More than half of the companies will hire a specialist from Ukraine for more than a year. Even with English alone

Workers from Ukraine are very busy on the Polish labor market. Promoters want to offer employment for a long time. According to the Antal survey, 56% of them would like to accept a Ukrainian specialist for more than a year, and 8 out of 10 employers declare their willingness to work under an employment contract. The condition that must be met by specialists from the East is knowledge of English, which is indicated by 7 out of 10 employers. 6 out of 10 companies are looking for a Polish-speaking employee. As Antal experts point out, the challenge may be to keep English-speaking specialists in Poland, whose higher wages will tempt Western markets. 

The potential that employees from Ukraine can bring with them in the long term is appreciated primarily by sectors that have been facing staff shortages for a long time, including shortages of specialists and managers.  These include m.in IT, construction, transport and logistics.  We observe a high readiness among employers to employ Ukrainian specialized employees for a longer period of time and to offer them stable employment contracts. And also readiness to support in the field of language learning, integration with the company and finding oneself in a new and difficult situation.  For now, it is difficult to estimate how many refugees will join our labour market, because let us remember that we are dealing with humanitarian migration, not economic migration, but we see that workers are motivated. Among them there are many valuable specialists who are worth taking special care of and keeping them on the Polish market – says Artur Skiba, President of Antal.

Most employers would like specialists and managers from Ukraine to stay in their company for more than a year. 56% of companies want to offer them a contract for such a period. For 12 months, 16% of entrepreneurs would prefer to employ workers from the East, half a year prefers 15%, and three months or less 13%. At the same time, almost 8 out of 10 want to offer Ukrainian employees an employment contract, 11% a contract, and 10% a mandate contract or a specific task contract. 

English is more important than experience 

For 73% of Polish employers, knowledge of English is crucial for employing a specialist or manager from Ukraine. Companies approach the Polish language with greater understanding.  This skill is indicated as required by 59% of bosses.  Interestingly, knowledge of languages, especially English, is more important for employers than experience in the industry, which 58% of companies require.  Directional education and high motivation to work from Ukrainian specialists and managers are expected by 42% and 39% of employers, respectively. 

Knowledge of English gives you the freedom to get along with the team, especially in large cities, and it is to them that refugees are drawn. Unfortunately, however, for our employers, English is also enough in other markets. Despite the high wage growth in Poland, in industries such as IT, logistics or finance, the earnings of specialists still remain at a lower level than, for example, in Western Europe. Therefore, there is a high risk that the best employees from Ukraine will choose to work in another European country. Therefore, it is particularly important to create the best possible conditions for refugees, including support in learning our language, finding housing or childcare for Ukrainians coming to our country - says Artur Skiba. 

Industries count on specialists from Ukraine

According to the latest data from the Central Statistical Office, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 there were 137.4 thousand vacancies in Poland. This is almost 63% more than in the same period of 2020. At the same time, the highest vacancy rate  was recorded in the following sectors: information and communication, construction, scientific and technical activities, and transport and warehouse management. These are industries in which employers look particularly favorably on increasing the employment opportunities of employees from Ukraine. According to the Antal survey, already 75% of transport and logistics representatives hope that the influx of Ukrainians will increase the pool of employees in the long term and strengthen the industry labor market, this is the opinion of 61% of companies from the IT and telecommunications sector and 57% dealing with real estate and construction. The specialist sector of pharmacy and medical equipment is also of a similar opinion, where more than half (54%) are looking for positive changes in the pool of available employees due to the growing prospects of employing Ukrainians. The BPO/SSC, FMCG and industrial production industries are also definitely a plus. 

About the study

On 21-23 March this year, Antal Market Research  conducted a survey on a group of 276 employers using the CAWI method. 25% of respondents represented companies with up to 50 employees, 31% of companies with between 51 and 250 employees, 13% of companies with between 251 and 500 employees and 31% of companies with more than 500 employees.

The report is available here: https://antal.pl/wiedza/raport/mozliwosci-zatrudnienia-pracownikow-z-ukrainy