The International Energy Agency has issued a warning that the upcoming winter will pose the greatest challenge to Ukrainian energy since the start of the Russian invasion. As a result of the attacks in 2024, three times more energy blocks were damaged compared to the winter of 2022-2023. Ukraine joined the IEA in July 2022. The current aid from the European Union compensates for the power outage associated with the loss of production in the nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye, which is currently under the unlawful control of Russia and covers an average of 12% of Ukraine’s winter needs. Ultimately, EU aid is expected to meet 25% of Ukraine’s demand. The EU also assists in the repair of the Ukrainian power system.
Heating season in Ukraine began in early October. Power outages during the winter will last from 4 to 18 hours a day.
“Fall and the upcoming winter in Ukraine are colder, days are becoming shorter, due to the ongoing Russian war for more than 2 years, the likelihood of blackouts is increasing, and these are two reasons why the migration of refugees increases during this period – in 2022 and 2023 it was on average 15%. We anticipate this may change during the third autumn-winter period of the Russian war in Ukraine. This year’s peak of the season may be lower than last year due to stricter immigration policies and fewer seasonal workers resulting from this,” comments Yuriy Grygorenko, the chief analyst of Gremi Personal, an international employment agency.
Annual demand for seasonal workers in the TSL industry is highest in the last quarter of the year. The number of vacancies and demand for staff during this period increases even threefold. Gremi Personal predicts that this year’s seasonal peak will result in a 20% increase in employment compared to the same period last year, not due to the hot “parcel season,” but due to the overall increased number of customers.
“Companies prepared for the increased workload in the fourth quarter during the holiday period and already placed orders for potential workers so as not to allow any interruptions in delivering orders during the peak season. More and more Ukrainians are deciding to emigrate out of fear of winter, the question is whether Poland will be their only transit point. Ukrainians are leaving for Germany, Denmark, Norway, and other countries, which provide housing, support in finding a job, language learning, and social benefits sufficient to support themselves. The Russian attack has caused a mass exodus of Ukrainians from their homeland, many have managed to settle, integrate and build a life on emigration. Is Poland only chosen out of habit? It seems so, although we see that slowly but surely, things are starting to change. Tightening immigration and employment laws for foreigners, limiting support to refugees from Ukraine, and the worst of all, deteriorating attitudes in society are causing Ukrainians to increasingly seek refuge elsewhere and despite the stereotype that they live off benefits, they start working there, learning languages, progressing their qualifications and are planning to stay on emigration for many years. Will refugees fleeing the third hard winter in Ukraine rescue the employment market before the holidays, which – as every year – is struggling with the lack of workers in the pre-Christmas period? Such questions we could ask ourselves a year or two ago, now the situation is changing. The so-called “parcel period,” when entire companies prepare parcels for employees, but also individual customers massively order presents online, causing increased activity of the logistics and e-commerce industry, this year will rely on foreign workers, but fewer and fewer will come from Ukraine. The seasonal work period for temporary workers is opened by preparations for Christmas and New Year – many Ukrainians a year or two ago were seeking exactly such jobs. According to recruiters, the most popular job offers, which do not require language skills or additional competencies, are offered by the TSL industry – especially logistics and e-commerce, as well as in the food and light industries. Some of these sectors depend on foreign labor in even already 60%, so we are not surprised that this influx increases before the end of the year,” Yuriy Grygorenko concludes.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/nowy-trend-w-migracji-zarobkowej-ukraincow-87966
