Poles hard working or just born lazy.

The Polish have built up a reputation for pulling their weight in the UK, but back home it is a different story.Ever since hundreds of thousands of Poles abandoned the motherland following EU accession in 2004, the Polish diaspora has forged a reputation in the UK for being hardworking and reliable. This was largely because your average Polish plumber or builder took the revolutionary approach of turning up when he said he would, and doing whatever the work agreed within the allotted timeframe – rather than knocking a hole in the lounge wall, then disappearing for weeks to take up a more enticing offer.

But at home, Poles do not consider themselves hardworking. Some even suggest that communism has created a nation of lazy bones.When the Soviets were in charge, there was (officially, at least) no unemployment, with everybody working for the state. With little possibility of being sacked or promoted – and with many of the goods manufactured heading east to the hated Russians – there was virtually no incentive to work hard. Some say that attitude prevails today.

What is your opinion?

If I could earn £150 000 a year for cleaning floors or serving coffee in a foreign country, instead of working there in my current profession, then I would be straight over there.

Even if 80% went on tax and living costs, it would still leave me enough to put down a huge deposit on a house over here, after just two years of work. Sounds familiar? ;)

It's hardly surprising that Polish immigrants "work hard" and tolerate poor living conditions, if they can earn 4-5x what they earn in Poland, simply by doing minimum wage jobs over here. I've worked for over a quarter of a century, and I would not single out any particular ethnicity or nationality as being the most hard working or laziest. There are plenty of lazy Poles, and plenty of hard-working English.

Maybe they are paid better abroad and have better chances to be promoted?Personally I worked harder if I was fair paid.
I don't know,maybe it's just envy of people back home,because same is said for Croat diaspora.''Oh-look at him,he was literally hungry,now he come from Austria for Christmas in brand new VW Passat...He got to be a criminal''

most of the poles i know work very hard, and are just trying to make better lives for themselves here. where i live is an average size seaside town, and most work is seasonal. hence most poles work hard in order to make sure they keep their jobs. am sure it may be different in the cities. i only know of one person who was completely bone idle and she is back in poland now. her boyfriend brought her over here, and she managed to get herself fired from 3 jobs in 8 months.she was too lazy and expected her polish boyfriend to support her ( he has a good job ). just a generalisation, but on the whole i think the polish do tend to work harder than the english, at least amongst my polish friends. sure many people will disagree thogh...:)

My Polish father in law has taken up jobs outside of Poland for the last 25 years so he could provide for his family and send the kids to uni. As a bonus, he managed to build a second house in the mountains by hand, it took 4 years but what a house

if your theory is true, you forgot the other way around... ;)


capitalism shapes people and makes them chase for the newest gadges which are available. esp. visible now around christmas.
i think there is no specific ethnicity being preferably lazy or overfleissig. thats just again playing with stereotypes imo.

and why would that be? i am entitled to my opinion as much as you are to yours. please elaborate...:)

Couldn't have phrased it better.

And all that for a decent price, if I might add.


I'll try to unravel this puzzle.

Last time I checked, the minimum wage in the UK hovered around 6 quid.

Polish minimum wage is officially around 1.500 zloty/monthly, which comes down to 8 or 9 zloty per hour ( 1.7 bob ) if one works a 40 hour week. And a lot of people get paid less or work illegally or other shenanigans.

A lot of Polish people in the construction industry in the UK work very hard because for the first time in their life they're seeing adequate money for their work.

Seriously, if someone offered me 1.500 zloty per month for working a construction site I'd take every chance in the world to slack off.

I think you've met my ex :D

obviously a good example of a hard worker.would love to see pics of house!!


english or polish...lmao

Uni is free in Poland.


If you were not happy with the package,why take the job in the first place.

Just born lazy - are you Polish?

Yeah... I'm lazy, all right. Born and bred to loaf around. I could hardly motivate myself to type this.

It all boils down to options.

No other options = everyone will take the package to put food on the table. It doesn't mean these people will work efficiently, because in their own minds they'll just be screwing back the employer who is screwing them.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys, nothing new here.

Some work hard and some are lazy. I do see a lot of aimless bumbling on the streets tbh.

Don't quite agree with this, I have taken low paying jobs in the past, looking for something else in the meantime, while doing the job I have worked very hard and diligently, because at the end I want a glowing reference.


Nah, once a monkey always a monkey " Monkey see, Monkey do "


Blame it on your communist past.

...and you would define aimless bumbling as...?
Your comment kinda cut me to the quick because I mainly work at night, and so I probably do a fair share of "aimless bumbling" during the day myself ;-p

They just stare at Polki and enjoy their Zywiec.

nay Poles are just born lazy !


that what life is all about

Thats basically it isnt it, i'd shovel shite at £40 / hour for a few years.

Why was my post swept off? It was right on topic. Anyway, some have to work hard and some just dig ;)

Would you be employing people by any chance?

Yes, it is my work ethos. And I am a Pole.

Yes, no monkeys only tigers and dolphins.

There’s no bad pay just bad workers.
Great!! I look forward to this new policy being rolled out across the boardrooms of the world.

Democracy = choice "Take it or leave it" time to wise up, it is normal for Poles here in Poland to work two jobs, there is no social system circa 2011. The USA and UK need to put the long term unemployed to work or cut their support.

Democracy is not Hobsons choice.

I've given employment to quite a few people in my lifetime.

And coming from that, if you're going to pay the absolute minimum don't expect people ( in Central or Eastern Europe of all places, where it was common in the commie days to just sit around all day drinking tea while "at work" ) to work their asses off for you.

People will not apply themselves when they are getting minimum wage, period.


I'm afraid you're not quite aware how the reference system "works" in Poland.

Simply put, it is a sham. People will get glowing references on account of being their bosses current squeeze/cousin/whatever and at the same time hard working people will get no references at all because their boss simply doesn't have to write them for them.

While looking for professionals in Poland I go by word of mouth and recommendation, not any kind of references.

You have taken my quote out of context, I was NOT specifically referring to working in Poland, I was focusing on the point, I would have taken any job if the need occurred to put bread on the table and worked the job well, no matter the level of salary:

1. Because I took the job, that means working it to the best of my abilities.
2. When I have left a job it has always on best terms, I have never been fired in my working life.
3. I always had a vision I would be an employer in the future, therefore I treat others the way I would like to be treated.

4. If you are going to do something, do it well, or don't bother getting involved.

That's just you,to me the deal is simple,you pay minimum,expect minimum.Sometimes we got to do what we got to do but that's not the reason to get all excited about getting little money for a lot of work.In my case the employer would get an employee with a very low morale determinated to change the job a.s.a.p.