Poland to hire more Pinoy skilled workers

CEBU, Philippines —  The country of Poland in Central Europe expects to hire more skilled workers from the Philippines this year, as it suffers from shortage of workers due to an aging population and the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.

In an interview with Tomasz Danel, vice Consul of the Poland Embassy in Manila, he said his country is needing construction workers, welders, pipe fitters, drivers and other blue collar jobs to fill in the workforce shortage and manpower requirement for its growing economy.

Danel was in Cebu yesterday, June 1, 2023 to grace the opening of Poland Visa Application Center operated by BLS International located at the 12th floor, Apple One Equicom Tower in Cebu Business Park.

The new Visa Processing Center can process at least 10 applications per day.

The expected surge of Visa applications going to Poland from Cebu and other parts of Southern Philippines prompted the opening of the first visa processing center outside or Metro Manila, explained Danel.

In 2022, Poland Embassy through BLS International processed a total of 22,000 working permits, an increase of over 100 percent from previous years.

“We see the growing number of applicants for work. Poland is becoming more and more popular among Filipinos as a destination for work and the number is growing every year," Danel said.

Meanwhile, the Polish embassy will soon look into the possibility of hiring healthcare workers but this needs more time as it requires government-to-government agreement.

“For now we have a shortage of jobs in Poland due to aging population as well as the war in Ukraine. We used to have many Ukrainians working in Poland because it is easy for them to cross border for work. Now they had to return back home so there are a lot of vacancies right now," Danel explained.

In the first five months of 2023, Danel said they are seeing a double in the application for work permits from Filipinos mostly from skilled workers.

At present, there are about 15,000 to 20,000 Filipino workers in Poland at present.

Aside from working Visa, the Polish embassy also noted an increased number of Filipino travelers exploring Poland and other parts of Europe.