Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Poland has become the first land of refuge in Europe for several million Ukrainian refugees. A labor force which falls at peak to compensate for the unemployment in the country. Extract from the magazine “We, the Europeans” of February 16, 2023.
Several million Ukrainians have found refuge in Poland since the beginning of the Russian invasion at the end of February 2022. This host country saw it as a boon to meet the need for labor, while its unemployment rate is estimated at 3%.
With 3,400 stores and 80,000 employees, the Biedronka supermarket chain is Poland’s largest employer. The company is used to calling on Ukrainians: today they represent almost 3% of the group’s employees. Since the 1990s, Ukraine has been the country’s natural labor pool. “We have a long history in hiring Ukrainian people since 2006explains Karolina Blonska, Director of Development at Biedronka. Our languages are similar, our culture is similar, our food is similar, so I think these people feel good here.”
“There has been a significant increase in hiring Ukrainians since 2016, after the start of the war, and then in 2019, when we put in place special procedures to recruit themdetails the manager. Obviously, the number of our Ukrainian employees increased sharply in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. The growth of Ukrainian workers in 2022 amounted to 65%.“
For the Poles as for the Ukrainians, “it’s a win/win relationship”
This wave of migration has benefited Poland in the sector of low-skilled jobs, but also to the overall economy of the country. “At this point, it is estimated that over the past year about 20,000 companies in Poland have been founded by Ukrainians. Many of these people who came already had fairly high skills in the labor market“, analyzes Maria Piechowska, migration expert.
Something to satisfy everyone. “It’s a way for them to earn a living, to settle down, which is good for them and for Poland, so it’s a win/win relationship“, she continues. An ease of integration that the expert explains as follows: “Ukrainian refugees are very adaptable refugees, they integrate very quickly and Poland as a state does not have to make a lot of integration efforts.“
Excerpt from “Poland, one year later”, broadcast in “We, the Europeans” on February 16, 2023.
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