PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES OF THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The Employee Market

Almost 9 in 10 (exactly 87%) Polish companies plan to maintain high recruitment activity. The Polish labor market remains an employee's market, as shown by the latest edition of the report "Labor Market, Education, Competencies" published by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. Almost half — 41% of Polish employees — change jobs in search of higher pay. As many as 72% of employers believe that in the near future we will continue to deal with an employee's market, where recruitment competition will remain high. Research conducted by Gremi Personal among workers shows which factors are key for candidates from outside Poland when choosing a job. 34.48% indicated the level of remuneration. Appropriate, comfortable working conditions (for 21%) and accommodation (for 13%) are also very important.

Changing Trends

According to the same report, the registered unemployment rate in Poland in January 2023 stood at 5.5% and, although it rose slightly, it remains one of the lowest in Europe. For comparison, in Greece it stands at 11.6%, and in Spain at 13.1%. Lower unemployment rates are reported by Germany (2.9%), Czech Republic (2.3%) and Malta (2.9%). The average unemployment rate for EU-27 member states was 6.1%. The report highlights important megatrends related to the fourth industrial revolution (innovation, digitization, robotization and automation), combating the climate catastrophe, and social phenomena. EU regulations and the 2014-2020 cohesion policy — aimed at influencing the level and quality of employment — are also bearing fruit. Women now account for more than half of all newly hired workers. There are many signs that Polish workers are becoming increasingly demanding. Their financial expectations are growing, and they are not afraid to change jobs if they receive a better and more interesting offer.

Production Troubles

The manufacturing sector in 2023 is under strong pressure from several directions. The global crisis, the still-felt effects of the pandemic, war-driven changes in energy sources, logistical difficulties, as well as growing employee expectations and labor shortages are directly affecting production levels. In April, industrial production in Poland fell by -6.4% year-on-year — a figure higher than most analysts had forecast. According to GUS data, Polish companies still had almost 115,000 unfilled job positions, with the largest labor shortages in industry and trade.

Flexibility Is Key

The problems mentioned above require companies to demonstrate maximum flexibility and quick responsiveness to market changes. This is extremely difficult when at the same time one must grapple with the challenges of recruiting and retaining workers whose requirements and financial expectations keep growing. The most sought-after occupational group at employment offices continues to be unskilled manual workers, who can be trained through specialized courses to fill gaps in the workplace. A solution is hiring people from outside Poland, for whom manufacturing wages are considerably more attractive. Gremi Personal services can come to the rescue. For companies in the manufacturing sector, we offer a flexible form of cooperation that allows increasing and decreasing staffing needs without incurring additional fixed costs. We handle recruitment, employment, and HR and administrative management throughout the entire duration of the contract. We provide workers with accommodation and support during the training process. We take care of them and run motivational programs for them. All of this to ensure you higher quality of work in an extremely flexible model (you pay for exactly as much work as you need at any given moment) and help you increase production profits and boost your company's competitiveness.

Learn more about our services that will help you increase production efficiency: https://gremi-personal.com/produkcja/