Millions of Eastern European migrant workers returned to their home countries because of pandemics. Not only Ukrainian women and men working in Europe had to move back, but also citizens of other countries, according to The Economist.

Rebalancing the workforce around the world

Two years ago one Ukrainian was leaving the country to work abroad every 30 seconds, but in 2021 a sizable share of labour migrants from Eastern Europe had to return home because of pandemics, Finance.ua reported.

For instance, over 1.3 million migrant workers returned to Romania, while Bulgaria welcomed back 500,000 citizens.

In Lithuania, for the first time in many years, more citizens returned home than left the country.

Over 700 thousand of migrant workers left UK, as being locked down in quarantine in cities like London is too expensive.

Another reason for migrants returning is in rising wages in their home countries. In 2010 Romanian laborers who moved to Italy had been earning 5 times more, while now their wages are only twice as high as compared to the local rates. Among highly qualified specialists the difference in earnings is even less.

Why did the majority of workers from Ukraine remain in Europe?

By April 2020, over 200 thousand Ukrainians returned home because of pandemics.

Altogether, about half a million of Ukrainian workers returned home during 2020, according to Ella Libanova, director of Institute of Demographics and Social Research. Most of them had been working in nearby Poland and Czech Republic.

Apparently, most Ukrainian employees stayed in Europe. Only in Poland there are about 1.5 million of workers from Ukraine.

The workers who didn’t lose their jobs in pandemics had seen no need to return. Their work visas were automatically extended and they could get medical assistance if needed. In some countries foreign workers were eligible for financial support if their factories were temporarily closed during quarantine. Some of those who lost jobs found another place of employment.

This is why the majority of Ukrainians who legally worked in Europe stayed where they were, although many workers returned home.

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