Ukrainian immigrants staying in Poland for a definite period of time during Poland’s EU membership

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the number of immigrants from Ukraine who came to Poland for a defiite time period in the years 2004–2017, as well as the occupations in which they engaged. The research hypothesis of the study is that the more job offers in Poland, the more Ukrainians came to Poland. It was verified by the following research questions: Which documents enable Ukrainian immigrants to come for a defiite period of time?; How many Ukrainians arrived legally in Poland in the years 2004–2017? What occupations were undertaken by the citizens of Ukraine staying in Poland for a definite period?; On what principles did they undertake employment in Poland?; What are the jobs that the Ukrainians are most likely to occupy? Analysis of the data revealed that the number of Ukrainian citizens coming to Poland for a defiite period of time in 2004–2016 was increasing. More than one third were students entering education at Polish universities. A majority of the citizens of Ukraine who came to Poland did so in search of work. A signifiant part of them had previously obtained work permits. The number of companies wishing to employ Ukrainians was increasing every year. Ukrainian citizens were usually employed as skilled workers or in elementary occupations. Those holding managerial or executive posts were in the minority. Only few Ukrainians practised the profession of a lawyer, nurse or midwife. The statistics provided by the Provincial Labour Offie in Warsaw confim the fact of Ukrainians taking up legal employment in agriculture, processing industry, construction, transport, warehousing and services. Almost half of the Ukrainians were employed under specific work contracts, far fewer under contracts for services, and only ten percent had a contract of employment. The second group of workers from Ukraine consisted of persons doing illicit work. Polish employers frequently hired Ukrainians without reporting it to the relevant institutions, because this way they did not have to cover social insurance costs, and the penalties for such practice are relatively low. A specific group of workers were students from Ukraine. More than half of them were working, chiefly as casual employees.