“Comfort House” is an even company of comfortable solutions with a long history of success. In its salon you can purchase goods from new collections of all Ukrainian manufacturers of entrance and interior doors, window systems, accessories, as well as garage gates according to individual sizes. There are over 100 items available.

Our own teams of experienced craftsmen carry out measurements and installation.

“Our specialists can develop an engineering project of any level of complexity. The salon consultants undergo annual training at the production facilities of our partners. The company is constantly developing”.

This “business card” of the company is posted on its website. But the realities of wartime have significantly adjusted it. Of course not for the better. The assortment of the company no longer includes windows and doors from all domestic manufacturers. The teams of experienced craftsmen have been reduced to a minimum. And here we come to the main and most tangible problem of “Comfort House” today – personnel, the lack of male working hands.

At the beginning of this year, it, due to the increasing mobilization of the male working-age population, arose with all the evidence and severity for almost all domestic manufacturers. Perhaps it is not a paradox but a harsh truth of war that the third year of war turns out to be more difficult, more problematic for the economy than the first, shocking year for the country. And it is more difficult, first of all, due to the workforce being “bled” to a critical level over time. “Comfort House” is among such companies.

–The normal state of the company, – Mr. Taras describes the situation, – is working with eight installation teams of two people; plus a separate installation team that was engaged in the installation of gates and the installation of appropriate automation, and another four service teams also of two people – in total twenty-eight male employees. Now there are only four, including me, because sometimes I have to install myself. Everyone except me so far as the father of three young children is subject to mobilization. So with my car – I’m not stopped anymore – I drive them through checkpoints to the facility and from the facility. But this is not the way to go: I get distracted from my direct duties.

Of course, with such a “meager” personnel potential you can’t produce much. Not surprisingly, last year the company finished at a quarter of pre-war and pre-war sales volumes.

-As if one trouble is not enough, there is another. It would seem that now, when so many buildings across the country have been damaged by enemy shelling, and therefore the need for windows and doors has increased sharply, there is plenty of work for you. There was such an opportunity to increase sales, service, but you can’t take full advantage of it because there is no one to work with. Of course, it’s very frustrating. In woodworking and furniture making, cases of women standing at machine tools have become more frequent…

-This example is not for us. Women can really work as machinists, especially on modern comfortable machine tools. But we need male hands, because we are talking about manual handling and installation of heavy structures. For women in our company, the job is to sell products (now we only have one seller), but sales alone won’t cut it: customers usually want the windows or doors they buy from us to be installed by us.

-What is the current situation with your supplier partners?

-Some have stopped working, some, like us, are in dire need of personnel, which is why they sometimes fail to meet the deadlines for orders received from us. Sometimes logistics “limps” as well: some manufacturers lack transport, because cars are also “mobilized” for army purposes. There are some inconveniences in this regard for us as well, but they are in no way comparable to personnel troubles. More significant problems arise in relations with the supplier – we switch to another, from it – to the third.

Previously, as you have already noted, the company practiced training and professional development of employees at the production facilities of suppliers. And now who to train, if those men who could be useful to us do not even dare to come for an interview, not to mention going outside the city or region?

-Listening to this sad story of yours about a bunch of troubles besieging the company, we expected you to finally say something like “my hands are dropping…”

-No, I won’t say that in any case. This is not the first difficult situation – we will overcome this one as well. As we once overcame the financial, covid ones. If you don’t let your hands drop, don’t succumb to difficulties, even the most acute ones, you won’t end up in a dead end. Every trial is experience. There is always a way out, and the difficult experience gained will help in this. As it was before when things were tight. It is with this faith that I work and encourage those who still stay with me.