According to the latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Lithuania is one of four European countries where the employment rate of working-age Ukrainians exceeds 40%. Other countries that achieved similar indicators in this area include the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Estonia.
Filling staff shortages
– Today, every third war refugee from Ukraine of working age who came to Lithuania works. For companies that are struggling with a shortage of employees, this has become a good opportunity to secure employees, especially in the service and production sectors, where the problem of the shortage of employees is one of the most acute, says Swedbank economist Greta Ilekytė to “Kurier Wileński”.
With the outbreak of war and the humanitarian crisis, the Employment Service was one of the first to take the initiative to help Ukrainians enter the labor market upon arrival. In cooperation with local governments, other authorities, social partners and potential employers, she prepared for the integration of Ukrainians in the labor market.
“This crisis has shown that our institution is resistant to such situations, its employees are able to reorganize themselves very quickly, arrange their work processes differently. When this happened, the employees of the Employment Service did not ask the Ukrainians why they were here, but simply got to work. Everyone understood – it is necessary to act quickly, adequately, to give up unnecessary actions in order to deal with what was most important at that time – to help the Ukrainian nation,” said Inga Balnanosienė, director of the Employment Service, in the media at the time.
The Employment Service offered employers to employ Ukrainians in vacant positions in companies. Already in March 2022, 4.5 thousand. companies registered in the Employment Service offered 10.2 thousand jobs. jobs for Ukrainians fleeing the war. For those who wanted to work, selections and meetings with employers took place all the time, Ukrainians received offers from companies with employment opportunities.
– In 2022, many companies claimed that they were struggling with the problem of staff shortages and described it as one of the most important factors hindering business development. Thus, the entry of Ukrainian citizens into the labor market contributed to economic growth. The employment of employees in the country increased by 5%. It should be remembered that population growth in a country contributes to economic growth not only through employment, but also through consumption. More goods and services are also purchased, says Greta Ilekytė.
The Employment Service employed Ukrainians to help war refugees who did not speak English or Russian to communicate in their native Ukrainian language. Specialists, recruitment consultants who speak Russian and English in order to provide high-quality services, were first selected for the team to work with refugees. Employees are trained in proper communication with mentally vulnerable and traumatized people.
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Although the influx of Ukrainian citizens has decreased since the beginning of 2023, this communication continues – employers are constantly encouraged to hire Ukrainians. At the moment, the Employment Service with 6.8 thousand. registered vacancies 1.8 thousand of employers indicated that they would employ Ukrainians.
The number of Ukrainians looking for a job is also falling – at the moment it is 3.7 thousand. people. Most registrants are women, dominated by people aged 30-49. Currently, there are 23.3 thousand people working in the country. Ukrainians. Most of them entered the labor market in April and May 2022 (5.2 thousand and 3.9 thousand, respectively).
According to I. Balnanosienė, over the last year it was possible to avoid concentrating arrivals only to the largest cities of the country. In cooperation with social partners, conditions were created for Ukrainians to find work in various regions. Most of them currently work in manufacturing (6.3 thousand), construction (4.4 thousand), transport and storage (3.8 thousand), accommodation and catering services (2.5 thousand).
Last year, over 2.4 thousand. Ukrainian citizens who came to our country were involved in active labor market policy activities – most of them were employed with subsidies (1.9 thousand), another 341 Ukrainians acquired professions, and 160 benefited from mobility support. 93 Ukrainians studied Lithuanian. 8.1 percent Ukrainians work in professions requiring high qualifications. These are: business and administration specialists (logistics and sales managers), health specialists (doctors, nurses, veterinarians), as well as training specialists, IT specialists, physical engineering specialists, legal, social and cultural specialists.
67.4 percent Ukrainians perform jobs requiring medium qualifications. They are service specialists, sellers, builders, metalworking specialists, mechanics of electromechanical and electronic devices, operators of stationary installations and machines, drivers. About 24.5 percent refugees from Ukraine work as low-skilled and unskilled workers – most of them are office and hotel cleaners, kitchen helpers and packers, agricultural and forestry workers, cooks, helpers.
In the country, the largest number of Ukrainian citizens after the start of hostilities in Ukraine was employed by the following companies: PKC Group Lithuania, Biovela – Utenos meat, Amber Food, Palink, Premier Restaurants, Rimi Lietuva, AQ Wiring Systems, Costo, Vlantana, Manvesta, Public Institution International School of Ukraine, Mabrocona, Čili pica, Eivora, Transmėja, Hoptransa, Baltic Transline Transport, Freda, Krekenava agrofirma, Transriva, Lidl Lietuva, Ventos ranga.
The average contractual gross salary of Ukrainians is EUR 1,020 per month. Ukrainians employed as financial managers received 3.4 thousand. gross monthly salary, IT managers – 3.1 thousand, programmers – 3 thousand, system analysts – 3 thousand, web and multimedia specialists – 2.8 thousand, application developers – 2.4 thousand, other programmers – 2.5 thousand The lowest contractual remuneration is granted to persons employed as security guards, manufacturers of wicker and wood articles, etc., and craftsmen.
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Forecasts and polls
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), by mid-November 2022, around 4.7 million refugees from Ukraine arrived in the European Union. Most of them are women with higher than secondary education. Despite the rapid involvement in the labor market, the education and skills of Ukrainians in many countries do not help them to occupy highly qualified positions. They tend to work in unskilled jobs and often cannot work all day because they have to take care of their children.
In the Baltic states the situation is better. There are 23.3 thousand people working in Lithuania. Ukrainians (nearly 50 percent of incoming war refugees of working age). About 8.2 thousand people found work in Estonia. people. from 20 thousand Ukrainians of working age (41%).
– The further situation is difficult to predict, because it largely depends on the course of the war. If the war ended, some of the Ukrainian citizens who arrived would probably decide to return. However, it is likely that the other part of those who came to Lithuania will remain even after the end of the war. It is difficult to predict today what will happen when the war in Ukraine ends, says Swedbank economist Greta Ilekytė.
Since the beginning of the war, over 23,000 people have been employed in Lithuania. Ukrainians. About 11,000 got a job with the help of the Employment Service. Ukrainian war refugees work in all Lithuanian municipalities, almost every third – in Vilnius. Ukrainians working in Lithuania pay our country up to 5 million euros a month in various taxes (PIT, CIT, VAT), the Vilnius office of the International Organization for Migration reported.
The Vilnius office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Lietuva) together with the public institution SOPA conducted a study on how Ukrainians deal with finding a job in Lithuania. “Last year, in November and December, we conducted a survey among 104 respondents from Ukraine. Language barriers and childcare were among the most frequently cited reasons for failure to find a job. Most of the women who came to Lithuania from Ukraine came not only with young children, but also with their elderly parents, so they have a double burden, and in this case it is really not easy to find a job,” said Inga Šukaitienė, recruitment agent at SOPA.
The largest number of Ukrainians work in the largest cities of the country: in Vilnius – 6.8 thousand, i.e. almost every third working Ukrainian, in Kaunas – 2.9 thousand, i.e. every seventh Ukrainian employed in Lithuania since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, in Klaipeda – 2 .6 thousand
78.4 percent respondents indicated that they would like to change jobs. The reasons for changing jobs vary, but it should be noted that as many as 41% of respondents are dissatisfied with the remuneration they receive (they think it is too low), 28.2 percent. of respondents would like to work in accordance with their qualifications, and 12.8 percent. working conditions are quite difficult.
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Article published in the magazine “Kurier Wileński” No. 10(29) 11-17/03/2023
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