Articles

The share of foreigners in the Polish labour market is steadily increasing. This offers hope for filling the gaps in the workforce caused by the ageing of Polish society. Multicultural teams are also an opportunity to strengthen the innovation and competitiveness of Polish companies. However, the opening of the Polish labour market to foreigners is not only an opportunity but also a major challenge for public institutions, employers, and trade union organisations. These challenges are the subject of a new Norwegian project being implemented by Międzyzakładowy Samorządny Niezależny Związek Zawodowy Pracowników CMC Poland Sp. z o.o. i Spółek in partnership with the Opole branch of the Związek Pracodawców OKAP.

 

The Polish labour market is changing in front of our eyes

As recently as 10 years ago, it was rare for foreigners to be employed in Polish companies, and multinational teams only existed in certain industries. This picture is now a thing of the past. Over the past decade, the share of migrants in the Polish labour market has increased from less than 1 to more than 5% (2018 estimates). At the same time, Poland has had a positive migration balance since 2016, meaning that more people are coming to our country than are leaving. At the same time, the number of work permits issued to foreign nationals is increasing. In 2015, less than 66,000 work permits were issued, and in 2021 the number will exceed half a million for the first time. In 2022, for the first time in a long time, the number of work permits decreases significantly (to 365,500), but this is not the result of a lower demand for foreign labour, but the effect of the outbreak of military aggression in Ukraine. After 24 February 2022, many Ukrainian citizens who had previously worked in Poland returned to their country to engage in the defence of their homeland. At the same time, Ukrainian citizens and nationals who came to Poland to seek refuge were offered easier, permit-free access to the Polish labour market. As a result, although the number of work permits is decreasing, the number of working foreigners is increasing.

 

The rapid influx of refugees following Russia's attack on Ukraine has only reinforced the trends outlined above. It is estimated that there were about one million people who not only crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border after 24 February, but also decided to stay in our country at least until the end of the war. The changes described above can also be seen in the social security statistics. In February 2023, the number of insured foreigners exceeded one million. Most of them were citizens and nationals of Ukraine, accounting for 64 per cent of the insured. They are followed by Belarusians and Georgians and visitors from Central and East Asia (e.g., India, Uzbekistan, the Philippines). The number of workers from South America is also increasing. In turn, Statistics Poland estimates that in the first three quarters of 2022 alone, foreigners will spend almost PLN 12 billion in Poland, compared to only PLN 8.5 billion in the same period in 2021.

 

Poland needs more hands, heads and hearts for work

The changes described above respond to the growing needs of the Polish labour market, which is struggling with an ageing and shrinking population. According to Robert Lisicki of Konfederacja Lewiatan, the number of people of working age in Poland has fallen by almost 1.5 million in the last two decades. The data and experts leave no doubt - there will be even fewer of us in the years to come. Eurostat's scenarios for demographic change in Europe predict that by 2030 Poland's population will have fallen by almost a million (to 37 million), by 2050 there will be only 34.1 million of us, and by the end of the 21st century only 27.7 million, i.e., 10 million fewer than today!  It is worth noting that the shrinking of the population is accompanied by its ageing. While the last generations of the post-war baby boom are leaving the labour market, the generation born at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries are entering the workforce in much smaller numbers. According to Eurostat, in a few decades Poland will have the highest ratio of elderly to working age population in the EU. This is mainly due to the decline in the birth rate that has been observed for many years and is characteristic of all developed countries. Another important factor is the emigration of young Poles who have chosen to work and live abroad. Data from Statistics Poland shows that there were approximately 2.5 million such people in 2018.

 

The ageing of the population will be a major challenge not only for the labour market, but also for the pension and healthcare systems in the coming years. These challenges cannot be met without foreigners choosing to work in Poland. According to experts from "Rzeczpospolita", to maintain a favourable economic growth rate, we need to hire at least one million additional foreign workers by 2027. The Social Security Institution, on the other hand, estimates that to maintain the current ratio of pensioners to working people (currently there are 39 pensioners for every 100 people of working age), we would need to attract 1.5 million workers from abroad by 2027 and 2.7 million by 2032. The transport, industry and construction sectors currently have the biggest labour shortages. The logistics, manufacturing, tourism, and hospitality sectors are also highly dependent on foreigners. As Tomas Bogdevic, CEO of Gremi Personal, an employment agency, points out, the share of foreign workers in some of these sectors is already as high as 50%. There are also labour shortages in the information, education, and health care sectors, i.e., areas that require high qualifications and often very good knowledge of the Polish language.

 

Great opportunities, even greater challenges

Hiring foreigners is not only a way to bridge demographic gaps and solve labour shortages. As experts point out, building multicultural teams is also an opportunity for greater competitiveness and better business performance. For many employees, working with people from different cultural backgrounds is an opportunity for an inspiring exchange of experiences and personal development, which often translates into increased motivation and job satisfaction. In addition, working on projects in teams that combine diverse resources means greater creativity, innovation, and less risk of falling into unconstructive patterns. It is also worth noting that companies that are open to multiculturalism and diversity are often better perceived in the marketplace, making it easier for them to attract and retain the most desirable employees or clients.

 

However, the benefits of employing foreigners described above do not occur spontaneously. Opening the Polish labour market to foreigners and building multicultural workplaces is a huge challenge for both public institutions and employers themselves. Trade unions also have an important role to play in this historic challenge. The main role of the state in this area will be to further streamline procedures related to the employment of foreigners and to pursue a well-considered migration policy that includes not only labour market regulations, but also the wise, systematic integration of foreigners and the effective protection of domestic workers. The role of employers is primarily to create attractive jobs and an open organisational culture. Trade unions, on the other hand, should defend fundamental labour rights, including equal treatment of workers and freedom from discrimination. After all, the challenge is not only to attract people to work, but also to keep them in Poland and show them that they do not have to go anywhere else for a decent life and interesting work. Without this, it will be difficult for us to build the competitiveness of the Polish economy.

 

We are still very far from such a goal. Most foreigners employed in Poland work in the simplest and lowest paid jobs, often far below their qualifications. At least half of them work on commission, so they are not protected by the Labour Code. It should also be noted that many foreigners are still outside the system of any regulation. According to estimates by the Institute for Economic Forecasting and Analysis, up to 750,000 foreigners could be working in Poland's grey economy by 2020.

 

Finally, it is worth mentioning another aspect of the challenge ahead. Since the end of the Second World War, Poland has been a relatively homogeneous country, isolated from the Western world for several decades. Many Poles have little experience of cooperation or intercultural communication. This, together with the current political and economic climate, encourages the persistence of stereotypes and the development of prejudices. If we want to be a welcoming and open-minded community, we need to overcome these prejudices and learn to cooperate and communicate in a multicultural community in a relatively short period of time.

 

Project discussions on multicultural challenges

The challenges described above are the subject of the project En0hancing the Potential for Decent Work Activities in Social Dialogue implemented by Międzyzakładowy Samorządny Niezależny Związek Zawodowy Pracowników CMC Poland Sp. z o.o. i Spółek in partnership with the Opole branch of Związek Pracodawców OKAP. The project includes training for social dialogue participants, educational seminars for foreigners and workshop sessions aimed at sharing experiences, mapping challenges, and designing solutions. One of the project's major products will be an open-access online training to support the introduction of foreigners to work in Polish enterprises. The project is implemented with support from Norway through the Norwegian Funds 2014-2021, under the programme “Social Dialogue - Decent Work”.

 

It is worth noting that similar projects are also currently being implemented by other trade union organisations, such as ZNP, Federacja Związków Zawodowych Pracowników Ochrony Zdrowia i Pomocy Społecznej and NSZZ Pracowników ArcelorMittal Poland S.A. Norwegian partners and Polish employers' organisations are involved in these projects. Such a high level of involvement of social dialogue participants in discussions on ensuring decent work for migrants and migrant workers gives hope that we will quickly find answers to the challenges described above.