According to report conducted by the CEED Institute, almost 1,7 million Poles lived abroad in 2012. It is over 1,2 million more than before the accession to the EU. The number was systematically growing in the following years, however, not in such a quick pace – it amounted to 1,9 million in 2013. In the group of ten new countries in the EU, Poland is on the second place after Romania in respect of emigrants.
What are the reasons of departure from the country? 74 per cent of emigrants claim that the main reason of their departure is not the lack of work in Poland but definitely too low salaries – on average, the Poles earn four times more abroad, for instance, in Germany or Great Britain in comparison to Poland – says doctor Agnieszka Springer, manager of the management specialization in Poznań WSB School of Banking. – These disproportions are different in case of industry, traineeship or qualification. For instance, a welder in Poland may count on 3 thousand zlotys, whereas in Germany – on 8 thousand zlotys. The difference is even more noticeable in case of nurses because a beginner nurse earns ca. 2 thousand zlotys in Poland and 8-9 thousand zlotys in Germany or Great Britain.
According to survey, over 80 per cent of people working on emigration in the EU are pleased with their occupational situation and they are not going to come back to the country. Over 90 per cent of them point out a considerable improvement in their financial situation.
It is assumed that younger people, that is not older than 35 having higher education and knowledge of a foreign language, more often decide to emigrate. They feel much safer while leaving abroad. These are people who have not started a family yet but they are planning to do it in the future. Therefore, their commitments are not strong enough in order to keep them in Poland – points out doctor Agnieszka Springer.
As Springer emphasizes, high income and possibility of performing any job are the main reasons for which most leaving people decide to work below their qualifications. The Poles mainly find an employment abroad in such industries as construction and gastronomy. However, it is clear that more and more qualified experts decide on emigration, for instance, engineers, computer programmers or doctors.
Due to increasing emigration, more and more employees from East are coming to Poland – 90 per cent of them are Ukrainians. In spite of the fact that there is a double-figure unemployment in some regions of the country, it is really difficult to find employees in case of seasonal works – says doctor Agnieszka Springer. – First and foremost, these problems are related to construction, agriculture and processing. Therefore, the employment is pursued by Ukrainians who eagerly decide on working in Poland due to higher income as well as work conditions which are better in comparison to their country.
According to expert, the increasing emigration is not a threat for Polish employees, especially that employees from East often find employment at less attractive jobs due to low income and thus they are filling the gap which is noticeable on the labor market. An employer has to comply with regulations of the Labor Code while hiring an employee legally, no matter if they hire a person from Poland or Ukraine. The greater risk constitutes the emigration of Polish experts. The Polish society decided to invest in the education of this group and certainly we will not be able to replace it so easily by the employees from Ukraine or Belarus – says Springer.
According to ranking prepared by the CEED Institute concerning the attractiveness of migration, Poland is on the fourth place on the basis of social and economic criteria among the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe – right after Czech Republic, Slovakia and Estonia.