International Organization for Migration (IOM)

ooted opinion within Polish society as to the role played by third-country workers
from Ukraine in the Polish labour market. It is a matter of common opinion that
they perform jobs that Poles do not want to, namely in the secondary segment of the
labour market. Therefore, perceptions follow not from cultural differences but from
a collective opinion concerning their place in the labour market.
We deal with a different situation in the case of immigrants from Vietnam. It must
be pointed out that they are a segregated community, and that a majority is selfemployed.
Vietnamese employees are most frequently employed by their compatriots.
As a result, there is virtually no interaction in the labour market between Polish
employers and Vietnamese employees.
In the case of other nationalities represented in the Polish labour market, there was
no direct impact ascertained of their origin, including cultural differences, on their
employment opportunities. It is possible to identify indirect effects related to clichés
rooted in Polish society, but these are rare situations.
The issue of cultural differences may influence recruitment channels and choices
made by employers in a situation where the share of immigrants in Polish society is
growing, particularly if they come from states where cultures differ greatly from the
Polish one. However, this is not to be expected in the near future.
Development of access to public services for immigrants
As has been already mentioned, migrants residing legally in Poland, if they were not
granted refugee status or some other form of international protection, take advantage
of public services under the same principles as Poles. This also concerns the system
of education and occupational training. This means that migrants without adequate
command of the Polish language merely have a hypothetical option of using such
services. This greatly hinders the taking advantage of job offers. Some support is
proposed by non-governmental organizations offering Polish language courses.
Usually a passport, valid visa or residence card is required during registration.
Foreigners cover partial costs related to the administration of the courses. For
example, a course lasting three months (classes are held twice a week, lasting two
hours; or once a week, four hours each) costs PLN 400 (approximately EUR 90).
Polish language courses are also offered by a majority of Polish higher education
institutions and some language schools.
An analysis of projects financed by the European Fund for the Integration of Third-
Country Nationals demonstrated that they comprise occupational training for
foreigners. But such initiatives are very rare. One such programme concerns the
following professions: carer of the elderly, sick and disabled, tour guide, bartender
and waiter, fitness instructor, jobs in human resources and salaries departments. It
is clear that these are occupations mainly in the services sector and often under the
secondary segment of the labour market. The courses are in Polish and priority is
given to immigrants already residing in Poland for at least 12 months. Unfortunately
the limited number and scope of such programmes does not allow one to determine
country studIes – POLAND
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