Men in Short Supply

Over the past two weeks, the trend of declining numbers of Ukrainian men on the Polish labour market has accelerated. Last week, Gremi Personal placed 589 people in employment — 416 women and only 173 men.

In the April survey by Poland's Central Statistical Office, every third manufacturing company noted that a shortage of skilled workers was hampering its operations, and in construction and transport that figure reached as high as 40%.

In the coming weeks, the labour shortage will deepen further. Companies will feel the absence not only of approximately 80,000–100,000 Ukrainians who left to defend their country after the outbreak of war, but also of hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers from Ukraine who will not be coming to Poland this year.

– Most of the men who left Ukraine before 24 February have already found jobs. Others, taking advantage of the current market conditions, are being more selective in choosing where to work. Pay rates remain at pre-war levels, but that too may change when the season begins — wages will certainly rise in sectors where employers need physically strong men. They will be able to count on higher rates, – emphasises Anna Dżobolda.

In March and April, there were more unemployed Ukrainian men in Poland. This was linked to the fact that, as a result of sanctions against Russia, some Polish companies that had previously cooperated with Russian businesses were forced to scale back their operations or seek new partners and markets. These changes led to layoffs at those enterprises — mainly of Ukrainian men, who made up, for example, the lion's share of the workforce at metallurgical and heavy industrial plants. However, the laid-off Ukrainians found new jobs very quickly.

Although some vacancies can be filled by hiring Ukrainian refugee women (many companies are trying to adapt positions previously held by men to suit female employees), this is not always possible.