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Polish Labor Shortage Keeps Poland Looking East
Warsaw, Poland 9 October, 2007 With the failure of the Polish Government's efforts to attract Polish workers back to Poland, Chinese and Indian workers will be brought to Poland in order to make up for the severe labor shortage that exists in the country.
The Polish government has recognized that is important to attract Polish workers back to Poland. Poland's Minister for Labour and Social Policy Anna Kalata said, "We have noticed severe discrepancies in our labour market. Around 800,000 Polish workers have left to work in other countries in the EU (European Union)." http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=8ba580af-7401-4ecd-afa8-721a0460bc09&ParentID=884677fd-95ec-4dd2-b4c0-52aeae371437&MatchID1=4578&TeamID1=7&TeamID2=3&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1148&PrimaryID=4578&Headline=Indian+workers+now+Poland+bound
Others have noticed that the number may be as many as 2 million who have left the country. And they noticed a long time ago that there was a labor shortage.
Prime Minister Kaczynski had not been concerned about the exodus of people. He commented that he preferred the people to go West, get training, earn money and come back to Poland to start a business.
Now he says that the Government will, in order to encourage people to come back to Poland, make it easier for people to return to Poland and start a business.
Surveys show that about 20% of the people who emigrated to the West want to return to Poland and the other 60 percent are unsure. The Polish government is targeting that 60 percent.
The Prime Minister's approach seems to indicate that there are people in the Government who think that this 60% is made up of people whose life's goal is to have their own business.
Whether the Government understands that the bureaucratic tangle associated with starting a business is the least of the problems when it comes to having a business in Poland. Business owners generally agree that the real problem is more than daily work that is involved with the bureaucratic nightmare of dealing with the Polish Government.
And one wonders whether the Prime Minister has been lead to believe that most of the people in Poland really want to start a business. It is more likely that most people who left the country are more interested in a stable job rather than risking taking the risk that is involved in running a business - especially in Poland.
Wroclaw leaders are approaching the problem differently. They are working to make the city an attractive place to work and helping people get higher pay. And it appears to be working. Polish cith of Wroclaw works hard to keep talent home .
Pay and attractiveness seem to be the key to stemming the brain drain. It may be the key to bringing people back.
But the Polish Government is not making efforts to increase wages. Instead it has sent its Minister of Labour to India and China to find cheap labor that can be imported to Poland.
So far the Government has made arrangements for about 40 Chinese companies to build 20 billion euro worth of expressways. Chinese firms to build Polish expressways
It has also made Poland the http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=8ba580af-7401-4ecd-afa8-721a0460bc09&ParentID=884677fd-95ec-4dd2-b4c0-52aeae371437&MatchID1=4578&TeamID1=7&TeamID2=3&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1148&PrimaryID=4578&Headline=Indian+workers+now+Poland+bound next hot destination for Indians They very well know where the green is." says the Minister of Labor. She wants to attract workers from India with many disciplines including IT and construction.
Bringing 800,000 people from China and India to Poland presents its own problem. Unless the government intends for these people to live in large groups in single rooms much like some Polish emigrants did, and reportedly still do, when they to West for work, the country simply lacks the housing necessary for these people. And moreover it lacks the labor force necessary to build housing that would be required to house them decently.
Because much of the Polish economy is driven by money being sent back by Poles who have emigrated to the West, it is beneficial to the Government for them to stay there. Bringing people from China and India helps the Polish Government solve its labor problem without having to raise wages or lose the money that emigrants are sending back to Poland.
So it appears that the Polish Government will do be satisfied with the exodus of Poles to the West and replace them with cheap labor from the East.
