While millions of Ukrainians have crossed into Poland since the war began, the number of Ukrainian workers is declining, and Polish attitudes toward immigration are evolving.
According to a report from Personnel Service, a Polish labor market consultancy, the number of Ukrainians in Poland has decreased compared to previous years.
Official data from Poland’s Ministry of Internal Affairs shows that approximately 1.5 million Ukrainians currently reside in the country, with around 980,000 benefiting from temporary protection.
These figures include both long-term residents and refugees who arrived after February 24, 2022.
Border traffic between Poland and Ukraine also reflects changing migration patterns.
In 2024, Poland’s Border Guard recorded 8.7 million border crossings from Ukraine into Poland, a 3-percent decrease from the previous year.
Total border crossings between the two countries reached 17.2 million, down by nearly 900,000 year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Poland denied entry to 15,800 Ukrainian citizens, a 21-percent increase from 2023.
The war has had a profound impact on Poland’s labor market, where Ukrainians make up a significant portion of the foreign workforce.
By the end of 2024, Polish labor offices had received 2.87 million notifications from employers about hiring Ukrainian workers, covering approximately 1.2 million individuals.
However, only 453,000 of these workers continued to be insured under Poland’s social security system (ZUS).
Looking ahead, Poland may face a new wave of Ukrainian migration after the war ends.
Labor market expert Krzysztof Inglot, founder of Personnel Service, estimates that over 1 million Ukrainians could move to Poland in search of stability and employment opportunities.
The scale of postwar migration will depend on economic conditions in both Poland and Ukraine, as well as Ukraine’s reconstruction efforts.
"The future of labor migration will be shaped by both Ukraine’s rebuilding process and the competitiveness of the Polish job market," Inglot said.
"Many of those arriving after the war will need not only employment opportunities but also social and psychological support to help them integrate," he added.
He emphasized the importance of well-structured policies to assist Ukrainian migrants, including psychological support programs, effective integration strategies, and streamlined procedures for entering the labor market.
"Just as Poland provided urgent assistance at the start of the war, we must now prepare for long-term solutions that ensure both economic and social stability for migrants," Inglot said.
Despite their presence in the workforce, the share of Polish companies employing Ukrainians declined in 2024.
According to the Polish Labor Market Barometer, 43 percent of businesses hired Ukrainian workers, a drop of 6 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Large companies (those with more than 250 employees) were the most likely to employ Ukrainians, with 55 percent reporting Ukrainian hires. In contrast, 49 percent of medium-sized firms and 25 percent of small businesses employed Ukrainian workers.
At the end of last year, 787,400 Ukrainians were registered with ZUS, representing 66 percent of all foreign workers covered by Poland’s social security system.
While this number has increased by 28,000 compared to the previous year, it remains lower than pre-war levels, when Ukrainians accounted for 74 percent of all insured foreign workers.
The report also highlights changes in how Poles and Ukrainians perceive each other. While a majority of Ukrainians (70.3 percent) continue to express positive views of Poland and its citizens, this figure has dropped by 13 percentage points compared to the previous year.
Ukrainian women tend to have a more favorable opinion of Poland than men, with 77 percent of female respondents holding a positive view, compared to 62 percent of male respondents.
In Poland, skepticism toward Ukrainian immigration is growing. The percentage of Poles with a negative opinion of Ukrainians increased by 4 percentage points to 18 percent in 2024.
Meanwhile, 68 percent of Polish employees said they were not worried about losing their jobs to Ukrainian workers, a sentiment unchanged from the previous year.
However, 21 percent of respondents expressed concerns about job competition, with the highest levels of anxiety (32 percent) among young people aged 18 to 24.
(rt/gs)
Source: personnelservice.pl