Andrzej Korkus, CEO of EWL employment agency, confirms that the decrease in the number of workers from Ukraine has not been felt so far, as many plants employing foreigners have stopped production due to the epidemic. In addition, Ukrainians who previously worked in industries blocked by the coronavirus are now looking for new jobs.
‘Quarantine has had a severe impact on the hotel and restaurant industry, where the share of foreign workers was up to 25 percent. Some of them have lost their jobs and returned to Ukraine, and some have found new offers in Poland, especially in the food industry, logistics or food trade’, explains the head of EWL.
According to Korkus, foreigners proved to be valuable support for many companies, replacing Polish employees who went on welfare benefits. Employment agencies predict that with the unfreezing of the economy the demand for workers from Ukraine will start to grow again. It will be difficult to find new economic migrants (the coronavirus has blocked train and bus transport in Ukraine), so it is even more important to keep those Ukrainians already working in Poland. This will be facilitated by a change in regulations introduced as part of the anti-crisis shield 2.0, which provides for the extension of legal residence of people staying in Poland on the basis of Schengen visas or visa-free travel. This will complement the provisions of the anti-Crisis shield 1.0, which introduced the possibility of automatic extensions of visas and work permits expiring during the pandemic, including seasonal work and work on the basis of declarations.
‘According to our study, more than 30 percent of Ukrainian workers are in Poland on the basis of visa-free travel’, reminds Andrzej Korkus.
Source: Rzeczpospolita
