73% of Ukrainians in Poland see their future in country – study
Most Ukrainians currently living in Poland no longer regard their stay in the country as temporary. According to a new study, 73% of respondents see their future in Poland, while almost half plan to remain there for at least several more years.
According to the Warsaw University Centre of Migration Research report "Ukrainians in Poland in 2026: Future Plans and Current Living and Employment Situation", 44% of respondents said they planned to live in Poland for several more years, Censor.NET reports. By comparison, only 22% said so in 2022. Another 23% of respondents have yet to decide on their future plans.
Among Ukrainians who moved to Poland before the start of the full-scale war, around 80% see their future in the country. The figure is slightly lower, at 64%, among those who left Ukraine after February 2022.
"Overall, Ukrainians have probably adapted to the reality of a prolonged war. They assume that they will only be able to return after some time or that returning is unlikely," said study author Jeremy Caldeira.
The study also found that Ukrainians are continuing to integrate into the Polish labour market. Their employment rate rose from 69% in 2022 to almost 83% in 2026. Ukrainians most commonly work full-time under employment contracts, while another 11% are entrepreneurs or self-employed.
At the same time, nearly half of respondents, 45%, are employed in jobs that do not match their education or professional qualifications. According to Caldeira, this problem has remained unchanged for many years despite Ukrainians’ generally successful integration into the Polish labour market.
The survey covered 1,892 Ukrainian citizens living in Poland. According to estimates by Statistics Poland, around 1.68 million Ukrainians currently reside in the country.
Poland remains the primary destination for Ukrainians who left the country after the start of the full-scale war. Ukrainians now account for around two-thirds of all employed migrants in Poland, while their formal employment rate continues to rise.
At the same time, Polish employers are increasingly recruiting workers from other parts of the world, as some Ukrainians move to Western European countries in search of higher wages. Despite this, Poland remains the European leader in the employment of Ukrainian refugees, although Polish society’s attitudes towards Ukrainians are gradually changing as their stay in the country grows longer.
