nestlé. All employees have access to Nestlé’s ILearn digital knowledge system, which currently includes more than 245 training programs in the Ukrainian language. At the factories, there are separate programs for training operators on the lines, improving their skills and mastering new professions.
Also, the company gives the opportunity to move from department to department within Nestlé even without certain professional experience. In this case, mentors from various branches are involved and mentoring programs are developed. Since 2023, Nestlé has launched an online development program in the field of e-commerce, E-Business Academy, which helps to develop new skills and implement innovations.
“Our company employs people with ambitions, and we develop together with them. When we open a vacancy, we are not trying to fill a certain position in our organization, we are looking for a person who would like to grow with us in the company as a professional and as a person,” says Alessandro Zanelli, CEO of Nestlé in Ukraine and Southeast Europe.
During the war, the company did not stop taking care of the needs of young people in terms of getting their first work experience. Within the framework of the Nestlé Needs YOUth social initiative, which creates career development opportunities for young people and has been implemented for more than 10 years, the company undertook to employ and take on internships for 630 young Ukrainians by the end of 2025. Nestlé also created an internship program for Ukrainian youth abroad. In the first two years of full-scale war, 34 internships have been implemented in 22 countries, and 12 interns have already joined international teams.
Further plans
During the war, Nestlé in Ukraine did not stop employing people. Since the beginning of the invasion, the company has hired more than 1,200 people. In the near future, Nestlé plans to continue attracting new employees, veterans. The company has started work on a new project, which aims to unite different companies to create system support for employees with experience of service in the Armed Forces.
Nestlé will also develop the Leadership in Wartime program. Currently, its goal is to train 1,000 managers of various branches of the company in Ukraine and South-Eastern Europe. This will equip leaders with the skills to effectively manage teams during the war and post-war periods, and will also help the company develop the mental resilience competency.
The company will continue active expansion of the team, in particular, the hiring of employees for the new factory that is currently being built in the Volyn region. At the first stage, the company plans to employ 300 people in production, and later, together with the factory operating in Torchin, the new production hub will employ 1,500 workers.
