Labor market challenges at the Congress Praca 4.0

The 8th edition of the Congress “Praca 4.0. Predicting Tomorrow – Labor Market in the Era of Uncertainty” organized by the Lewiatan Confederation is finished. Three days of panels and workshops involved participants, business representatives, administration, and HR practitioners discussing labor market challenges, changes in the law, and support for employers.

Barbara Socha, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, addressed demographic changes strongly impacting the labor market: “We have untapped groups: disabled people and young women with no part-time jobs for them. They want to work but expect flexible work organization. Employers do not fully comprehend this. Failure to solve the employee-deficit problem will halt quick development of the economy”.

Professor Agnieszka Wojtczuk-Turek, director of the HR Institute at the Warsaw School of Economics perceives the shortage of employees as challenging: “There are too few specialists (e.g. AI specialists). The problem also concerns attracting youth, elders, and women to the labor market”.

Ewa Fiedor, Apprenticeship Senior Program Manager at Amazon, emphasized that challenges facing Polish employers involve, e.g. acquiring candidates with knowledge and skills adapted to their tasks. Unfortunately, the gap between what our education system offers and the real demand on the labor market is still present – 33% of higher-educated people in Poland work below their educational attainment.

Amazon’s Talent Development Program may address this issue: “For two years, our trainees gain theoretical and practical knowledge during training and in a company at positions of their choice, supervised by mentors. They receive an employment contract and an attractive salary. Since 2018, we have trained almost 200 people, and another 50 will join. Such programs should become good market practice beneficial for companies, employees”.

The Congress was held from January 30 to February 1. The media partner was Warsaw Business Journal.