Janina Kropyva (40) is standing at the shiny counter top in McDonald’s in Zwolle Noord. To her right is a rack full of sandwiches: white, brown or with seeds. To the left are the sauces and containers with cucumber, pickle, onion, cheese and tomato, a little further on the meat. Above the counter hangs a large plate with a kind of construction drawing of the different burgers. She carefully looks at a screen: as soon as an order appears, she skillfully assembles the hamburger.
Since May 12, Kropyva, together with her Ukrainian colleague Sofia Mishchenko (34), has been working in the kitchen of this McDonald’s. Until they speak enough Dutch to take orders, their tasks mainly consist of ‘building’ citizens, earning 11 euros per hour. And she likes that very much.
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Since 1 April, Ukrainian refugees have had free access to the Dutch labor market. Employers do not need to apply for a work permit for them, which is normally required for employees from outside the EU. However, they must report to the UWV if they hire Ukrainians. 9,615 Ukrainians are now working in the Netherlands. A total of 61,060 Ukrainians are registered in the Netherlands, according to the Ministry of Justice and Security†
Kropyva and Mishchenko found their job at McDonald’s through the Zwolle employment agency Heroyam (‘To the heroes’), which was set up especially for Ukrainian refugees. “We started ten weeks ago,” say founders Bart Dikkeschei (32) and Hans Drijver (25). “We thought at the time: there will soon be a lot of refugees who would like to work. With our network in Zwolle – we have been an entrepreneur here for a long time – we can help with that.” More than a thousand Ukrainian refugees have now registered on their website. Dikkeschei: “We employ three people who speak the language, so we can guide refugees who do not speak English to the workplace.”
Also read this report about jobseekers from Ukrainians: Remove Dutch bureaucracy with a job market
Punctuality
The Dutch family with whom Yulia Kyryljoek (37) lives in Zwolle with her mother and two children, brought her into contact with Heroyam. In Ukraine, after studying law in her hometown of Odessa, she worked at a bank. There she was involved in lending to large companies. In Zwolle she started looking for a job where she can work until she speaks enough Dutch to work at a bank again. After an intake at Heroyam, she ended up in the cleaning service of the Mercure Hotel, where she prepares rooms for the next guests four mornings a week.
“I really like my job,” says Kyrylyuk. “The first day someone from Heroyam accompanied us to translate, which was useful to learn the work well.” Furthermore, she does not experience communication problems with her colleagues: while working they often get out of it by pointing at parts of the room, in the break they have conversations via a translation app. And Kyryljoek tries to learn relevant Dutch words as quickly as possible, such as pillow and duvet.
She is not bothered by cultural differences. “I don’t notice any difference in working method. And the Dutch are always cheerful and smile a lot. Everyone at my work is very nice.” Kyrylyuk does see a difference in views on punctuality. “In Ukraine, fifteen minutes later is not too late, while the Dutch sometimes deliberately ask if someone can come five minutes earlier. I make sure I’m always on time.”
Like Kropyva, Mishchenko and Kyrylyuk, many Ukrainian refugees have started working through an employment agency, for example in cleaning or as warehouse workers. This concerns 40 percent of the reports from employers to the UWV. Many Ukrainians also found work directly in the hospitality industry or in agriculture and horticulture, in both cases 11 percent. Business services – ranging from software developers to architects – come in fourth with 9 percent. This is followed by cleaning, supermarkets and construction.
But you can also take a different path. Tatyana Sjvatska (45), who worked as a career coach and event manager in Kharkiv, Eastern Ukraine, was – after a publication in NRC – approached by two employment agencies on LinkedIn for a job as a job coach at their agency. She has been working at Brand New Job since the beginning of May, and is the link between Ukrainian refugees and employers. Shvatska collects the data, wishes and experiences of jobseekers from Ukrainians and tries to match them with open vacancies. She currently focuses mainly on the 160 Ukrainians with whom she is received by the municipality of Roosendaal in the former care complex De Brink.
She works 24 hours a week. “That’s enough for now, because talking English all day is quite tiring,” says Sjvatska in the living room on the ground floor of the Brink. Volunteers carry mattresses and slatted frames to tidy up new rooms. The Brink is also Shvatska’s workplace, where she opens her laptop in the morning in the shared living room. She is happy to be back to work and to help other Ukrainians find a job that suits them.
She does have to get used to the Dutch mentality about working days. “In Ukraine, we just work until it’s finished, even if that means working overtime, without compensation. But in the Netherlands, people simply don’t answer their text messages when they are free. I am now really trying to take time off, although I will of course answer questions from people who approach me in the building at night.”
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Photo Bram Petraeus
Lamp Store and Distributor of Alcoholic Beverages
Working at McDonald’s is new for Kropyva and Mishchenko: previously they owned a lamp shop and distributor of alcoholic beverages respectively. Mishchenko is especially happy to be back at work after three months. Kropyva likes the work more than expected. “It’s a nice environment with very nice colleagues,” she says. “We learned the work process so quickly that we sometimes even have time left between orders.” They mainly use this time to chat with their colleagues, often with the help of an app or single words. That helps, but sometimes the language gets in the way. “Yesterday colleagues were singing along to English songs in the kitchen, then I wanted to join in, but I couldn’t because of the language barrier,” says Mishchenko.
Martijn Meijer, restaurant manager of McDonald’s in Zwolle, is happy with the new additions to his team. “There are fewer obstacles than expected. The first day someone came along to translate during the onboarding. Since then it’s been a bit of communicating with hands and feet, but it’s going very well. And Sofia and Janina can again train any future Ukrainian employees.”
The two have now received their first real Dutch salary from the employment agency. What are they going to do with that? Mishchenko knows it well: “I want to buy a nice sports bike.” She can then cover the three kilometers from the shelter to her work faster. Kropyva is more concerned with the further future. “I want to go back to Ukraine at some point, I’m going to save for that.”