They will replace Ukrainians. They will support their family for a few months on the minimum Polish salary.

The largest number of workers from Asian countries can be found in the construction, road and warehouse industries. They are increasingly willing to come to Poland and do not require high wages.

We can expect a very large number of workers from Central Asia (photo: Danny GMart/Shutterstock)

• Workers from Asia are increasingly filling job vacancies previously occupied by Ukrainian citizens.
• The unstable economic situation in Asian countries does not improve the situation. Workers who want to earn money to support their families are increasingly going abroad.
• The minimum monthly wage is enough to cover the maintenance of their loved ones who remained in the country for several months, comments Sebastian Wojcieszek, owner of the temporary work agency WS Corp.

According to Eurostat data, more and more Ukrainians are leaving Poland for other countries, such as Germany and Spain. This situation is causing more and more vacancies to appear on the Polish labor market. This applies not only to seasonal workers, but also to manual workers, who are in the greatest demand in Poland. These positions have so far been held mainly by Ukrainians, but now they are increasingly being filled by migrants from Central Asian countries.

Moreover, the unstable economic situation of the Central Asian countries contributes significantly to labor migration. Until recently, citizens of these countries were eager to go to Russia in search of work. This was also changed by the war in Ukraine.

- Citizens of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have largely stopped migrating to Russia. Currently, their main destination is European countries. Employees staying here most often send part of their salary to their families. The minimum monthly salary is enough to cover several months of maintenance for their loved ones who stayed in the country - comments Sebastian Wojcieszek, owner of the temporary employment agency WS Corp.

Sebastian Wojcieszek assures that employees from this region adapt very easily in our country and are eager to take up work in Poland. They are responsible employees who easily perform the duties assigned to them. They find their place in the construction, road and warehouse industries. They also work in sorting or as welders. The expert also notes that we can talk about a certain trend that will grow in the near future, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine.

- Over the next four or five years, we can expect a very large number of workers from Central Asia, who are already replacing positions previously held by Ukrainian citizens. I mean numbers in the millions. On the Polish labor market, we see an increasing demand for such workers, and more and more job offers appear that they can perform - Wojcieszek notes.

However, Kinga Marczak, Operations Director of Personnel Service , believes that employing people from these countries involves greater risk than employing workers from the East.

- I would like to warn against spontaneously reaching for this solution and not being too enthusiastic about choosing a partner when deciding on this type of service. In the case of citizens of the mentioned countries, simplified regulations regarding the legalization of residence and work are not an option - she emphasizes.

As he adds, bringing workers from Asia to Poland involves not only legalizing work, i.e. obtaining an appropriate work permit in Poland, but also obtaining visas, i.e. a double process.

- It is often said that it takes about two months in total. This is not true. It depends on the given consulate and its capacity, which is strongly connected to various directives and guidelines, often political and the economic situation in a given region. Applications come in waves, the headcount (number of employees - ed.) in consular offices is not increased, so they accumulate and electronic queues allow obtaining a visa only after 4-6 months - he adds.