Posted on 03/23/2010 12:03:50 AM PDT by bruinbirdman
Unemployed Germans have begun travelling to Poland in search of jobs - in a dramatic reversal of the usual trend for immigrant workers.
Thousands of people from eastern Germany are now commuting across the border into western Poland in an effort to escape the downturn afflicting the region.
The strength of the Polish economy and the weakness of its once all-powerful German peer is behind the change in fortunes.
As many as 2,500 Germans are now registered to work in the region surrounding the north-western city of Szczecin but officials believe the real figure is far higher due to people working on the black market.
While some work in call centres, the construction sector has proved popular, and many workers prefer to go unregistered in order to pocket extra money.
In Uecker Randow, the German district that lies just a stone's throw from Szczecin, unemployment lies close to 20 per cent and the area is blighted by one of Germany's highest rates of long-term unemployment.
Artur Sebastian, who runs a Szczecin employment agency, said the bleak economic situation has forced people to travel.
"They are going to make 30 to 40 per cent less than doing the same job in Germany, but at least they have work," he said. "A skilled worker could make around 1,000 euros a month, which isn't a huge amount but it's better than nothing. They might also be underemployed back home, so any extra money will help them."
The fact that some Germans are now prepared to travel to Poland to find a job marks a remarkable reversal of fortunes. For decades, hundreds of thousands of Poles went to Germany, Britain and other European countries to take up low-skilled jobs in construction and agriculture. Germany, unlike the UK, refused to grant Poles complete access
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Wow .. how the world is changing:
“Thousands of people from eastern Germany are now commuting across the border into western Poland in an effort to escape the downturn afflicting the region. The strength of the Polish economy and the weakness of its once all-powerful German peer is behind the change in fortunes.”
Let’s move there ...
!!!!!
That's an exciting thought!
Smarty!......:)........It is a reversal though....I saw a program on the switch. Makes you wonder where we might be in a few years and what country people here will be looking at.
I recall a couple planning for Dubi because wages were great and it was booming....three months before leaving Dubi was tanking big time....their plans changed. But it will sure be a different world for the USA now.
I swear .. if I were younger, I’d either
be in the islands for the next 3 yrs or
Texas!
Excerpt:
Jan Kulczyk, Poland’s wealthiest man, has had a good economic crisis. While some of his fellow billionaires in central Europe are struggling with heavy debts, the 59-year-old serial entrepreneur is flush with cash and planning investments at home and abroad.
This represents a remarkable turnround for Mr Kulczyk, who made his fortune in privatisations in the early 1990s during Poland’s tumultuous transition to a market economy. In recent years he had seemed adrift as he tried to build an international business empire not based on his most bankable asset: his deep knowledge of Poland and his excellent contacts with Polish business and government.
~~~~
Wouldn't it be something if Poland ever ended up helping to bail us out ...
Watch Thaddeus McCotter on Red Eye now .. I LOVE him.
What are you doing up so late?
Where have you been? !!!!!
I am watching Red Eye.
Thaddeus McCotter is on.
STARWISE and I like him....lol.
Maybe the Germans will steal their cars back.
Took that hot date of mine to the west of you. It’s 9:30 here.........
Yes?
Absolutely. Off to visit the earth making factory in the morning........run by some lady named Pele I hear.........
How nice! Get a wicked tan line or lines while you’re there.
:)
Looking forward to hiking on land youger than we are tomorrow. Now that's a deep thought.....
:-)
LOL. Yes.
Well “aloha” It’s past my bed time here in the cold South.
GOOD to talk to you. I have missed you!!!!
Heading to bed myself, can’t believe you’re up. I’ve been lurking, just not able to post at all. Maybe see you next week.
He also plays guitar with the Second Amendments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0Cs4kziENQ
He’s so stone faced, his humor so dry ..
he cracks me up.
Floor speech on health care
http://www.youtube.com/user/RepMcCotter
Yep, socialism sucks.
McCotter’s good.
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