european magazine
Poland's Prime Minister Tusk doesn't just want to suspend the right to asylum – he also wants to curb labor migration. This is causing major problems for Polish companies – because there is full employment in the country.
Business is booming at Marathon International Logistics in Poznan. 400 trucks are on the road for the company across Europe. And next year there will be an increase of another 100 vehicles. But that requires drivers.
Vice-Chairwoman Aleksandra Kaszub sees problems ahead: “We expect a situation in which the recruitment process will require us even more time and effort to get the documents together.” The process is becoming more complicated and that is detrimental to the company's development.
Number of visas reduced by 31 percent
The reason for Kaszub's concerns is the Polish government's new migration strategy. Prime Minister Donald Tusk presented it in mid-October. At the time, the public focused primarily on the announcement that the right to asylum would be temporarily suspended. The strategy is also characterized by tough measures against illegal migration. But that is only a small part of the overall strategy, which Tusk even sees as a model for the entire EU.
The rules for student visas have also been tightened. The government says this is intended to prevent abuse by immigrants who only pretend to study but are actually working.
Overall, access to the Polish labor market is to be heavily regulated. Only highly qualified workers are desired or those who are citizens of an OECD country or a country with which Poland or the EU has a repatriation agreement.
Tusk's government cut the number of work and student visas issued by 31 percent in the first half of this year compared to last year. It is also a reaction to the previous government's allegedly illegal and corrupt visa issuance practices.
Companies can hardly find workers
But Tusk has made it clear what his primary goal is: “I would increasingly prefer that labor migration would mean brains and not just cheap labor.” Little by little, entrepreneurs in particular are beginning to realize what this could mean for them.
In the construction, catering or logistics sectors, companies are looking for less qualified workers. Up to a quarter of the employees here already come from non-EU countries.
At Marathon International Logistics it is even half that. Ukrainians, Belarusians and Georgians ensure the company's economic success. Because among Poles there are fewer and fewer people who want to do manual work.
Reliant on foreign workers
The Polish labor market is more empty than ever since 1990, since the end of communism. There is virtually full employment. According to Eurostat, the unemployment rate is just 2.9 percent, making it the second lowest in the EU after that of the Czech Republic.
In addition, as in many other European countries, there is demographic development. In 2023, the country recorded a population decline for the sixth consecutive year. According to current forecasts, Poland could lose two million workers by 2035.
Companies are therefore increasingly relying on workers from abroad. There are currently around 1.1 million foreigners working in Poland, which corresponds to 6.7 percent of the total workforce in Poland. Ukrainians make up the majority, followed by Belarusians – Poland's direct neighbors.
But in recent years there has been an increased increase in migration from distant countries such as Bangladesh or Nepal, Colombia or Zimbabwe. In some cases, the number of applications for a work permit increased fivefold from 2022 to 2023.
Pure election campaign?
“I'm lost without my Nepalese employees,” says Robert Stankiewicz, owner of the Port-o-Wino bistro in Warsaw. He has been unsettled since he heard about the new migration strategy. Five of his employees come from Nepal.
You partly studied in Poland and now work in his kitchen. He pays good wages, says Stankiewicz. The Nepalese chefs are also satisfied with their salaries. But are they considered qualified or not?
Maciej Wronski, chairman of an employers' association in the transport and logistics sector, is annoyed by the government's plans. Because the needs of the economy had not been surveyed beforehand and because many things were still completely unclear. But above all because he sees the paper as purely an election campaign.
A new president will be elected in Poland next year. “The issue of labor migration is always good if you want to scare people,” he says. Employers would suffer as a result and potential new employees would be deterred.
He still has hope that the strategy will not be implemented. The government will have to realize at some point that it is planning to ignore reality.
You can see these and other reports in the Europamagazin – on Sunday at 12.45 p.m. on Erste.
