"Polish ambassador warns - think twice about coming to Britain for work "

yes, it's better living with you mom, isn't it?

More and more people in the UK are doing that as well btw, because of rocketing property prices. Mostly over the last 5 years or so. I wonder what has happened since then? Hmm...

Osiedla, please read my final comment in post 24 above.

I'd be pretty peeved too if I had to finance immigrants hand over fist, knowing what happens to natives of my country when they return.

Don't worry, I'd already read it... my reply to you was all a bit tongue-in-cheek really, and we don't have "sarcasm" avatars on here, unfortunately ;)

OK, that's fine. The recession has taken its toll but I haven't heard of so many Poles having lost their jobs.

Just out of interest (and speaking as a non-Pole), swan tastes great!

but you also haven't heard of any gaining meaningful employment either.. polish economy has been about +1% growth.

If you are a young Polish person between say 18-25 and live in a village then you have to leave - if you have any sort of ambition in life. The only other option is a p!ss poor job, or standing at the local village bus shelter drinking Cherry na Czetery.

And that is exactly why many are weathering the storm in the UK. The exchange rate is still quite good for them and they no doubt pinch themselves as to why they left in the first place.

What utter cr@p !

There are very few minorities that don't get it in the neck from the tabloids at some stage.

Hopefully after the general election, the next government will shake up the immigration situation and the benefits they are entitled too to such a degree, that there won't be any point in the freeloaders staying. Being left with the hardworking, self sufficient immigrants is fair enough, it's the scroats that we want rid off.

well the British economy even less than that.
Actually, there is a lot of people coming back recently, a lot of my colleagues came back from UK and Ireland, some of my friends did as well. Those who are living in London are thinking about coming back within a year or so.

I came back to PL after 6 years abroad and can say that the situation on the labour market has improved significantly.

i'm sure it has but compared to last year or two, it completely bites.

That's really hard to tell in the absence of statistics, Nika. So long as the crisis is still lingering, people will feel less and less secure.

I'm not talking statistics but real life.
About a year ago I only heard about people leaving and now I hear more and more that this or that person came back. I hope it will continue this way, we need young, skilled, creative people here in PL and not some Kaczynskis...

A Polish customer I spoke to recently said he was planning to return to Poland after paying off the debts he had run up through living in the UK - credit cards, loans, overdrafts etc.

The sad fact is that if the bank had been more responsible, he wouldn't have been allowed to build up so much debt in the first place.

Good on him for wanting to pay it back though, many don't and just use the last of their credit limit for an Easyjet flight, which is more than likely a one-way ticket !

sad but true, PL people are not among the most honest in the world - if they can pull out some money they will...

I disagree. we have plenty of young, skilled people here already and some of them have enough problems finding work... without those who return adding to the list.

You hear within a certain circle, Nika, not across the country unless you have a very broad base of contacts I don't know about ;) ;)

Anyway, Mister H is right to mention the credit situation. It shouldn't be like ping-ponging between Poland and the UK. They may be flocking back in their droves, yes, but what are they leaving behind? How much unpaid stuff?

I disagree - those who return bring back an additional experience and they are PL for god's sake and have the right to come back and work in their own country don't you say things like that!!!

what is this additional experience ? i work for price waterhouse uk or price waterhouse pl ... surely they are the same.
And as we export IT specialists because of their skills... what do they bring back ?

Wrocław wasn't denying that, Nika. He was just saying that there are already too many jobseekers. According to accounts I've read, 500,000 have come back. That's a lot of people to accommodate. I can comment in the area of teaching. Many native speakers have snapped up jobs that would otherwise have gone to Poles. Some of the Poles I know completely outqualify them but there are many graduates from those born around 1982 that have been left out in the cold.

He wasn't being insincere. I agree that they bring sth a little extra under their belt but so did I when I went back to Scotland. I ran into jealousy and paranoid people defending their jobs.

geez Wroclaw I'm talking about life experience in general, not only professional. The experience of living in another country, another lifestyle, customs, way of doing things, having fun, eating, drinking, spending spare time, decorating houses etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

wyluzuj się...

And that they have ! However, as with a lot of other stuff linked to immigration, any actual "rules" in place have only had lip-service applied to them and have largely been ignored.

Someone new to the country and with no credit history should have only have been given a basic bank account and at the very most a small overdraft. Buried somewhere in the tiny print of some treaty or other it probably says something similar, but no pressure has been put on the banks to make sure they adhere to such things.


I don't have any statistics, but what I can say with 100% certainty is that compared to the small numbers of Polish and other Eastern Europeans in the country, our bad debt book shouldn't contain many Eastern Europeans, however, I would say it is about a third (and I'm not just saying that for affect).

it's true to say that i do want these people back. but at the moment the market can't handle them. the country is doing quite well at the moment. when things are sorted out in future (i don't know when) i expect the country, pl, to make another leap forward. however, i don't think those who come back are superskilled... not by any stretch of the imagination.

edit: ok, i've just seen your last post, nika.

I did not mean that PL people coming back are more skilled.
On the other hand they have the right to come back regardless of the market - how would you feel if someone told you sorry you can't come back home because the market doesn't allow it????

Nika, you seemed to be talking about work. Let's assume you are right, that there are more opportunities here. It's still back to mediocre wages. Yes, they have gone up as ZUS figures and GUS will confirm but so has the cost of living. More and more credit kiosks and offices are popping up. They will require repayments on top of the ones left behind in the UK. Also, they will likely be paying off UK debts with their new Polish account. Paying in PLN is pretty hefty. My British flights will always be paid in pounds.

Wrocław wasn't discussing rights. Nobody in their right mind would suggest that Poles can't come back to their own country and work. Freedom of movement, capital and workers are standard, especially for natives. He knows that.

i know i have a selfish attitude to this. and of course they can come back.

Thank you Seanus for the low estime of PL people.
That's what all the westerns think - back to mediocre wages.
The CEO of my company said that they chose PL because it has a population of 40 mln people, easy access to skilled, well educated labour (45% of Poles between 20 and 25 years study).

The wages were just one of the factors...

I have a fairly high estimation of the Polish education system and Poles in general. Low wages is what they think and the majority said that is why they left Poland in the first place. It stands to reason for the reasons I outlined earlier. They were prepared to leave so many good things behind in order to pick up more gainful employment. Having had a taste of that, they may find the adjustment to the disproportionate salaries Vs cost of living hard to do. Almost every Pole I've met in my 5 years agrees that they have Western prices but much lower salaries.

I agree as well.