how to effectively attract qualified employees for new investments?

According to the Central Statistical Office document “Human Capital in Poland”, a structural mismatch in the labor market could be observed in some regions of Poland between 2014 and 2018. It resulted in unemployment among specific professional groups and labor shortages in other professions at the same time. Structural mismatches are mostly the result of relatively low mobility of employees and the reason for spatial concentration of unemployment. Less developed regions, where the demand for jobs is lower, are the regions with the highest unemployment rates in the country. On the other hand, labor shortages occur mainly in the dynamically developing regions, e.g. in large urban agglomerations.

When opening new job positions or expanding the company’s operations, each employer should be aware if they are going to face difficulties in finding candidates with particular qualifications. Companies that struggle to obtain candidates with specific niche competences deal with this challenge in a variety of ways. Offering help with relocation for candidates who decide to move may be one of the solutions. This is a solution to the current problems related to the labor shortages. However, long-term actions that would help the company to overcome the challenge of labor shortages in the long run should be considered.

An employee may acquire some competencies at work, but the employers often require specific education that allows for the performance of a particular job. Here, the education quality in the region where the company is located or plans to be located should be taken into account. Collaboration with universities may be a good solution. Then, the employers obtain access to the pool of the most talented students to whom they can offer a job at their company.

According to the Education and Training Monitor, Poland has very low rate of graduates of biology, mathematics and statistics majors – it is one of the lowest results in the European Union. This may mean some difficulties in finding a candidate quickly for employers looking for employees with a technical background. In turn, the Shanghai Ranking – annual ranking of top 1000 universities in the world – contained 8 Polish universities. They included, among others, the University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Gdańsk University of Technology and Warsaw University of Technology.

What benefits do entrepreneurs see in a collaboration with universities? One of the cooperation examples is employees’ upskilling through joint organization of specialized courses, postgraduate studies or fields of study. Companies recruit graduates trained during apprenticeship and use the intellectual resources of the academic staff and the university’s research resources. The knowledge and study results that the university provides to the employer impact the direction of actions and building the right company image and brand.

A great example of close cooperation of two partners – company and vocational school – is dual education. It may be a solution to the problems such as: shortage of skilled workers or mismatch of the employees’ qualifications to the company’s needs. Both parties share the study-related responsibilities. At school, the students acquire the theoretical knowledge, while the company ensures practical education and allows students to learn specific skills.

Randstad understands and sees the benefits of learning practical skills from a young age. Our agency has been involved in workshops organized by our client. The purpose of the Girls GO Technology project meant for female students from the Jaworski poviat and its neighborhood was to familiarize them with technology: mobile applications and websites, but also to teach them auto-presentation skills and familiarize them with the secrets of getting their dream jobs. Beata Wolska from Randstad Polska shared the information on how to create a resume, where to search for a job, what is important during the job interview and what kind of candidates employers are looking for.

Despite many advantages and benefits that the employers see in the cooperation with the education system, such solutions are not very common. Above all, the analysis shows that there are numerous barriers that discourage companies from concluding cooperation with a university. These barriers include: difficulty with pricing and determining the added value of cooperation or lack of funds. You should be aware of the obstacles and difficulties that may arise in the course of such cooperation. However, the benefit of having skilled workers constitutes a great value.