UKRAINIAN LABOUR MARKET FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF POLES – STEREOTYPES OR NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES?

Abstract

Short- and long-term migration for economic purposes became, within the last decade, a typical and inseparable part of the Polish labour market. The most frequently chosen destinations include, in most cases, Western European countries like Norway, while the United States are chosen less frequently. What is important, the eastern neighbours of Poland almost never become the migration destination. A question can thus appear about the reason for the above mentioned aversion to take up employment in this part of the continent. Is it caused solely by factors of economic nature, or does the source lie also in the area of the usually quite negative image of Eastern European countries? The purpose of this article is to attempt to assess, using the example of the Ukrainian market, how the Polish employees perceive the eastern labour markets and, moreover, to verify, to what extent these perceptions are a derivative of the functioning stereotypes, or a consequence of own professional experience. Obtained results show that the aforementioned market is perceived in a clearly negative way, especially in the area concerning work, its conditions, and professional opportunities. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out that in fact some stereotypes do exist – employees who had actually visited Ukraine, had the tendency to evaluate the local labour market slightly better than those who had never been there.

Keywords

• ukraine, labour market, polish employees’ opinions