After the war, Ukraine could lose up to 2 million workers: Voskoboynik urges preparations for labor migration
26 May 18:50
Vasyl Voskoboynik, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies and head of the Office of Migration Policy, stated that once the war ends, Ukraine may face a new wave of labor migration and a severe labor shortage.
He made these remarks in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".
According to Voskoboynik, the demographic crisis in Ukraine began long before the full-scale invasion. The expert says that even before the hostilities began, the country’s population was shrinking by 300,000 people annually. Over 10 years — a loss of 3 million. The expert also drew attention to the scale of Ukrainian emigration abroad, which began after the full-scale invasion.
“A loss of 6 million who are already abroad. Our estimate is that up to 2 million people will go to work abroad after the war,” Voskoboynik stated.
The expert emphasized that the population outflow poses a serious problem for the country’s reconstruction. In his view, Ukraine will have to gradually bring in foreign workers, but this process must be fully controlled by the state.
Ukrainians fear chaos, not migrants
The head of the Office of Migration Policy believes that negative attitudes toward migration are often shaped by events in European countries.
“Our people are not afraid of migrants. They are opposed to the chaos they see in the news and on social media,” he said.
Voskoboynik noted that society fears the formation of closed ethnic enclaves, rising crime, and social tension. At the same time, according to Voskoboynik, such fears should be critically evaluated.
“If local citizens were standing at the borders of Poland, Hungary, or Germany and saying this to millions of Ukrainians in 2022, I would like to see what the reaction would be in our country,” the expert said.
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Ukraine Proposes Introducing “Managed Labor Migration”
The expert advocated for the creation of a strict state system to regulate the recruitment of foreign workers. According to him, Ukraine must establish a list of countries from which labor migrants are permitted to be recruited, as well as specific sectors of the economy where there is a labor shortage. Voskoboynik believes that labor migrants should come temporarily and without their families.
Among the proposed control mechanisms, the expert also mentioned increased oversight of employers and strict rules for the stay of foreigners: for example, Poland, which introduced deportation for two administrative violations. According to Voskoboynik, we can do the same.
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