The years of unemployment and the employer’s market are gone forever. Economic growth, economic emigration, demographic problems and the collapse of vocational education resulted in the lack of workers. A few years ago, a few people were waiting for one job offer. Currently, job offers remain unanswered for up to several weeks.
Employers have no choice – they have to look for employees outside Poland. Fortunately, people from Ukraine, Belarus, Bangladesh and the Philippines willingly work in our country. Due to geographic proximity, linguistic similarity, and shared historical experiences, Polish employers most often hire Ukrainians.
Neighborly closeness
Ukraine is our neighbor. We have common historical experiences, including painful wounds that are not fully healed. Many Poles and Ukrainians have family relationships. Poles and Ukrainians can communicate without an interpreter. Linguistic similarity facilitates the establishment of private and professional relationships. After Poland joined the European Union in 2004, we became a model of political and market changes for Ukrainians. After a few years, it turned out that our labor market is attractive for Ukrainians.
People from Ukraine willingly work in the hotel industry, agriculture, construction, production and health care. Employees from Ukraine quickly acclimatize to our country, they try to work longer than six months. Poles and Ukrainians share similar values - family, honest work and attachment to their local community are of great importance.Small cultural differences are the advantage of employees from Ukraine. For years, Poland has been an advocate of Ukraine’s approach to European structures, which favors economic cooperation and the interest of Ukrainian citizens in working in the country on the Vistula.
The popularity of workers from Ukraine
Already over 2 million people from Ukraine work temporarily in Poland. Their number is constantly increasing. Already every second large Polish company employs workers from Ukraine, every five medium-sized company uses the services of a Ukrainian crew and every 10 small company has people from Ukraine in its staff. It is worth emphasizing that Ukrainians do not want to work in Poland permanently, they choose short-term work trips. Polish companies do not have much choice and must reach for people from other countries, because Poland lacks people willing to work in many industries.
- https://www.d3k.net.pl/noclegi-jak-z-bajki-czyli-czego-oczekuja-dzis-turysci/
- https://www.wybierz-dobrze.pl/jak-wyglada-idealny-plac-zabaw-dla-dzieci/
- https://www.iicd.pl/jak-wybrac-dom-dla-seniora/
The cheap worker myth
In Poland, there is a belief that workers from Ukraine are cheap labor and therefore are willingly employed by Polish employers. Reality is different from social imaginations. Employees from Ukraine earn between 2,500 and 3,000 zlotys. Employers often pay for their accommodation, travel to work or meals. The above benefits mean that employees from Ukraine spend about PLN 500 a month on living in Poland, which is much less than the average Pole. The rest of the money is saved or sent to their families in Ukraine.
For an employer, hiring Ukrainians is not a saving, but a necessity caused by staff shortages. Were it not for the terrible state of vocational education, economic emigration and the increasingly higher wage expectations of Poles, employers would not consider employing Ukrainians. Pursuant to the Labor Code, an employee who is a citizen of another country cannot receive a salary lower than the lowest wage in the country where he works. Illegal employment of a foreigner is punishable by law. The “Labor Code” protects the interests of foreign employees. It is incorrect to believe that employees from Ukraine spoil the Polish labor market because they agree to work for lower wages. It must be admitted that Poles accept workers from Ukraine more easily than colleagues from Asian countries.Cultural closeness has an impact on the acceptance of colleagues from Ukraine.
Learning Polish by Ukrainians
A large percentage of Ukrainians know Polish to a degree that allows communication at the workplace with the Polish crew, because someone from his family comes from Poland. In a situation where an employee from Ukraine has direct contact with the client, it will pay off for employers to invest in a Polish language course for the Ukrainian staff. Language schools have attractive offers of Polish language courses for companies employing foreigners. The price of individual Polish language learning is about PLN 50 per hour.
The employer may deduct such an expense from tax deductible costs. Employees from Ukraine usually take advantage of the opportunity to learn the Polish language, because many of them plan another six-month job trips to Poland, and the language skillsalthough at a basic level, it is a very big advantage when recruiting for work in the country on the Vistula.
It is easier for Polish entrepreneurs to hire an employee from Ukraine because they are sure that they are honest people who easily adapt to the working conditions in Poland. Their cooperation with Polish women usually proceeds without major conflicts, because both sides are aware that the work of the Ukrainians is temporary.
