The situation on the labour market in Poland is looking good compared to other countries, not only in the European Union. The number of unemployed as of the end of August this year was among the lowest in the last 33 years and amounted to slightly less than 784,000, which was nearly 3% less than in the previous year and over 62%, or 1.3 million people, less than a decade ago. The registered unemployment rate fell from 13% to 5% in the said period.

In July of this year, Poland reported the unemployment rate of 2.8% and took the third place in the EU in this respect after Malta (2.5%) and the Czech Republic (2.7%). The rate reported in Poland was also a record low among OECD Member States. Poland achieved the same result as South Korea and was slightly below the Czech Republic and Japan, both of which achieved 2.7%, and was followed by Germany (2.9%) and even the USA (3.5%).

There are nearly 17 million workers in Poland. The number of job offers advertised by employers remains high – the average number of vacancies and occupational activation places advertised through employment offices in 2015-2023 was more than 1.3 million per year. They totalled more than 11.8 million, and there are even more offers advertised through commercial Internet portals.

Our labour market has been struggling with staff shortages for years. According to a survey by ManpowerGroup, employer continuously report difficulties in recruiting workers with required competencies - 72% of employers experienced such problems in 2023.

Admitting foreigners, including citizens of Ukraine, to the Polish labour market has compensated for the shortages, and employers are greatly interested in employing them. However, it is of key importance that tackling labour shortages does not harm the migration and labour market security, i.e. it must not cause deterioration of labour market standards or push Polish citizens out of the market.

When considering work permit applications, Voivodeship Offices take a number of factors into account, such as whether a foreigner is not in the list of foreigners who are undesirable in Poland, whether they meet the qualification requirements where the job to be entrusted is in a regulated profession, or whether a Polish citizen can be employed on that position (the so-called labour market test).

As regards unreliable information about work permits, it must be stressed that the increase in the number of work permits in certain years was usually caused by the widening personnel gap connected with decreasing unemployment. It is always the employer who applies for a work permit. A work permit is not a standalone basis for a foreigner to enter Poland, and it does not determine whether or not the foreigner takes up employment in Poland.

In order to legally work in Poland, a foreigner must have a residence permit which is accompanied by the entitlement to work in the country. In many cases foreigners do not take up employment in Poland because e.g. they do not get the visa or resign from travelling to Poland. Such circumstances make Voivodes obliged to cancel permits issued earlier if the situation so requires, including where the foreigner concerned does not take up employment. In the first half of this year alone, out of 145,000 work permits some 50,000 were cancelled.

Furthermore, according to Eurostat data, Poland has the fifth highest rates of economic activity of foreigners among all EU Member States – reaching 81.6% in 2022, compared to the EU average of 72.5%; in Germany, the rate was 70.2%, clearly lower than in Poland.

Many regulations that seal the system of admitting foreigners to the Polish labour market, enhance the State's ability to counter irregularities and protect the domestic labour market have been implemented under the Law and Justice government, including in particular the extension of the rules that allow rejecting work permit applications (e.g. where the circumstances show that the application is ostensible or where the employer is in arrears with taxes or social insurance contributions), the significant extension and clarification of the rules on automated exchange of information with inspection services, as well as establishing legal grounds for introducing, where appropriate, limits on the number of permits issued.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policy calls for a public debate based on facts. Speculations and false information hurt honest employers and workers.