This material analyses the current state of one of the areas of public administration reform — the digitalisation of the human resource management system in the civil service.
Digitalisation of the human resource management system, as a key element of rebooting public administration, is implemented in accordance with the Strategy for Public Administration Reform in Ukraine for 2022–2025 under the area ‘Professional Civil Service and Personnel Management’.
The main objectives of this strategic direction regarding personnel management capacity are:
- implementation of a Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) in state authorities, enabling the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative indicators on the representation of women and men in various civil service positions;
- conducting an analysis of the needs of state authorities in ensuring the necessary number of civil servants with appropriate qualifications to address strategic tasks.
The key performance indicator for these objectives of the Strategy is the share of state authorities that have implemented HRMIS: 25% in 2022, 50% in 2023, 65% in 2024, and 80% in 2025.
Additionally, as part of the communication measures outlined in the Strategy, the implementation of HRMIS is accompanied by the development and introduction of an effective mechanism for internal communication, interaction, and feedback within the civil service. For instance, the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (NAUCS) provides methodological support to HR departments in state authorities, makes inquiries, and conducts surveys. The final output of these efforts includes clarifications and training.
The digitalisation of human resource management aims to address the lack of comprehensive data and analytical information regarding the number of employees in state authorities. Fragmented and limited information on the effectiveness of the public administration system in Ukraine highly complicates the process of optimising the number of employees in executive authorities. While state authorities do have their own personnel management information systems, the information stored in these systems is often insufficiently transparent and does not allow for a comprehensive analysis of the overall human resource management system in the civil service.
The digitalisation of civil service and human resource management is one of Ukraine’s EU integration commitments in the area of public administration reform, which is carried out in line with the OECD/SIGMA European Principles of Public Administration and is also one of the requirements of the Ukraine Facility programme, under which Ukraine will receive up to €50 billion from the EU during 2024–2027.
State of Play and Progress of Reform
From a practical perspective, the reform will result in upgrading all outdated digital HR systems in state authorities (including their interregional and territorial bodies). On the one hand, this will ensure the formation of accurate data on staffing levels in state authorities and enable operational and transparent monitoring of the number of their employees. On the other hand, it will improve the efficiency of decision-making processes related to staffing.
Tools for Addressing Key Issues
The key steps of the reform to ensure the digitalisation of HR management functions in public administration include:
- implementation of the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) as a centralised database of civil servants and other public sector employees, aimed at automating and digitalising processes related to personnel management functions;
- operation of the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies (career.gov.ua) as a key platform for posting current job openings in state authorities, providing information on competitive selection procedures, and enabling electronic document submission;
- use of the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services Diia for employment purposes.
Human Resource Management Information System
The HRMIS system was launched on 31 March 2021, with EU support within the Public Finance Management Support Programme for Ukraine (EU4PFM). The share of state authorities that implemented the HRMIS, as a key indicator of the Strategy, has been steadily growing: 67% in 2022 Reports on the implementation of budget programmes for 2017–2022. National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service. (against a target of 25%), 80% in 2023 Reports on the implementation of budget programmes for 2017–2022. National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service. (against a target of 50%), 82% in 2024 Reports on the implementation of budget programmes. National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service. (against a target of 65%), and 87% as of May 2025 XXXIV Coordination Council on Public Administration Reform. Public administration reform. (against a target of 80%). According to NAUCS, over 90% of state authorities are expected to be connected to the system by June 2025.
The implementation of the HRMIS information system in state authorities faces several obstacles, including:
- insufficient material, technical, and staffing capacity of certain state authorities to connect to the system. NAUCS has repeatedly emphasised the shortage of specialists, particularly in system implementation support, cybersecurity, and business analytics, which hinders the scaling of HRMIS adoption;
- overburdening of HR departments in state authorities due to the duplication of functions for populating the HRMIS and maintaining internal digital HR systems or databases, including in paper format. Although most state authorities are connected to HRMIS, data completeness across functional modules remains insufficient. For instance, the HRMIS Public Portal lacks data on gender, length of civil service, types of positions, and age of employees;
- insufficient knowledge, skills, and competencies of HR staff in state authorities regarding the use of the HRMIS.
According to an NAUCS study, as of 1 October 2024, 66.4% of surveyed respondents identified HRMIS implementation and operation as their greatest need for methodological support. The most pressing needs for methodological support among respondents from state authorities where the HRMIS is being implemented include: 54.5% — working with the ‘Personnel’ and ‘Personnel Orders’ functional modules; 47.6% — working with the ‘Self-Service Account’ subsystem (the ‘Personal Account’ module); 30.9% — working with the ‘Organisational Structure’ functional module.
Due to delays in populating the HRMIS, there is a lack of accurate personnel data and difficulties in making decisions on human resource management.
In addition, several information systems (applications and web platforms) are currently in operation, including the NAUCS dashboard on the quantitative composition of civil servants in Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance dashboard on the number and salaries of all public sector employees, the HRMIS, NAUCS statistical data, and others. However, the information on the number of civil servants and other employees differs significantly across these systems.
For instance, according to the NAUCS dashboard on the number of civil servants in Ukraine, as of the first quarter of 2025, the number of established positions amounted to 191.89 thousand, and the actual number of employees was 156.79 thousand. Whereas the HRMIS contained information HRMIS portal. Information as of 11 July 2025, 15:00. on 70.7 thousand positions, with 48.7 thousand actual employees.
Accelerating the implementation and population of the HRMIS is necessary for making effective management decisions, particularly for strategic workforce planning in the civil service. This is especially important given the recent trend of staff outflow from the civil service: in 2023, 36.2 thousand individuals were appointed to positions, while 40.2 thousand were dismissed; in 2024, 35.1 thousand were appointed, while 37.7 thousand were dismissed.
The HRMIS is still in the process of integration with payroll systems, which ultimately leads to a lack of transparency and delays in obtaining accurate salary data within the framework of public administration reform. The Law of Ukraine ‘On Civil Service’ (as amended) stipulates that salaries for civil service positions should be established based on the catalogue of standard civil service positions, criteria for assigning such positions, and a comparison of civil service salaries with those in the private sector in Ukraine. Since the comparison of salary levels has been postponed until 1 January 2027, and the HRMIS has not yet been implemented in all state authorities, this hinders the ability to assess the effectiveness of HR management in the civil service.
Unified Portal for Civil Service Vacancies
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, the Unified Portal for Civil Service Vacancies has been suspended due to a technical failure. However, according to the 2022 NAUCS Work Plan Implementation Report, the main reasons for suspending the Portal were the protection of personal data of citizens and the prevention of cyberattacks on the system.
The suspension of the Portal for more than three years complicates staffing processes for state authorities and creates obstacles for job seekers, who do not have access to complete and up-to-date information on available vacancies.
The situation is further complicated by the suspension of competitive selection for civil service positions, which in turn leads to limited access for potential candidates to vacancies, a lack of transparency in appointments, staffing shortages, and increased corruption risks during the recruitment process.
Experts and international partners Richelieu Forum ‘Civil Service in Wartime: Rethinking Identity’. have repeatedly called for the resumption of competitive selection for civil service positions and the provision of automated tools to ensure safe hiring processes There was a discussion on access to public service and the competitive procedure. Centre of Policy and Legal Reform. . However, the relevant draft law on improving the procedure for entering, serving, and terminating civil service has not yet been registered. According to the Ukraine Facility Plan, legislative changes are expected to take effect in the third quarter of 2025, and the operation of the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies is planned to be restored in the first quarter of 2026.
In addition, the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies requires upgrades, taking into account the need to improve the procedures for entering, serving, and terminating civil service and to expand its functionality to include vacancies in local self-government authorities. This will contribute to competency-based recruitment, increased transparency of human resource management, and the formation of reliable statistical data on all types of competitive procedures and vacancies.
Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services Diia
Before the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies resumes its operation, the government has supported the proposal by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to implement a two-year experimental project on the use of the tools of the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services Diia for employment in civil service positions. Within this project, it is planned to publish information about current vacancies in certain pilot bodies and institutions (the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the NAUCS, the Ministry of Economy, and the state enterprise ‘Diia’ — with their consent), as well as staff selection without competitive recruitment procedures.
It is expected that the implementation of this project will help address staffing issues in the pilot state authorities and later be scaled up to other state authorities and institutions. Within two months from the date of the government’s decision entering into force (by 23 July 2025), the Ministry of Digital Transformation must ensure the technical implementation of the use of the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services for employment purposes.
However, the Diia portal is primarily aimed at providing electronic public and other services and is not a specialised Regulations on the Unified State Web Portal of Electronic Services, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1137 dated 04.12.2019 (as amended by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 937 dated 16.08.2022). application for posting vacancies and job searching. Solving the staffing problem in the civil service using the Diia portal appears quite questionable. Moreover, in the absence of integration, information exchange, and interaction with other job search websites and employment platforms, the issue of comparing salaries in civil service positions with those in the private sector remains unresolved, which complicates evidence-based salary planning within the civil service system.
Recommendations
On the path towards reforming the digitalisation and automation of the human resource management system in the civil service, only partial steps have been taken to implement the objectives of the Strategy. The successful implementation of the reform requires the following key measures:
- Accelerate the implementation and data population of the HRMIS in all state authorities, including their interregional and territorial units.
- Provide systematic methodological support to HR departments of state authorities on personnel management, particularly regarding the use of the HRMIS and work organisation within the system, including the ‘Personnel’ and ‘Personnel Orders’ functional modules.
- Reinstate competitive selection procedures for all categories of civil servants in government-controlled territories, utilising digital tools to ensure safe and transparent recruitment processes.
- Resume and modernise the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies (career.gov.ua), particularly regarding the optimisation of competitive selection procedures and the expansion of functionality to post vacancies for local self-government authorities.
- Ensure integration, information exchange, and interaction between the Unified Portal of Civil Service Vacancies, the HRMIS, state cybersecurity systems, and other job search platforms to create a coherent, secure, and transparent ecosystem for human resource management in the public sector.
This publication has been prepared within the framework of the ‘Improvement of Governance in Ukraine: Enhancing Policy Making for Social Progress’ Project with the support of Switzerland. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the NGO ‘Agency for Legislative Initiatives’. The opinion of the authors does not necessarily reflect the views of the donor.
