Germany is weighing loosening rules for Ukrainian seasonal workers, the Financial Times reports in a lengthy story on Eastern Europe’s growing labor shortages.

Germany is weighing loosening rules for Ukrainian seasonal workers, the Financial Times reports in a lengthy story on Eastern Europe’s growing labor shortages. “If Germany opened its market to Ukrainians, it would be a big problem,” Maciej Witucki, chief executive of Work Service, tells the FT. “The Polish bus and railway companies would have very strong results — but just for one month.” The article cites Eurostat figures for the second quarter of this year: 87% of Hungarian industrial companies say labor shortages limit their output this summer. For Poland, the figure is 50%, for the Czech Republic — 43%. In Poland and Czech, this is double the levels of two years ago. With 1-2 million Ukrainians now working in Poland, Warsaw easing rules to allow more Ukrainian guest workers.