Polish labor force still cheap and well-qualified

Annual employment costs in Poland are averaging between 10-11 percent of revenues, while in Germany and the USA such expenses exceed 20 percent, a recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report concluded. 

“This means that employment costs in Poland are two times lower than in the West and in the US,” Jacek Nowacki from PwC told the paper. “It is a great advantage to our economy,” he added.

The analysis, published in June 2012, was based on surveys carried out among 69 companies from various sectors. The survey showed that annual expenses suffered by employers on salaries and social welfare benefits per employee averaged PLN 90,392 in 2011, increasing 8.1 percent y/y.

The report indicated that employment costs remain so attractive because revenues increased at a faster pace than expenses spent on employees in 2011.

PwC analysts also pointed out that employee absences occur with worrying regularity. Results show Poland has a 5 percent rate of absences from work, compared to the 3-4 percent in the USA and Germany.