Most labor migrants find jobs in Belarus in blue-collar occupations
Labor migration is on the decline
Official statistics show that most labor migrants find jobs in Belarus in blue-collar occupations. Last year, 5,490 foreigners did so (in 2016 – 9,914 people). As for qualified specialists, the difference was not as significant: 4,218 people in 2017 versus 4,841 a year earlier.
According to Deutsche Welle, among guest workers who arrived in Belarus for work last year, citizens of Ukraine lead (4,681 people), followed by representatives of China (4,580 people). Compared to 2016, 7,549 Chinese and 6,348 Ukrainians came to work in Belarus then.
According to economist Pavel Selvesyuk, the main reason Belarus is becoming unattractive for foreigners in terms of employment is the decline in income levels. “No matter what the authorities say about the stable situation and security in the country, attracting labor resources from abroad can be done primarily through decent wages,” the expert notes. “Since wages have not been growing recently, and in some sectors are even falling, interest in Belarus among migrants wanting to earn money is decreasing.”
The most telling is the reaction of Ukrainian citizens. Previously, looking for work in the neighboring country was convenient for Ukrainians due to the lack of a language barrier and the need for a visa. Instead, there was an opportunity to earn more money than at home.
The peak of the flow of labor migrants from Ukraine to Belarus came in 2014 – immediately after the start of hostilities in Donbas, which led to a deterioration of the economic situation. That year, almost 18,000 Ukrainians came to work in Belarus. Meanwhile, in 2013, about 7,000 people went from Ukraine to Belarus for the same purpose, and a year earlier – about three thousand.
As Larisa Abramova, who arrived in Brest with her daughter from the Donetsk region, said, at first she, like other refugees, was satisfied with any work. “At that time, the main thing was to have a roof over one’s head, but over time, the financial factor became important. As a result, over the past year or two, many of those we came with either returned to Ukraine or chose another country to live in,” she noted.
Larisa Abramova herself got a job as a nurse’s aide at one of the Brest hospitals, where women from border Ukrainian villages already worked. This practice, when residents of Volyn and Rivne regions went to work in Belarus, developed back in the mid-1990s. In particular, a couple of years ago, junior medical staff at the regional hospital in Brest consisted of Ukrainians, since among the local population this work was considered unskilled and low-paid.
“Not every nurse’s aide can earn at least 500 Belarusian rubles (about 200 euros equivalent), although they have to work one and a half shifts or overtime,” says Abramova. According to her, now even such vacancies are in demand among Belarusians themselves who are out of work.
In addition to medical institutions, Ukrainians previously actively found employment on Belarusian construction sites, but now the conditions have changed dramatically. For example, at the largest construction organization in Brest – Trust No. 8 – due to financial problems, the outflow of personnel over the past year alone amounted to one and a half thousand people.
There is demand for labor migrants in some agricultural enterprises, which are accustomed to relying on Ukrainian labor during the spring-autumn period. But even here the situation is still uncertain. As reported by the Committee on Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Brest Regional Executive Committee, since autumn last year, due to the lack of attractive offers, the website where information about employers ready to hire Ukrainian citizens was posted has stopped working.
Belarusians also go to work abroad
Experts cite another reason why working conditions in Belarus no longer attract foreigners. “The same Ukrainians, with the introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU, can go to work in neighboring Poland, where even low-skilled labor is paid from 500 euros and above,” explains Pavel Selvesyuk, stating that such income levels are now considered unattainable in many Belarusian regions.
This leads to the fact that Belarusians themselves are increasingly considering employment options abroad. In 2017, based only on officially registered agreements and contracts, 10,703 Belarusian citizens left to work abroad, although a year earlier this figure was 7,403 people.
According to Selvesyuk, the number does not look threatening, but it should be remembered that we are talking about highly qualified specialists, for whom there is demand in Belarus itself. At the same time, representatives of blue-collar occupations often find employment abroad at their own risk – without the necessary paperwork. Which official statistics, of course, do not take into account.