Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies on EU Labour Markets
Bottleneck Vacancies in Poland
Construction and transport sector most affected by recruiting difficulties
According to the results of the latest representative
survey conducted in 2012, 76% of the employers had
difficulties with finding adequate candidates to fill
their staffing needs. The highest proportions of bottleneck vacancies are located in the construction,
transport and the service sector. With the exception of
vacancies for ICT professionals, which have seen a
slight improvement, all bottlenecks have worsened or
remained at similar levels since 2008, revealing a
structural nature of shortages.
Poland 2013
Population: 38.5m
Workforce: 24.6m
Unemployment: 13%
Unmet demand for skilled manual workers
Bottleneck vacancies within the construction sector
relate to jobs for manual and skilled workers (brick
layers, plasterers) as well as to highly skilled civil engineers. Transport companies have experienced severe difficulties with filling vacancies for heavy truck
and lorry drivers, while employers operating in the
service sector find it difficult to fill vacancies for sales
assistants, waiters, chefs or bar-keepers. Additionally,
one can observe a steady demand for business and
administration (associate) professionals mainly in the
hotel and catering sector as well as for medical doctors of all disciplines in the health sector.
Lack of technical competencies and emigration
The main reasons for recruitment difficulties regarding
“skilled manual” workers are shortages of candidates
with the right technical skills; evidence suggests that
unattractive working conditions are causing labour
migration to Western and Northern parts of the EU.
For higher skilled occupations, recruiting difficulties in
the health sector mainly stem from the lack of candidates due to the emigration of medical doctors to
Western and Northern parts of the EU seeking better
working conditions. Business and administration
(associate) professionals oftentimes lack sufficient
professional experience or soft skills according to employers’ assessments.
Mitigation strategies
A number of initiatives are carried out both at the
national and regional level, mainly with the aim of
increasing the supply of skilled workforce. The most
significant strategies in this context are the reform of
the vocational training schools (zasadnicza szkoła
zawodowa) introduced in 2012 and the recruitment of
foreign labour from Eastern Europe and Asia, particularly relating to the construction and transport sector.
Assessment of available evidence
Medium. See page 5 for more information.
TOP 20 Bottleneck Vacancies in Poland 2013
Occupation (ISCO-08)
Development
since 2008
Building and related trades workers

Drivers and mobile plant operators

Personal service workers

Sales workers

Business and administration assocs […]

Metal, machinery and related trades […]

Electrical and electronic trades workers

Science and engineering professionals

Health professionals

Business and administration pros. […]

Food processing, wood working […]

Information and communications […]

Science and engineering associate […]

Teaching professionals

Legal, social and cultural professionals

Legal, social, cultural and related […]

Cleaners and helpers

Labourers in mining, construction […]

Administrative […] managers

Production […] service managers

Page 1
Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies on EU Labour Markets
Top 20 Bottleneck Vacancies
Bottleneck vacancies have been identified using a comprehensive study on the employers’ view of the Polish
labour market comparing survey results obtained in 2010
-2012. The study was conducted under the project entitled “Study of Human Capital in Poland”. In 2012, 16,000
employers were asked to identify hard-to-fill vacancies.
Bottleneck vacancies in Poland mainly relate to jobs for
manual and skilled workers in the construction and
transport sector. While construction companies primarily
report difficulties with recruiting brick layers and plasterers, transport companies are experiencing severe difficulties with filling vacancies for heavy truck and lorry drivers.
Within the group of “high skilled” labourers, “business
and administration (associate) professionals”, civil engineers, as well as medical doctors of all disciplines constitute the most difficult vacancies to be filled (approx.
12,000 hard-to-fill vacancies for health professionals),
particularly in the Eastern part of Poland as well as in
rural regions.
Among the top 10 bottleneck vacancies a few skilled non
manual jobs are also classified as hard-to-fill vacancies.
Besides “sales workers” (56,000 vacancies), “personal
service workers” (39,000 vacancies), in particular cooks,
waiters/waitresses and barkeepers. The high demand for
specific staff in the hotel and catering sector derives from
the growing tourism sector.
Moreover, an increasing number of employers are reporting difficulties with recruiting “electrical and electronic
trades workers” (29,000 vacancies) and “metal, machinery and related trades workers”. The strong demand for
manual and skilled workers in the construction and
The ranking is based on an index estimating the share of
transport as well as in related sectors is the result of an
”bottleneck vacancies” reported by employers in each ocon-going economic expansion.
cupation and developed by the Polish Agency for Enterprise
Development (PARP) (see p. 5)
Rank
Bottleneck Vacancies ISCO-08
Skills level
(ISCO-08)
Geographical aspects
1
Building and related trades workers, excl. electricians
SM
National
2
Drivers and mobile plant operators
SM
National
3
Personal service workers
SNM
National
4
Sales workers
SNM
National (urban)
5
Business and administration associate professionals
HS
National (urban)
6
Metal, machinery and related trades workers
SM
National
7
Electrical and electronic trades workers
SM
National
8
Science and engineering professionals
HS
National
9
Health professionals
HS
National (rural)
10
Business and administration professionals
HS
National (urban)
11
Food processing, wood working, garnment and other (…)
SM
National
12
Information and communications technology professionals
HS
National (urban)
13
Science and engineering associate professionals
HS
National
14
Teaching professionals
HS
National
15
Legal, social and cultural professionals
HS
National
16
Legal, social, cultural and related associate professionals
HS
National
17
Cleaners and helpers
Elem.
National
18
Labourers in mining, construction (…)
Elem.
National
19
Administrative and commercial managers
HS
National
20
Production and specialized service managers
HS
National
Elem:Elementary, SNM: Skilled non manual, SM: Skilled manual, HS= High skilled
Page 2
Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies on EU Labour Markets
Main sectors with Bottleneck Vacancies
Sectors
Bottleneck vacancies
Construction
Building and related trades workers,
excluding electricians
Transport
Drivers and mobile plant operators
The construction and transport sectors are
strong pillars of the Polish economy and have
recently experienced significant economic
growth. Consequently, both sectors are characterized by high number of vacancies accompanied by high proportions of hard-to-fill
vacancies.
Construction and transport sectors
In 2012 there were approximately 106,000 vacancies to be filled with labourers being classified as
“building and related trade workers, excluding electricians” and around 58,000 vacancies to be
filled with workers belonging to the occupation group “drivers and mobile plant operators”. However, strong demand for manual and skilled labour cannot be satisfied nationally, though unemployment among adolescents is around 30%.
The Polish education system has not been able to respond to this situation since the promotion of
vocational training schools (zasadnicza szkoła zawodowa) had been long neglected. Only recently
action has been taken to reform them and align the curricula to the high labour market demand for
manual skilled workers with up-to-date technical competencies.
Main reasons for Bottleneck Vacancies
Emigration of labour
Most vacancies in the health sector remain unfilled due to low pay and unfavourable working conditions. In
general, employers in the health sector reported hard-to-fill-vacancies for medical doctors of all disciplines
mainly due to the high emigration rates of “health professionals” heading towards Western and Northern
parts of the EU, e.g. Germany, United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Better working conditions and payment
are the main drivers of emigration. The construction and transport sectors have also been suffering from
high emigration rates of skilled labour force.
Decreasing uptake of vocational training
A decreasing number of adolescents opts for vocational training and instead pursue higher educational
careers. For this reason the number of graduates with specific vocational education has been steadily declining limiting the labour suppy of manual and skilled workers.
Lack of technical competencies and emigration
The main reasons for recruitment difficulties regarding “skilled manual” workers (e.g. building and related
trades workers, drivers and mobile plant operators) are shortages of candidates with technical skills. Evidence suggests that unattractive working conditions are causing labour migration to Western and Northern
parts of the EU.
Vacancies for sales assistants remain unfilled due to a “lack of adequate motivation to work” on the part of
job candidates or low salaries, whereas the poor image of the hotel and catering sector accompanied by
unfavourable conditions make it difficult for employers to fill vacancies.
Page 3
Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies on EU Labour Markets
Initiatives to cope with Bottleneck
Vacancies
There have been multiple initiatives taken by various actors on different levels associated with the
mitigation of bottleneck vacancies. However some of these are more general as they are aimed at
meeting current and future needs, rather than filling specific gaps.
Even though a comprehensive national strategy is still missing, several measures have been taken by
the Ministry of National Education in order to increase the supply of manual skilled as well as high
skilled workers. The most important mitigation strategy recently implemented was the reform of the
vocational training schools (zasadnicza szkoła zawodowa).
Cooperation with regional level state employment agencies (PES) as well as the recruitment of
foreign labour force, particularly from East Europe and Asia have gained in significance, especially for
larger companies operating in the construction and transport sector.
Reform of vocational
education
The most important mitigation strategy implemented by the Polish Ministry of National Education in autumn 2012 was the reform of the vocational
training
schools (zasadnicza
szkoła
zawodowa). The reform was initiated to guarantee the supply of manual and skilled workers with
up-to-date competencies.
The reform’s main targets were to 1)increase the
practical relevance of the vocational training by
developing up-to-date curricula adapted to the
requirements of the labour market, and 2) raise
the reputation of the vocational training schools
among adolescents and employers.
Improving placement
At the regional level, state employment agencies
(PES) actively work with local employers in order
to activate the employment potential of unemployed, especially adolescents, by financing specific training courses, and (co-)financing tailored
made training courses for job candidates that do
not fully meet the job requirements.
Particularly, large companies operating in construction and transport primarily contract specialised recruitment agencies for hiring adequate
staff to fill vacancies.
STEM focus
A significant programme designed by the Ministry
of National Education is “Girls for Technical Universities” (Dziewczyny na politechniki) aiming at
sparking girls' curiosity in science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) in order to take up
studies in STEM.
First results prove the effectiveness of the programme since the ratio of female STEM students
had risen from 30% to 35.9% within the last six
years.
Recruitment from
abroad
Improvement of working conditions or motivation
of staff do not constitute effective strategies in
the employers’ opinion since they cannot compete
with job conditions offered in Western and Northern parts of the EU.
Therefore, employers focus their efforts on the
recruitment of new foreign workforce, particularly
from Eastern European countries (Ukraine, Belarus) as well as from Asia (Vietnam, China), making recruitment from abroad a highly significant
strategy for the country.
Page 4
Mapping and analysing bottleneck vacancies on EU Labour Markets
Main sources used to identify Bottleneck
Vacancies in Poland
The bottleneck vacancies have been identified by using
one main source:

A comprehensive study on the employer's view of
the Polish labour market comparing survey results
obtained in 2010-2012
The study was conducted under the “Study of Human
Capital in Poland” project, a labour market monitoring
project that is unique in Poland and Europe. By 2014, the
Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (Polska
Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, PARP) in collaboration with the Jagiellonian University will trace – in five
rounds of research – how the structure of competences is
changing in the labour market.
Information on the characteristics of hard-to-fill vacancies
as well as underlying reasons were drawn from further
reports published by PARP and validated through desk
research on occupation-specific studies and surveys, as
well as newspaper articles.
Interviews with experts were conducted in order to obtain
relevant insights concerning the characteristics of mitigation strategies adopted on the national and regional level.
Overall, the data quality is assessed to be medium.
The expert group responsible for the project
“Study Human Capital in Poland” established a
high quality monitoring system based on results
deriving from a comprehensive and representative
employers' survey carried out every year.
For the survey, in 2012 16,000 employers were
asked to identify hard-to-fill vacancies. The question was:
“To what position or positions is it most difficult to
find employees? Please give the name of the position as precisely and completely as possible.”
Additionally, employers were asked to name specific problems with employing people, as well as
what skills were primarily lacking among the candidates for the positions.
Sources
Marcin Kocór, Anna Strzebońska, Monika Dawid–Sawicka (2012): Pracodawcy o rynku pracy. Na podstawie
badań zrealizowanych w 2012 roku w ramach III edycji projektu Bilans Kapitału. Warszawa: Polska Agencja
Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, available at: http://bkl.parp.gov.pl/system/files/Downloads/20121128143313/
RAPORT2_26_11_final.pdf?1354109631
Anna Strzebońska, Marcin Kocór (2013): Młodość czy doświadczenie? Kapitał ludzki w Polsce. Raport podsumowujący III edycję badań BKL z 2012 roku. Warszawa: Polska Agencja Rozwoju Przedsiębiorczości, available at: http://bkl.parp.gov.pl/system/files/Downloads/20121128143313/BKL_Raport_2013_int_m.pdf?
1364281897
Iwona Wrzesińska-Wal (2012): Mobilność polskich lekarzy, in: Problemy Higieny i Epidemiologii, 93 (1), 209215, available at: http://www.phie.pl/pdf/phe-2012/phe-2012-1-209.pdf
Four interviews conducted with key stakeholders and experts.
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