How Many Ukrainian Refugees Are Already Learning Polish — Survey

52.8% of Ukrainians employed in Poland are already learning Polish in order to secure higher-skilled positions there in the future. 35% of respondents plan to begin studying the language in the near term, while 12.2% say that their native language is sufficient for them to maintain a decent standard of living in Poland. These figures were published by the analytics centre of the international employment agency Gremi Personal, which surveyed 1,440 Ukrainian citizens.

It is worth noting that since the beginning of this summer, Poland has had government programmes providing free Polish language courses for all refugees from Ukraine, funded by the Polish Labour Fund.

"The average salary even in manual occupations — which Ukrainians most commonly hold in Poland — amounts to 28–32 thousand hryvnias per month. That is roughly twice as much as in Ukraine. At the same time, Polish employers are also willing to bring Ukrainians on board for highly skilled roles, where that figure can grow considerably. The main barrier separating educated Ukrainians from quality employment outside Ukraine is foreign language proficiency" — says Anna Dzhabolda, Director of the Recruitment Department at the international employment agency Gremi Personal.

The expert adds that those Ukrainians who have taken Polish most seriously are precisely those who do not plan to return home for at least six months to a year. In addition to the prospect of better employment, they encounter situations every day where language skills matter in ordinary daily life. We previously reported on how many Ukrainians intend to return to their homeland in the near future.