"Poland's shipbuilding sector has been undergoing turbulent change for more than 30 years. Once a leading manufacturing sector, it went through an initial transformation shock in the 1990s, experienced a short recovery, then fell into a severe crisis following EU enlargement and the 2008 global financial crisis, only to start to regain its composure in the 2010s. The impacts of Covid-19 and subsequent crises have not been overly negative, largely exacerbating risks related to high inflation and rising energy prices. Polish shipyards have managed to develop new market and product strategies, mainly exploring particular niches and taking advantage of new trends emerging in the global industry as a result of technological innovation (such as offshore windmills) or demand for specialised, tailor-made solutions. The sector experienced the effects of outward migration in the early years of EU membership, with workers leaving in search of employment in Western shipyards. The evolution of the domestic labour market, in which the combined effects of steady economic growth, post-accession emigration, falling interest among labour market entrants in joining the industry, and general demographic tendencies (societal ‘aging' and the fall in the proportion of people of working age) meant that growing demand came up against a falling labour supply. Labour shortages have been met by labour immigration, mainly from Ukraine. Shipbuilding has come to depend on foreign workers. At the CRIST shipyard foreign workers (third-country citizens) constitute nearly 40 per cent of the workforce, while at Remontowa Shipbuilding it is about 10 per cent. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 did not trigger an increase in labour supply, as most of the newest wave of incoming Ukrainian migrants (war refugees) are women and minors. The negative impact of inflation on real wages might potentially translate into renewed interest in the ‘exit' option among Polish workers, seeking work (and higher incomes) abroad in more affluent EU/EEA countries."

Support: Digital;Paper

ISBN (PDF) : 978-2-87452-728-9

Legal deposit : D/2024/10.574/27