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Purpose: The aim of this article is to try to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the situation of unemployed people in Poland. Podkarpackie voivodeship, one of the regions in Poland which for many years has belonged to the group of Polish voivodeships with the highest level of unemployment, was used as a case study. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study used a multiple correspondence analysis and Ward's method. Their application allowed for the identification of regularities regarding respondents' opinions on the labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The methods used in the study turned out to be a helpful tool in presenting the impact of the pandemic on the situation of the unemployed. They indicated several discrepancies in the perception of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market by groups with different demographic and social characteristics. As the pandemic situation is still not stabilised, such analyses as in this article should be continued in the coming years. That will permit the observation of regularities or their absence, especially after the pandemic has ended. Practical Implications: The results of this type of research can help both labour market institutions and working, employed and unemployed people to understand how the pandemic affects the labour market, especially the situation of the unemployed. Such information will be helpful, on the one hand, in making decisions by labour market institutions regarding their future activities and, on the other hand, in shaping the individual's career path in times of crisis. Thus, the study fills the research gap in this area. Originality/value: The article contributes to the current scientific discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the situation of the unemployed in Europe.

Purpose: The main objective is an attempt to present the decision motives and situation of economic migrants during COVID-19 pandemic. The research hypothesis adopted is “The push, pull and indirect obstacles created in the first year of the pandemic, had an impact on European labour migrants only in the short term.” Design/Methodology/Approach: The basis were economic migrants from the Ukraine, Poland and Germany. The literature analysis, desk research and descriptive statistics method as well as selected statistical analysis indicators were applied. The conducted analyses feature references to reports and data bases collected from Eurostat and bureaus of statistics of individual countries. Findings: The impact of the COVID-19 on emigration depends on the nature of the migration factor dominating among emigrants. In the case of migrants from Ukraine or Poland (mainly labour nature of migration), the impact of the COVID-19 was short-term. Despite the restrictions, differences in the labour markets of the sending and receiving countries continued to be a strong motivation. The uncertainty for migrants in terms of legislation was also short-term. In the case of emigrants from Germany, in which emigration is dominated by more effective allocation of human capital, the pandemic slowed down the scale of emigration. Practical Implications: The results of the research will be useful not only for migrants, but also for governments. It can also constitute a starting point for in-depth considerations on pandemic impact on international migration and labour markets. Due to the different nature of European countries, economic migration will help government bodies to adopt effective migration policy by developing more effective methods to support the migrant employment. Originality/Value: It is a unique comparison of economic motives for foreign emigration taking into account the impact of the elements of the push-pull theory, both within the EU migration to/from the EU from/to third countries, in the first year of the pandemic.