Poland Becomes Europe’s Growth Champion

Note: At this time of year we publish national outlooks by our members in many of the 34 countries where we do business. This introductory blog post by Iwona Szybka summarizes the spectacular recent achievements in her native Poland.  A more detailed report will be found here.

• Last September, Poland became the first country from the former Soviet bloc to be promoted from an “advanced emerging” economy to a “developed” one by the Russell Index, run by the Financial Times and Stock Exchange, or FTSE.
• Our economy grew at an unprecedented rate of 5% in 2018 and GDP per capita has grown 150% since 1989, more than any other country in Europe. We have the lowest unemployment ever (4-5%) – the 2^nd lowest rate from 28 countries of the EU,
• The flagship investments in Poland planned in 2019, include Europe’s largest lithium-ion battery factory for electric cars of Korean company LG Chem (a cost of PLN5.8bn (€1.35bn), creating 729 jobs). German automotive corporation Daimler has started building its first Mercedes-Benz factory in Poland, a €500 million new engine production plant
• Poland remains the biggest beneficent of the European Funds till 2022

So, where is the risk then?

There are three challenges in 2019 for Poland:

1. A shortage of labor in the economy. The German market has been open since January 1, 2019 to the Ukraine workforce, and it is estimated that up to 60% of Ukrainians now working in Poland would move to Germany
2. A structural weakening in public finances
3. The parliamentary elections in October 2019. This is going to be a year of increased political tension and possibly destabilization.

Executive search services, at the moment, reflect high demand for key position experts both for market entry companies and mid-sized, local companies undergoing dynamic growth.  This demand might change depending on the economy/politics in 2019.

Last year we supported market entry companies establishing their operations in Poland from the USA, Spain, Russia, Germany, France.

Read our more detailed report on the market in Poland for 2019