Employees from the East – help with the deficit of employees in Poland. For some time now, a certain trend has been noticed in Poland, the demand for skilled workers and lower-level workers performing manual work is growing on the labor market. This is largely due to the economic emigration of Poles to Western countries. Fortunately, however, our country may still develop economically thanks to workers from the East, for whom Poland is as attractive as for Poles, Western countries such as Germany, the Netherlands or Italy.
Employees from Ukraine they are similar to us culturally and morally, additionally they are highly motivated to work, which makes them a great asset in many companies. Many companies acting as intermediaries in the employment of workers from the East meet the expectations of Polish enterprises and offer their assistance in employing foreigners .
Each year, an increase in registered employees from the east in poviat labor offices can be noted. This means that, first of all, they ARE really present on the labor market, and secondly, they want to work in our country. Registration is associated with the issuance of a temporary or permanent residence card. Ukraine is the leader among eastern workers, the difficult political situation and the current armed conflict, forcing the representatives of this country to emigrate for work, often leaving their families in their native country.
It is this aspect that is the greatest motivation of employees from the East, they ARE here not to arrange a Life for themselves, but to financially support their families and loved ones. They do not complain about working conditions. They work legally for 6 months and return to their paradise for the next 6 months, to return to work in Poland after this period, many of them would like to settle with us permanently, take their families and provide them with better living.
Due to the EU law regulating the emigration of people from outside the community, it is impossible. Therefore, workers forced to earn as much as possible in order to be able to support themselves for the next 6 months in their home country, work persistently, taking overtime, not taking sick leaves and the like. On the part of the employer, these are perfect employees. However, for Polish workers, they are dangerous competition,firstly, they lower the wage rates, because the lowest domestic wage is an attractive salary for them, in addition, they work above the norm of 8 hours a day at their own request, because they have nothing but work here, they prefer not to waste time, because for them it is literally money. This makes them a highly valued asset for every company: motivated, willing to learn, to work overtime, they rarely get sick. However, workers from the East are not only the lowest-level employees, there is no shortage of those employed in specialist positions, they want to develop, learn languages and have a willingness and enthusiasm for work, the lack of which is often accused of our compatriots.
Employment agencies are mushrooming and still have their hands full. They deal with everything from determining the employer’s needs to attracting appropriate employees, additionally dealing with all documentation related to residence and work permits. This is a great help for entrepreneurs who want to hire personnel of eastern origin. They deal with comprehensive HR services, which also includes ensuring compliance of all processes with Polish law.
However, the life of workers from the East through their eyes is not as colorful as it might seem, they often leave their wives, husbands and children in their home country with a heavy heart. They struggle every day with the longing for family and homeland, here they are strangers, and our society often does not help them find themselves in the new reality, so they try to stay together in hermetically closed groups. They usually work in large production companies, on production lines, i.e. physically, they live in barracks or rooms for several people, where there is no room for privacy. The only refuge is your own bed separated by bedside tables. But they don’t complain, they know what they’re here for and they believe that at last a day will come in their country when they will not have to leave everything to be able to provide for their family.
A few years ago, no one would have thought that our country would become such an idyll for workers from the east, as for our countrymen there were islands or western countries. Everything begins to resemble our Polish labor migration to Germany, and unless we previously understood the irritation of citizens of other cities to the flood of Polish workers, today we approach employees from the east with the same skeptical approach, and employers who use their services often lose their reputation, therefore they rarely admit the actual number of employees. However, it is enough to think that business is business and there is enough work for everyone, you only need to want to work, and then your nationality does not matter.