Millions Of Polish Workers Want To Leave Poland - Poll

Warsaw, Poland 17 May 2007 As Poland tries to attract workers home, a recent survey shows that more than 3 million additional Polish workers want to leave Poland for better pay and a better life.

It is not that people leaving Poland hurts the country. The departed have been an economic boon to the Polish Government

It has been riding an economic wave caused by the influx of money from Polish workers that have already left the country and those who commute to work in Western Europe. It was estimated that they would send 2.5 billion zloty to Poland but that has turned out to be 7 billion.

The money has caused increased sales of almost everything. The economy is booming.

And so are prices.

The departing people have left a labor shortage in Poland that makes it difficult for companies to satisfy the surge in demand for products and services. The shortage is driving wages up rapidly as companies compete for what labor there is available.

Cities like Wroclaw are advertising in London to bring people back to work. Wroclaw has attracted companies to its city but now that they are there they cannot find enough workers to fill the positions available. The companies that had expected a work force from Wroclaw have taken to to advertising all around the country to find people.

In a sign that Wroclaw does not feel that Poles will come back, in addition to the campaign in London, Wroclaw is renting billboards in Ukraine. It is also developing versions of its web site in Ukrainian and Russian which versions are targeted at students.

So Poland finds itself in an interesting cycle. The more people leave, the more money will come back into the country to stimulate demand and increase the labor shortage. The stimulated demand cannot be filled unless more foreign workers are admitted to work legally at low wages. And more people leave for higher wages.

What would happen to the Country if another 3 million people left would be an interesting question to ponder.

It may be a moot question. What people want to do and what they do are two different things. One can expect that the number who say they want to leave are not likely to leave.

Poland's leaders do not see a problem. They even expect those who have left to come back.

President Kaczynski, however, does not want them to come back quickly. He said that he wanted workers to come home after they gained experience abroad.

When questioned about whether they will come back, Prime Minister Kaczynski said confidently that they will come back when conditions get better in Poland.

But millions saying that they want to leave does not seem idicative that things are getting better. And that may make it less likely that those who have left are going to come back.

Source: masterpage.com.pl