The coronavirus pandemic has not had a major impact on the employment of foreigners in nearly half of the districts, and in more than 40 percent, the demand for foreign workers has even increased, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Family and Social Policy among District Labour Offices. In the vast majority of cases, the offices agree: foreigners have a positive impact on the labor market in Poland.
The Ministry of Family and Social Policy asked 332 District Labour Offices about the impact of the employment of foreigners on local labour markets. Offices from 361 counties participated in the survey. These were conducted in October and November.
The research shows that foreigners have a positive impact on the labour market in Poland. This is stated by 70% of the respondents. This is a much better result than in 2016 when 27.5 per cent of respondents gave this answer. However, such reception of foreigners does not guarantee an increase in their participation in the labour market in the following years.
The survey shows that the employment of foreigners is mainly due to the lack of Polish candidates for the offered jobs (78. 4% of the surveyed offices completely or rather agree with this statement).
Importantly, the employment of foreigners has no impact on the liquidation of jobs of Poles (74.8%). It also does not affect the reduction of wages (72 per cent). In almost 60 per cent of the districts, there was no increase in the number of work contracts and commissioned work due to the employment of foreigners. In the remaining offices, it occurs rather to a small or medium degree (35.5 per cent). Foreigners working in Poland are easily integrated with society (89.8%).