The next Polish brain drain

Published on 27 September 2010 at 09:59

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The opening of the German and Austrian labour markets to Polish workers from 1 May 2011 may trigger off yet another wave of emigration, warns Gazeta Wyborcza. The number of Poles working in Germany, currently at some 415,000, may even double, experts believe. They warn that compared to the first wave of emigration, when some 2 million mainly young Poles left in search of work following the country’s EU accession, next year’s is likely to be smaller but actually more painful for the national economy. This is because the quickly recovering German economy needs engineers, construction workers and nurses, of whom there is already a shortage in Poland. “Until 2004, Germany took more immigrant workers from Poland than any other country in Europe and now it can regain that position because research shows that it is the first-choice foreign destination for Polish workers,” notes Prof Krystyna Iglicka, demographer at the Centre For International Affairs (CSM).

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