BRE: cutting employers' worker-related costs crucial for jobless reduction

Experts at Bank Rozwoju a Eksportu (BRE) told reporters yesterday at a press conference that one million new jobs need to be created in Poland, if the unemployment rate is to be kept below 15%. BRE economists emphasized that one important way to achieve this goal would be by cutting costs that employers are obligated to pay for their employees, in particular social insurance contributions. The experts also indicated that - relative to Poles ' average wage - the current minimum wage is too high and is in fact not helping in the state's fight against unemployment. Janusz Jankowiak, an economist at BRE, said that minimum wage levels should vary depending on age, region or industry sector, and not be one unchanging amount paid to all regardless of these variables. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B2) A.D.