Poland faces seasonal labor shortage as Ukrainians seek better jobs
Polish employers face increasing difficulty in recruiting workers for seasonal jobs, despite the potential to earn 5,000 to 9,000 zlotys ($1,270 to $2,300) during the summer in Poland, the Migration Platform EWL reported.
Traditionally, Ukrainian citizens came to Poland for
seasonal work in the summer. However, they are now choosing Western European
countries due to higher salaries and more open labor markets following Russia’s
full-scale invasion.
Poland’s Central Statistical Office released data on the
average salary across the country for the first quarter of 2024, which stood at
8,147.38 zlotys ($2,000), reflecting a 14.4% increase compared to the previous
year.
“You can now earn up to 9,000 zlotys ($2,300) in seasonal
jobs,” said Mariana Semenyuk, Recruitment Director at the EWL.
“This typically involves short-term work in the agricultural
sector, where wages are tied to working hours and productivity. Such work is
suitable for people accustomed to physical labor. It is mostly chosen by
Ukrainians who live in rural areas and have their own farms.”
Seasonal work can also include jobs in construction or
logistics warehouses for clothing packaging, she said. With the
approaching sales season, the logistics industry is seeing a significant
increase in vacancies.
Polish employers offer jobs in manufacturing, the automotive
industry, and the service sector, all of which experience a rise in vacancies
during the summer season. However, there is a shortage of workers across these
sectors. Employers in the service and hospitality industry are particularly
struggling to find workers for salaries of 6,000 zlotys net ($1,530), while the
transportation sector faces a significant shortage of drivers, estimated to be
between 150,000 to 300,000.
“Poland has been experiencing such a serious labor shortage
during the summer season for the second year in a row,” Semenyuk said.
“This is due to the fact that Ukrainians, who traditionally
came to Poland for seasonal work, can now earn two to three times more in
Germany, the Netherlands, or other Western European countries.”
There were 50,500 vacancies in Poland as of March. The
annual Occupational
Barometer survey indicates a labor shortage in 27 professions this
year, including trade, industry, healthcare, and social assistance. Even law
enforcement agencies and schools are experiencing a shortage of personnel.
Poland’s unemployment rate remains consistently low at 2.9%, the second lowest
in the EU, the EU’s statistical office Eurostat said. The data from Poland’s
Family Ministry, which has a different calculation methodology, the
unemployment rate is 5.1%.
To address the labor shortage, Poland is recruiting workers
from Asia and Latin America. While Ukrainians remain the largest group of
registered foreign citizens in Poland’s Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), the
proportion of workers from Asia and Latin America is steadily increasing.
The study “Migration 2.0. Poland in the Global Fight for Talent from Asia
and Latin America,” conducted by the EWL Foundation in collaboration
with the Center for East European Studies at the Warsaw University, said that
young men aged 18 to 35 from Asian and Latin American countries are now filling
vacancies that were previously occupied by Ukrainian citizens. Over the past
two years, the number of work permits issued to Asians and Latin Americans in
Poland has almost quadrupled.
About 4.3 million Ukrainians are currently living in EU
countries, including about 860,000 adult men, Eurostat database estimates
suggest. Of these, Poland has granted temporary protection status to 950,000
Ukrainians, the second highest number after Germany.
Polish protesters began to restrict traffic on the border
with Ukraine on Feb. 20. Trucks were blocked at the Medyka-Shehyni, Dołhobyczów-Uhryniv, Zosin-Ustyluh, Korczowa-Krakivets,
Hrebenne-Rava-Ruska, and Dorohusk-Yahodyn checkpoints.
Farmers put forward numerous demands, including abandoning
duty-free trade with Ukraine and fully closing the Ukrainian-Polish border for
trucks.
Polish farmers concluded their blockade on April 29, but the Ukrainian economy suffered significant losses.
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