Labour market information: Poland

National Level

Labour market in Poland

With a result of 73.6% (2020), Poland is one of the EU-27 Member States that achieved an employment level in the 20–64 age group in line with the targets set by the European Commission for 2020. In 2021, this indicator increased to 75.4%, compared to the EU average of 73.1%. In general, the main indicators describing the situation in the labour market in Poland improved year on year, and our distance from the EU average has been steadily decreasing. The positive growth tendencies slowed down in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions imposed on economies as a consequence. However, contrary to concerns about the expected labour market crisis, only a slowdown in the growth of its main indicators was observed.

In 2021, the economic activity rate in the 15–64 age group was 72.8% and it increased by 1.8 percentage points compared with the previous year. At the same time, the employment rate in this group increased by 1.6 percentage points to 70.3%. It is noteworthy that already in 2018, Poland exceeded the national target in the Europe 2020 strategy for the employment rate for the 20–64 age group, which is set at 71%. In 2018, the employment rate for persons aged 20–64 in Poland was 72.2%, in 2019 it increased to 73%, in 2020 – to 73.6% and in 2021 it reached 75.4%. By contrast, in 2021, the unemployment rate stood at 3.4%, with a 0.2% increase per year. As regards the unemployment rate, it is important to note that while upon its accession to the EU Poland was the country with the highest unemployment rate in the EU, that rate has remained below the EU average since 2012, and we have ranked among the countries with the lowest unemployment rate for several years now. It should be noted that the rates in question improved in Poland in 2020 in comparison to 2019, despite the ongoing pandemic, even though across the EU-27 the rates recorded a deterioration in this respect.

According to Eurostat data, in May 2022, Poland was the second country (after Czechia) with the lowest unemployment rate in the EU (the harmonised unemployment rate for persons aged 15-74), reaching the rate of 2.7% against 6.1% in the EU-27 and 6.6% in the euro area.

In the years 2014–2019, the level of registered unemployment continued to decrease in Poland. In 2018, for the first time since 1991, the number of unemployed persons decreased to less than 1 million at the end of the year and affected 968 900 persons (a drop by 10.4% compared to the previous year), while the registered unemployment rate decreased to 5.8%.

A record low number was registered as unemployed at labour offices in October 2019 (840 500 persons). At the time, the registered unemployment rate was 5.0%. At the end of 2019, the number of unemployed persons stood at 866 400, while the unemployment rate was 5.2%. A further decline in the registered unemployment rate was halted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed on the economy. Thus, at the end of 2020, the number of unemployed persons registered at labour offices increased to 1 046 400, and the registered unemployment rate increased to 6.3%. Once the economy began to recover after the lifting of lockdowns and restrictions in Poland, the situation in the labour market started to stabilise in 2021. The worrying reactions and announcements of redundancies from employers clearly weakened. Measures proposed by the Polish government as part of the ‘Anti-Crisis Shield’ undoubtedly contributed to that situation. In view of the above, registered unemployment growth has slowed down and since March 2021 both the number of unemployed persons registered at labour offices and the registered unemployment rate have, in principle, been getting lower with each month (except for the turn of a year).

The registered unemployment rate at the end of June 2022 was historically low – 4.9%, and it was lower by 1.1 percentage points than in the previous year. The number of registered unemployed persons was the lowest since August 1990, with 818 000 persons recorded in the registers. When comparing the unemployment rate as of the end of June 2022 to the number of unemployed persons registered at the end of February 2020, i.e. before the state of epidemic emergency was declared in Poland, the level of unemployment decreased by 101 800 persons (i.e. by 11.1%), and the registered unemployment rate was lower by 0.6 percentage point.

At the end of June 2022, there were 33 000 persons registered at labour offices who had been made redundant for reasons related to the employer’s establishment, compared to 43 900 a year earlier.

At the end of June 2022, there were 113 300 unemployed persons registered at labour offices and entitled to unemployment benefits, representing 13.9% of the total number of registered unemployed persons. Over a year, the group of unemployed persons entitled to benefits decreased by 23 800 persons, i.e. by 17.3%.

Territorial disparities in terms of unemployment have been considerable in Poland for years. This is due to imbalances in both the socio-economic development of regions and their geographical location. The territorial disparities, measured by the difference between the lowest and highest unemployment rate, varied. At the end of June 2022, the difference between the lowest and highest unemployment rate in provinces was 4.9 percentage points. (Wielkopolskie Province 2.7%, Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province 7.6%).

Links:

Public Employment Services Portal – labour market	https://psz.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/
Occupational Barometer	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistics Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny) – labour market	https://stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/rynek-pracy/

The labour demand survey conducted by the Statistics Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny) among entities employing at least one person shows that 582 700 new jobs were created in Poland in 2021, the majority of which were jobs in the private sector (91.7%). Most new jobs were created in the smallest enterprises, employing up to 9 people (42.3%), followed by enterprises employing more than 50 people (28.9%) and units employing between 10 and 49 people (28.8%). In 2021, the average number of vacancies in Poland amounted to 136 000, which was 63.1% more than in 2020. In 2021, the highest number of vacancies was recorded at the end of the third quarter – 153 500, and the lowest number was recorded at the end of the first quarter – 110 200.

On average, most of the vacancies in 2021 were available in the following PKD (Polish Classification of Activities) sections: industry (32 900, i.e. 24.2% of available vacancies), construction (20 100, i.e. 14.8%), and trade and repair of motor vehicles (16 000, i.e. 11.8%).

The above survey also shows that most vacancies in 2021 were recorded in the following occupational groups: professionals (approx. 23.6%), craft and related trades workers (approx. 22.6%), plant and machine operators and assemblers (approx. 17.3%), technicians and associate professionals (approx. 9.6%), clerical support workers (8.7%), and service and sales workers (7.5%).

The labour demand survey shows that in 2021, just under 14% of vacancies were reported to labour offices, with almost 28% of offers reported in the accommodation and food services section, more than 23% in the education section and only 0.8% in the information and communication section.

Data collected by labour offices show that, in 2021, the highest numbers of job vacancies and activation offers reported to labour offices were recorded in the following PKD (Polish Classification of Activities) sections:

administrative and support service activities – 385 800 job offers;
manufacturing – 309 700 job offers;
wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles – 126 700 job offers;
construction – 121 300 job offers;
transportation and storage – 89 200 job offers.

In 2021, the highest number of job vacancies and activation offers reported to labour offices were recorded for the following occupations:

other manufacturing labourers – 77 800 job offers;
other elementary workers not elsewhere classified – 68 300 job offers;
hand packer – 50 000 job offers;
building caretaker – 37 500 job offers;
building construction workers – 34,600 job offers;
stock clerk – 34 400 job offers;
warehouse labourers – 28 900 job offers;
processing industry labourer – 27 500 job offers;
other general office clerks – 23 300 job offers.

Based on the results of the 2022 Occupational Barometer at the national level, conducted at the request of the Minister for Family and Social Policy, 30 shortage occupations were identified in all districts in the country.

These shortage occupations include:

9 construction occupations: concrete placers and finishers, pavers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, building finishers and building workers;
6 medical and care occupations: physiotherapists and massage therapists, medical doctors, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, nurses and midwives, ambulance workers, psychologists and psychotherapists;
5 manufacturing occupations: electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, metalworking machine operators, wood treaters and cabinet makers, welders, toolmakers;
4 TSL (transport, shipping, logistics) occupations: bus drivers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, stock clerks, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers;
food and food service occupations: cooks, bakers;
educational occupations: vocational training teachers, teachers of vocational subjects;
financial occupations: independent accountants, accounting and bookkeeping clerks.

138 occupations were considered balanced at the national level. Tailors and garment workers moved from shortage occupations to balanced occupations, while economists joined surplus occupations. The latter group, however, was diminished by psychologists and psychotherapists as well as accounting and bookkeeping clerks, who were in a shortage in 2022.

In 2022, a balanced and stable situation in the labour market could be observed: first and foremost in the case of insurance agents (balance forecast in 373 out of 380 districts), cultural entertainers and event organisers (balance forecast in 370 districts), photographers (367 districts) and recreational and sports trainers (365 districts).

The fact that a given occupational group remains a shortage group or remains balanced in the labour market at the national level does not mean that the same trend can be observed in all provinces. The situation in this regard remains diverse.

According to the Occupational Barometer survey, surplus occupations should not appear on a national scale in 2022, although surpluses may occur locally, both at the provincial and district levels.

Dolnośląskie

The Dolnośląskie Province is situated in the south-west Poland, sharing borders with Germany and Czechia. It covers a surface area of 19 947 km². The province has a population of 2 880 400. Women constitute 52% of the total population, and 68.1% of the population lives in cities. There are 91 towns and cities in the region, the largest being its capital, Wrocław (642 700 inhabitants).

Dolnośląskie Province’s advantage is a modern and dynamically developing economy, combining industrial traditions with state-of-the-art technologies. The region’s economic development is mainly based on a qualified and educated workforce, natural resources and investors. In addition, the special industrial zones offer favourable conditions for investing in the region. Lower Silesia is an automotive industry region, a leading manufacturer of porcelain, crystal, pharmaceutical and electronic products, as well as an important road, rail, air and waterway transportation hub. The headquarters of KGHM Polska Miedź SA, a leader in the global copper markets, are located there. There are many businesses with foreign capital in Lower Silesia, such as: Toyota, Volvo, Volkswagen, Bosch, PepsiCo, LG, McCain, HP, Amazon, the Service Centre for Aircraft Engines (Centrum Serwisowania Silników Lotniczych), in which the main investors are Lufthansa Technik and GE Aviation, set up near Środa Śląska, and a factory producing electric vehicle engines and batteries near Jawor, owned by Mercedes.

In 2021, the average employment level in the business sector stood at 483 900 persons, which was 0.5% higher than in the previous year. An increase in average employment was recorded in 7 sections, the largest in information and communication (by 5.1%) and in transportation and storage (by 2.7%). Employment decreased in 7 sections, mostly in accommodation and food service activities (by 8.3%) and other service activities (by 5.6%). One of the major driving forces behind the economy in the Dolnośląskie Province is the hospitality industry, which is one of the industries most affected by the epidemic.

The consequences of the epidemic added to the already recognized problems faced by undertakings.. The recent years have witnessed a decreasing importance of small enterprises and an increasing concentration of employment in medium-sized and large entities. A typical feature of the last year is also a huge demand for seasonal workers, especially in construction.

At the end of June 2022, 54 037 persons were registered as unemployed at district labour offices in the Dolnośląskie Province, of these, women accounted for 54.1%. This is 12 677 fewer people than at the end of June 2021, a decrease of 19 percentage points by one year. The recorded decrease is a result of the easement of COVID19 restrictions in Poland. The registered unemployment rate in the province was 4.4% (4.9% overall in Poland).

2022 brings further changes to the economic situation and the labour market of the province caused by the war in Ukraine, i.e. mainly a mass influx of people fleeing Ukraine, an increase in fuel prices, shortages in the raw materials market and some commodities due to restrictions on Russia and Belarus, an increase in inflation and an increase in interest rates.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Lower Silesia	www.dwup.pl
Statistics and analyses – Dolnośląskie Province	https://wupdolnoslaski.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Dolnośląskie Province	www.barometrzawodow.pl
Statistical Office in Wrocław	https://wroclaw.stat.gov.pl/

Kujawsko-Pomorskie

The Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province is located in the central part of Poland and covers a surface area of 18 000 km², which constitutes 5.7% of the country’s surface area. It has 2 047 900 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2021), with 59% of the population living in cities. The region has two capitals: Bydgoszcz, the seat of the majority of public administration offices, and Toruń, where the local government administration offices are located. Besides Bydgoszcz and Toruń, the province’s major cities are Włocławek, Grudziądz and Inowrocław. These cities are also important industrial hubs in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, representing primarily the food industry, closely linked to the province’s raw material base, followed by the chemical, electromechanical, textile, cellulose and printing industries. The fast-growing BPO/SSC sector, renewable energy sources and agriculture are also of great importance for the province’s economy. The province’s industrial development is boosted by its central location and a well-developed communication network. Tourism and recreation industries are developing thanks to natural resources (healing waters and health resorts, e.g. in Ciechocinek, Inowrocław and Wieniec Zdrój) and architectural landmarks (Toruń is on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List). The province is home to excellent scientific and research facilities with the Nicolaus Copernicus University (Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika) in Toruń, the University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz (Politechnika Bydgoska) and the Kazimierz Wielki University (Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego) in Bydgoszcz, as well as centres supporting the development of modern solutions for industry, such as the Centre for Technology Transfer (Centrum Transferu Technologii) and Exea Data Centre, both based in Toruń.

At the end of June 2022, the number of national economy entities in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province amounted to 216 644 and was 1.9% higher than in the previous year. Of the entities newly registered in June 2022, 22.5% were from the construction section and 14.7% from the trade section; repair of motor vehicles. In June 2022, the number of new entities registered in the REGON register was 4% more than in the previous year. The most important enterprises which represent the region’s key sectors include: Zakłady Azotowe Anwil S.A. (Włocławek), Mondi Świecie S.A – chemical industry; Grupa TZMO (Toruń) – chemical and pharmaceutical industry; Pojazdy Szynowe Pesa Bydgoszcz (Bydgoszcz), Apator S.A., (Toruń) – electrical engineering; Zakłady Tłuszczowe Kruszwica S.A. (Kruszwica), Krajowa Spółka Cukrowa S.A. (Toruń), Cereal Partners Poland Toruń-Pacific Sp. z o.o. (Toruń), Fabryka Cukiernicza Kopernik S.A. (Toruń) – food industry; ThyssenKrupp Materials Poland S.A. (Toruń), Nova Trading S.A. (Chojnice) – metal industry; ALSTAL Construction Group (Bydgoszcz), SOLBET Sp. z o.o. (Solec Kujawski) – construction industry; Lewiatan Holding S.A. (Włocławek), Oponeo PL S.A. (Toruń), Polomarket (Giebnia) – retail trade; Neuca (Toruń) – pharmaceutical industry; Chemirol Sp. z o.o. (Mogilno), Agrolok Sp. z o.o. (Golub-Dobrzyń) – agricultural supply; Atos IT Services Sp. z o.o., Nokia Bydgoszcz, Mobica Limited Sp. z o.o. (Bydgoszcz), Opus Capita Sp. z o.o. (Toruń) – BPO/SSC industry.

At the end of June 2022, the unemployment rate in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province was 6.9%(8.4% in June 2021). In particular districts, the unemployment rate in the discussed period was as follows: Bydgoszcz Grodzki – 2.1 %, Bydgoszcz Ziemski – 3.0 %, Grudziądz Grodzki – 10,6%, Grudziądz Ziemski – 11.3%, Toruń Grodzki – 3.5 %, Toruń Ziemski – 8.7 %, Włocławek Grodzki – 8.0%, Włocławek Ziemski – 11.2%, Aleksandrów Kujawski – 10,6%, Brodnica – 5.7 %, Chełmno – 11,5%, Golub – Dobrzyń 9,9%, Inowrocław – 10,7%, Lipno – 10.4%, Mogilno – 8.9%, Nakło nad Notecią – 10.2%, Radziejów – 12,9%, Rypin – 7.3%, Sępólno Krajeńskie – 9.8%, Świecie – 5.3%, Tuchola – 9.1%, Wąbrzeźno – 10.5%, Żnin – 7.7%. The economic activity rate in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 57.6% (58% for Poland), the employment rate was at 55.1% (56.2% for Poland) and the unemployment rate according to the LFS – at 4.3% (3.1% for Poland).

2021 brought relative stability in the labour market despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Economic activity in many industries, mainly in the service sector, resumed. Consequently, some workers who had lost their jobs returned to the labour market. At the end of 2021, the number of registered unemployed persons in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, compared with the previous year, decreased by 15.8% to 61 800 persons. In the structure of unemployed persons, a significant decrease was observed (38.1% less than in 2020) in the share of persons dismissed for reasons related to the employer’s establishment, as well as unemployed without professional qualifications and young unemployed up to the age of 25 (24.9%). In June 2022, 55 547 unemployed persons were registered in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province, 18.8% less than a year ago.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Toruń	http://wuptorun.praca.gov.pl/
Statistics and analyses – Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province	https://wuptorun.praca.gov.pl/statystyki-i-analizy-urzedu
Occupational Barometer – Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/modul/publikacje
Statistical Office in Bydgoszcz	https://bydgoszcz.stat.gov.pl

In 2021, employers reported 70 131 job vacancies and activation offers to labour offices. Throughout the year, the number of vacancies and activation offers increased by 34%. Vacancies and activation offers available through district labour offices were most often for elementary workers (29.4%) and craft and related trades workers (20.8%). In 2021, building caretakers were the most frequently sought after. They accounted for 5.5% of vacancies and occupational activation places.

The labour demand survey shows that in the fourth quarter of 2021, there were 4 100 vacancies in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province. Manufacturing (31.7%) had the highest number of vacancies in this period. The other sections of the strongest job vacancies in 2021 were wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles (14.1%) and construction (14.4%).

The results of the Occupational Barometer survey show that shortages of workers are expected in the following industries in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province in 2022:

industrial sector: electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, tailors and garment workers, stock clerks, metalworking machine operators, wood treaters and cabinet makers, welders, toolmakers;
transport: heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, bus drivers, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers, and automotive sheet-metal workers and spray painters and varnishers;
construction: concrete placers and finishers, pavers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, building finishers and building workers;
medical and care industry: physiotherapists and massage therapists, medical doctors, nurses and midwives, psychologists and psychotherapists, paramedical practitioners, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities;
education: foreign language teachers, teachers of general subjects, vocational training teachers, teachers of vocational subjects;
food service: cooks, chefs.

In most cases, job applicants in the above industries are required to have current certification (including welding, electrical certifications, Driving Certificate of Professional Competency) and medical certificates. A lack of professional experience or a long professional break and the resultant obsolescence of qualifications are an obstacle to taking up employment for many jobseekers in technical professions. Persons seeking employment in the above industries are also often expected to be ready to work in difficult conditions (the metal industry), have knowledge of modern technologies and foreign languages, and be flexible.

Lubelskie

The Lubelskie Region is located in the central-eastern part of Poland. The Region’s industrial development is poor, but it is an important agricultural production centre. It borders Podlaskie, Mazowieckie, Świętokrzyskie and Podkarpackie regions. The Lubelskie Province borders Belarus and Ukraine. It is the third largest region in Poland, with an area of 25 100 km². The population density is 83 persons per km², compared with the national average of 122 persons per km². In terms of population, the Lubelskie Province ranked ninth in Poland, with the share of urban dwellers in the total population standing at 14. The Lubelskie Province is divided into 24 districts. There are a total of 213 municipalities in the Lubelskie Province, including 20 urban municipalities, 163 rural municipalities and 30 urban and rural municipalities. The Lubelskie Province is one of four Polish provinces where more than half of the population live in rural areas. The city of Lublin is the province’s administrative centre. Other major towns in the region are Chełm, Zamość and Biała Podlaska.

At the end of December 2021, the Lubelskie Province had a population of 2 076 382, i.e. 5.5% of the total population of Poland. The statistics show a decreasing trend in the region’s population. At the end of 2021, more women lived in the Lubelskie Province, constituting 51.5% of the province’s total population. Another characteristic feature is a relatively low level of urbanisation. The most urbanised districts were: Świdnik (an urban population of 57.5%), Puławy (47.3%) and Ryki (45.6%) Disctricts. The lowest share of inhabitants of towns and cities was recorded in Chełm Disctrict (9.9%) and Lublin District (7%).

The labour demand survey shows that at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of employedpersons stood at 465 800. Nearly two-thirds (64.3%) of these persons were employed in the private sector, while 35.7% were employed in the public sector. 53.7% of employed persons worked in large enterprises, 26.6% – in medium-sized enterprises and 19.7% – in small enterprises. Most people worked in entities from the following sections: manufacturing (20.8%), trade, repair of motor vehicles (14.9%) and education (13.9%).

As of the end of June 2022, 61 342 unemployed persons were registered at labour offices, including 31 326 women (51.1%). The unemployment rate was 6.6%, which was 1.7% higher than the national rate of 4.9%. The highest unemployment rate was in the following districts: Włodawa (13.2%), Hrubieszów (11%) and Krasnystaw (10.6%), and the lowest in the following districts: Łuków (3.1%), Biłogoraj (4.2%) and Lublin (4.5%). 5 916 unemployed persons (i.e. 9.6%), including 3 236 women, were entitled to benefits. The Lubelskie Province is a region that is considered poorly urbanised and underdeveloped industrially. Nevertheless, it is an important centre of agricultural production, especially in the new direction of organic farming. This is evidenced by the large land resources, a high share of the agricultural population and significant agricultural production on the national scale. Organic farming is a new and fast-growing direction of farming in the region. The food industry, including fruit and vegetable, sugar, dairy, milling, brewing or tobacco industry, plays an important role in this province. Moreover, apiculture and the herbal sector are of great importance. Apart from the agri-food sector, the mining industry also plays a significant part. The Bogdanka hard coal mine is located in the eastern part of the Lublin Upland. There are also many cement plants and building material plants manufacturing traditional bricks and clinker bricks, cellular concrete and precast concrete products. Natural mineral waters, the pride of the Nałęczów health resort, are the natural wealth of the region. The region’s economy also covers chemical industry, timber and furniture industry, metal and machine-building industry, including the aerospace industry in Świdnik.

The major employers in the Lubelskie Province include: EMPERIA HOLDING – a network of food wholesalers, the capital group Black Red White – a furniture manufacturer, Genpact Poland Spółka z o.o., Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. – a hard coal producer for energy purposes; Lubella FOOD S.A. – one of the largest national leaders in the production of flour, pasta and salt sticks; Sipma – producer of agricultural and horticultural machinery, PGE Dystrybucja, Zakłady Azotowe Puławy S.A – the leader of the Polish chemical and fertilizer industry in the production of nitrogen fertilizers for agriculture, Zakłady Mięsne Łuków S.A., Zakład Mięsny ‘Wierzejki’, Herbapol Lublin S.A. – producer of herbal products, table syrups and tea, POL-SKONE Sp. z o.o. – a joinery company, producer of wooden doors and windows, Wytwórnia Sprzętu Komunikacyjnego ‘PZL-Świdnik’ S.A. – a manufacturer of aircraft and helicopters, Perła Browary Lubelskie, Stanchem Sp. z o.o. Przedsiębiorstwo Chemiczne, Spółdzielnia Mleczarska Spomlek in Radzyń Podlaski, Okręgowa Spółdzielnia Mleczarska in Krasnystaw, Spółdzielnia Mleczarska in Ryki, Fabryka Łożysk Tocznych in Kraśnik, and Nałęczowianka Sp. z o.o – a mineral water producer; Model Opakowania Sp. z o.o – corrugated board manufacturing plant, Fabryka Kabli ELPAR Sp. z o.o. in Parczew.

When compared to other regions in the country, the Lubelskie Province is relatively mildly affected by the pandemic-related crisis. The first two months of the pandemic, with little knowledge of the coronavirus, were the hardest and created a lot of uncertainty. As time passed, most employers managed to implement sanitary regime rules, and remote work as a solution to minimise the risk of virus transmission without the work being disrupted.

During the pandemic, the Lubelskie Province was one of the six where the unemployment rate decreased – if we consider March 2020 (the beginning of the pandemic) and December 2021. In March 2020, the unemployment rate was 7.6% and it decreased by 0.4% compared with December 2021 (7.2%). Other provinces that noted the decrease of this indicator were Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Świętokrzyskie, Lubuskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Podlaskie Provinces. It is noteworthy that the Lubelskie Province had the third highest decrease in Poland. However, if we refer to the rate for June 2022 as compared to March 2020, it fell by 1 percentage point and was one of the six highest drops in provinces.

Throughout the pandemic, employers continued to focus on maintaining existing jobs and limiting the number of new admissions to work. This situation is confirmed by data on the number of job offers reported to the Public Employment Service. 40 066 job offers were reported to district labour offices in the Lubelskie Province in 2020, which represents 81% of the number of job offers reported in 2019 (49 210 offers). It can be noted that in 2021, the number of job offers increased again to 47 761, similar to the number of offers before the pandemic (2019). However, it should be emphasised that job offers appearing at labour offices represent only a small part of job offers appearing on the market. In addition, the trend in the decreasing number of job offers reported to the Public Employment Services has been persistent for several years.

An additional factor confirming that employers, at least at the beginning of the pandemic, wanted to keep existing jobs, rather than hire new staff, was the use of the introduced ‘Anti-Crisis Shield’. Over the two-year period, 8 492 aid applications were submitted, and 5 562 applications were paid for a total amount of PLN 466 610 461.02. 105 668 employees were included in successful applications. Improvements in the labour market were largely due to easing restrictions, including no lockdown renawals.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Lublin	http://.wuplublin.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Lubelskie Province	https://wuplublin.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Labour Market Observatory of Lubelskie Province	https://wuplublin.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/lorp
Occupational Barometer – Lubelskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl
Statistical Office in Lublin	http://www.stat.gov.pl/lublin

Lubuskie

The Lubuskie Province is located in central-western Poland (it borders Germany to the west). It occupies a surface area of nearly 14 000 km² and is the 13th largest region in Poland. In terms of population, with 991 200 inhabitants, the province ranks penultimate in the country. Women constitute 51.4% of the total population, while men constitute 48.6%. Rural areas are home to 35.4% of the total population; urban areas are home to 64.6%. The pre-working age population accounted for 18.1% of the province’s population. The working-age population accounted for 59.3%, and the remaining 22.6% was the post-working age population.

The Lubuskie Province is a moderately industrialised region. A characteristic feature of the region’s economy is the presence of industrial plants of different sizes, with the prevalence of small and medium-sized enterprises. A total of 264 100 persons were employed in the Lubuskie Province at the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, which was an increase of 2.2% compared with the previous year. Most people worked in the following sections: manufacturing (28.0%), wholesale and retail trade (16.0%), education (10.0%), transportation and storage (8.5%), human health and social work activities (8.1%), construction (5.6%), public administration and defence (5.3%). Important industrial production sectors include manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, manufacture of products of wood, cork, straw and plaiting materials, manufacture of food products. Manufacturers of paper and paper products, as well as of metal products, also play a significant role. At the end of 2021, 1 621 companies with foreign equity participation were registered in the Lubuskie Province, including 1 508 limited liability companies. The companies with foreign equity participation in the Lubuskie Province represented 2.2% of all companies with foreign equity participation in Poland. In this respect, Lubuskie Province ranks 10th in the country. The major employers in the region are Kronopol Sp z o.o. in Żary, Arctic Paper Kostrzyń S.A. in Kostrzyn, Relpol S.A. GK in Żary, Gedia Poland Sp. z o.o. in Nowa Sól, Polmax Polska S.A. in Świebodzin, GK Seco/Warwick S.A. in Świebodzin, Cinkciarz.pl Sp. z o.o. in Zielona Góra, ICT Poland Sp. z o.o. in Kostrzyn, Stelmet S.A. in Zielona Góra, Lubuskie ZAE Lumel S.A. in Zielona Góra, Faurecia in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Iost Polska in Nowa Sól, Adient Poland Sp. z o.o. in Świebodzin, Se Bordnetze Polska Sp. z o.o. in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Alumetal Poland Sp. z o.o. in Nowa Sól, Rockwool Polska Sp. z o.o. in Cigacice, Domo Engineering Plastics Poland Sp. z o.o. in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Elektrociepłownia Zielona Góra S.A. in Zielona Góra, Uni-Truck Sp. z o.o. in Zielona Góra, Homanit Krosno Odrzańskie Sp. z o.o. in Krośno Odrzańskie, Nord Napędy Zakłady Produkcyjne Sp. z o.o. in Nowa Sól, Valmet Automotive Sp. z o.o. in Żary.

At the end of the first quarter of 2022, the economic activity rate was 55.7%. The employment rate stood at 54.5 %. At the end of June 2022, 15 789 unemployed persons were registered at district labour offices. Between June 2021 and June 2022, the number of unemployed persons decreased by 5 837, i.e. by 27%. In the first quarter of 2022, the number of registered unemployed persons decreased by 1.3%, while in the second quarter of 2022, the number of registered unemployed persons decreased by 11.9%. The slight decrease in the first quarter of 2022 was mainly seasonal (winter period) and was slightly associated with the COVID-19 epidemic, with most economic restrictions having been lifted since 1 March 2022.

At the end of June 2022, the unemployment rate was 4.2% (the fourth position in the country) and was lower by 0.7% than the national rate (4.9%). At the end of June 2022, the highest unemployment rate was recorded for the following districts: Strzelce-Drezdenko (7.9%), Zielona Góra (7.3%), Wschowa (6.8%) and Międzyrzecz (6.8%). The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in districts: Słubice (2.2%), Gorzów (2.3%), Świebodzin (2.7%). The unemployment rate recorded in other districts: Zielona Góra (urban district) – 3.2%, Gorzów (rural district) – 3.2%, Sulęcin – 3.7%, Żary – 4.5%, Nowa Sól – 4.6%, Krosno – 5.4% and Żagań – 5.7%. According to the LFS, the unemployment rate for the Lubuskie Province at the end of the first quarter of 2022 cannot be calculated due to random sampling errors.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Zielona Góra	www.wupzielonagora.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Lubuskie Province	https://wupzielonagora.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Lubuskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Zielona Góra	https://zielonagora.stat.gov.pl/

2 300 job vacancies were recorded at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, i.e. 76% more than at the end of the previous year. The highest number of vacancies was recorded in the following sections: ‘manufacturing’ (33.4% of the total), ‘transportation and storage’ (13.5%), construction (11.8%) and ‘public administration and defence’ (7.3%).

Most of the vacancies concerned occupations included in the group ‘plant and machine operators and assemblers’ (30.5%), ‘craft and related trades workers’ (29.1%), ‘professionals’ (13.7%), ‘technicians and associate professionals’ (7.9%), ‘clerical support workers’ (7.9%).

From January to June 2022, 20 322 job offers were recorded at labour offices, 12.1% less than in the corresponding period of 2021. Most of them were available for: ‘elementary workers ’ – 7 963 job offers (39.2% of all offers), ‘craft and related trades workers’ – 2 780 job offers (13.7%), ‘service and sales workers’ – 2 463 job offers (12.1%), ‘plant and machine operators and assemblers’ 2 256 job offers (11.1%).

Most job offers were notified for the following elementary occupational groups: manufacturing labourers – 2 571 (12.7% of total offers), labourers working on handling goods – 1 503 offers (7.4%), building caretakers – 930 offers (4.6%), stock clerks and related – 784 offers (3.9%), general office clerks – 748 offers (3.7%), odd job persons – 676 offers (3.3%), hand packers and markers – 601 offers (3.0%), shop sales assistants – 535 offers (2.6%), office, hotel and related cleaners and helpers – 408 offers (2.0%), plastic products machine operators – 364 offers (1.8%), subsistence fishers and gatherers – 356 offers (1,8%), butchers, fishmongers and related food preparers – 316 offers (1.6%). The Occupational Barometer for 2022 forecasts the following shortage occupations in the Lubuskie Province: concrete placers and finishers, biologists, biotechnologists and biomedical scientists, sheet-metal workers and spray painters and varnishers, pavers, carpenters and joiners, confectionery makers, automotive inspectors, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, physiotherapists and massage therapists, hairdressers, environmental engineering engineers, bus drivers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, site managers, tailors and garment workers, cooks, medical doctors, mail carriers and couriers, speech therapists and audiologists, stock clerks, machinery mechanics and repairers, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, language teachers and trainers, primary school teachers, vocational training teachers, teachers of general subjects, teachers of vocational subjects, early childhood teachers, teachers of special schools and integrated classes, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, agricultural and horticultural machinery operators, metalworking machine operators, child carer workers, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, educational counsellors, bakers, nurses and midwives, financial and accounting clerks with language skills, accounting and bookkeeping clerks, manual and elementary workers, building finishers, uniformed services personnel, social workers, database designers and administrators, software developers, meat and fish processors, psychologists and psychotherapists, paramedical practitioners, building workers, forestry workers, wood treaters and cabinet-makers, independent accountants, welders, human resources and recruitment specialists, electronics, automation and robotics professionals, forwarding agents and supply and distribution agents, sales workers and cashiers, chefs, toolmakers, upholsterers, instructors in educational and care establishments.

Łódzkie

The Łódzkie Region is located in central Poland. It covers an area of 18 218.95 km². According to the data as of 31 December 2021, the population of the Łódzkie Province was 2 416 902, i.e. approx. 6.4% of the total number of Polish residents. The urban population constituted 62.4% of the total population. The largest urban agglomeration is the agglomeration of Łódź, with 664 071 inhabitants as of 31 December 2021.

58 230 unemployed persons were registered at labour offices at the end of June 2022, and the unemployment rate was 5.3% (an increase of 1.0% compared with June 2021). The districts with the highest unemployment rate were: Kutno – 7.3%, Tomaszów and Pajęczno – 6.7%. The districts with the lowest unemployment rate were: Rawa – 2.8%, Skierniewice – 3.1% and Radomsko – 4.2%. The unemployment rate for Łódź stood at 5.6%. According to the LFS, the unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2022 was 4.5%. The employment rate stood at 58.3% (compared with 56.2% for Poland in the first quarter of 2022) and the economic activity rate was 60% (compared with 58.0% for Poland in the first quarter of 2022).

In 2020, the GDP per capita of the Łódzkie Province was PLN 58 840, which constituted 97% of the national average (PLN 60 663 – 5th place in the country). It should be stressed that, in terms of economic development, the Łódzkie Province is gradually narrowing the gap separating it from the EU’s most developed regions.

Apart from the textile and clothing industry, the production of household appliances, construction and biotechnology are also developing in the Łódzkie Province.

industry is the most important economic sector of the Łódzkie Province, contributing greatly to the regional output. The most developed branches of industry are as follows: production of textiles and clothing, mining of lignite, generation and distribution of electricity, production of chemical products, production of food products, production of machinery and equipment, production of electrical equipment and building materials. The industrial sector is clustered around two centres: the Łódź agglomeration, dominated by the textiles and clothing industry, food and food processing industry, electromechanical industry, pharmaceutical industry and chemical industry, and the Piotrków Trybunalski and Bełchatów area, dominated by the mining industry, power generation industry, rubber industry, building materials industry, furniture industry, timber industry, spirits industry, glass industry and pharmaceutical industry.

Despite significant changes in the branch structure of the province’s industry, the textile and clothing industry still holds a leading position in the region’s production. One of the leading companies in this industry is Redan S.A. Other dynamically developing sectors in the Łódzkie region are pharmaceutical industry and wholesale trade in pharmaceutical products. Leading enterprises in this sector include: Pelion Healthcare Group, Adamed Pharma S.A.(Manufacturing facility in Pabianice), Polfa S.A. Pharmaceutical Facility in Kutno, Sensilab Polska Sp. z o.o., MEDANA PHARMA S.A., pharmaceutical facilities and herbal medicine manufacturers: Herbapol Łódź and Agropharm S.A. Tuszyn.

A thriving Slovenian medicine factory, Lek S.A. (member of the Sandoz group), is located in Stryków near Łódź. Another industry developing dynamically in the Łódzkie Province is the manufacture of building materials. The major manufacturer is the Atlas group, a leader in the domestic market and Europe’s third largest manufacturer of construction chemicals.

Building materials are processed in the Łódzkie Province and the region is also taking the lead in the country in the production of ceramic tiles (Ceramika Opoczno, Ceramika Paradyż, Ceramika Tubądzin). The province is also home to companies from the household appliances industry: BSH Sprzęt Gospodarstwa Domowego Sp. z o. o., Whirlpool Company Polska Sp. z o.o. (formerly Indesit). The Łódź Special Economic Zone plays an important role in the province. It brings together more than 100 companies in the following sectors: logistics, pharmaceuticals, plastic processing, BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), domestic appliances, IT, the medical, cosmetics and food industries.

The outsourcing sector (BPO) has seen rapid development in recent years. A 2022 report by the Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland on the development of the BPO/SSC sector in Poland shows that Łódź is one of the six largest BPO centres in the country. According to data for the first quarter of 2022, there were 101 companies providing services in foreign languages in the business services sector, covering BPO, SSC, IT and R&D service centres. Many companies with foreign equity participation operate in the region: Accenture, Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), BMS Poland, Ceri International, Citi, Fujitsu, GE Power Controls, HP, Whirlpool (formerly Indesit), Infosys, Mobica, Nordea, GFT Polska (Rule Financial), Samsung Poland R&D Center, Sii, SouthWestern, Takeda, Tate & Lyle. New investments in the region in this sector: Avent Corporation, Axalta Coating Systems Poland, Gogel Technologies, Marel Shared Services Center, Well Company, XSYS Poland. Most of these companies specialise in IT services, financial and accounting processes, as well as research and development processes and work for companies from all over the world. Persons with foreign language skills are in demand in this sector.

The IT sector is yet another sector gaining relevance in the region (particularly in the city of Łódź). Major employers include: AMG.net, LSI Software, Tomtom, Intersoft, Centrum Komputerowe Zeto, Ericsson (formerly Ericpol), Gromar, Transition Technologies S.A., HP, Xerox, HPCC Herkules PC Components, Farbrity Grupa K2, Xerox (ACS Solutions). Application programmers, ICT systems consultants, computer systems and network engineers, and application enhancement and development professionals are primarily in demand in this industry.

Collective redundancies:

In June 2022, two companies from the Łódzkie Province notified labour offices of their intention to carry out collective redundancies in a total of 232 persons: TomTom Polska Sp. z o.o. from Łódź – 208 persons, and Huta Glass ‘FENIX’ 2 Spółka z o.o. from Piotrków Trybunalski – 24 persons. In June, redundancies took place in two employer’s establishments, as previously announced, resulting in 567 people receiving notices of termination. These were: mFinanze S.A. in Łódź – 500 persons, and ‘TEXTON’ S.A. in Zgierz – 67 persons.

The analysis of unemployment and the number of job offers in the Łódzkie Province shows that the situation in the labour market is slowly stabilising. Still, it is difficult to venture a statement about returning to the normal work system. Employers are facing a number of challenges brought about by the pandemic, which has transformed the labour market. In such circumstances, it is not easy to balance labour supply and demand. There have been regulatory proposals for new organisation of work. The future of employment is moving towards a hybrid and flexible working model. Employees and employers are increasingly turning to remote collaboration with a company located in another locality. Lack of direct contact with the team and the employer translates into feelings of safety – this is an important factor in recent career decisions.

As in times before the virus spread, the problem of meeting staffing needs in companies still persists. It is noteworthy that service industries such as catering or tourism have great difficulties in recruiting staff after the lockdown. Trade and services are slowly beginning to recover, but the perspective of subsequent lockdowns limits their opportunities. There are fewer people willing to work due to low job stability. A large proportion of employees went to employers in other sectors, with a more secure financial situation. Many people, who had lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, found employment in the underground economy, such as seasonal work in agriculture and horticulture.

Companies that want to be competitive have to opt for robotisation and digitisation of production and sales processes. The digital revolution, which was, in a way, imposed by the pandemic, brought two different results: workers to whom digitisation and automation gave jobs, and those, whose tasks were limited by these processes.

The leading role was taken by the industries that had benefited from the pandemic: IT and telecommunications, media, marketing and e-commerce. Economic stability was maintained by manufacturing, construction and TLS companies. These industries are currently experiencing a huge shortage of labour.

However, market imbalances remain: some activities have developed, while many companies cannot overcome the crisis. Small catering outlets or services such as tourism, hairdressing and beauty care, fitness activities; culture and mass events are trying to rebuild their position in the market.

Traineeships and apprenticeships were hit by the pandemic, with companies often opting out from hiring young people starting in the labour market. Employees starting their careers would usually have to change jobs. In such a situation, the winning party was a generation with professional experience and a contract form that protects against sudden loss of work.

The slow reversal of the COVID-19 epidemic has resulted in increased movement in our province's labour market. Resilient employers, but also those returning to the game, are currently experiencing a shortage of labour. Most of the people who had found themselves in a difficult employment situation due to the lockdown took jobs in other industries. However, companies that have suspended their operations due to the pandemic find it difficult to rebuild staff overnight.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Łódź	http://wuplodz.praca.gov.pl/
Statistics and analyses – Łódzkie Province	https://wuplodz.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/ https://wuplodz.praca.gov.pl/web/rorp/badania-i-raporty
Eurostat	https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00005/default/table?l…
Occupational Barometer – Łódzkie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Łódź	http://lodz.stat.gov.pl/

According to the Occupational Barometer survey, the inflow of job offers to the Central Job Offer Database (CBOP) in the first half of 2021 and the second half of 2020 was as follows: manual and elementary workers – 46 585 (33.2%); stock clerks – 11 128 (7.9%), building caretakers, porters, janitors and watch persons – 8 821 (6.3%).

Among the total workforce in the Łódzkie Province, the most numerous occupational groups, as at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, were professionals, craft and related trades workers, as well as plant and machine operators and assemblers.

According to the 2022 Occupational Barometer, shortage occupations at the province level include: electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, medical doctors, stock clerks, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, teachers of vocational subjects, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, nurses and midwives, accounting and bookkeeping clerks, and welders.

In terms of occupations, most of the vacancies in the Central Job Offer Database concerned manual and elementary workers (33.2%), stock clerks (7.9%), building caretakers, porters, janitors and watch persons (6.3%), cleaners and helpers (4.1%), meat and fish processing workers (3.6%), and rubber product machine operators (3.3%).

The available job advertisements are dominated by job descriptions in which employers specify the skills and qualifications needed to work in a specific place. The scope of responsibilities often covers several occupations. Multi-skilling is expected of both high-end specialists in, for example, IT, automation, electronics or business outsourcing, as well as persons with lower qualifications, performing work related to services, such as toolmakers-welders, backhoe loader operators, and drivers-suppliers.

Occupational groups most sought after in the Łódzkie Province

Health and medical services

It should be emphasised that the situation remains difficult in public medical facilities. Hospitals and primary health care centres are looking for specialist medical practitioners. Demands have also been notified in patient services to qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, a number of factors contribute to the shortage of medical staff, with wage gaps being the main factor. There is an outflow of staff from smaller towns to the Łódź agglomeration due to better earnings or career opportunities (the next level of specialisation may be reached in a different, modern and better-equipped facility offering higher salaries).

Nurses and midwives are the next group of occupations that are strongly in shortage in the labour market in Łódź. There is a shortage of staff with up-to-date qualifications that align with the job offer requirements. Similar to medical doctors, also representatives of this group migrate to find more attractive jobs in terms of salary levels and working conditions. The current staff is ageing. Unfortunately, a relatively long and demanding higher education pathway discourages people from taking up this profession – hence, there is increasing talk of rebuilding opportunities for gaining nursing qualifications in high school.

Education

Adopting ideas on the reintegration of students with disabilities in publicly accessible schools makes it necessary to organise special care for these students in such establishments. In these circumstances, it is essential to employ teachers of special schools and integrated classes. Moreover, teachers in science subjects, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry or natural history, are lacking in general education schools. Foreign language teachers and trainers are in demand at state and private schools.

While the demand for vocational education from the labour market is significant, vocational schools record low interest in training expressed by young people, hence there is a small number of students in these training courses. Teachers of vocational subjects and vocational training teachers are leaving schools. There is also no natural generational change in these specialities. Due to the low teacher salaries, there are no successors to existing positions.

Building occupations

There is a strong shortage of up-to-date qualifications in building occupations. The sector is struggling with a shortage of educated and experienced staff. There is no willingness to perform such hard work. There are shortages not only of new staff but also of reliable vocational education among carpenters and joiners. Jobs of earthmoving plant operators and mechanics have been popular on the province’s labour market for years, requiring up-to-date professional qualifications and health-related fitness due to physical work, which necessitates focus and accuracy. The construction market is also looking for construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, and building finishers. People with such qualifications often carry out their own business activities.

Manufacturing and TLS (transport, logistics, shipping)

Manufacturing, which is developing in the Łódzkie Province, generates demand for workers to operate production lines and large-scale stores (Łódź Special Economic Zone).

The most sought-after occupations in the labour market of Łódź include robot operators and industrial manipulators, stock clerks licensed to operate industrial trucks, and heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers. In addition, the TLS industry is looking for van drivers as well as logistics and forwarding agents.

Lower-level employees

A special feature of this group is increased job rotation, driven by difficult working conditions and low pay. The same applies to the following occupational groups: building caretakers, porters, janitors and watch persons, sales workers and cashiers, and meat and fish processing workers. Employers draw attention to the lack of professional training in occupations such as butcher, ham and sausage maker or preparer of animal intestines of animals for sausage production.

In conclusion, the expanding the manufacturing industry in the Łódzkie Province generates demand for workers to operate production lines and large-scale stores. There is a strong demand in the regional labour market for qualifications to operate devices, installations and networks, as well as qualifications of earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, or heavy truck drivers.

According to selected sections of PKD (Polish Classification of Activities), the number of jobs created in the Łódzkie Province in 2021 exceeded the number of jobs made redundant by 22 000. Only agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing had a negative balance.

The saturation of the labour market as projected in 2021 can be seen on the basis of, inter alia, the list of shortage occupations in the district of Łódź. Even though the list of specialisations for occupations that went from deficit to balance have shortened, it should be noted that employers in Łódź are still urgently looking for workers in the following occupations: stock clerk, electrician, bricklayer, plasterer, building finisher, software developer, automation and robotics specialist, as well as medical doctor and nurse.

Małopolskie

The Małopolska Region (Lesser Poland) is located in the south of Poland and borders with Slovakia and the following regions: Świętokrzyskie, Podkarpackie and Śląskie (Silesia). It occupies a surface area of 15 000 km²and its population is 3.4 million. The province covers 5% of the total surface area of Poland. The Małopolskie Province is divided into 22 districts – 19 rural districts and 3 urban districts, which comprise a total of 182 municipalities. The main cities of the province are: Kraków – the former capital city of Poland and the current capital of the region (782 000 inhabitants), Tarnów (106 000 inhabitants) and Nowy Sącz (83 000 inhabitants). The Małopolskie Province accounts for approximately 9% of the total population of Poland. As regards population, the Małopolskie Province comes in the fourth place in Poland, after the Mazowieckie, Śląskie and Wielkopolskie Provinces. The population density in 2021 was 224 persons per km², compared with the national average of 122 persons per km². Only the Śląskie Province is more densely populated. The ratio of women to men has not changed (106 women per 100 men). The share of urban dwellers in the total population, known as the urbanisation rate, is 48% and one of the lowest in the country.

At the end of 2021, more than 445 000 business entities were registered in the Małopolskie Province. Over 97% of them belong to the private sector. The highest number of businesses operated in the following sections: trade and repair of motor vehicles, construction, and professional, scientific and technical activity. The Małopolskie Province has favourable conditions for the development of the high-technology sector, automotive sector, tourism and BSS (Business Services Sector). The biggest companies operating in the Małopolskie Province include: Polska Spółka Gazownictwa (Tarnów), Can-Pack (Kraków), Carlsberg Polska (Brzesko), Coca-Cola (Niepołomice), Maspex (Wadowice), Grupa Kęty, ArcelorMittal (Kraków), Tele-Fonika Kable (Myślenice), Stalprodukt (Bochnia), Delphi Poland (Kraków), Valeo Autosystemy (Skawina), Synthos S.A. (Oświęcim), BP (Kraków), PGE Paliwa (Kraków), Exclusive Networks Poland S.A. (Kraków), Grupa PGD (Kraków), Motorola (Kraków), IBM (Kraków), Philip Morris Distribution (Kraków), Capgemini (Kraków), Comarch SA. (Kraków), Control Process (Kraków), Newag SA (Nowy Sącz). The Małopolska region is also an important video game industry hub. Over 20% of video game companies have their registered offices or branches in this region, including Gamedesire, Reality Pump Studio and CD Projekt.

The economic activity rate in the fourth quarter of 2021 stood at 56.5% and was lower than the national average (58%), which places the province in the 9th place in Poland. Approx. 1.5 million persons were employed in the Małopolska region in 2020, i.e. more than half of the over-15 age group (the employment rate stood at 56.9%).

In 2021, after the slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of the economy was observed. The high demand for workers contributed to a decrease in unemployment in the region. At the end of December 2021, district labour offices in the Małopolska region registered 69 948 persons, i.e. 13 102 persons less than a year before (16%), but more than at the end of 2019, i.e. before the pandemic (by 12%). At the end of 2021, the registered unemployment rate in the Małopolska region was 4.5%, which means that it was lower than in 2021 (by 0.4%) but higher than in 2019, i.e. before the pandemic (by 0.2%), and also lower than the national average (by 0.9%).

The unemployment rate was the lowest in the district of Myślenice (2.6%), while the highest in the district of Dąbrowa (9.1%). The unemployment rate decreased in 2022 in all districts.

In the first half of 2022, the situation in the labour market improved further. The unemployment rate in the Małopolska region at the end of June 2022 was 4.1% and decreased by 0.1 percentage points compared with May and by 0.9 percentage points year-on-year. The lowest rate was recorded in the following districts: the city of Kraków (2.6%), Myślenice District (2.7%) and the city of Nowy Sącz (2.8%). The highest rate was recorded in the following districts: Dąbrowa District (8.5%), Nowy Sącz District (7.3%) and Tatra District (7%). In each district, the rate decreased compared with June in the previous year.

At the end of June 2022, the number of unemployed persons registered at district labour offices was 63 943 persons and decreased by 14 512 persons, i.e. 18.4%, compared with the previous year (in June 2021, the number of unemployed persons was 78 455).

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Kraków	http://www.wup-krakow.pl
Statistics and analyses – Małopolskie Province	https://wupkrakow.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Małopolskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Kraków	http://krakow.stat.gov.pl

The Labour Demand survey by the Statistics Poland shows that companies in the Małopolskie Province offered 16 000 vacancies at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. 55.6% of them concerned work in medium-sized or large companies. District labour offices in the Małopolska region had 5 400 job offers at their disposal in the same period.

Vacancies were available mainly in the following sectors: professional, scientific and technical activities (18%), manufacturing (15.7%), wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (6.7%), administrative and support service activities (3.9%), and transportation and storage (3.4%).

The 2022 Occupational Barometer survey identified 34 occupations with the most acute shortages of workers in the labour market in the Małopolskie Province. These include heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, bus drivers, independent accountants, welders, hairdressers, stock clerks, vocational training teachers and teachers of vocational subjects, numerous building occupations: earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, building finishers and building workers, as well as medical and care industry occupations, i.e. nurses and midwives, medical doctors, physiotherapists and massage therapists, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, psychologists and psychotherapists, paramedical practitioners.

In the province’s capital, Kraków, shortage occupations were recorded in, inter alia, the following groups:

occupations related to IT and business services: analysts, ICT system testers and operators, database designers and administrators, software developers, accounting and bookkeeping clerks, telephone and electronic customer service workers, survey interviewers, telephone survey interviewers, finance professionals;
construction and industrial workers: concrete placers and finishers, pavers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, bricklayers and plasterers, construction installation assemblers, welders, building finishers, manual and elementary workers, building workers;
service workers: tailors and garment workers, hairdressers, sales workers and cashiers, mail carriers and couriers, beauticians;
shipping and logistics workers: stock clerks, forwarding agents and supply and distribution agents, buyers and suppliers;
medical workers: medical doctors, nurses and midwives, physiotherapists and massage therapists, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, paramedical practitioners.

In 2021, there was a much higher demand for workers than in 2020, when employers had stopped with staff movements due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, 94 600 job offers were notified to district labour offices in the Małopolskie Province, i.e. 33.9% more than in 2020 and 3.3% more than in 2019.

However, due to the more difficult economic situation in 2022, the number of job offers is starting to decrease. In June 2022, 7 015 offers were communicated to district labour offices, i.e. 1 256 less in 2021.

Mazowieckie

The Mazowieckie Province is located in the central-eastern part of Poland. It has an area of 35 559 km² (11.4% of the area of Poland) and a population of 5 419 700 lived there in 2021 (14.2% of the population of Poland), 52.2% of which were women. Warsaw is the largest city in the region, accounting for over 33.1% of the total population of the province, i.e. 1 795 600 people. The following subregional centres also play an important role in the Mazowieckie Province: Radom, Płock, Siedlce, Ostrołęka and Ciechanów. The degree of urbanisation in the province is high and it stood at 64.7%, whereas at the national level – at 61.0%.

At the end of March 2022, there were 936 946 business entities registered in the Mazowieckie Province (19.3% of those registered in Poland), of which 53.9% operated in Warsaw. Most of them were engaged in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles (20.6% of all entities), professional, scientific and technical activities (15.3% of all entities), construction (10.4% of all entities), and information and communication (8.0% of all entities).

In May 2022, the highest number of persons were employed in the Mazowieckie Province in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles (an average of 349 000 persons), manufacturing (344 900), and transportation and storage (275 700). Their total share represented 61.7% of the total number of persons employed in the business sector.

121 733 unemployed persons were registered at labour offices at the end of June 2022, which means that almost every seventh unemployed person in Poland came from the Mazowieckie Province. The registered unemployment rate in the Mazowieckie Province stood at 4.3% at the end of June 2022 (compared with the national average of 4.9%). The unemployment rate in this region varies greatly. In June 2022, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in the following districts: Szydłowiec District (21.2%), Maków District (14.6%), Przysucha District (14.3%), Radom District (14.2%), and Pułtusk District (13%). The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the city of Warsaw (1.7%) and in the following districts: Western Warsaw District (1.8%), Grójec District (2%), Pruszków District (2.5%), Sochaczew District (2.9%) and Wyszków District (2.9%).

The unemployment rate according to the LFS in the Mazowieckie Province in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 3%, compared with the national unemployment rate of 3.1%.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Warsaw	http://wupwarszawa.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Mazowieckie Province	http://wupwarszawa.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy
Mazovia Labour Market Observatory	http://obserwatorium.mazowsze.pl/
Occupational Barometer – Mazowieckie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Warsaw	http://warszawa.stat.gov.pl/

The number of employed persons in the Mazowieckie Province is projected to decrease slightly: 0.3% by 2025. However, structural changes in the region will most likely be implemented in line with the forecast, according to which significant changes in the employment structure will occur in agriculture and market services (which include both traditional and modern, ultra-efficient services), while the share of employment in industry and non-market services will remain relatively stable. The projected sectoral changes in the Mazowieckie Province are reflected in the trends observed in the occupational structure, which suggest a high increase in demand for professionals, a considerable decrease in the share of working farmers and minor changes in the remaining major occupational groups.

Most of the vacancies and activation offers in the Mazowieckie Province in December 2021 were available in the following sections: wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles; information and communication; transportation and storage;manufacturing, and professional, scientific and technical activities. The highest number of job vacancies and places of professional activation in June 2022 were recorded in the following occupations: hand packer; other manufacturing labourers; other elementary workers not elsewhere classified; stock clerk; warehouse labourer; building caretaker; orchard labourer; kitchen helper; sales worker; production worker. This data is confirmed by the forecast of shortage and surplus occupations – the 2022 Occupational Barometer. The 2021 Occupational Barometer survey identified a number of shortage occupations with the forecast for 2022.

The result generated for the Mazowieckie Province indicates a deficit in 19 occupational groups (the forecast for 2021 indicated a deficit in 17 occupational groups), while 149 occupations are identified as being in balance, with no surplus occupations expected.

The seventh edition of the survey confirms the diversity between the Warsaw Capital Region (covering the capital city of Warsaw and 9 districts) and other parts of the Mazowieckie Province. 19 occupations are in shortage in the whole province. On the other hand, when the performance of the statistical regions (at NUTS2 level) is compared, 41 shortage occupations are present in the Warsaw Capital Region and 17 in the other parts of the Mazowieckie Province.

The results of this survey indicate that, in particular, shortages of workers in the following sectors will persist in 2022: construction, logistics (stock clerks, couriers, buyers) and health care. According to reports by companies analysing the labour market, the number of offers published on recruitment portals increased by more than 40% compared to 2020.

In particular, it is worth looking at the construction sector, where shortages have been persisting in the last few months: concrete placers and finishers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, bricklayers and plasterers, construction installation assemblers, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, building finishers and building workers.

Persisting shortages also apply to welders; heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers; toolmakers; electricians and stock clerks. As in the previous year, teachers of vocational subjects are classified as shortage occupations.

Experts during expert panels also emphasised the difficult situation of health care. Like on the national level, the shortage of medical personnel is caused, inter alia, by the generation gap resulting from unfavourable age structures, both among doctors and nurses. In turn, demographic processes and increasing health awareness in Poland indicate that demand for health professionals will continue to grow.

The following shortage occupations were highlighted at the province level: medical doctors, nurses and midwives, as well as carers of older persons or persons with disabilities. In many districts (20), experts also anticipated difficulties in filling posts for physiotherapists and massage therapists.

When analysing the situation in the Mazowieckie Province, one has to mention the logistics industry and, in particular, the profession of a stock clerk. Shortages are projected in 27 districts, and in seven districts they are expected to be large in scale. In particular, stock clerks with licences to operate industrial trucks are in demand. The districts of the Warsaw Capital Region and the districts neighbouring with the A2 Motorway have a high demand for workers from this professional group, as there are numerous logistics and storage facilities. Companies are increasingly competing with each other for experienced workers, which in turn translates into wage pressure.

Links:

Mazovia Labour Market Observatory	http://obserwatorium.mazowsze.pl/badania-i-analizy/prognozy
Provincial Labour Office in Warsaw	http://wupwarszawa.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy

Opolskie

The Opolskie Province is the smallest province in Poland (9 412 km²), located in the south-west of the country. It is inhabited by only 969 000 persons, which constitutes about 2.5% of the total population of Poland. A systematic decline in the population is observed in the region.

The situation in the labour market in the region is to some degree more difficult compared to the average situation in the country. At the end of 2021, the economic activity rate stood at 57.8%, compared with 58% for Poland. The employment rate, in turn, was slightly higher and reached 56.5%, i.e. 0.2% more than the national rate.

108 222 business entities were registered in the province in December 2021, the highest level recorded between 2011 and 2021. Looking at the business structure in the Opolskie Region in 2021, it is noteworthy that business concentration mainly occurs within four sectors of the economy: Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles (21%), construction (15%), manufacturing (9%) and real estate activities (8.6%). In addition, business entities in the highest number are present in large districts (the city of Opole – 21% of all companies, Nysa District – 13.6%, Opole District – 11.6%, Brzeg District – 9.9%). At the end of June 2022, the number of registered unemployed persons amounted to 20 185, while the registered unemployment rate stood at 5.6%, which is lower by 1.1% compared to June 2021. The district of Opole (the provincial capital) was in the most favourable position, with a registered unemployment rate of 3.1%, while the Namysłów District's rate stood at 8.5%.

The major employers in the Opolskie Province are: Grupa Azoty Zakłady Azotowe Kędzierzyn S.A., PGE Górnictwo i Energetyka Konwencjonalna SA Oddział Elektrownia Opole, Górażdże Cement S.A., Nutricia Zakłady Produkcyjne Sp. z o.o., ArcelorMittal Poland Oddział w Zdzieszowicach, Multiserwis Sp. z o.o., WeWire Poland Sp. z o.o. Sp. k., Sindbad Sp. z o.o.

The year 2021 was marked by the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic. The sanitary restrictions had a direct impact on the entire economy, including the labour market. In retrospect and in comparison to the similar periods in 2019–2021, it can be noted that all the basic parameters describing the labour market in the Opolskie Province have deteriorated. For example, in 2020, the demand for employees, as expressed in the number of job offers communicated to district labour offices, decreased by 23% compared to 2019, and unemployment increased by almost 5%. In 2021, labour demand grew by 19% compared with 2020, but it was lower than before the epidemic by 9%. Unemployment fell sharply by 12% between April and December 2021, but the situation did not return to the figure before the epidemic. At the end of 2021, the number of unemployed persons reached 21 535, while at the end of 2019, it was 20 948, compared to 24 976 in 2020. This represents a 14% decrease in value relative to the end of 2020, but is still 3% more than in December 2019.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Opole	http://www.wupopole.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Opolskie Province	https://wupopole.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Opolskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Opole	http://www.stat.gov.pl/opole

11 000 new jobs and 5 100 vacancies were created in the Opolskie Province in 2021.

Throughout 2021, district labour offices received a total of 35 296 job and activation offers, an increase of 4 046 compared with 2020. Most job offers came from the following sectors: manufacturing (26.2%), administrative and support service activities (21.2%), construction (11.7%), wholesale and retail trade (9.8.4%). Most job offers in 2021 were for elementary workers (24.1%) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (14.8%).

The Occupational Barometer indicates that in 2022 the following occupations will be in demand in the Opolskie Province: medical doctors, paramedical practitioners, forwarding agents and supply and distribution agents, independent accountants, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, stock clerks, cooks, kitchen helpers, waiters and bartenders, hairdressers, carpenters and joiners, construction installation assemblers, toolmakers, metalworking machine operators, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers, tailors and garment workers, rubber and plastic product machine operators, bus drivers, crane and transport equipment operators, earthmoving equipment operators and mechanics, welders, electronics, automation and robotics professionals, heavy truck and semi-truck drivers, nurses and midwives, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, specialists in design, implementation and improvement of digital products and services, teachers of vocational subjects, accounting and bookkeeping workers, concrete placers and finishers, building workers, pavers, construction roofers and sheet metal workers, bakers, wood treaters and cabinet-makers, upholsterers, plant and machine assemblers, structural metal workers, metal processing workers, bricklayers and plasterers, sheet-metal workers and vehicle spray painters and varnishers, database designers and administrators, software developers, website administrators, spray painter and varnishers, building finishers.

Podkarpackie

The Podkarpackie Province borders Ukraine and Slovakia. The Podkarpackie Province has the highest ratio of people living in rural areas – 58.53%, which is the first place in the country. Its agricultural nature remains in contrast with the development of its towns and cities. The main city in the region – Rzeszów (198 600 inhabitants) is a centre for trade and services, industry and education. An airport in Jasionka functions as a permanent border crossing. The region consists of 21 districts and 4 cities with the rights of urban districts. It covers an area of 17 800 km² and it is inhabited by 2.1 million people. The median age in 2021 was 41.1 years (the average for Poland is 42.0 years). The average gross monthly remuneration is one of the lowest in Poland.

As of the end of June 2021, 199 100 business entities were registered in this province. The main types of business activity included: wholesale and retail trade, construction, manufacturing, and professional, scientific and technical activities. Industrial sectors of the region include agri-food, electromechanical and chemical industries. Large plants continue to follow the traditions of the aviation industry.

After a periodic increase in 2020, the number of unemployed persons registered at district labour offices is decreasing. Between 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2021, there was a decrease by 11 928 persons, and between 30 June 2022 and 30 June 2020, there was a decrease by 17 143 persons. Due to the war in Ukraine, which conditioned the outflow of some workers (mainly men), demand was recorded for carers of older persons, workers in manufacturing lines and elementary workers in construction, agriculture, food service and hospitality. Drivers, professionals, and logistics workers are in demand. There is a shortage of qualified and experienced people, for example in the medical sector or civil engineering.. According to the Occupational Barometer, in 2022 employers are still looking for workers such as carpenters, medical doctors, stock clerks, bricklayers, plasterers, accountants, carers of persons with disabilities, operators of production machinery or lifting and transport equipment.

Between January and June 2022, the level of notifications of collective redundancies was at a higher level than in the first half of 2021. However, notices of termination that were actually given were fewer than in the period compared. Most often redundancies took place in companies producing upholstery for vehicles. The reasons behind this part of notifications were interruptions in supply chains as a result of 2020 and the war in Ukraine. The province is home to aeronautical, biotechnological, pharmaceutical, IT (software development) and iron casting businesses. Main employers: Pratt & Whitney Rzeszów S.A., MTU Aero Engines Polska, Hamilton Sundstrand Poland Sp. z o.o. – United Technologies corporation, B&B Trend (formerly known as Zelmer), Asseco Poland S.A., ICN Polfa Rzeszów S.A., (BAUSCH HEALTH COMPANIES INC), Greinplast Sp. z o.o., Nestlé Polska S.A. branch in Rzeszów, Firma Oponiarska T.C. Dębica S.A. (The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company).

A significant contribution to the economic development of the region is provided also by business entities in Mielec (Polskie Zakłady Lotnicze Sp. z o.o., a subsidiary company of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation) and other cities and towns:, Borg Warner Poland Sp. z o.o. (Jasionka), Kirchhoff Automotive Polska (branch in Mielec), BRW (branch in Mielec), Goodrich Aerospace Poland (Collins Aerospace, Tajęcina, Krosno), Husqvarna Poland (branch in Mielec), Olimp Labs Sp. z o.o. (Dębica), Bispol (Łańcut) – one of the largest manufacturers of candles in Europe. The company’s products go to more than 40 countries. The establishment has modern production lines. Nowy Styl Sp. z o.o. (Krosno), Sanok Rubber Company (Sanok), Asseco Poland S.A. (Rzeszów), Federal – Mogul Gorzice Sp. z o.o. (Tarnobrzeg District), Fabryka Farb and Lacquer Śnieżka (Brzenica, Dębica District)

The SEZ subzone operates as Euro-Park Mielec Rzeszów-Dworzysko. It is located in the vicinity of the Rzeszów-Jasionka airport. Rzeszów-Dworzysko is home to companies active in aerospace, electromechanical (including automotive) and IT industries: OPTeam S.A., ZELNAR Sp. z o.o. (Tajęcina) industries. Entities located in the Tarnobrzeg District include Pilkington Atomotive Poland Sp. z o.o., BK Glass Sp. z o.o., KOMA Stahlbau Sp. z o.o. and Wisan S.A. – the best textile manufacturer in Europe (price to value) offering curtains, tablecloth, fabrics, curtains, runners, table napkins and roller blinds. Other companies include: Uniwheels Production Poland (Stalowa Wola), Sanfarm and Zakłady Metalowe Demet (Nowa Dęba), Southco (Tajęcina), CADworks Systems Sp. z o.o. (Jasionka) and BigCom (Rzeszów).

In the first quarter of 2022, the Podkarpackie Province had a 1% higher economic activity rate of the population (53.8%) than in the first quarter of 2021. The economic activity of the population was diverse in terms of gender and place of residence (town, village). Higher economic activity rates were recorded for men (63%) than for women (44.9%). The economic activity rate was lower by 4.2 percentage points in the Podkarpackie Province than in Poland (16th place in the country). In the first quarter of 2022, the employment rate in the Podkarpackie Province (50.7%) was 1.2 percentage points lower than in the first quarter of 2021. Compared to the national level (56.2%), it was 5.5 percentage points lower. The registered unemployment rate in June 2022 stood at 7.3%. The unemployment rate was the highest in the following districts: Brzozów District (14.0%), Nisko District (13.9%), Lesko District (13.8%), Bieszczady District (12.4%), Strzyżów District (12.2%), Leżajsk District (12.1%) and Przemyśl District (11.2%). The lowest rate was in Krosno (2.5%), followed by Mielec District and Dębica District (3.9% each), Stalowa Wola District (4.4%), the city of Rzeszów (4.6%) and Krosno District (5.1%). The same administrative units are always among districts with the highest unemployment level (and the same is true about districts with the lowest unemployment level). This pattern points to systemic reasons for this divergence.

According to the LFS, in the first quarter of 2022, the unemployment rate was 5.8% and was lower by 0.5% than in the first quarter of 2021 and higher by 2.7% than the rate for Poland.

Apart from large employers, business activities in the Podkarpackie Province are carried out by small and medium-sized enterprises. They are engaged in manufacturing, trade and service activities. Entrepreneurship outside the agricultural sector focuses on suburban areas and cities. New, environmentally friendly companies are increasingly often created near the large cities of the region.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Rzeszów	http://.wup-rzeszow.pl
Statistics and analyses – Podkarpackie Province	https://wuprzeszow.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/#/map/…
Occupational Barometer – Podkarpackie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Rzeszów	https://rzeszow.stat.gov.pl/
Job offers	http://rzeszowiak.pl
Job offers	https://www.olx.pl/
Job offers for medical doctors	https://ogloszenia.gazetalekarska.pl/
Job offers for medical doctors	https://pracalekarza.pl/

According to the Occupational Barometer (forecast for 2022), health and social care professionals (medical doctors, nurses and midwives, physiotherapists and massage therapists, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, paramedical practitioners, psychologists and psychotherapists) are in demand in the Podkarpackie Province. The shortage, however, is not recorded in all medical professions, for example dentists and pharmacists were not looked for.

The lack of offers provided to district labour offices by the health care sector demonstrates that the need is expressed elsewhere, for example on the internet, or is communicated directly between hospitals. The emigration of professionals exacerbates shortages and reduces the availability of medical services. It will be even more difficult for an employer to employ a specialist with hospital experience than a year ago. For the treatment of chronic diseases in the entire population or for the treatment of older people, there has been a shortage of carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, or physiotherapy specialists. This process will be exacerbated by demographic decline and the outflow of the most educated personnel to western European countries.

Apart from the medical sector, employers most often seek construction workers and workers in logistics and transport departments. Examples of occupations include concrete placers and finishers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, site managers, construction installation assemblers, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, wood treaters and cabinet-makers, bus drivers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers.

Most of the vacancies were recorded at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 (according to the sections and divisions of the Polish Classification of Activities) in manufacturing (36% of all offers), transportation and storage (16%), public administration and defence, compulsory social security (12%), human health and social work activities, and trade (wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles) (8% each).

Podlaskie

The Podlaskie Province is located in the north-east of Poland. It is adjacent to three provinces: Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Mazowieckie and Lubelskie. It forms an internal (in the north-east, with Lithuania) and external (in the east, with Belarus) border of the EU. In terms of ethnicity and culture, it is the most diverse region in Poland. Poles, Belarusians, Tatars, Russians and Jews have lived here side by side for centuries. The region is Poland’s largest centre of members of the Orthodox Church (approximately 300 000).

It covers 6.5% of Poland’s surface area and it is inhabited by 3.1% of the country’s population (1 165.3 inhabitants at the end of 2021). The main urban centres are Białystok (the capital city of the region), Łomża and Suwałki. The Podlaskie Province is characterised by a very low population density (58 persons/km² compared with the national average of 122 persons/km²). In 2021, the population of the province decreased by 0.7%. A persistent negative balance of permanent internal and external migrations (-1.0) and a negative natural population change (-5.7) contributed to that situation.

The Podlaskie Province is one of the least economically developed regions in Poland. The region’s low share of gross value added (2.3 of national GDP) ranks it 14th in the country. The average GDP per capita in the region is PLN 44 522 (2020), i.e. 73.4% of the national average (the 13th position in Poland).

The Podlaskie Province is an agricultural region. The main crops are cereals and potatoes. Agriculture is almost entirely in the private sector. The province’s dairy, poultry and meat products are well-known and appreciated across the country and abroad (milk production is 58.4% of total agricultural production, the highest in Poland). Apart from manufacture and processing of food products, the province’s industry is based on manufacture of rubber and plastic products, manufacture of wood, cork, straw and plaiting materials, and manufacture of machinery and equipment. These four sectors generate 73.1% of the value of industrial production sold.

At the end of 2021, 113 200 businesses were registered in the Podlaskie Province’s official business register. The vast majority of businesses belong to the private sector (96.3% of all businesses) and operate in the following sections: trade, repair of motor vehicles (21.1%), construction (15.7%), professional, scientific and technical activities (9.0%), and manufacturing (7.6%).

The following sectors which are crucial to the development of the province generate the highest number of jobs in the Podlaskie Province: manufacturing, trade, repair of motor vehicles, construction, and transportation and storage. They cover 51.6% of the total number of persons employed. The non-market services sector (public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, human health and social work activities) also plays a significant role in the regional labour market, employing over 31.1% of all workers.

As at the end of 2021, 1 300 commercial companies with foreign equity participation were registered in the Podlaskie Province and their number increased by 11.7% compared with the previous year. However, the presence of foreign investors in the region mainly concerns the city of Białystok and, to a lesser extent, the city of Suwałki, and is still small on the scale of the entire province. It should be noted that manufacturing plants of renowned foreign companies (e.g. IKEA, British American Tobacco Plc) are located in the Podlaskie Province. As outlined in the Podlaskie Province Development Strategy for 2030, the region is to be a partner region, i.e. aimed at intra-regional cooperation, cooperation with other regions in Poland and in the EU, and cooperation with partners outside the EU, in particular eastern countries.

According to the European Business Institute, out of 85 500 Polish enterprises, 700 companies from the Podlaskie Province were awarded the title of ‘Brylant Polskiej Gospodarki 2021’ [Diamond of the Polish Economy 2021]. These are companies whose estimated market value exceeded PLN 10 million in March 2021. The top companies in the ranking were as follows: British – American Tobacco Polska S.A. (PLN 2 433 million), Spółdzielnia Mleczarska Mlekovita (PLN 2 204 million), PRONAR Sp. z o.o. (PLN 1 698 million), Suempol Sp. z o.o. (PLN 1 408 million), Zakłady Tórnictwo Rupeńska S.J. (PLN 1218 million), Dairy Cooperative MLEPOL in Grajewo (PLN 1114 million).

According to the LFS, 493 000 persons aged 15–89 were employed in the Podlaskie Province in the first quarter of 2022, 12 000 persons were unemployed and 366 000 persons were not professionally active. The economic activity rate was 58.0% (as at the national level), and the employment rate was 56.6% (higher than the national average by 0.4 percentage points).

31 200 persons were registered as unemployed at labour offices at the end of June 2022 and the number of unemployed persons had decreased by 6.6% since the beginning of the year (a decrease of 4.9% in January–June 2021). The registered unemployment rate stood at 6.5% (4.9% for Poland), a decrease of 1.0 percentage point compared with June in the previous year. The highest unemployment rate was recorded in the following districts: Kolno District (12.8%), Sejny District (10.4%) and Grajewo District (10.2%), and the lowest in Bielsko District (3.1%), Suwałki District (3.6%) and Łomża District (3.7%). The actual unemployment rate (according to the LFS) was lower than the registered unemployment rate, standing at 2.4% (3.1% for Poland) at the end of the first quarter of 2022.

19 900 unemployed persons registered at labour offices in the first half of 2022 – 9.6% more than in the same period in the previous year. The number of persons excluded from unemployment registers also increased. A total of 22 100 persons were removed from the register from January to June 2022, an increase of 10.5% compared with the previous year. However, the number of people taking up employment decreased. 11 900 unemployed persons were removed from employment office registers for this reason – 2.9% less than in the previous year.

Since March 2021, and subsequently in 2022, despite the perceived effects of the economic and social restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a clear improvement in the labour market. Registered unemployment decreased to levels lower than those recorded before the pandemic outbreak. According to the results of the survey, as conducted in 2021 by the Provincial Labour Office in Białystok, entitled ‘‘Wpływ pandemii COVID-19 na sytuację przedsiębiorstw i pracowników w województwie podlaskim’ [The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the situation of companies and employees in the Podlaskie Province], Podlaskie Province’s companies were hit by the epidemic threat: more than half of them recorded decreases in turnover and 47% lowered or suspended investment plans. Businesses involved in professional, scientific and technical activities, as well as food service, hospitality and tourism have been particularly affected. In addition, as the Podlaskie Province is a border region, the closure of borders has aggravated the crisis. But not all businesses were negatively affected by the pandemic. This applies particularly to the ICT sectors and, due to the increase in online sales, to the transportation and storage sector. During the pandemic, companies from these sectors had more orders and needed more employees. However, despite many negative effects on the economy and on workers, Podlaskie companies coped quite well in a difficult period, and the COVID-19 pandemic did not cause long-term negative consequences.

The situation in the eastern belt of the Podlaskie Province associated with the migration crisis remains a significant challenge for the Podlaskie labour market. In the long term, the restrictions resulting from the introduction of a temporary prohibition to stay in the border zone adjacent to the state border with the Republic of Belarus may have negative consequences for some of the local labour markets, despite the compensation provided for entrepreneurs.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Białystok	http://wupbialystok.praca.gov.pl/
Statistics and analyses – Podlaskie Province	https://wupbialystok.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Podlaskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Białystok	http://www.stat.gov.pl/bialystok

According to the labour demand survey of the Statistics Poland, in the Podlaskie Province, entities employing at least 1 employee created 11 500 new vacancies in 2021. The vast majority, i.e. 65.5%, were jobs in four sections of the Polish Classification of Activities (PKD): 20.6% of all new vacancies were in manufacturing plants, 15.9% in construction, 14.8% in trade, repair of motor vehicles, and 14.2% in transportation and storage. At the end of 2021, the highest number of vacancies were available for craft and related trades workers (46.1%), technicians and associate professionals (14.0%), professionals (10.5%), service and sales workers (10.2%), and plant and machine operators and assemblers (9.6%).

During the first half of 2022, employers notified 13 400 job offers to labour offices, 85% of which concerned jobs in the private sector and 15% – jobs in the public sector. Compared with the first half of 2021, the number of job offers notified increased by 14.6%. The highest number of job offers were addressed to 7 large occupational groups: personal service workers (10.7%), metal, machinery and related trades workers (8.8%), building and related trades workers (8.4%), elementary workers in mining, manufacturing, construction and transport (7.8% of all job offers), sales workers and related workers (6.6%), general and keyboard clerks (6.3%), as well as stationary plant and machine operators (6%).

The results of the Occupational Barometer for 2022 showed that shortage occupations in the Podlaskie Province’s labour market include: confectionery makers, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, bus drivers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, cooks, medical doctors, stock clerks, construction installation assemblers, vocational training teachers, teachers of vocational subjects, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, nurses and midwives, building finishers, psychologists and psychotherapists, paramedical practitioners, building workers, independent accountants, welders and toolmakers.

Shortages of workers are caused by a variety of factors: those concerning the workforce resources (lack of generational renewal in certain occupations, insufficient qualifications, poor health, lack of willingness to work and occupational mobility, outflow of workers due to labour migration, low professional activity of women), factors resulting from the general socio-economic situation (an epidemic threat, underground economy, preference for self-employment, lack of education in many occupations, a social transfer system discouraging people from undertaking employment), or factors related to the specific occupation or industry (legal requirements to enter into the occupation, unattractive working conditions, high requirements of employers).

Pomorskie

The Pomorskie Province (Pomerania) is situated by the Baltic Sea. Its surface area is over 18 000 km², which constitutes approx. 6% of Poland’s surface area. The city of Gdańsk is the capital of the region. The province has over 2.3 million inhabitants, the vast majority of whom live in urban areas.

The excellent location of the Pomorskie Province at the crossroads of international transport routes, improving transport accessibility of the region and growing logistics facilities are conducive to international exchange and attractive to foreign investors. The region is characterised by an exceptionally high investment attractiveness. The highest degree of concentration of economic activity is within the Tri-City Metropolitan Area (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, together with neighbouring districts). There are also many other municipalities and cities attractive to investors, including Słupsk, Tczew, Kwidzyn and Lębork. Companies which have been located there include: Scania Production, Milarex, Mu Poland, Fiscars Polska, Curver, Flextronics International Poland, Eaton Trucks Components, Thales Dis Poland, Dovista Polska, Tapflo, Huber+Suhner, Alteams and International Paper.

At the end of June 2022, the number of unemployed persons registered at labour offices was 41 600 (a drop of 13 100 persons, i.e. by 24.0%, compared with June 2021). The registered unemployment rate at the end of June 2022 stood at 4.4% (which was 1.4% lower than in the previous year and only 0.2 percentage point lower than the unemployment rate for Poland). 50 800 job vacancies and places of professional activation were notified to labour offices in the province in the first half of 2022 (approx. 6% more than in the corresponding period of 2021).

According to the LFS, in the first quarter of 2022, both the economic activity rate and the employment rate were higher in the Pomorskie Province than in Poland, standing at 61.3% (58% for Poland) and 60.1% (56.2% for Poland), respectively, for persons aged 15–89. Economically inactive persons in the Pomorskie Province represented 38.7% of the population aged 15–89.

The average gross monthly remuneration in the business sector is increasing. In June 2022, it amounted to PLN 6 685.25 in the Pomorskie Province (PLN 6 554.87 in Poland) and was 13.5% higher than in the same period of 2021.

Key sectors

Services, industry and construction are the driving forces behind the Pomerania region’s economy, and two dynamically developing ports, in Gdynia and in Gdańsk, are fostering the development of trade. The main branches of industry in the Pomorskie Province are the shipbuilding, wood and paper, petrochemical and electrical engineering industries. The food industry is also traditionally one of the leading sectors of the region, although agriculture is much less important than other sectors. The ICT (Information and Communication Technology), BSS (Business Service Sector), logistics, biotechnology, electronics and automotive industries have the greatest development potential.

Modern business services (BSS)

Tri-City is one of the best locations for modern business services in Poland. It is home to over 160 centres of modern business services, which employ over 30 000 workers. The vast majority of these centres specialise in IT and R&D services (ITO centres) and financial processes. English is the language of business and is used by most of the centres, followed by German.

Modern business services centres operating in Tri-City include:

centres which are American, e.g. State Street, Intel Technology, Thomson Reuters, Amazon, Jeppesen – A Boeing Company, Synopsys, ManpowerGroup, Airhelp, Acxiom, Epam Systems;
Scandinavian: Arla, Kemira, Hempel, Unifeeder, Metsa Group, Seagul, DNV, Nordic Services, Ttanscom, Mowi;
German: Bayer, ThyssenKrupp, Lufthansa Systems, Adva;
British: pwc, Deloitte;
Austrian: Swasrovski, TELUS International;
Swiss: Luxoft;
Spanish: Santander Global Technology and Operations;
French: Sii, Atos, Playsoft, Capgemini;
Dutch: Wolters Kluwer, Aspire Systems, Trafactory, Smart4aviation;
Indian: Wipro, WNS, Global Services;
Japanese: FujiFilm, Europe Business Service, Ricoh.

Maritime sector

Shipbuilding is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the region’s economy. The offer of Tri-City shipyards covers highly-specialised vessels and installations, such as cable footbridges, heavy lift jack-up vessels and LNG-fuelled vessels, wind towers, Arctic container vessels and exclusive yachts.

Remontowa Holding is the largest shipyard group in Poland, a leader of the industrial sector in the region, and brings together over 20 companies. It is one of the largest employers in the Pomorskie Province. The holding company is a producer of offshore vessels and passenger-car ferries (Remontowa Shipbuilding), as well as an undisputed leader in the repair and conversion of vessels and offshore platforms (Remontowa Shiprepair Yard).

We have one of the largest ship design offices in Europe (Remontowa Marine Design & Consulting) and nationally and internationally-known companies active in the production of specialised machinery and equipment, services as well as in the furniture industry (e.g. Remontowa Hydroster Systems, Remontowa LNG Systems, Remontowa Coating & Equipment, Remontowa Lighting Technologies, Famos).

Other leading companies are Crist Shipyard (construction of heavy lifting vessels and other maritime structures), Energomontaj – Północ Gdynia, Mostostal Pomorskie (construction of steel structures for the maritime industry), Nauta Remontowa Shipyard (repair of vessels), GSG Tower (wind towers), Baltic Operator (steel structures for the shipbuilding industry, wind energy, offshore energy, transshipment infrastructure) or Kongsberg Maritime, (on-board winches, motor maintenance).

The Polish yacht industry is a global leader in the most popular segment of 6 to 9-metre motorboats (in this category Poland ranks second after the United States). There are many companies in the region, including Sunreef Yacht and Conrad.

In addition to manufacturing, design companies are also expanding rapidly in Tri-City and employ more than 1 000 engineers..

The world’s leading classification societies, such as DNV GL, Lloyds Register and American Bureau of Shipping, have their offices in Tri-City. More than 200 engineers are employed by the DNV office in Gdynia. The region is also home to two large research and design centres: CTO (Maritime Advanced Research Centre) and CTM (Marine Technology Centre R&D Hub).

Logistics sector

With its excellent geographical location, the Pomorskie Province has a unique logistics potential that makes it a transport hub for Central and Eastern Europe. Thanks to two dynamically developing deep-water ports in Gdańsk and Gdynia and constantly expanding logistics facilities, the Pomorskie Province is also growing into a port hub serving all types of cargo and all directions of the world. The main driving force of growth is container handling.

The Pomorskie Province offers a well-developed and constantly expanded logistics base as well. The 110-hectare area in the vicinity of DCT Gdańsk is home to the Pomeranian Logistics Centre, which – thanks to its location near the container terminal – is fully implementing the concept of Port Centric Logistics. In Port Gdynia, in turn, there is the Logistics Centre adjusted to the needs of supply and distribution operators, forwarding companies, companies providing storage services and other logistics-related service providers.

Road and rail infrastructure is developing intensively as well, including along the axis of the Baltic-Adriatic transport corridor, serving imports and exports to and from Poland and other countries in the north and south of Europe.

ICT (Information and Communications Technology) sector

In total, over 130 companies employing at least 10 persons operate in the sector. More than 25 000 developers work currently in the Pomorskie Province, mainly in Tri-City, and they are employed in product companies (Jeppesen, A Boeing Company, Hapag-Lloyd, Nordea), outsourcing companies (Sii, EPAM, Ciklum, Kainos, Cognizant, Wipro) or in in-house IT departments in Shared Services Centres (Maersk Drilling, DNV). Software development and related R&D processes are by far the predominant ones in terms of the supported processes, followed by IT support, application administration and infrastructure management. The largest company is Intel, which currently employs about 3 000 persons. Other major employers in the IT sector are Ergo Technology & Services, which employs approx. 1 260 professionals in total, and the French Sii, whose branch in Gdańsk exceeded 1 000 persons.

Companies in this sector prefer large agglomerations, providing appropriate staff and graduates in IT and related fields, so Tri-City is the main centre for IT development in the Pomorskie Province.

Biotechnology and chemistry sector

Many companies operate in the sector, specialising in molecular biology (A&A Biotechnology, EURx), medical devices used in oncology, infectious diseases and transplantology (Blirt), cosmetics (Ziaja, Oceanic, Laboratorium Farmaceutyczno - Kosmetyczne Femi, Inventia Polish Technologies), laboratory diagnostics (Invicta), microbiological tests (J.S. Hamilton Poland), pharmacy (Labofarm, Polpharma, Profarm), detergents (Impuls).

Large heavy chemistry companies operate in the Pomorskie Province as well, the example being Lotos Group (which will soon merge with Orlen to form a leading oil company in Central and Eastern Europe). The entire Lotos Group employs more than 5 000 professionals. In its refinery in Gdańsk, the company manufactures fuels, industrial greases and oils.

Other significant chemical-related business activities are also carried out in the Pomorskie Province, including manufacturing of fertilisers (Grupa Azoty ‘Fosfory’ in Gdańsk) and plastics (Fabryka Plastików in Kwidzyn).

Automotive sector

Thanks to its high potential (qualified employees and seaside location with sea freight available), the region is becoming a key area for the Polish automotive sector in terms of electromobility and solutions for self-driving cars.

As for electromobility, a flagship investment project is Northvolt, a manufacturer of batteries for electric cars and mining vehicles. Currently, it produces battery systems for industrial equipment and energy storage in Gdańsk. A new facility of Northvolt, which will become operative in 2023, will be set up in the Pomerania Investment Centre, next to the DCT container terminal, and it will eventually employ up to 500 persons.

Pomerania plays also a significant role in providing solutions for self-driving cars. Intel, Aptiv and Nippon Seiki Europe are active in this field in Gdańsk.

Intel’s R&D centre in Gdańsk employs approximately 3 000 software developers. It is the largest corporate R&D centre in Europe and the second largest centre in the world. In its facility in Gdańsk, Intel together with other companies develop, among others, data processing solutions used in self-driving vehicles.

Aptiv, in turn, creates active safety systems which help minimise or entirely eliminate human errors in driving, and consequently limit their consequences. Approximately 1 000 people are currently employed in its facility in Gdańsk.

Other key investors from the automotive industry include: Nippon Seiki Europe, Eaton – located in Tczew and manufacturing transmissions for gearboxes, drivetrain components and combustion engine compressors. It is also worth noting that Eaton carries out research and development activities in Tczew, where its modern Eaton Engineering Centre, which employs approximately 40 engineers, is located. The Centre’s main tasks are to support ongoing production in the Eaton Truck Components and to lead R&D projects for the Eaton Truck and Eaton Automotive Groups.

When talking about the automotive sector in the Pomorskie Region, it is also impossible to omit such companies as AQ, Wiring Systems (production of cables used, for example, in buses, agricultural machines, power generation), Scania Production (bus production in Słupsk), Zoeller Tech (the largest producer of refuse lorries in Poland) or Federal Mogul (production of plain bearings, bimetal tapes and bronze powders – products supplied to car manufacturers).

Electronics

The Pomorskie Province is a leading electronics production centre in Poland. The largest electronics companies in the world have invested here, with recent years seeing significant reinvestments. The sector currently employs 14 500 persons, of whom as many as 12 000 persons are employed in the production of computer, electronic and optical solutions, which is the best result throughout the country and accounts for as many as 1/5 of all persons employed in this sector in Poland. The education system plays a key role in the supply of talent to the market. The University, which covers the needs of the sector to the greatest extent, is Gdańsk University of Technology. It offers as many as 13 study programmes, providing education for approximately 5 400 students in the specialisations as demanded by the electronics industry. Companies, on the other hand, in order to further enhance their ability to attract human resources, are eager to engage in educational projects, including patronage classes, joint work in laying out study programmes, student internships, competitions for the best students. The first large facility which was located in the Pomorskie Province was Radmor – the electronic device manufacturer, mainly for the military sector. Other large companies in this industry include: Flextronics International Poland, Lacroix Electronics, Jabil, PanLink, Thales Dis Poland, AQ Rotating System, Intel, Orbit One, Vector, Epam, Aptiv, Northvolt, Sii, Syled, Assel.

The situation in the labour market in the Pomorskie Province has changed significantly in recent months, which have been dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. This has led to disruptions in supply chains, with a particularly strong impact on the automotive industry. However, the lower demand for temporary workers in automotive companies has not caused downturn in the labour market. Competition for job applicants, especially for professionals and specialists, has not weakened, which has increased remuneration as well as enhanced employment forms. Companies are more likely to offer an employment contract than a task-specific contract, as they want to retain employees, and there are shortages in nearly every industry.

7 800 job vacancies and places of professional activation were notified to district labour offices in the Pomorskie Province in June 2022, an increase of 87, i.e. 1.1%, compared with the previous month;

The difficult situation for companies due to the COVID-19 pandemic has not reduced the employment of foreign nationals from the eastern border, especially from Ukraine. Employing migrants continues to be a way of dealing with difficulties in recruiting staff, especially in industries where there are problems in recruiting native workers. The increased employment of foreign nationals during the pandemic is also due to a temporary form of cooperation, which is beneficial for entrepreneurs and allows them to terminate employment at any time.

Approximately, 12 000 refugees have been employed in the Pomorskie Province since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, 75% of which are women. These people most often do elementary and assistance jobs in manufacturing and construction.

The epidemic situation has resulted in employers being more open to remote working. In the first quarter of 2022, the share of people who worked remotely due to the epidemic situation in the total number of persons working in the Pomorskie Province amounted to 4.5% (approx. 49 000), a decrease of 2.9 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, the use of remote working in the private sector was higher than in the public sector. In both sectors, however, the share was significantly lower than in the first quarter of 2021.

The Polish Labour Market Barometer 2022 survey conducted by Personnel Service shows that the hiring intentions of employers has worsened and they expect the situation of their company to be worse in 2022 than in 2021. The strongest concerns are inflation and legal and tax changes related to the ‘Polish Deal’. The pandemic and the lurking possibility of some staff contracting the coronavirus cannot be ruled out either, and it turns out that only 4 out of 10 entrepreneurs know whether their employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Many support mandatory vaccination as such a declaration was made by 45% of companies.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Gdańsk	http://www.wupgdansk.praca.gov.pl
Invest in Pomerania	http://investinpomerania.pl/
Pomorskie Labour Market Observatory	http://www.porp.pl
Occupational Barometer – Pomorskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistics Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny)	http://stat.gov.pl/

50 700 job vacancies and places of professional activation were notified to labour offices in the first half of 2022, an increase of 2 900 (6.1%) compared with the first half of 2021.

The ‘Labour Demand’ survey by the Statistics Poland shows that entrepreneurs in the Pomorskie Province offered 7 700 vacancies at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021. Taking into account occupational groups, most of the vacancies were for craft and related trades workers (31.6%), professionals (20.0%), and plant and machine operators and assemblers (17%). 7 300 job vacancies and places of professional activation were notified to district labour offices in the Pomorskie Province in December 2021. At the end of that month, their number amounted to 3 700.

In the first half of 2022, the highest number of job vacancies and places of professional activation were notified to district labour offices in the Pomorskie Province for the following occupations: elementary workers not classified elsewhere, warehouse labourers, building caretakers, manufacturing labourers and stock clerks.

The Occupational Barometer survey, carried out in 2021, identified 55 shortage occupational groups in the entire Pomorskie Province, which means that people from these groups should not experience any difficulty in finding work in 2022, while employers, due to the insufficient number of people wanting to work, may have difficulties in meeting staffing needs. The shortage of available employees in all districts of the Pomorskie Province was indicated for four groups of occupations: physiotherapists and massage therapists, uniformed services personnel, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, and bricklayers and plasterers.

Building occupations have the largest share in this group: there are 12 of them. The largest shortages are in the following occupations: bricklayers and plasterers (a shortage is forecast for 17 districts and a large shortage for 3) and building workers (a shortage is forecast for 11 districts and a large shortage for 8).

Tri-City (Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot) is the economic and development centre of the province and it is attractive to entrepreneurs. The fastest growing sectors include IT and BPO/SSC, where the demand for professionals, such as database designers and administrators, software developers, analysts, testers and IT system operators, is not decreasing. Difficulties in meeting employers’ needs in this industry arise from candidates’ lack of professional experience and foreign language skills.

Shortages of workers in the Tri-City sub-region also apply to construction and related trades. These occupational groups include welders, structural metal workers, concrete placers and finishers, carpenters and joiners, building workers, bricklayers and plasterers, building finishers, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, construction installation assemblers.

Shortages of occupations in the Pomorskie Province are most frequently caused by:

on the jobseekers’ side: lack of professional experience, lack of qualifications, lack of necessary licences and general unwillingness to work in a specific occupation;
on the employers’ side: unsatisfactory employment terms, including inadequate remuneration and difficult working conditions.

Employment agencies operating in the Pomorskie Province support employers in meeting their recruitment needs and help jobseekers to undertake employment. In 2021, 600 employment agencies were registered in Pomorskie Province and recruited 42 700 workers as part of temporary employment and job placement services in Poland. Most people took up employment as: sales representatives (1 189 persons), stock clerks and related workers (609 persons), and elementary workers not elsewhere classified (550 persons). All employment agencies operating in Poland are required to be entered in the register of employment agencies, as confirmed by a certificate.

Śląskie

The surface area of the Śląskie Province (Silesia) is 12 300 km². It has a population of 4.5 million. The Śląskie Province is ranked 14th in Poland in terms of area covered, and it has the second highest number of inhabitants, with 361 persons per km². There are as many as 71 cities and towns with a total of 3.4 million inhabitants. The Upper Silesian urban area consists of the largest Silesian cities, such as Katowice, Sosnowiec, Gliwice, Zabrze, Bytom, Częstochowa, Chorzów, Rybnik and Tychy. They are a strong bargaining chip for the region, and the largest employers in Silesia are based there. The Śląskie Province is the most industrialised province in Poland and one of the most industrialised areas in Europe. 509 800 companies are located on this region. The Śląskie Province is primarily dependent on the mining, automotive and steel industries, although they are not the only ones. Future industries that may be in demand include e-commerce, transport and logistics, as well as the IT sector. Apart from its high position in industry, the province has a well-developed tourist sector. There are many winter sports centres, tourist bases, sanatoria and boarding houses in the south – in the Beskid Śląski and Beskid Żywiecki areas. They offer employment in hotel and food services. The Śląskie Province is also an important educational centre with 30 higher education institutions.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the economic activity rate stood at 53.6%. The employment rate in the corresponding period was 55.2% and increased by 3.1 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of the previous year.

The year 2021 in the economy was a time to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly two years after its outbreak, it can be seen that the situation in the Śląskie Province’s labour market is fairly stable.

Throughout 2021, district labour offices of the Śląskie Province registered 112 000 persons, i.e. 19 600 less than a year before, a decrease of 14.9% (131 600 persons in 2020).

From January to December 2021, 126 700 unemployed persons were struck off the registers, which was 19 600 less than a year before (18.3%; in 2019 it was 107 100 persons).

Between July and September 2021, the Provincial Labour Office in Katowice carried out an empirical study entitled: ‘Social and Economic Aspects of the Śląskie Province’s Labour Market in the Perspective of 2025 According to Business Owners’. 14 952 business entities participated in the (quantitative) survey. Survey results regarding the forecast growth and employment in 2025 show that according to half of the business owners, employment in the 2025 perspective will remain at the same level as in 2021 (55.7%). Such a response was given by respondents regardless of their employment scale, whereas the larger the enterprise, the lower the response rate (ranging from 72.3% in one-person businesses to 37.1% in medium-sized companies). One in five respondents (20.9%) expect to grow in 2025; these respondents are, however, mainly from a large and medium-sized enterprises, as well as from the industrial sector and the Western, Central and Southern Subregions. The reduction in employment in the 2025 perspective is expected by few respondents (6.7%), mainly from large and medium-sized enterprises. However, a decrease in employment is predicted for all economic sectors (from 9.1% in the agricultural sector to 5.4% in the industrial sector) in the entire province (from 8.3% in the Western and Southern Subregions to 5.7% in the Central Sub-region). The results of the survey confirm that the COVID-19 pandemic did not end in 2020, and the economic situation did not improve rapidly. From January to November 2021, only the sector of information and communication had positive indicators of the general economic climate. One in three entrepreneurs predicted the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the functioning of their company in 2022, and similarly, one in three thought the pandemic would not affect the company’s activities in the following year. One in five respondents (18.9%) expect a positive impact of the pandemic.

70 200 unemployed persons were registered at labour offices in June 2022. The last time such a low number of registered unemployed in the Śląskie Province was recorded in December 2019 (66 521 persons). The registered unemployment rate in the Śląskie Province at the end of June 2022 was 3.8%. The unemployment rate in the region varies greatly from territory to territory. The unemployment rate in the Bieruń-Lędziny District was 1.7%. In Bytom, by contrast, the level of this rate reached 8.2%.

The labour market of the Ślaskie Province in 2022 is affected, among other things, by the war in Ukraine. From 24 February to 30 June 2022, district labour offices of the Śląskie Province registered 6 100 Ukrainian citizens, and 5 600 of them were given a status of an unemployed person. 4 200 Ukrainians were struck off the registers during the same period. The main reason for these deregistrations was to undertake non-subsidised work (23.5% of all cases) and to start the internship (20% of all cases).

In the first half of 2022, employers in the Śląskie Province interested in hiring candidates from EU/EFTA countries, looked for workers in the furniture industry (production worker, CNC operator, stock clerk – forklift operator), meat industry (slaughterer, cat. C driver) and bulk materials industry (technical specialist, purchasing specialist). Employers asked for additional dissemination of job offers in: Czechia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Lithuania, and Hungary.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Katowice	www.wupkatowice.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Śląskie Province	https://wupkatowice.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Śląskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Katowice	www.katowice.stat.gov.pl

Świętokrzyskie

The Świętokrzyskie Province, one of the smallest in Poland, is located in the central-southern part of the country. It has an area of 11 700 km², which constitutes 3.7% of the area of Poland. It is divided into 14 districts, with the city of Kielce as the administrative centre. 1 212 564 people inhabited the Świętokrzyskie Province at the end of 2021 (13 inhabitants per 16 regions). Women form the majority of the population (51.3%) and the share of the rural population is also higher (54.7%). Persons of working age constitute 59.1% of the province’s total population. The share of this group is decreasing every year, and so is the share of children and young people under the age of 17 (16.4%), while the share of people of post-working age is increasing (24.5%).

As the Świętokrzyskie Province has great landscape values, tourism is an important branch of the economy. Nevertheless, the region has strong industrial traditions (districts located in the northern part of the province) as well as a high share of the agricultural sector (districts located in the southern part). The share of agricultural workers is twice as high as the national average (31% versus 15.2% in 2020).

At the end of 2021, 124 033 national economy entities were entered into the REGON register of the Świętokrzyskie Province, representing 2.6% of all such entities in the country (14th position among 16 provinces). The number increased by 3.3% over the year. The increase was witnessed only thanks to small entities (up to 9 employees), which account for a majority of all entities (96.3%) Entities employing 10 to 49 persons or more represent 3% and those employing more than 50 persons – 0.7%.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses in the region in 2021 was, in their opinion, smaller than a year earlier. The share of entities which, in the Statistics Poland (GUS) survey, identified the pandemic as a driver of significant changes in their business activity, varied from 0.3% to 1.6% (1.3% and 8.1% a year before) and remained lower than the national average for most of the year. Some companies had to suspend their activities in order to limit the impact of the pandemic; as of the end of December 2021, there were 14 000 such entities in the REGON register (an increase of 8.9% compared with 9.5% in Poland). The financial assistance provided by the government to the entities affected by the impact of the epidemic has helped save many jobs and limit the scale of job reductions. Over the year, 5 400 entities de-registered, while the number of newly registered entities was higher and amounted to 9 700. In 2021, there was a moderate increase in the number of employees covered by collective redundancies (379 persons versus 338 persons the year before). In December 2021, average employment in enterprises with more than 9 employees stood at 122 800, a decrease of 0.1% compared with the previous year (0.7% in 2020).

The profile of business activity in the Świętokrzyskie Province is usually related to trade and repair of motor vehicles (25.6% of all entities), construction (15.7%) and manufacturing (8.9%). Companies active in these fields account for more than half of all entities in the province. Industrial activities are of paramount importance for the region’s economy. The main industrial sectors in the Świętokrzyskie Province include: metal and machinery industry (Skarżysko-Kamienna, Starachowice, Kielce, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Końskie), building materials industry (Kielce, Pińczów, Małogoszcz, Ożarów, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski), ceramic industry (Końskie, Ćmielów, Starachowice), steel industry (Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski), energy industry (Połaniec). It should be emphasised that the province industry was shaped by the availability of rock materials and energy resources located in the Świętokrzyskie region. An important part of the province economy is also agriculture (field vegetable, horticulture and bush cultivation), which is a foundation for the developing food processing industry.

The largest companies of the Świętokrzyskie Province are as follows: PSB Handel Group with its registered office in Wełecz near Busko Zdrój (trade in building materials, ‘Mrówka’ and ‘Mini Mrówka’ markets), Celsa Huta Ostrowiec based in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Enea Elektrownia Połaniec in Zawada near Połaniec (energy production), MAN BUS from Starachowice (production of trucks and buses), NSG Group in Poland in Sandomierz (manufacturer of car windows and Pilkington brand industrial glass), Cersanit based in Kielce (bathroom ceramics), Lafarge Cement from Małogoszcz (cement production), Kolporter based in Kielce (press distribution), Echo Investment Capital Group (investment and development services), Barlinek Capital Group in Kielce (production of wooden floors), Frega Frejowski, Garbol in Kielce (wholesale), ZPUE Capital Group in Włoszczowa (production of electrical power equipment), Mesko in Skarżysko-Kamienna (manufacture of weapons and ammunition), Dyckerhoff Polska in Nowiny (manufacture of cement), Cerrad Sp. z o.o. in Starachowice (production of stoneware and clinker tiles), the District Dairy Cooperative in Włoszczowa (dairy processing), and Bimerg from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (steel processing, production of roof tiles and other roofing materials), Alma Alpinex from Piekoszów (food wholesaler), Vive Textile Recycling, Vive Group’s logistics centre in Kielce, Trzuskawica in Nowiny (production of building materials), Ekoplon from Grabki Duże (manufacturer of animal feeds and fertilizers).

The largest employers in the region among the companies mentioned above are: Cersanit (approx. 4 400 employees), NSG Group in Poland (approx. 4 100 employees), Mesko (approx. 3 900 employees) and MAN BUS (approx. 3 000 employees).

The economic activity rate of the inhabitants of the Świętokrzyskie Province aged 15–89 in the fourth quarter of 2021 stood at 56%, i.e. 1.9 percentage points higher than a year earlier. When broken down by gender, the higher value was still recorded for men – 64.3%, compared to 48.1% among women. A higher level of activity was observed among rural residents (57.5%) than in cities (54.3%). The following age groups had the highest activity levels: 45–54 age group (90.1%), 35–44 age group (88.8%) and 25–34 age group (84.1%). The highest economic activity rate is recorded among people holding a higher education degree (79.6%).

In 2021, registered unemployment decreased to 38 035 persons, i.e. by 15.3%. The rate of decrease was higher than at the national level, where it was 14.5%. In the first half of 2022, there was a further decrease in the number of registered persons, which was observed in all months, except for January. At the end of June, the number of unemployed persons was 33 888, i.e. 19% less than in the previous year. The registered unemployment rate in June 2022 stood at 6.5% (a decrease of 1.5 percentage points over a year). The variation in the rate among districts of the Świętokrzyskie Province was 11.6 percentage points. The lowest rate was recorded in Busko District (2.8%) and the highest in Skarżysko District (14.4%). In the other districts, the unemployment rate was as follows: Staszów District and the city of Kielce – 4.7% each, Jędrzejów District and Włoszczowa District – 5.3% each, Pińczów District – 5.7%, Sandomierz District – 6.1%, Kielce District – 6.2%, Kazimierza District – 6.9%, Ostrowiec District – 7.9%, Starachowice District – 8.4%, Końskie District – 9% and Opatów District – 11.5%.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Kielce	http://wupkielce.praca.gov.pl
Statistics and analyses – Świętokrzyskie Province	https://wupkielce.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Świętokrzyskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Kielce	http://www.stat.gov.pl/kielce

The labour demand survey in 2021 shows that despite the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, the situation in the Świętokrzyskie labour market has improved. 12 000 new jobs were created over the year, i.e. 46% more than in the previous year. Offers of vacancies continued to exceed the jobseekers’ capacity to cover them. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, the entities surveyed had 1 800 vacancies, i.e. 32.5% more than in the previous year. In terms of the type of business, manufacturing entities predominated, accounting for 24.4% of total vacancies. Many vacancies were also recorded in entities active in construction (20%), transport, warehouse management (12.8%), trade, repair of motor vehicles (10.6%). These sections generated together almost 70% of all vacancies. The largest number of vacancies were available for craft and related trades workers (36.3%) and plant and machine operators and assemblers (29.5%). Fewer vacancies were available for professionals (11.5%), elementary workers (7.9%), service and sales workers (6.2%) or technicians and associate professionals (5.6%).

The highest number of new jobs were created in:

manufacturing	24.0%,
trade, repair of motor vehicles	23.3 %,
construction	18.1 %,
transportation and storage	5.7%.

In 2021, compared to 2020, the highest increase in new job creation occurred in accommodation and food service activities (almost seven times), and transportation and storage (almost three times). The largest decrease was recorded in entities operating in information and communication (by 34.2%).

The results of the Occupational Barometer survey, an annual forecast prepared by provincial and district labour offices, show that even in such unpredictable conditions as in the world economy in recent years, a growing trend in labour demand and the related shortage of human resources still persist. The survey shows that in 2022, labour shortages in the region are forecast for 33 occupations, with their share of the demand structure being the highest since the beginning of the survey (20.5%). The most problematic are the vacancies in construction (11 occupations): (concrete placers and finishers, pavers, carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, earthmoving plant operators and mechanics, road and railway construction workers, building finishers, building workers, wood treaters and cabinet makers); and medical and care industry (6 occupations): (medical doctors, nurses and midwives, psychologists and psychotherapists, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, paramedical practitioners, physiotherapists and massage therapists); metal processing (4 occupations): (welders, toolmakers, metal working machine operators, metal assemblers); food service and food industry (2 occupations): cooks, bakers; transportation and storage (4 occupations): heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, bus drivers, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers, stock clerks; education (3 occupations): teachers of vocational subjects, vocational training teachers, teachers of special schools and integration classes; and other sectors: electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, hairdressers and independent accountants.

Surplus occupations are decreasing, more jobseekers than available jobs are expected in 5 groups, i.e. economists, educational counsellors, travel consultants and clerks, public administration professionals, and food and nutrition technology professionals. The share of surplus occupations in the demand structure is decreasing (3.1%), and so are balanced occupations that dominate the Świętokrzyskie labour market (76.4%).

The increase in demand for workers is confirmed by the analysis of job offers and places of professional activation notified to district labour offices – the economy has clearly recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout 2021, employers notified 26 053 job offers to district labour offices in the Świętokrzyskie Province, i.e. 5 700 more than in 2020, a significant increase of nearly 30%.

The occupational structure of these job offers reflects the economic profile of the region. Most demanded were: craft and related trade workers (22.6% of all offers), service and sales workers (19.5%) and elementary workers (17.4%). Compared to 2020, an increase in demand was recorded in almost all occupational groups, with the highest percentage being for offers for: plant and machine operators and assemblers (by 43.9%), elementary workers (by 39.5%), and craft and related trade workers (by 33.2%).

Warmińsko-Mazurskie

The Warmińsko-Mazurskie (Varmia-Masuria) Region is located in the north-eastern part of Poland. Thanks to its outstanding natural features it is considered one of Poland's most beautiful regions. The capital of the region: Olsztyn (over 169 700 inhabitants), other cities: Elbląg (nearly 117 400 inhabitants), Ełk (61 600 inhabitants). 31.4% of the province’s area is covered by forests, 6% by waters and 46.3% by farmlands. With an area of over 24 000 km², Warmińsko-Mazurskie is Poland’s fourth largest province. At the end of 2021, the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province had 1 405 359 inhabitants, a decrease of 11 136 persons compared with the previous year. The province population represented 3.7% of the total population of Poland. The population density per 1 km² was 58 persons (the last place in the country jointly with the Podlaskie Province). 58.9% of the province’s population lived in urban areas. Women slightly outnumbered men in the total population at the end of 2021 (51.1%). 2021 saw a negative natural population change in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province, standing at -8,300. The rate of natural increase in 2021 was: -5,9%.

Currently, the leading sectors of the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province economy include tourism, healthy food production, timber industry, machinery and equipment production with the use of clean industrial technologies and renewable energy sources, ecological forestry, yacht manufacture and ecotourism. The following areas are considered to be of key importance to the region’s development: food industry focused on the production of high-quality food, furniture and timber industries, and water economy, seeking to make use of the region’s water resources, such as lakes and rivers and the Vistula Lagoon, for business purposes.

According to data as of the end of the first half of 2022, 142 299 national economy entities were registered in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province, 96.2% of which were private sector entities. Most entities are registered in the following sections: wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles (17.4%), construction (15.1%), real estate activities (9.0%) and other service activities (8.4%).

Michelin Polska Sp. z o.o. (manufacture of tyres) is the largest employer with 4 736 workers. Other major employers in the region: University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn employing 2 800 persons; Wipasz S.A. (production of ready-made fodder for livestock) – 2 058; Meble Wójcik Sp. z o.o. (production of other furniture) – 1 500; Regional Hospital Complex in Elbląg – 1 500; DBK Sp. z o.o. (wholesale and retail sale of other motor vehicles, excluding motorcycles) – 1 465; BRW COMFORT Sp. z o.o. (production of furniture) – 1 388; DFM Sp. z o.o. (production of other furniture) – 1 276; Zakłady Produkcyjno Usługowe Prawda Sp. z o.o. (production of other furniture) – 1 265.

The situation in the labour market, also in the first half of 2022, was still shaped by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of the war in Ukraine at the end of February 2022. At the end of the first half of 2022, the unemployment level in the region stood at 37 657 people. Compared with June 2021, unemployment in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province decreased by 8 643 persons, i.e. by 18.7%.

The unemployment rate in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province at the end of June 2022 stood at 7.6%, while the rate for Poland was 4.9%. Compared to the year-earlier period, the unemployment rate fell by 1.1 percentage points for the country and by 1.7 percentage points for the province. According to the LFS, the unemployment rate in the province at the end of the first quarter of 2022 stood at 4.2%, compared with 3.1% for Poland.

The economic activity rate in the first quarter of 2022 was 55.5% in the region (compared to the first quarter of 2021, it increased by 1.1percentage points), while the rate stood at 58.0% at the national level (57.3% in the first quarter of 2021). The employment rate in the region in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 53.1%, while the rate in Poland was 56.2%.

As part of settlements of additional forms of support under the ‘Anti-Crisis Shield’ administered by labour offices staff, by the end of May 2021, the final value of the support provided to employers from the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund amounted to over PLN 324 million, thanks to which almost 98 000 jobs were protected. The amount of subsidies paid at district labour offices by the end of May 2022 amounted to almost PLN 633 million, protecting over 135 000 jobs.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Olsztyn	https://wupolsztyn.praca.gov.pl/
Statistics and analyses – Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province	https://wupolsztyn.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy/
Occupational Barometer – Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/modul/prognozy-na-plakatach?publication=prov…
Statistical Office in Olsztyn	https://olsztyn.stat.gov.pl/

Wielkopolskie

The Wielkopolskie Province (Greater Poland) is located in the central-western part of Poland and is the second largest province in Poland. The Wielkopolskie Province is home to almost 3.49 million people. The largest settlement unit is the agglomeration of Poznań. Approximately 529 000 persons live in Poznań, which constitutes 15.2% of the region’s population. The Wielkopolskie Province is an important Polish region, both in terms of infrastructure and in terms of balanced economic development, with considerable industrialisation, high technological level and attractiveness for investors The Wielkopolskie Province is also an important educational centre, whose scientific potential is mainly concentrated in Poznań.

The Wielkopolskie Province ranks as one of the country’s leaders in the number of registered companies. Most companies operate in the following industries: wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, construction, professional, scientific and technical activities, and manufacturing

Investments in the following special economic zones (SEZ) were possible by 30 June 2018: Kamiennogórska (Ostrów Wlkp., Odolanów), Kostrzyńsko-Słubicka (Buk, Nowy Tomyśl, Przemęt, Stęszew, Swarzędz, Wronki, Krobia, Śmigiel, Wągrowiec), Łódzka (Koło, Nowe Skalmierzyce, Opatówek, Ostrzeszów, Przykona, Turek, Słupca, Kalisz), Pomorska (Piła), Wałbrzyska (Jarocin, Kościan, Krotoszyn, Leszno, Rawicz, Śrem, Września, Kalisz) and Słupska (Rogoźno). The following sectors dominate in the subzones of the Wielkopolkie Province’s SEZ: metal production, manufacturing, paper and printing, medical, automotive, transport service and logistics. The entire territory of Poland has been a special economic zone since 30 June 2018. Currently, there are more than 6 100 commercial companies with foreign equity participation in the Wielkopolskie Province, the majority of which are in the following sectors: food, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, transport, manufacture and repair of machinery and equipment, logistics, as well as finance and trade. Foreign equity comes, among others, from Germany, the United Kingdom, USA, France, Japan, Ireland, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands. Foreign investors include: Volkswagen, Bridgestone, GlaxoSmithKline, Jeronimo Martins, Beiersdorf, Franklin Templeton, Amazon, Unilever and Exide.

The Wielkopolskie Province has the lowest unemployment rate in Poland. 44 161 persons were registered as unemployed in the province in June 2022, a decrease of almost 23.5% compared with the corresponding period in the previous year. The registered unemployment rate in the Wielkopolskie Province is 2.7%, while the unemployment rate in Poland is 4.9%. The highest unemployment rate was recorded in Konin District – 6.8% (with 7.6% in Konin District (rural district) and 5.7% in the City of Konin), the lowest unemployment rate in Poznań District – 1.2%, Wolsztyn District – 1.5% and Kępno District – 1.6%.

In the first quarter of 2022, the province’s unemployment rate according to the LFS was 2%. The unemployment rate was 2.3% for men, compared with 1.6% for women. The economic activity rate (as of the end of the first quarter of 2022) in the Wielkopolskie Province stood at 59.8%, compared with 58% for the whole country. The employment rate in the Wielkopolskie Province stood at 58.6%, i.e. it was 2.4% higher than the employment rate for Poland as a whole (56.2%).

Data on employment and business entities operating in the Wielkopolskie Province in 2021 indicate that companies in this region have managed to develop new operating models in an emergency situation, such as instructing workers to take leave, reducing working time, limiting investment and recruitment, or implementing remote working. In the survey ‘Situation of Persons Working in the Wielkopolskie Province in 2021’, as much as 64.2% of the respondents stated that their occupational situation had been marked by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences most frequently reported were: a reduction in working hours, blocking pay rises and bonuses, a shift to remote working and a reduction in remuneration. For many entrepreneurs, adapting to the new reality was a very challenging endeavour. After the initial period of shock, it became clear that companies in the Wielkopolskie Province were able to recover from their temporary collapse by expanding their range of services or production areas. Of course, this does not mean that all actors have managed to survive this difficult time.

The good situation of companies in the Wielkopolskie Province may be evidenced, among other things, by the average employment in the business sector. Despite two consecutive waves of the pandemic, an increase of this indicator was recorded in the Wielkopolskie Province in 2021 compared with 2020. However, this increase is much lower than the one observed before 2019.

The stabilisation of the situation of the Wielkopolskie Province’s businesses was also reflected in the volumes of collective redundancies. In 2021, collective redundancy plans were often reduced, which was linked to the unfreezing of the economy and lifting some of the restrictions by the government as well as to the financial support provided under the ‘Anti-Crisis Shield’.

The Provincial Labour Office in Poznań paid a total of PLN 1 684 723 583.39 during the pandemic as part of the support for entrepreneurs. With this support, employers were able to preserve jobs at risk, thus maintaining employment levels and preventing an outflow of workers into unemployment. Financial support resulted in a significant decrease, compared to the previous year, in terms of both notified and actual collective redundancies.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Poznań	https://wuppoznan.praca.gov.pl/
Statistics and analyses – Wielkopolskie Province	https://wuppoznan.praca.gov.pl/rynek-pracy/statystyki-i-analizy
Occupational Barometer – Wielkopolskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/#wielkopolskie
Statistical Office in Poznań	https://poznan.stat.gov.pl/

According to the Statistics Poland data, 4 000 entities notified vacancies in the Wielkopolskie Province as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, i.e. 501 more than in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

Employers notified a total of 13 500 vacancies, i.e. 63.5% more than in the fourth quarter of 2020. Most of the vacancies were notified to district labour offices by companies representing the following sections: manufacturing (33.8% of all vacancies), construction (20.6% of vacancies), transportation and storage (13%), and wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (11.5% of vacancies).

The largest increase in job vacancies was observed among construction employers, almost five times more.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, the highest number of job offers, i.e. as much as 4 100, were notified for craft and related trades workers. The largest demand for workers in this group was notified by employers in the construction and manufacturing sectors. Around 3 500 job vacancies were addressed to plant and machine operators and assemblers, with nearly half of them addressed to drivers and vehicle operators. The need for these workers was reported mainly by employers from the transportation and storage, as well as manufacturing. In addition, around 1 700 vacancies were offered to professionals. The greatest interest in specialists was reported by entities involved in manufacturing, information and communication, and human health and social work activities.

In the first half of 2022, employers notified almost 48 500 vacancies and places of activation to district labour offices. In the second quarter of 2022, 21 163 job offers were available, i.e. approx. 22% less than in the previous quarter. Such a significant decrease in job offers notified to district labour offices is due to, inter alia, record low unemployment and a lack of skilled workers in registers. Most job offers in the first half of 2022 were provided by employers engaged in manufacturing, administrative and support service activities, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, and construction. These sections together accounted for approximately 65% of all offers notified to public employment services.

In the first half of 2022, when providing job offers to district labour offices, employers most frequently required the following qualifications from potential employees: forklift/lift truck operating skills, driving licence (B-category driving licence, C+E-category driving licence), foreign language skills, welding licence, ability to operate industrial machinery and a cash register. The competences most frequently required in job offers as notified include: communication and team skills, accuracy, conscientiousness, reliability, availability, motivation to work, ability to organise own work, autonomy and manual skills. Employers most frequently looked for candidates who spoke English and German.

Zachodniopomorskie

The Zachodniopomorskie Province (West Pomerania) is located in the north-western part of Poland. It covers 113 municipalities and 21 districts. It is the fifth largest region in Poland, with an area of 22 900 km², and the eleventh in terms of the number of inhabitants (1 677 000 in December 2021). The majority of the region’s population are urban dwellers, i.e. 68.1%. Women predominate among the inhabitants of the province – 51.5%.

The economic activity rate of the province’s population in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 55,5% (58,0% at the national level). This ratio was higher for men – 62.2% compared to 49.4% for women. Higher economic activity rates were recorded for urban residents, i.e. 58.6%, compared to 49.2% for rural residents.

Persons aged 35 to 44 (87.2%) and 45 to 54 (85.0%) were the most economically active, whereas persons aged 15 to 24 (24.8%) were the least active. Persons with higher education were the most active, whereas the lowest activity rate was recorded for persons with lower secondary education and below. The employment rate in the province in the first quarter of 2022 stood at 53.6%, an increase of 1.4% compared with 2021.

According to the labour demand survey carried out by the Statistics Poland, at the end of 2021, 407 000 persons were employed in the Zachodniopomorskie Province (3.3% of all employed persons in Poland), compared with 404 100 persons at the end of 2020.

The analysis of data on the number of persons employed by sector shows that the majority (70%) were employed in the private sector. At the end of 2021, more than half of the total workforce in the West Pomeranian region performed work in large enterprises (more than 49 employees). The percentage of persons employed in medium-sized enterprises over the period under review was 26.7%, while the employment level in small enterprises was 21.6%.

According to the Statistics Poland, at the end of 2021, 5 700 vacancies were recorded in the Zachodniopomorskie Province (4.2% of the vacancies in Poland). The vast majority of jobs notified (77.2%) were jobs in the private sector. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, the number of jobs occupied (the number of employed persons) in the Zachodniopomorskie Province amounted to 403 300 jobs.

19 800 new jobs were created in the Zachodniopomorskie Province in 2021, compared with 15 900 in the previous year. 9 300 jobs were lost in the region in 2021, compared with 12 500 in 2020.

39 650 unemployed persons were entered into the registers of labour offices in the Zachodniopomorskie Province as of the end of June 2022, a decrease of 9 064 persons (18.6%) compared with the previous year. The registered unemployment rate stood at 6.4%, a decrease of 1.5% compared with the same period in 2021. At the end of June 2022, the share of persons aged under 30 was 20.3% compared with 23.1% in the previous year.

Nearly 42 400 job vacancies and places of professional activation were registered at the Zachodniopomorskie Province’s labour offices from January to June 2022, compared with 45 600 in the same period of the previous year.

The last years have significantly changed the labour market in Poland and the region due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the aggression of Russia against Ukraine. Now, the situation in the labour market is better than a year ago, with our province experiencing stable, and even decreasing, unemployment rates. In June 2022, the outflow from unemployment in the Zachodniopomorskie Province exceeded the inflow by more than 3 000 persons, and the number of jobseeker’s allowances was reduced. The latest data for June 2022 show that the situation in the labour market in the region is significantly better than in 2021 and better than in May 2022.

According to the REGON register, 23 900 national economy entities were registered in the Zachodniopomorskie Province as of the end of 2021, an increase of 2.5% compared with the previous year. Most entities were recorded in wholesale and retail trade and construction.

Major employers in the Zachodniopomorskie Province include: Polish Steamship Company (Polska Żegluga Morska) in Szczecin, EUROAFRICA Linie Żeglugowe Sp. z o.o., Grupa Azoty Zakłady Chemiczne ‘Police’ S.A. in Police, Dolna Odra Power Plant Complex (Zespół Elektrowni Dolna Odra), Polferries Polska Żegluga Bałtycka S.A., Morska Stocznia Remontowa Gryfia S.A. in Szczecin, Fosfan S.A., Drobimex Meat Processing Plant (Drobimex Zakład Przetwórstwa Mięsnego) in Szczecin, Bridgestone Stargard Sp. z o.o., Cargotec Poland Sp. z o.o. in Stargard, Faymonville Polska Sp. z o.o., Witkowo Cooperative Agro-Company (Spółdzielcza Agrofirma Witkowo), LM Wind Power, Weber Polska Sp. z o.o., Barlinek Inwestycje Sp. z o.o., Dgs Poland Sp. z o.o., Koszalińskie Przedsiębiorstwo Przemysłu Drzewnego S.A., Kabel-Technik-Polska Sp. z o.o., Kronospan Szczecinek Sp. z o.o., Homanit Polska, NordGlass Sp. z o.o., IKEA Industry Poland, RAMIRENT S.A., Borne Furniture Sp. z o.o., Albatros Nowe Czarnowo, Meden-Inmed Sp. z o.o., Rimaster Poland Sp. z o.o., OT Port Świnoujście, 3Shape Poland Sp. z o.o., BerlinerLuft. Technik Sp. z o.o., ABWood Sp. z o.o., STARGUM, Tepro S.A. Vacuum Technology Plant, Victoria Cymes Sp. z o.o., and PRIGNITZ Meble Pomorskie Sp. z o.o.

Links:

Provincial Labour Office in Szczecin	https://www.wup.pl
Statistics and analyses – Zachodniopomorskie Province	https://www.wup.pl/pl/dla-instytucji/statystyka-badania-i-analiza/
Zachodniopomorskie Labour Market Observatory	https://www.wup.pl/pl/dla-instytucji/zachodniopomorskie-obserwatorium-r…
Occupational Barometer – Zachodniopomorskie Province	https://barometrzawodow.pl/
Statistical Office in Szczecin	https://szczecin.stat.gov.pl/

The highest number of job vacancies and places of professional activation registered at the Zachodniopomorskie Province’s labour offices in 2021 came from the following sections: manufacturing (34.5%), health care and social work activities (12.7%), and transportation and storage (9.1%). Most of the vacancies reported to labour offices were aimed at the following occupations: stock clerk, manufacturing workers, elementary workers not classified elsewhere, hand packer, building caretaker, building construction worker, warehouse labourer, cleaning workers not classified elsewhere, kitchen helper, other warehouse workers and related workers, cook, general office workers, butchers, fishmongers workers and related food prepares, sales worker, processing industry labourer, waiter, electrical equipment repairers and installers, fast food prepares, cashiers, office cleaner, orchard labourer, room cleaner, fishmonger, industrial truck (forklift) operator/driver, plastic processing machinery and equipment operator, hospital janitor, building finishers and related workers not classified elsewhere, cutting worker in meat processing.

On the basis of the 2022 Occupational Barometer survey, the shortage of workers in the Zachodniopomorskie Province is particularly evident in the construction industry. Building occupations constitute by far the largest proportion of the occupations projected to be shortage occupations. Among the 37 shortage occupations, there were 8 construction occupations: carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers, construction installation assemblers, bricklayers and plasterers, earthmoving plant operators, building finishers, and building workers. As there is still a large number of ongoing projects, both public, especially communication projects (expressways, bridges, fairways, railway infrastructure), and private (including developers), workers remain in high demand.

On the basis of job advertisements in the industry concerned, experts noted that employers looked primarily for persons with experience and suitable qualifications, but the remuneration offered was not satisfactory for jobseekers. The reason for shortages in the industry concerned is also a noticeable generation gap (carpenters and joiners, construction roofers and sheet-metal workers, plumbers).

In the TSL (transport/shipping/logistics) industry, there will be shortages of bus drivers, heavy truck and semi-trailer truck drivers, motor vehicle mechanics and repairers, and stock clerks. This is due to the development and, at the same time, significant staffing needs of the TSL branch in this region.

In the medical and care industry, there will be shortages of medical doctors, nurses and midwives, but also paramedical practitioners, carers of older persons or persons with disabilities, physiotherapists and massage therapists. In the manufacturing industry, welders, wood treaters and cabinet-makers, electricians, electrical equipment repairers and installers should have no problems finding work. In the finance industry, there will be shortages of independent accountants as well as accounting and bookkeeping clerks. As regards education, teachers of general subjects, vocational training teachers and early childhood teachers are projected to be in high demand.

Additionally, shortages are forecast also in the case of social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists, and uniformed service personnel.

Based on the latest results of the survey ‘Hiring Plans of Employers in the Zachodniopomorskie Province in the Third Quarter of 2022’, it can be concluded that employers’ hiring expectations remain moderately optimistic. The difference in the percentage of employers who are planning increases in employment and those who are planning reductions was 5% (10% of the surveyed national economy entities are planning to reduce the number of jobs, while 15% are planning to increase their number). Compared to the second quarter of 2022, employers’ hiring plans changed (net forecast value decreased by 8 percentage points). While the forecast for the second quarter of 2022 was clearly optimistic, the forecast for the third quarter of 2022 shows a marked deterioration in employment intentions. However, taking into account the new circumstances of business activity – the war in Ukraine, high inflation, high interest rates, problems with supply chains, high energy costs – this result shows the optimism of the Zachodniopomorskie Province’s employers. In addition, according to 36% of employers in Zachodniopomorskie’s province, ongoing hostilities in Ukraine will negatively impact their activities in the third quarter of 2022. Most of such concerns are expressed by transport companies (64%). Anxiety is also present in manufacturing and construction-related industries, where nearly 55% of companies indicate great concerns in this regard. Of the Zachodniopomorskie Province’s employers participating in the survey, 38% do not share the opinion that a worker from Ukraine can be found for a specialised position without any problem in the current situation. Negative responses in this regard were provided in particular by respondents from the metal industry (61%) and transport (59%). Companies in the manufacturing sector (55%) and in the tourism sector (50%) also disagree with this opinion.

Labour market information: Poland

National Level

Short overview of the labour market

Where are the available jobs?

Where are the available workers?

Dolnośląskie

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Kujawsko-Pomorskie

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Lubelskie

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Lubuskie

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Łódzkie

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Małopolskie

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Mazowieckie

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Opolskie

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Podkarpackie

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Podlaskie

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Pomorskie

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Śląskie

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Świętokrzyskie

Short overview of the labour market

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Warmińsko-Mazurskie

Short overview of the labour market

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Wielkopolskie

Short overview of the labour market

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Zachodniopomorskie

Short overview of the labour market

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