In the first half of 2020, the structure of work permits issued to Ukrainians changed significantly. Compared to the same period last year, they were issued by 17,000 fewer permits, which means a decrease of 11 percent y/y. The number of authorizations for IT specialists from Ukraine decreased by half, specialists by 28 percent, and farmers, workers and craftsmen by approx. 20 percent. According to the data of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy, the greatest number of doctors (+ 250%), nurses (+ 80%) and office workers (+ 18%) came to Poland. Personnel Service experts emphasize that despite these changes, the share of qualified staff among emigrants from Ukraine remains at a low level.

The "Polish Labor Market Barometer 2020" of the Personnel Service shows that at the beginning of the year, Ukrainians were employed by every tenth company in Poland. In every fifth of them, employees from Ukraine held middle-level positions, and only one in ten of higher-level ones.

“Due to the lockdown of the Polish economy and difficulties in border traffic, the interest in qualified specialists from Ukraine has decreased in almost every profession. There are few exceptions, because although the percentage increases among doctors or nurses are impressive, we are still talking about a small group, 23 and 9 people, respectively, out of a total of 145,000. permits for Ukrainians. It is also worth noting an increase by 50 people of Ukrainian management in Poland. The situation of IT specialists is more complex, because although they received fewer permits, the demand for them has not decreased in recent months. Instead of coming to Poland, they telework from home, thus reducing the risk of delaying the project implementation,” Krzysztof Inglot, President of the Personnel Service and labor market expert, noted.

(WBJ)