New migration policy makes it easier to keep Ukrainian workers in Poland for longer
Half of Ukrainians spend a maximum of three months in Poland, and almost one in three comes for six months, according to the Personnel Service's Polish Labor Market Barometer. It is a derivative of the most popular declaration procedure among Ukrainians, which allows them to work for six months a year. This model of migration is not optimal from the point of view of employees and employers. The latter has been calling for changes for several years. Now it can be done. The new draft migration policy draws attention to the problem of the short duration of migration and focuses, inter alia, on supplementing the shortages on the labor market with foreigners with high qualifications, whose employment for a short time does not make sense.
Economic immigration to Poland is mainly short-term and circular. The Polish Labor Market Barometer shows that 47 percent of the staff from the East spend a maximum of three months with us, 30 percent come for a period of 3-6 months, 14 percent work in Poland for 6-12 months, and only 4 percent for over a year. It can be seen, however, that Ukrainians have gotten used to coming to Poland to earn a living, which is why most of them have visited our country more than once in the last five years (71 percent). Moreover, 65 percent of them declare that they intend to come here to work again.
“The consequence of the short-term and circular migration model is employing workers from Ukraine at a lower level. The possibility of working legally for only six months means that many companies do not find it profitable to invest in training staff from the East for higher positions. However, a constant upward trend can be seen when it comes to offering employees from beyond the eastern border better job offers. In 2019, specialized positions were occupied by 4 percent of working Ukrainians, in 2020 already 9 percent, and in 2021 we exceeded 12 percent. If the new draft migration policy is implemented, these indicators will go up,” Krzysztof Inglot, President of the Management Board of Personnel Service, said.
(WBJ)
