Ukrainian Migrants in the Institutional System of the Polish Labour Market: Challenges of Public Data Systems Integration

Abstract

This article analyses the presence of Ukrainian citizens within the institutional system of the Polish labour market using administrative data from multiple public sources. The aim of the study is to identify the scale and structure of migrants’ labour market activity and to assess the coherence of public data systems in the context of migration and employment policies. The analysis is based on data from the social security system, registers related to access to the labour market, and residence records. A comparative approach is applied to examine differences between data sources and to identify their limitations. The findings show that the institutional system of labour market and migration governance in Poland is fragmented and multi-source. Individual registers rely on different definitions and units of analysis, leading to discrepancies in estimating both the number of migrants and their labour market participation. At the same time, a growing importance of Ukrainian citizens in the Polish labour market is observed, along with a shift from short-term to more stable migration patterns. The results highlight the need for better integration of public data systems as a prerequisite for effective design and evaluation of migration and labour market policies.