Diligent Poles reluctant to go home

Poles are still emigrating for economic reasons, headlines Warsaw daily Rzeczpospolita. According to latest data for 2009, 15,400 more Polish citizens left than returned. However, the scale of emigration is lower than in the first years after the country’s EU accession. “The belief that world crisis will make Poles return from abroad has proved false”, says professor Elżbieta Adamowicz, director at Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). Recruitment companies stress that the most popular destinations for Poles are now Belgium and Holland with Britain in third place. Polish employees are still much sought after as they have made a reputation as hard working, diligent, and willing to accept lower wages than their counterparts in the West. On the other hand, “the perspectives awaiting emigrants back in Poland are foggy as only few Polish companies offer clear-cut career paths and setting up a private business remains very complicated”, reads Rzeczpospolita’s editorial.