Untapped potential on the Polish labor market

By 2024, almost a million of them have been registered in Ukraine. Until the day of the Russian invasion, approximately 10,000 were in the European Union. Few people living in Poland work, and the main barrier to their professional activation in our country are stereotypes. War veterans from Ukraine, as we are talking about them, are a group of people who not only went through the trauma of an armed conflict. These are usually experienced professionals, often with unique skills, who can be a valuable asset on the Polish labor market. Almost everyone needs help reintegrating into society.

What do we know about them for sure? Most of them had jobs in Ukraine until the outbreak of the war. According to a survey conducted by the International Organization for Migration, 77% of refugee women and 76% of male refugees were employed until their forced emigration. Among them are people with experience in professions that have been sought after on the Polish labor market for years, such as IT specialists. Many of them worked for companies from abroad, including from Poland, during peacetime. Despite the shortage of talents in Poland and all the advantages of these candidates, their employment still does not reach the level we would expect. In October 2023, we recorded a significant decline, caused by the departure of employees from Ukraine to other EU countries.

• I consider the lack of knowledge about them to be the most important reasons for the insufficient employment of veterans. Stereotypes and lack of recognition of their competences prevail among Polish employers. Many believe conventional wisdom that has no basis in our data. Because of this, they do not even try to use the skills that such candidates have. And I have found many times that their professional experience, motivation and ability to work in difficult conditions are invaluable. These are advantages that can be used in many positions in almost every industry – says Agnieszka Kolanowska, General Manager of the Smart Solutions HR employment agency located in Katowice.

What stereotypes are we talking about?

1. Language barrier

At the beginning of 2024, the Katowice agency started an anonymous survey among employers employing Ukrainian citizens and candidates with veteran status. (For the purposes of the study, all persons who participated in combat operations for a period of not less than 90 days were considered such). The first results contradict many stereotypes.

• For 10 years, the most frequently cited reason for not employing Ukrainian citizens has been cultural and language barriers. If this were a significant obstacle, we would not have almost a million employed Ukrainian citizens in Poland. The reality is that the similarity of Polish to Ukrainian significantly shortens the learning period and allows refugees to learn it after taking up employment. On the one hand, just one year of learning Polish usually gives Ukrainians the ability to communicate fluently in our language. On the other hand, most simple and correct statements in Ukrainian are understandable to Polish-speaking people – argues the Smart Solutions HR expert.

1. Mental stability

It is easy to understand employers’ concerns that war-experienced candidates may require psychological support or that their trauma may affect their effectiveness at work. When hiring veterans, their experiences should certainly be taken into account in everyday communication. Co-workers should know how to properly communicate with people with severe combat experience. However, therapeutic assistance is not the employer’s obligation, but the state’s obligation. And every citizen of Ukraine legally employed in Poland has the right to free health care, including psychological care. It is also worth paying attention to the real scale of the problem – out of almost one million veterans from the Unified State Register of War Veterans, by August 16, 2023, 6,348 soldiers applied for psychological help. That’s less than 0.7%.

• I am convinced that educating Polish employers about the specifics of veterans’ experiences and providing therapeutic assistance to veterans can reduce these concerns. Since the outbreak of the war, veterans, in addition to adaptation difficulties related to language and cultural barriers, have encountered obstacles due to psychological burdens. It is enough to adapt some of the forms of remote psychological assistance developed in Ukraine to facilitate their integration in the new work environment. And it is certainly much easier to provide it in Poland than in a country at war – adds Kolanowska.

1. Education and qualifications

Many veterans, despite their professional qualifications, could not and cannot find a job in Poland. They encounter obstacles such as the lack of jobs in their fields and the need to document their qualifications. While the latter can be dealt with using competency tests, employment below the level of qualifications is still a common problem for professionally active Ukrainian citizens, not only veterans. However, practice shows that both their motivation to work, and its quality are most often assessed very highly.

• This is proven not only by the high ratings for the quality of their work in our study. Another hard proof of high adaptation potential is the 45% longer average working time of a veteran from Ukraine on each project covered by our study – emphasizes the Smart Solutions HR expert.

It is worth adding that many women in the veteran community have a significantly higher level of education than the general population of Ukraine, and most of them worked in the health and education sectors. In Poland, it is in these areas that high staff shortages/shortages have persisted for years. In this case, the barrier is primarily the recognition of their professional qualifications.

Benefits for Polish employers

1. Veterans are particularly motivated employees, because for them employment is not only a source of income, but also a form of psychological rehabilitation and a method of social reintegration.
2. Their experience in high-risk situations translates into their ability to cope with stress. It is a valuable tool in positions requiring work under time pressure and in dynamically changing environments.
3. Ukrainian veterans bring with them cultural diversity and perspectives that can be an asset in a global business environment. The cultural diversity and life experience of veterans can be a source of innovation and new perspectives in the company.
4. Positive image of the company: employers who employ veterans can build a positive image of the company as a socially responsible organization and supporting people who have gone through difficult experiences.

• In our country, companies are slowly emerging that even boast that they employ veterans or are looking for specialists in this environment, e.g. in the field of security. I feel that experiences from other countries, e.g. the US, in the field of reconversion and using the potential of former servicemen on the labor market would be a valuable source of good practices for us. We just need to make the employers’ community aware of the benefits of employing veterans – sums up Agnieszka Kolanowska, General Manager of Smart Solutions HR.

What else can we do about this?

Ukraine adopted law 5344-d, which changes the rules for employing disabled specialists, including injured veterans. So some of the work has already been done. What could we do here? The most common ideas are:

• organizing special training programs that help adapt veterans’ skills to the requirements of the labor market, which may be a key element.
• psychological support, both for employers and veterans themselves, can help solve problems related to war trauma and integration.
• creating financial incentives, such as tax breaks or subsidies, can motivate employers to actively employ veterans.
• conducting educational campaigns about the benefits of employing veterans can change the thinking of employers and society.
• working with veteran reintegration assistance organizations can facilitate the hiring process and provide support to both employers and the veterans they hire.
• other forms of support, such as co-financing the equipment of workplaces or psychological care for veterans or co-financing the adaptation of workplaces for injured veterans.

Summary

We have reasons to be proud, because approximately 65% of refugees from Ukraine found jobs in our country and this is the highest employment rate among OECD countries (source: Polish Economic Institute, “Refugees from Ukraine on the Polish labor market: opportunities and obstacles”). However, war veterans from Ukraine are still waiting to discover their potential on the Polish labor market. Educational activities, cooperation with organizations and various forms of support can significantly accelerate the integration process of this social group. This is not only a moral issue, but also an economic one, with tangible benefits for both employers and society as a whole. It is worth investing in people who have skills, professionalism and commitment that can significantly enrich the Polish labor market.