Weak krona causes Poles to leave Norway. Jakub from Sandnes is considering moving – NRK Rogaland – Local News, TV and Radio

– I haven’t bought an apartment yet. I rent. “I live alone and will be like this for the next few years, because I am thinking of moving home to Poland,” says Jakub Kaczmarek.

Jakub, who works as an electrician in Sandnes, is not the only one planning to move back to Poland.

This spring, there were about 100,000 Polish workers in Norway. That’s 5,000 fewer than last summer.

In the first quarter of this year, 700 Poles left the country, according to Statistics Norway. It is not clear how many of them were employees.

If this trend continues, this year’s labor migration will exceed last year’s.

Some of the debt buildup is due to the weak krona, which has weakened against the dollar, euro and Polish zloty over the past decade.

In 2014, 1 zloty was worth 1.9 Norwegian kroner. Ten years later, it was worth 2.8 Norwegian kroner. This meant that Polish migrant workers in Norway saw their purchasing power in their home country weakened.

The largest group of migrant workers

– I used to commuter a lot and I can definitely say that life like this is too expensive for commuters,” says Lukasz Marszalek.

Marszalek is the leader of INorge, a Polish community organization in the Stavanger area.

– Maintenance costs have increased and the krona has weakened. He claims commuters will notice the difference in the currency.

Poles form the largest labour migrant group in Norway. According to Statistics Norway, there are nearly 110,000 Poles in Norway.

The NHO said Norwegian businesses depend on their workforce.

Bad news for Norwegian companies

Tone Grindland is regional director of NHO Rogaland. She said there has been a trend for several years towards more and more foreign-born workers returning to their home countries.

– The kroner exchange rate is part of the reason why more people choose to move back home and work in their own country, because you earn less in Norway now than before, she said.

At the same time, changes in rental regulations have made it more difficult for foreign-born people to work in Norway.

– There is less flexibility in working relationships, Grindland said.

In Norway, there is a serious skills shortage among companies. So she thinks it’s bad news that workers feel they have to leave the country.

– The companies clearly told us NHO that they needed more people and more expertise. There are still many tasks that have not been solved, she said.

The Polish electrician in Sandnes said it was impossible not to notice the weakness of the Norwegian krone.

– Most Poles working in Norway have to support their families and pay for housing. Therefore, it is very onerous, he says.