In Poland, they are not happy about the Ukrainian visa-free regime - they are afraid that cheap labor will rush further west from them
In the first five months of 2017, the number of work permits issued to Ukrainian citizens increased significantly in Poland. 773 thousand such papers were issued, according to data from the Ministry of Family, Labor and Public Policy. This is 50% more than in the same period last year.
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About it reports the publication Rzeczpospolita.
The publication writes that these figures confirm what recruiting agencies see every day, namely the growing demand for labor from abroad in Poland, in particular in the field of seasonal work.
“Employers in the agricultural sector, horticulture or the food industry have reached their limit because they cannot find enough Polish workers for this season. The only salvation remains Ukrainians,” said Work Service group representative Krzysztof Inglot, whose company searches for workers in Ukraine for Polish companies.
Director of the employment company Otto Work Force Tomasz Dudek adds that today the demand for Ukrainian workers is so high that employers lower their requirements. This trend is especially noticeable in Southern Silesia, in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, in particular in the vicinity of Warsaw, where the shortage of personnel is acute.
“It’s increasingly common to hear from employers that the situation is so dramatic that they are ready to accept anyone who wants to work, even if he has no experience or doesn’t know a word of Polish,” says Dudek.
However, it is becoming more difficult to find workers from Ukraine. The publication Rzeczpospolita writes that some Ukrainians are already looking at the possibility of finding more income in Western Europe. From June 11, the EU abolished the visa regime for Ukrainian citizens, allowing them to stay in the countries of the association for 90 days. This, however, only applies to tourist trips and does not allow you to legally work in the EU. But in Poland, few people believe in the severity of this condition.
According to Krzysztof Inglot, the visa-free regime is a test before opening the doors to migrant workers from Ukraine. In his opinion, the EU will soon open its labor market to Ukrainians. Representatives of recruiting companies are increasingly saying that Poland needs a more consistent and long-term immigration policy that would help keep Ukrainians in the country.
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