REUTERS
Some 35% of those polled in Ukraine would like to have a job abroad.
Over five million Ukrainians work abroad on a permanent basis or are part of the labor migration process.
"Our association's estimate is five million people," President of the All-Ukrainian Association of Companies for International Employment Vasyl Voskobiynyk told UNIAN. "It is based on the fact that [Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo] Klimkin said in April 2018 that about 3 million Ukrainians work in Russia, the Polish authorities speak about 2 million Ukrainians who work in their country."
Voskobiynyk says he mentions the two countries, as significantly fewer Ukrainians work in the rest of the world.
"For example, up to 120,000 work in the Czech Republic, 50,000 in the Baltic countries all together, therefore we speak about 5 million people who are involved in the labor migration process and work," he said.
He also said that there are no exact figures as for Ukrainians working abroad, as there is even no exact data about the number of people living in Ukraine.
"We can rely on such things as: the International Monetary Fund says that 3.2 million Ukrainians work abroad, our social policy minister [Andriy Reva] says that 3.2 million work on a permanent basis and from 7 million to 9 million, including the 3.2 million, are part of the labor migration process," he said.
Oleksiy Antypovych, the head of the Sociological Group "Rating," shared findings of a survey involving over 40,000 respondents, which were received in December 2018.
"According to the survey, more than 35% of Ukrainians would like to get a job abroad. It's a large share. The main motive is more money, more opportunities," he said.
According to Antypovych, the main factor that may bring labor migrants back to Ukraine is an opportunity for them to run a business. "Every second of those who want to work abroad says that he or she is ready to invest money earned abroad in own startups here, in Ukraine," he said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the National Bank of Ukraine estimates labor migrants' money transfers to Ukraine in 2018 at about US$11 billion.