Demographic winter It hits the Polish labor market more and more. An aging society, a decrease in the number of births and a decreasing population in working age means that the vacancies arrive and their hands to work. According to CSO forecasts, the number of people of working age will drop from 21.7 million to approx. 15 million in 2060. As early as 2035, we may be 2.1 million employees less than today – it is over 12 percent. current workforce.
Sectors such as industry, agriculture, education and trade will affect the most deficiencies. There is not only quantity in the game – but also quality. Experts say directly: without actions here and now, Poland will fall not only into a personnel gap, but also competence.
Migration policy versus the reality of the market
Migration policy does not keep up with the realities of the market – convinces Yuriy Grygorenko, an analyst at Gremi Personal. According to him, Poland will not cope with the growing staff gap without changes in the regulations and the digitization of administrative processes.
– The Polish migration strategy focuses primarily on safety – not on the labor market – says Grygarenko. In his opinion, the most urgent step should be expanding the pool of countries covered by visa -freesimplification of bureaucracy and digitization of administrative processes. – The Act on foreigners is out of date. After the visa scandal, Colombians – numerous, because of 13.5 thousand people group – were covered by additional restrictions – he adds.
And the numbers are unambiguous and show the state for now, not a distant future: only in 2024 250 thousand were born. children, over 400,000 died people. The natural decrease in the population amounted to over 150 thousand. annually. And there is no indication that the trend is to turn around.
HR deficiencies and cultural barriers
Contrary to popular belief, it is not only about young men to physical work. Poland also needs medical workers, teachers, guardians, nurses and midwives – And these are missing today. At the same time, companies must take into account the growing cultural and language diversity of bands.
The expert emphasizes that companies should set up a growing Cultural diversity of teams. – Therefore, when implementing new digital systems and tools, it is worth immediately ensuring the possibility of using them in different languages - adds Grygorenko. Also points out that The key challenge is to raise digital competences – And not only among young people, but also older employees, because without them there is no question of effective automation and implementation of technologies that would relieve the shortage of workforce.
Strategies for employers
Migration and activation of seniors are only part of the puzzle. We asked an expert what companies can do themselves – without waiting for the government's actions.
Grygorenko advises entrepreneurs to bet on process automation – This not only relieves manual workers, but also improves production. Unfortunately, few enterprises can afford something like that, because most of the production plants in Poland are medium and small enterprises – notes the expert.
That is why it is a real scenario process optimization. – Sometimes it is enough to rethink the organization of changes, reduce employee rotation, increase the transparency of tasks and implement operational standards – explains Grygorenko
Another solution is outsourcing tasks not related to the basic activity of the enterprise, thanks to which companies will adapt faster to staff shortages. In addition, as the analyst indicates, investing in Cultural and language adaptation foreign employees – primarily learning foreign languages.
As Grygorenko notes, many employers think about employing migrants only under pressure, while prior preparation – by implementing training programs, mentoring systems and digital support tools – It gives companies a great advantage and brings measurable results.
It is also worth, as the analyst suggests, reaching for resources available on the local market. – If the company has staff resources, it is worth reaching for the pool of unemployed registered in labor offices. If even half of them could be activated, it would be a huge success – the expert assesses.
You need a change in immigrants
The expert also draws attention to the lack of consistent social communication. – Employers do their job – integrating foreigners, investing in their development, creating good working conditions. But this state must give it the right context and social consent – says Grygorenko.
In his opinion, it is also necessary to distinguish between migration policy between earning migrants and refugees, which would allow dedicated politicians to create. Today, these groups are thrown into one bag – and their needs and situations are completely different.
There is less and less time
Gremi Personal data shows that if the trend persists, after 2030 a generational gap – the difference between people entering and leaving the market – will exceed 250,000. annually.
Without bold decisions, Poland will not cope with demographics or the economic effects of the aging of society.
– It is not a matter of the future – this is already happening – says Yuriy Grygorenko. Without migration and investment in digital competences, companies will lose the fight for an employee, and the economy – for competitiveness – sums up the analyst.
