Positive attitudes towards working Ukrainians and Belarusians are growing

The positive attitude of Poles towards working Ukrainians and Belarusians is growing, said labor market expert Krzysztof Inglot. He added that what was often feared did not come true, because most Poles are not afraid of being forced out of the labor market by foreign workers.

According to Personnel Service's “Polish Labor Market Barometer” published this week, 40 percent of people come into contact with foreigners in the workplace. employees, 17 percent cooperates with them regularly, and 23 percent occasionally. At the same time, 57 percent respondents declare no professional contact with foreigners.

According to the study, 36 percent declare a positive attitude towards foreigners. Poles, 43 percent remain neutral, and 14 percent has a negative attitude. Citizens of Ukraine are still the largest group of foreigners working in Poland – almost 80%. all foreigners.

The president of the Polish Outsourcing Association, founder of Personnel Service, Krzysztof Inglot, in an interview with PAP, pointed out that, compared to previous surveys, the positive mood towards the work of Ukrainians and Belarusians has increased. According to the study, this year a total of 79 percent Poles have a positive or neutral attitude towards foreigners, a year ago it was 71 percent.

– It seems that we have looked a little at what is happening to other immigrants in Western European countries – in Germany, France, Spain, what problems and social tensions there are. This is the positive impact of mass media on our awareness, because we have come to the conclusion that immigrants, our neighbors, are nice people with whom we get along – said the expert.

The study also shows that fears of losing jobs to foreigners are not the dominant attitude. The majority of Poles (69%) declare that they are not afraid of being forced out of the labor market by foreign workers. Only 21 percent respondents admit that they are more or less afraid of such a scenario. According to the authors of the study, this indicates a relatively high acceptance of the presence of foreigners in Polish companies and the belief that they most often fill staffing gaps and do not compete directly for the same positions.

– Year by year we see that the things we were threatened with did not happen. Nobody is taking our jobs, nobody is taking our salaries. We complement each other in places where there is a shortage of Polish workers – said Inglot.

Ukrainians most often work in services and production, most of them also have many years of experience working in Poland. 73 percent of surveyed Ukrainians positively evaluate their professional situation in Poland. 27% have a negative opinion. respondents.

Krzysztof Inglot emphasized that social, linguistic and geographical proximity are important here.

– Due to these factors, immigrants from Ukraine prefer to work in Poland rather than go further to Germany or Spain – he noted.

According to the latest data from the Central Statistical Office, at the end of October 2025, 1 million 139 thousand people worked in Poland. 400 foreigners, i.e. 7.1 percent. more than in the same month in 2024. The largest group of foreigners working in Poland were citizens of Ukraine. As of October 31, 2025, there were 767.1 thousand of them, i.e. 7.3 percent. more than in the same month of the previous year.

Karolina Kropiwiec (PAP)

kkr/ joz/