Eastern European countries could face a labor shortage if the war in Ukraine ends, – Reuters

Eastern European countries may suffer from a labor force outflow if the war in Ukraine ends and refugees start returning home.

This was reported by the news agency Reuters.

“One of the problems will be the reduction in labor resources and rising inflation caused by the return of Ukrainian workers to their homeland,” the article states.

The publication notes that a significant portion of the more than 4.3 million Ukrainians who fled to the EU after Russia’s invasion now reside in Central and Eastern Europe.

“They filled jobs amid historically low unemployment. Their potential return to Ukraine following a peace agreement will hinder economic growth in the region,” the report adds.

Ukrainian workers “contributed to development, helping the region’s industrial and export-oriented economies expand rapidly.”

“Part of the economic success of many countries is tied to Ukrainians who moved here over the past two years,” said Christian Petter, a representative of J. Safra Sarasin Bank for Central and Eastern Europe.

A mass departure of employed Ukrainians “will create a labor shortage in cities like Prague, Bratislava, and Warsaw, making it difficult to fill this gap.” Unemployment in Poland is currently at a historic low. According to local government estimates, up to 59% of refugees may return home after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is resolved.

The departure of Ukrainians will also exacerbate “demographic risks” in Europe, stated Charlotte Ruhe, Managing Director for Central and Southeastern Europe at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

It should be noted that President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Europeans do not want to return refugees who have found employment back to Ukraine.

Earlier, a demographer predicted that at most, half of the refugees will return to Ukraine, while the rest will remain abroad.