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

Is it the responsibility of the UK and Ireland to provide employment for Poles?

No, we can barely look after our own people thanks to the labour government, I know for a fact that we won't be looked after in Poland.

Then of course if poles can find work in the UK they are more than welcome to it.

Every job a foreign national takes puts a British person out of work, thus putting more strain on the purse of the exchequer.


What is the unemployment rate in the UK? How many Poles in the UK?

how about the limies that are taking jobs away from poles? ;) :D

The ratio is grossly disproportionate, plk123. Most Brits don't speak Polish so accept teaching jobs here.

If anything, they're underskilled. Someone who did a Masters in biology, only to work as a waitress in the UK for three years is going to find it incredibly difficult to get work in their field in Poland - and among the educated ones that left, I don't think this is an uncommon story.

Their language skills might be a bit better, but given that there's plenty of people in Poland who have wonderful English abilities, I don't see what advantage they're going to have, apart from having the experience of living elsewhere.

I wouldn't be surprised in the next year or so to hear about a growing economic problem of migrants who returned home, only to realise that there's no place for them in Poland.


What stops the Brit from moving abroad for work, apart from his own bloody laziness?

Let's not forget that until very recently, many people didn't want the lousy jobs that Poles were doing.

in one word; there is no place for us anywhere - abroad we are not welcome because we steal the locals' jobs and in PL because the market doesn't allow it...

Very difficult to be a Pole...

Just recently I have dealt with a Slovakian WPC, a Polish dental receptionist, a Polish doctor, a Polish cafe owner, and a Polish life insurance salesperson.

These are not lousy jobs.

I think it's sad for someone with no degree but perfect natural English after say, 9 years in UK, to return to Poland's inflexible job market where the college paper seems to be everything.

My heart bleeds for you.


So, according to you, Brits should move abroad to make more room for foreigners? Sweet Jesus. Tis madder you are getting.

Not necessarily (well, at least not until the recent mass job cuts), but it certainly makes it more difficult for a British person to find a job.


Money for travel... Language barrier... Lack of opportunities abroad... Skills which aren't valued/needed abroad... "Polska dla Polaków"-type attitudes to foreign workers (not exclusive to Poland, obviously)... loss of salary increments/pension rights if you leave and return a few years later... etc. It's not as simple as blaming "laziness", there are many reasons why.

My skills are respected and still in demand in many parts of the world, but not in Poland, where my job means a life of overwork and poverty, whereas in many other places (including the UK) it can offer a fairly good standard of living. But I could still lose a lot if I were to decide to leave the UK for more than a year.


I see you've fallen for the capitalist's favourite lie as well. If you were a businessman, you'd prefer a thousand applicants for a job, instead of five - it increases the chances of getting the so-called "best people" while giving you the option to pay lower wages, which equals more profits. It's the biggest con since "with hard work you can achieve success" - if that's the case, why am I not a millionaire?

For every lazy, hoodie-wearing, soapbar-smoking, semi-literate chav why prefers benefits to work, there are probably 50 people who want a job but can't get one, however hard they try - and mass immigration since New Labour got in is at least partly to blame.


Exactly. Why do so many people think that Poles are all cleaners, frozen food packers or plumbers? Mind you, plumbing's not a bad job either :)

A Pole told me that the capitalists in Poland claim the Ukranians do the jobs that "the Poles are too lazy to do". Its a lie told worldwide. In America, its the Mexicants.

Sep 22, 09, 03:45 - Thread attached on merging:
Poles don't go to UK

Don’t come to UK, says Poland’s ambassador

21.09.2009 12:09

Poland’s Ambassador to Great Britain, Barbara Tuge-Erecinska, has warned Poles to think twice about coming to the UK, as they probably won’t get work.

Tuge-Erecinska warned Poles away from the United Kingdom, saying that the labour market is in a bad way and the economic recession and growing unemployment will make finding a job, and especially those who do not speak sufficient English, almost impossible.

The Polish Ambassador in London added that the lack of jobs could increase problems Polish immigrants already face in the UK.

“In such a difficult economic situation as there is in Great Britain, when jobs are being cut, social tension could turn against Poles,” the Ambassador is quoted in the Guardian newspaper, adding that, “I wouldn’t say we have seen many cases. It happens, and that is bad enough. I have faith the authorities can prevent it.”

According to Tuge-Erecinska, increasing numbers of unemployed Poles in the British Isles can only serve to increase the anger and hard feelings that Brits feel against the immigrant population.

However, the ambassador said Poles who come to England to work hard. “If they come here and work, they also pay taxes and fees,” stated Tuge-Erecinska.

The Embassy has tried to distribute the warning not to come to the UK via the internet and other media outlets. Priests have even been asked to tell parishioners to make sure the message gets to those in rural areas.

Between 2000 and 2006, over 2 million citizens left Poland and settled, largely, in Ireland and the UK. Since May 2004, following Poland’s May 1 entry into the European Union, the British Home Office reported that about 270,000 Polish citizens registered for work in the UK. (mmj/pg)

Hmmm, Can I say to the Brits please don't come to Poland (unless your are a tourist)

How many of them are already back home in Poland? Does anyone know?

That is a bit rich, dont you think? There are millions of Poles in the UK.


There is no way of finding out with open borders.

Are you the British ambassador to Poland?

If not shut the fcuk up!

what nonsense there are millions of them..

That's true, but some numbers I found for Ireland state for example that about 1/3 of all Poles are expected to go home this year. I was just wondering what would happen to the Polish job market if more than 2 million people decide to go back to Poland.

Better with a telescopic baton. Very effective, but you don't have to stabb someone to death when you're defending yourself.

Ive heard that myth for the past five years. Each year I take it with an even larger pinch of salt.

The only way you can calculate the number of Poles in the UK and Ireland is through active PPS numbers. There were over 500,000 PPS numbers issued to Poles from 2003 to 2008 in Ireland. Over 70% are still active. A further 15,000 were issued this year from Jan-May.

Don't worry Bolek, 99.9% don't want to. Even as tourists.

Very true. It's quite sad actually - while people were desperate to employ hard working Poles in 2004, they're not so keen now - and as you say, the market isn't allowing Poles opportunity in their own country because they've spent several years out of touch with their own industry. However, it is their own making.


No, you're missing the point. Brits should stop whining and start moving to where the jobs are - after all, it's well documented that a Brit who knows a building site can get 15-20zl an hour in Warsaw without much fuss. That's not bad money - 3200zl a month without language skills isn't a bad wage at all!

After all, if you're a builder and can't get work in the UK because the state of the construction sector, doesn't it make sense to move?


1) You can get the money easily enough. If you look on Gumtree, you can get a room for 600zl a month in Warsaw. Add to that maybe 100zl for a flight, and you're looking at needing around 300 pounds to get your feet on the ground. If you can't raise 300 pounds, something is seriously wrong with you.

2) Language barrier? It didn't stop Poles working in the UK.

3) There are opportunities in Poland for skilled foreigners, particularly in more working-class environments.

4) Point taken - but even the most PiS voting nationalist is going to go with the person who makes him the most money.

5) That's greed, nothing more - and you can continue paying UK National Insurance when you're resident outside of the UK anyway. If you want a job, the jobs are there!


But that's only the case in the last what, 12 months? Before that, many Brits wouldn't be seen dead cleaning toilets, partially because their husband was too busy creaming in huge bonuses in the City. Now that he's unemployed, they have no choice - and it's the very same people whining about Poles stealing jobs!

I can put my money where my mouth is - if any Brit wants a job, I can sort them out a job in Poland tomorrow, starting Monday.

I doubt that. The Poles are one of the most insular nations on earth.

As this recent article shows, they will not give the Irish the same opportunities we gave them. It is in all probability, the same with the Brits.

independent.ie/national-news/no-irish-need-apply--polish-builders-get-their-own-back-1589265.html

The reason Brit construction workers are out of a job, in their own native land, is because of mass immigration. Sugar coat it all you want, but if the Poles all left, there would be plenty of work for the natives.

As my moniker suggest, to hell with Lisbon, revoke the Nice treaty!

I think they would rather be seen dead cleaning toilets that working for you lot!.
Although i would like to take the chance to shoot you down by telling you that british companies are seeking british workers over polish workers now that there are lots of skilled workers out there.

And have to suffer you for 40 hours each week? :)

Now, that's the difference, and is what would put off British workers from moving to Poland. My ex's sister pays around that for a flat large enough for a family, not a room. 100 PLN would barely cover the landing fees these days, try 200 PLN. That's closer to £500. Not easy if you're unemployed and particularly if you're in debt. The difference is, Poles don't have to pay "expat" rents in the UK, but over here, Poles can get the same housing for the same price as Britons do. You aren't comparing like with like.


It depends on the kind of job they came to do. I couldn't do my job in Poland without fluent Polish (mine is, I have spoken it all my life) but a Pole couldn't do my job in the UK without good English, absolutely no chance.


Such as?

Even my family tell me I'd have no chance of getting a job in Poland, because "real Poles" get employed first, and fluent Polish/Polish name/Polish ancestry dating back centuries counts for nothing - because you're an "Anglik" to them if you weren't born on Polish soil! You would NEVER hear Pakis saying this about their own!


It's taken me 15 years to get to the pay level I'm on today, whereas 30% of my salary could be wiped out just by spending 12 months abroad. How is that greed? It's things like this which make workers decide against moving abroad. It's called economic reality, not greed.

There is NOT ONE country in the world which could even pay me even double for what I do, never mind something which needs no qualifications. Whereas well-qualified, professional Poles can come to the UK to do jobs which need no or few qualifications, and get paid 3-4x more than they did back home. More money, less responsibility.

Again, I'm just explaining that you're not comparing like with like.

I'm not getting at you, I'm just pointing out a few differences which demonstrate that it is almost always benefiical for a Pole to move to the UK and work in any job (with the intention of eventually returning; possibly even if they decide to stay - because of better benefits, etc), but there is no advantage for a British worker to move to Poland, to take even a job which would be considered well-paid by Polish standards.


The kind of people who work in the City are hardly the kind of people who marry potential candidates for cleaning jobs! Besides, if you can show me a single case of an ex-City trader who is now cleaning toilets, I'm all ears. I expect that you would find that someone like that would be considered vastly over-qualified to clean toilets, and rightly so.

I wish I was, the point being that a point was made by a polish official, its time poles woke up to the fact that brits or irish working in poland do nothing for POLAND.

Get off the stage, you clown. Our countries are flooded with your compatriots, most of whom cannot speak proper English.

Tell ya what buddy, encourage your polska brothers to stop fleecing the Irish taxpayer. Over 50,000 of them on the dole here. 204 x 52 x 50,000 = 530,400,000

Add on to that the child benefits, rent allowance, education, english classes, medical cards yadda yadda, you get the picture.

[quote=RevokeNice]Add on to that the child benefits, rent allowance, education, english classes, medical cards yadda yadda, you get the picture.

Settle down my good friend, please otherwise you will have a heart attack, its a level playing field now and in the best interest of Poland, no more foreigners in Poland.

Britain and Ireland would be wise to do the same.. keep in mind England in the good old days benefited from cheap labour and paid poles peanuts.. now its time for them to pay for it...justice has been done. what goes around comes around....sorry old boy thats the reality of life.

Where will the two-three million returning Poles work?


Ive been saying it for five years.


I am quite settled.

He is going to love that!!