The Economic Forum is Central and Eastern Europe's largest meeting platform for discussing prospects for economic development and contemporary challenges, and presenting concrete solutions and innovative ideas.

Diagnosis: shortage of manpower

One of the most common diagnoses of the labour market situation is a shortage of labour. This raises the obvious question of how to reduce this shortage – as much as possible. After many months of meetings, which have made me wiser than I was when I took office as a minister, I have this conclusion: we need to change our thinking. The challenge of the shortage of workers raises the question of how to activate further social groups so that they will want to work,' said Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. – There is the question of how to convince older people to work as long as possible, how to encourage mothers to return to the labour market after giving birth, how to activate people with disabilities. We also discuss migration policy in the context of the labour market. Each of these questions is, of course, legitimate and deserves attention and answers. We will continue to ask each of them.

Better working conditions

But each of these questions has a common weakness. This weakness is the recognition that it is in the individual or group limitations of these individuals and social groups that the problem lies. That it is specific individuals and groups that are insufficiently activated, insufficiently motivated, that we need to do something to change these people, to change their attitudes and to make them want to work tomorrow, just as they do not want to work today,' said the Minster.

There is an obvious fundamental error and plain untruth in this thinking, because as a rule, people want to work, people want to be needed, they want to feel productive, they want to be appreciated for the effort they put into their daily activities,' argued Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. – Poles, young and old, women and men, regardless of their views, are a very hard-working nation. So, the answer to the question of what to do so that these hands, their hands, will not be in short supply is to give them a chance and to create the conditions.

Shorter working time

If we want, for example, older people to remain voluntarily active on the labour market for longer, we need to start discussing changes to the working time conditions. Because the older we are, the faster we get tired. And this is no one's fault. It is not a sign of laziness. It's simply how the human body works. And that's why in the ministry we are very carefully, very prudently, with a very long time perspective, but YES, we are studying the topic of shortening and the possibility of shortening the weekly working time, said the Minister.

We support entrepreneurs so they can support employees

If we want people with disabilities to be as independent as possible, to be economically active, we must create the conditions for such independence. That is why we at the Ministry are working with the Government Plenipotentiary for Disabled People on the Personal Assistance Act. That is why we support entrepreneurs and employers who create jobs for people with disabilities. That is why we are increasing funding to employ people with disabilities, because people with disabilities want to be independent and want to work. We need to create such conditions for them,' the Minister announced.

Disease cannot be punished

In short, if we do not want, and we cannot any longer want, only healthy, young, strong people, who never get ill, to be employed, then we need to change our approach on how we treat illness at work. Illness is a random event. It is neither the employee's nor the entrepreneur's fault,' said Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. – Neither one nor the other should be punished for it. Therefore, in the Ministry we are working on our coalition commitment, namely sick pay paid from the first day by the Social Insurance Institution ZUS (by the State) and relieving employees of the deduction of their salaries on this account.

Major reforms are needed

The labour market needs to change. It is the labour market, not the employee or the entrepreneur, which needs to change. It is the labour market framework that needs to be reconstructed. But reconstructing the labour market is a bit like reconstructing a ship on the open sea. This ship needs to be reconstructed thoroughly, but she needs to be reconstructed in such a way that she will not sink. It is not possible to rebuild everything at once. These changes must be made gradually, one at a time, in a predictable and responsible manner. What is more, we are setting ourselves ambitious targets. We want this ship, in the process of being reconstructed, not to sink. We want her to sail forward because development is not standing still. Development is change, it is progress, it is moving forward. I want this reconstruction of the great ship that is the labour market to take place in a responsible manner. That it takes place in an environment of dialogue and cooperation with the State, but I also want it to really take place. So that we can sail forward together for the prosperity of employees, employers and the economy as a whole,' concluded her speech at the Economic Forum the Minister Dziemianowicz-Bąk.