More and more Polish employers plan to hire Ukrainians
As Polskie Radio notes, Ukrainians are most often hired in Poland. The average Ukrainian worker spends about 5 months in Poland, then returns home to come again after some time.
In 2015, Polish employers submitted 782 thousand declarations of intent to hire Ukrainians – twice as many as the year before. According to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, in the first quarter of 2016, Polish employers plan to hire 318 thousand Ukrainians – 51% more than in the same period last year.
Polish farmers also lack seasonal workers from Ukraine. Thus, in Lower Silesia – a Polish region accustomed to hiring Ukrainians for seasonal work – there is concern about the shortage of labor. Experts blame the huge queues and bureaucracy at Polish consular offices.
Yaroslav Ponurko, who is engaged in passenger transportation between Poland and Ukraine, says: "Suddenly there are few passengers, although all Polish consulates in Ukraine are simply besieged. People wait for weeks for their turn to submit documents. Sometimes the validity of the job invitation expires before a visa is obtained."
In 2015, farmers in Lower Silesia submitted 73 thousand declarations of intent to hire foreigners, the vast majority of whom were Ukrainian citizens. In the first quarter of this year, 30 thousand such declarations have already been submitted.
At the same time, as Polskie Radio notes, the unemployment rate in Poland continues to decline, reaching 10% in March 2016. This is the lowest unemployment rate in the last 25 years. According to the Polish Central Statistical Office, in March 2015 the unemployment rate stood at 11.7%, meaning that over the year unemployment fell by 1.7%. At the end of March 2016, 1,600.5 thousand people were registered in Polish employment centers – 52.2 thousand fewer than in February.
"March should be the last month in 2016 when the unemployment rate is 10%. Then unemployment will only decline. The latest data confirm optimistic forecasts for improving the situation on the Polish labor market. In the spring and summer periods there is an increase in activity on the labor market, so we expect a further decrease in the unemployment rate," notes Work Service expert Krzysztof Inglot.