43% of Ukrainians in Poland Say It's Hard to Decide on Plans to Return to Ukraine

43% of Ukrainians in Poland say it's hard to decide on their plans to return to Ukraine. 19% said they plan to stay in Poland. 15% will not return within the next 5 years, 13% will return within six months, and 10% — within a year.

These findings were published by the analytical centre of the international recruitment agency Gremi Personal. The survey was conducted via online questionnaire between December 2023 and March 2024, with 1,150 Ukrainians residing in Poland taking part.

A similar study was carried out by the agency in April of the previous year. At that time, 36% of Ukrainians planned to stay in Poland, 7% intended to move from Poland to another country, and 55% planned to return to Ukraine. 82% of Ukrainians who planned to return said they would come back to Ukraine after the victory.

"Our research shows that the number of those who unequivocally planned to stay in Poland has decreased by 17% compared to last year. This is a huge figure given the number of Ukrainians living in Poland. The good news for Ukraine lies in the hope of a large number of people returning. However, the question of motivating people to return to their homeland is a challenging task for the Ukrainian government — and the most work needs to be done with those who are still undecided" — says Yevhen Kirichenko, founder of the international recruitment agency Gremi Personal.

The analytical centre also asked Ukrainians how long they have been living in Poland. 36% arrived in Poland less than a year ago, 25% have been in Poland for 2 years. 15% — between one and two years. 10% said approximately 3 years. And 7% each accounted for 4 and 5 years.

Analysts draw attention to the 25% of Ukrainians who came to Poland around 2 years ago. According to their assumption, this figure reflects the number of refugees who left Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale war. The rest are people who come to Poland to work.

What was the key motivation that prompted them to come to Poland? That was another question in the survey.

30% said they are attracted by the level of wages, 27% feel unsafe in Ukraine, 24% declined to answer the question, 10% said they were persuaded by friends, and 9% — wish to reunite with family.