90% of Ukrainians in Poland Say They Are Satisfied with Their Jobs – Survey

17% of highly skilled Ukrainians in Poland have already found work in the field they worked in back in Ukraine, 50% say they are in the process of searching for such a job, and 33% responded that it is not possible.

60% of Ukrainians working in Poland in low-skilled jobs say they have been unable to find more qualified employment because they do not have a sufficient level of Polish. 13% admit they did not hold a good position in Ukraine either. 12% responded that their diploma is not recognized in Poland, and 15% believe that Poles give priority to their own citizens. These are the findings of the analytics center of the international recruitment agency Gremi Personal, which surveyed 1,350 Ukrainians who arrived in Poland after February 24 of last year.

50% say they are learning Polish, but find it difficult. 30% say they can already communicate in it, 10% of respondents said their native language is sufficient, and another 10% feel they have already mastered it.

Interestingly, 50% of respondents have not changed their place of work at all over the past year. 25% changed jobs once. 18% – twice, 8% – three times, and 4% more than three times.

At the same time, 90% of Ukrainians in Poland say they are satisfied with their jobs. 10% said the conditions do not suit them and they are already looking for employment elsewhere.

"For the last 10 years, Ukrainians in Poland were considered a labor force. However, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has changed this trend. Now it is possible to find highly skilled work in Poland as well. This is linked to the mass opening of Ukrainian companies in Poland last year. Businesses arriving from Ukraine are eager to hire Ukrainians. As a result, highly skilled professionals have a chance to take on good positions. And the numbers from our survey confirm this – 17% of Ukrainians have already succeeded in doing so" – says Anna Dżobolda, Head of the Recruitment Department

No one has exact figures, but Polish estimates put the number of Ukrainians living in Poland at around 2 million. Some 1.5 million of our citizens have received the PESEL identification number. According to data from the Social Insurance Institution ZUS, 739,000 Ukrainians are officially employed.

"Of course, there are many skilled professionals who were forced to work in low-skilled jobs due to the war. In the second half of last year, we received over 500 requests for highly skilled specialists. These came from logistics companies, restaurants, banks, construction firms, and even public services. During this period, we were approached to find project managers, sales specialists, marketing professionals, and HR experts. These are very positive changes." – the expert adds.