they leave for the West – UNIAN

The slowdown of the labor market in Poland and high inflation could encourage some refugees from Ukraine to leave for the West, mainly to Germany and Canada.

He writes about it Republic with reference to the expert, founder of the Personnel Service employment agency Krzysztof Inglot. He noted that in the current revival of the labor market, which has been observed since May, he was surprised by the low supply of workers from Ukraine.

“Ukrainians are no longer standing in line for work. Usually during this period they were waiting for a stream of offers, but this time something has changed,” says Inglot.

According to him, the reduction in the supply of workers from Ukraine is observed in all industries. The least problem is temporary earnings, especially those available to women. On the other hand, since the beginning of the war, there has been a shortage of men from Ukraine.

According to Inglot, the current shortage of workers from Ukraine is caused by a clearly noticeable economic slowdown in the Polish labor market. This was well demonstrated by the report of the Polish HR Forum for the first quarter of this year, when a total of 235,000 temporary workers were employed – more than 6% less compared to the beginning of 2022. Even more, the number of hours worked in full-time equivalent (FTE) decreased by 8% – to 43 thousand.

According to the expert, workers from Ukraine, who in the first months of this year did not see such a large selection of job offers as before, began to look for employment opportunities in other countries, especially in Western Europe and Canada.

In the first quarter of this year, Poland was the best destination for economic migration for 20 percent. It is followed by Canada and the USA with the same share of indicators, slightly ahead of Germany (16%).

“Employees from Ukraine migrate all over Europe because they can, and hourly rates are higher not only in Germany, but even in the Czech Republic, so you don’t need to go far from Poland,” says Anna Jobolda, head of the recruiting department of the international employment agency Gremi Personal . It has also recently experienced a labor shortage, although this is mainly due to increased seasonal demand for workers.

A recent study by the Gremi Personal think tank and the Lodz Special Economic Zone showed that after the start of the war, most companies operating there increased the share of Ukrainians among their employees, and only 5% recorded outflows.

It is noted that the main advantage of staying and working in Poland for Ukrainians is the geographical and cultural proximity between the countries.

The large Ukrainian diaspora is also a factor that increases the desire to go to Canada, where the number of refugees and migrants from Ukraine has been growing rapidly in recent months. As reported by the Canadian service CTV News, as of mid-March this year, 190,000 Ukrainians came to Canada under a special migration program and a three-year emergency visa, which more than 610,000 Ukrainian citizens have already received.

“If the shortage of Ukrainian workers observed in May continues or deepens in the coming months, this could cause more pressure on wages, especially in the lowest paid professions,” Krzysztof Inglot predicts.

Ukrainians in Poland – news

As reported by UNIAN, as of the beginning of March this year, the majority of Ukrainians who left for Poland due to the war found work in this country (84%). Almost a quarter of employed refugees found work within the first month of arrival. Another 34% of respondents reported that they found a job within 1-3 months after arriving in Poland.

According to the data of the Border Service of Poland, since February 24, 2022, about 10 million refugees have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. Almost 1.5 million received temporary protection in Poland.

In mid-March 2023, it became known that 45% of refugees from Ukraine plan to stay in Poland for a longer period – at least for a year or several years after the end of the war. In March 2022, 31% of Ukrainians declared such a desire.

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