Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction Working out a way from East to West: EU Enlargement and Labour Migration from Central and Eastern Europe
- 2 Working Conditions for Polish Construction Workers and Domestic Cleaners in Oslo: Segmentation, Inclusion and the Role of Policy
- 3 Patterns and Determinants of sub-Regional Migration: A case Study of Polish Construction Workers in Norway
- 4 What’s Behind the Figures? An Investigation into Recent Polish Migration to the UK
- 5 Markets and Networks: Channels Towards the Employment of Eastern European Professionals and Graduates in London
- 6 ‘A van full of Poles’: Liquid Migration from Central and Eastern Europe
- 7 Direct Demographic Consequences of Post-Accession Migration for Poland
- 8 Brains on the move? Recent Migration of the Highly Skilled from Poland and its Consequences
- 9 Skills Shortage, Emigration and Unemployment in Poland: Causes and Implications of Disequilibrium in the Polish Labour Market
- 10 Optimising Migration Effects: A Perspective from Bulgaria
- 11 Return Migration and Development Prospects after EU Integration: Empirical Evidence from Bulgaria
- 12 Transitioning Strategies of Economic Survival: Romanian Migration During the Transition Process
- 13 Modernising Romanian Society Through Temporary Work Abroad
- 14 Pressure of Migration on Social Protection Systems in the Enlarged EU
- 15 The EU Directive on Free Movement: A Challenge for the European Welfare State?
- Notes on Contributors
- Other IMISCOE Titles
9 - Skills Shortage, Emigration and Unemployment in Poland: Causes and Implications of Disequilibrium in the Polish Labour Market
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- 1 Introduction Working out a way from East to West: EU Enlargement and Labour Migration from Central and Eastern Europe
- 2 Working Conditions for Polish Construction Workers and Domestic Cleaners in Oslo: Segmentation, Inclusion and the Role of Policy
- 3 Patterns and Determinants of sub-Regional Migration: A case Study of Polish Construction Workers in Norway
- 4 What’s Behind the Figures? An Investigation into Recent Polish Migration to the UK
- 5 Markets and Networks: Channels Towards the Employment of Eastern European Professionals and Graduates in London
- 6 ‘A van full of Poles’: Liquid Migration from Central and Eastern Europe
- 7 Direct Demographic Consequences of Post-Accession Migration for Poland
- 8 Brains on the move? Recent Migration of the Highly Skilled from Poland and its Consequences
- 9 Skills Shortage, Emigration and Unemployment in Poland: Causes and Implications of Disequilibrium in the Polish Labour Market
- 10 Optimising Migration Effects: A Perspective from Bulgaria
- 11 Return Migration and Development Prospects after EU Integration: Empirical Evidence from Bulgaria
- 12 Transitioning Strategies of Economic Survival: Romanian Migration During the Transition Process
- 13 Modernising Romanian Society Through Temporary Work Abroad
- 14 Pressure of Migration on Social Protection Systems in the Enlarged EU
- 15 The EU Directive on Free Movement: A Challenge for the European Welfare State?
- Notes on Contributors
- Other IMISCOE Titles
Summary
Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to scrutinise the apparently overlapping research problems of skill shortage, emigration and unemployment in Poland, focusing both on the causes and implications of disequilibrium in the Polish labour market. The chapter shows that there is no straightforward relationship (or correlation) between skill shortages and the outflow of people. Rather, the outflow of people (including seasonal, pendulum migration) is one among a set of factors that impacts skill shortages in Poland and cannot be analysed separately from these other factors.
The first section of the chapter provides an overview of labour market adjustments and associated challenges in Poland by tracking the process of transition in Poland. The second section sets out the concepts of structural mismatches, shortages and gaps as grounded in theory by approaching four main interpretations connected to: 1) turbulence in the economy; 2) the lack of equilibrium in micro markets; 3) the mismatch of ineffective allocations of labour and 4) the Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU) as connected to labour resources. This section also examines regional variations and divergences of the labour market in Poland. The third section refers to internal migration within, and emigration from, Poland after 1 May 2004. Section four takes into account economic gaps as a characteristic of changes and challenges in the Polish labour market, including analysis of the barriers to growth of companies as reported by employers. Finally, section five synthesises the set of factors identified across the analysis that cause skill shortages, highlighting both their short- and long-term implications for the Polish labour market.
A synopsis of labour market adjustments and challenges in Poland
The transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy has been accompanied by far-reaching changes in the labour market. According to Dorenbos (1999: 1):
Excess demand for labour and shortage of labour were replaced by a surplus of labour and shortage of jobs. Consequently, unemployment emerged and grew rapidly: former centrally planned economy converted from ‘job rights’ economy to ‘job search’ economy.
The next stage of this transformation seems to be a move to a ‘skill search’ economy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Continent Moving West?EU Enlargement and Labour Migration from Central and Eastern Europe, pp. 187 - 206Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2012