Expert's opinion: Real family values

Recruiting is easier than in the early 1990s: professionals are more professional, positions not existing then are now in high demand. That reflects a quite logical process of maturing. We have noticed some tremendous transformation in working habits as well.

When Solidarity won the first partly free election in post war Poland (in 1989) and foreign investors started to come to Poland, there was an outburst of enthusiasm from young Poles. Nearly every university graduate with communicative English eagerly joined international businesses investing dollars here. People worked hard, very long hours - sometimes to three or four o'clock in the morning - to make up for the lack of proper business administration education, experience and knowledge. They learned on the job and the majority of them made the steep way up to professional success. Some never defended their thesis at university, some divorced, but some became General Managers and a lot of them are today Directors.

When the Polish economy cooled down in 2001, the professionals began to notice some other values in life other than work. I had a chance to overhear in a busy morning train from Warsaw to Kraków (full of businessmen) a young man trying to fix a time for a drink with friends. He said: "The earliest is 9pm as I have to give the baby a bath." It is a sign of our times. Family is now a real value. Today professional Poles work hard but within limits. Time for kids and partners is sacred and some people defend their boundaries. Whenever necessary they work hard, but it is not an everyday thing any longer, like in other mature markets. Those hungry Polish cowboys are in Russia and Ukraine now!!

Accetis International Poland

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