Gazeta Wyborcza: Poles mistakenly view Ukrainian guest workers as “second-class”
Workers from Ukraine give Poland's economy a chance to develop, but the country mistakenly treats them as second-class. However, soon Ukrainian migrant workers may leave the labor market of the neighboring country, since other European countries are also interested in them.
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About it writes Gazeta Wyborcza, adding that Poles have negative attitudes towards immigrants, according to CBOS research. But if we are talking about Ukrainians, then the majority of respondents answered that they would agree to accept them.
“This sympathy is mutual. According to Ukrainian polls, Ukrainians give us the greatest sympathy and look at us the way we once looked at the Germans,” the publication writes.
Such sentiments are beneficial for Poland, since it needs Ukrainian workers more than ever. The unemployment rate has already fallen to 8,2%, 2,5 million Poles have left for other countries, employers are having trouble finding staff, and demographic data gives little reason for hope. At the same time, the publication writes that Warsaw is doing nothing to simplify foreigners’ access to the Polish labor market.
“The state has been just passively observing for many years. A systematic approach to immigrants from Ukraine has not emerged,” said Piotr Ostrovsky, co-chairman of the trade union of Ukrainians in Poland.
Obstacles to the employment of Ukrainians in Poland are created by bureaucracy, as well as unscrupulous employers and intermediary companies that often deceive workers. It is not uncommon for such intermediaries to ask for 50, 100 or 200 dollars to find a job in Poland, but they never find a job.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.