Ukraine Has Started Bringing In Migrant Workers from India and Pakistan
Due to mobilization and the departure of a portion of the population abroad, Ukrainian enterprises are facing a severe labor shortage. To keep operations running, private businesses have started searching for employees abroad on their own. While before the war Indian citizens mostly came to Ukraine to study, they are now being recruited for blue-collar jobs. Companies are taking on the logistics, finding people through agencies, and handling paperwork themselves, as there are currently no centralized government programs for this.
Most often, foreign workers are hired by agricultural holdings, construction firms, and logistics warehouses. Enterprises are not doing this to save money: paying for recruiter services, flights, accommodation, and legalization is expensive. However, for many vacancies, especially those involving physical labor, there are simply no candidates inside the country right now. Businesses note that Indian workers are needed to fill empty spots to avoid halting production lines and to carry out seasonal work on time.
For now, the hiring of foreigners is happening on a targeted basis, with numbers in the thousands rather than tens of thousands. The process is slowed down by bureaucratic hurdles. Ukraine’s current migration legislation is not designed for the rapid hiring of citizens from countries with strict visa regimes, so companies have to spend a lot of time processing permits. At the same time, business associations state that the country will need more foreign workers for ongoing operations and infrastructure rebuilding, meaning the rules for their entry must be simplified.
The first groups of workers from India and Pakistan are already employed at enterprises in the western and central regions of Ukraine. Employers provide them with basic housing and help with translating instructions. According to forecasts by Ukrainian businesses, if the local labor shortage persists, the practice of hiring workers from South Asia will become standard for the construction, agricultural, and transport industries.
