Poland admits that it needs Ukrainian migrant workers
A Ukrainian workforce is essential to ensure and sustain economic growth in Poland, as stated by the President of the National Bank of Poland, Adam Glapiński, DW reports.
As Glapiński noted, the ability of Poland to create the necessary conditions to attract labor migrants from Belarus and Ukraine is one of the most important issues for him.
According to him, in recent years Poland has keenly felt the lack of skilled human resources. During this period, there has been sustained economic growth and a reduction of unemployment in the country. In December last year, the unemployment rate in Poland was 6.6 percent, and GDP growth, as analysts estimated, reached 4.5 percent. However, such negative trends as an increasing ageing population and labor migration among young Polish citizens to the rich countries of Western Europe are problematic for the Polish labor market. Only 16 million people work in the country of 38 million people.
That is why, under such circumstances, the wave of a cheap labor force from Ukraine and Belarus significantly compensated for the staff shortage in the labor market of Poland. However, visa liberalization for Ukraine by the EU can lead to fewer Ukrainian labor migrants choosing Poland for work, the President of the National Bank fears.
Currently, between 1 and 1.5 million Ukrainians participate in the labor market of Poland, many of which work illegally. The Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers estimated two years ago that Poland needs at least 5 million additional workers to ensure sustained economic growth.