More than two weeks after the start of the war in Ukraine, of the nearly 2 million Ukrainian exiles who have taken refuge in Poland, many are working hard to find a job. An abundant workforce which nevertheless brings its share of uncertainties. Report.
There, in Ukraine, she led a quiet life as an employee in her nail salon. She is now destitute, “looking for any job, as long as it will be enough to meet the needs of my two children”. In recent days, Kateryna Gavrylova has taken refuge in neighboring Poland, fleeing a war that she and millions of Ukrainians did not want. Previously, she had never set foot abroad. His city, Mykolaiv, in the south of the country, is today under the bombs. On February 24, everything changed when Vladimir Putin unilaterally decided to invade his country to “demilitarize” it.
On this Sunday morning, this 36-year-old woman has just attended an information session at the Centrum Wielokulturowe (Multicultural Center in Warsaw), in the Polish capital. Here, in this community center located in the Praga-Północ district, on the east bank of the Vistula, there are dozens of exiles, like Kateryna, filing through to find out about job opportunities in Warsaw.
To learn more about the war in Ukraine
“Will our children under 18 be able to work too? », « What steps should I take to obtain my resident number? », « What should I do to regularize my status? ”… At the back of a room on the ground floor, a volunteer counselor tries to allay the concerns of Ukrainian women looking for opportunities. Because, for many of them, it is the unknown that dominates.
Kateryna Gavrylova, for example, does not know when she will return to Ukraine. Or when she will see her husband again, who had to lend a hand to the Ukrainian army, like all men aged 18 to 60 forced to stay in the country. “My plan is to wait until the end of the month, hoping that this conflict does not drag on,” she explains, specifying that she is staying with her Ukrainian nephew, in Warsaw, who works in the construction sector. “We may come back soon, that’s why I won’t send my youngest boy to the Polish school. As for my eldest son, all his documents are at the Ukrainian university, otherwise we cannot apply to the Polish university. But for now, my priority is to find work in a warehouse or as a cleaner, whatever. »
A little further, Svitlana Verbora, purple hair and CV in hand, also intends to find a semblance of “normal life”. Originally from the kyiv region, attacked by the Russian army, this 54-year-old woman found refuge in Poland on March 10, taking the train to the border. Her 33-year-old daughter accompanied her on this exodus route. “Perhaps my daughter will choose to settle in another country further west,” she supposes. “But I’m staying here, in Poland: my husband is still in Ukraine, and I don’t want to go too far, I’m worried about him. He is retired, I need to earn money, both for me and for him. »
In her previous life, the one that vanished three weeks ago, Svitlana Verbora worked as an independent financial advisor. “I did higher education — a technical degree and another in finance and economics — so I hope my skills will be useful here in Poland. But in any case, I am ready to work in any sector. And I don’t intend to receive allowances here, I don’t want to live on the hooks of the Poles, ”says the Ukrainian.
Despite her forced uprooting, she says she is “full of ambition” for the future: “I won’t wait until the end of the war to make myself useful. We Ukrainians must continue to work and eventually get the country back on its feet. Even when the war stops, it will take a few years for our economy to recover and reach pre-war levels. That’s why it’s better that I stay in Warsaw for the next six months, at least, I can enjoy a salary while continuing to help as a volunteer. »
An uncertain workforce
Conscription requires, the overwhelming majority of the 3 million refugees who fled Ukraine are women and children. More than half of which crossed into Poland. And it’s hardly set foot on Polish soil that many Ukrainian women are busy finding a job.
“Many are ready to take any available job. The labor market is open in Poland, there are many choices,” says Małgorzata Romanowska, a volunteer at Centrum Wielokulturowe. “People who come to us often need information and are worried about their legal situation, so it is very important to reassure them,” she says, as the Polish government has just adopted legislation allowing Ukrainian refugees to legalize their stay for at least 18 months. “Here, we offer legal and professional advice, in addition to offering language courses. The advantage of Ukrainian and Polish is that they are two very close Slavic languages. To this linguistic proximity is added the comfort, for many refugees, of relying on a large diaspora: before the invasion, the number of Ukrainians living in Poland was estimated at more than 1 million.
In a Poland already hit by a labor shortage, this influx of Ukrainian women is a boon for some employers. On Wednesday, the town hall of Warsaw also announced the establishment of an “employment center”, allowing Ukrainian refugees to register and seek work. There would be more than 600,000 jobs to be filled in this Central European country, according to a recent analysis by the company Element. And it is in the industrial production sector that there would be the most vacancies.
However, this new workforce, essentially female, also brings its share of uncertainties. Because no one knows how long the hostilities will last, and when these exiles will return to the fold. It must be said that before the conflict, the Polish economy could count on an imposing pool of Ukrainian workers, made up of two-thirds of men. But they would be no less than 80,000 to have gone to the front, thus returning to their native country.
“Ukrainian workers who usually come for two or three months will not come because they have left to fight,” summarizes Hanna Cichy, analyst for the think tank Polityka Insight. “Women are likely to fill shortages in retail, services, health or education. But the men who worked in construction, industry or especially transport – when a third of Ukrainians in Poland were employed there – will not be replaced, because this requires being away from home for several weeks in a row, or to have certain skills in the field of construction. »
The retail trade, in particular, will certainly be able to benefit from the arrival of these Ukrainians. But their integration into social structures will not be an easy task, underlines the economist. “In the longer term, we could be looking at a 5-8% increase in population in a few months [la Pologne comptant près de 38 millions de personnes]. Probably no country is suited to absorb such a large number of people and continue to provide all the necessary social services, such as education or housing. »
New job, new life
In Wola Bykowska, Pawel Jamro expresses cautious optimism. “It won’t be easy: will the labor market absorb this number of people coming to Poland? However, I think that this war will end quickly, and that part of the population will return to rebuild their country, ”predicts the director of the transport sector of Urban Recruitment.
In this village in central Poland, its employment agency has already enabled dozens of Ukrainian women to find work: in the surrounding area, several warehouses and logistics centers have opened their doors to them. “Before, the factories preferred men, but since then they have no problem hiring women,” says Pawel Jamro. The warehouses have also reorganized to give them work and the employers are very understanding. Some even give furniture to their new employees to equip their accommodation. »
In one of the buildings in Wola Bykowska where newly arrived refugees are housed at low cost, there is 36-year-old Yulia Kyrychenko. This former train station employee fled Ukraine with her two children, Bogdan and Nikita. And is about to start a new life as a worker in a packing center, a five-minute walk away. “I’ve already filled out all the paperwork, I’ll start work in four days,” explains Yulia. “We are going to have to tighten our belts, I hope the salary will be enough, we also have a dog to feed. I already have a bank account established here, the children will go to school, I feel ready. But eventually, I hope to return home, to Ukraine, especially since my husband is still there…”
His other concern: the language barrier. “I try to learn on the Internet. For now, I can count to ten in Polish, it’s required for work! »