Vilnius. Since the start of the war in Ukraine, over 21,000 Ukrainians have found employment in Lithuania, about half of all working-age people. Around 11,000 Ukrainians have found jobs with the help of the Employment Service, and another 2,200 find jobs are on offer. Ukrainian war refugees are working in all Lithuanian municipalities, with almost one in three in Vilnius. Ukrainians working in Lithuania pay about €5 million a month in taxes to our country. 
The Vilnius Office of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM Lithuania), together with SOPA, carried out a survey on how Ukrainians manage to find work and get a job in Lithuania. "Last year in November-December we conducted a survey with 104 respondents. Among the most frequently cited reasons for not being able to find a job were the language barrier and childcare. Most of the women who came to Lithuania from Ukraine came not only with small children, but also with elderly parents, so they have a double burden, and in this case it is not easy to find a job", - says Inga Šukaitienė, recruitment agent of SOPA. 
The largest number of Ukrainians are working in the country's largest cities: in Vilnius - 6.8 thousand, i.e. almost every third Ukrainian working in the country, in Kaunas - 2.9 thousand, i.e. every seventh Ukrainian who has been employed in Lithuania since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, and in Klaipėda - 2.6 thousand people.  
78.4% of the respondents indicated that they would like to change their job. The reasons for changing jobs are different, but it is noteworthy that as many as 41% of respondents are not satisfied with the salary they have (they consider it too low), 28.2% of respondents would like to work in accordance with their existing qualifications and 12.8% claim that working conditions are rather difficult 
"Ukrainians came to Lithuania looking for a job because they needed to make sure they had at least minimal financial resources. However, it is understandable that people, especially those with qualifications, want to find a job and to be paid a salary that not only reflects their knowledge but also provides more security. That's why we are organizing a seminar to provide Ukrainians with as much information as possible on how to find a job and how to set up their own business," says Eitvydas Bingelis, Head of IOM Lithuania
46.2% of the respondents indicated that they are thinking about setting up their own business in Lithuania, but they lack information. Almost half of them are missing consultations with specialists. "When you arrive in a foreign country, it is natural that it is very difficult to find your way around: to which institution you should turn to for specific help, how to register your children for kindergarten or school, how to receive social benefits. And the women came alone with their children, not knowing the language. So it is necessary to provide them with as much accurate information as possible so that they have more opportunities on the labour market," says I. Šukaitienė.