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Who comes to Poland seeking work?

By Liz Fekete

1 December 1996

According to a feature in the Warsaw Voice, the economic situation in Poland is such that Poles no longer seek to migrate to the West for work but foreigners are coming to Poland in search of jobs.

The National Labour Office (KUP) puts the Warsaw Voice's findings into perspective, suggesting that most foreigners work for foreign companies and private Polish companies.

Statistics on legal and illegal workers

Statistics from the KUP indicate that 10000-11000 work permits are issued to foreigners each year, with the largest number of legal workers emanating from the Ukraine. The numbers for other CIS states are slightly lower, but higher than for Westerners. There is much argument about the number of illegal workers in Poland, with the State Labour Inspectorate putting the figure at 200000, mostly Ukrainians, Russians and Belarussians.

Sectors of employment

The new workers include:

managers from western Europe and North America (35 per cent of all successful work permit applicants);
language teachers seeking employment in the fast-growing private education sector;
labourers and vendors from the CIS, who enter the country as tourists and then find jobs in construction and agriculture. Ironically, they often work for Poles who themselves have worked illegally abroad.

Labour protectionism

Not all sections of society applaud the introduction of foreign workers. For instance, when Lódz provincial labour office sought to hire nine Ukrainian seamstresses, the local Solidarity branch called the project a 'scandal' saying that the Ukrainian seamstresses would spoil the job market as they earn three times less than Polish seamstresses did.

Warsaw Voice 30.6.96

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