The Poles
Left Behind
Poland Losing Its Main Attraction - Low Cost Polish Workers
Warsaw, Poland 13 August, 2007 Foreign investors have been flocking to Poland with the expectation of finding a good supply of well educated, low cost Polish workers. But they continue to flee the country as recruiting firms tell companies that they must hire specialists to help them find those that are left.
According to one recruiting Polish recruiting firm, " radical change has (sic) created special challenges for the foreign investors who are looking to benefit from the booming economy, as well as for the companies that have already set up shop in the former communist land."
And those changes strike at the base assumption made by many companies in their decisions to come to Poland of having a good labor pool to choose from.
Poland's Ministry of Labor admits, in spite of an official unemployment rate over 12%, to a shortage of several hundred thousand workers and is looking to the Far East, China and India for talent. Poland Turns To India To Replace Departed Polish Workers And even with that ineffective program in place, it also has opened its labor markets to temporary workers from Russia and Ukraine.
Such admissions have not stopped foreign companies from opening shop in Poland.
Against heavy competition for what is left of the Polish labor force, companies are driving wages up to attract people. And those wages are going up rapidly. Just during the second quarter of this year the average wage went up 8.9%.
But the increased wages have not seemed to phase the Polish workers who want to leave Poland. The outflow of workers continues. And according to polls, millions more want to leave. Millions Of Polish Workers Want To Leave Poland
… the situation has changed since foreign businesses first flocked to the country to tap into the exciting new market at the heart of continental Europe. Then, its work force was young, high skilled and low-cost. Since EU accession, however, wages have risen as Poles have realized that their market value may be higher than their salaries. There has also been a mass exodus of its workers in lower paid professions to other EU labour markets. Special Situation
But it has not been just workers in the lower paid professions that have gone West. The emigration wave has not been discriminatory. All labor sectors have been affected.
With European money pouring into the Country and the expatriate Poles sending money home, the economy is booming. And the boom is creating a higher demand for labor making the shortage worse.
Foreign investors considering Poland do not seem aware that there is a new reality in Poland. And those that are here now, are being brought up short as they are being confronted with a shrinking labor pool and rising wages.
No longer can one just place an advertisement in the help wanted sections of the newspapers and expect results. A company must put significant effort into even getting applications for work openings no less finding the right people for a position.
The problem can get worse if the United States grants visa free travel to Poles. That would create another destination for those frustrated Poles who would choose the United States over Europe.
There is no sign of a change in the desire for Poles to leave Poland and no sign of any significant number of people interested in coming back.
And the realty of the new Poland will slowly sink in as Poland loses its most attractive asset for foreign investors. And that might be too late for some.
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