Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Next Hot Destination For Indians

Earlier this month, it was reported that Eastern European countries are facing a labor crunch that threatens to impede their rapid economic expansion. Companies in Poland, for instance, have been forced to look outside the country for skilled workers—even though Poland's unemployment rate is 13%. Hosting the 2012 Euros is proving to be more of a burden than a blessing as the country struggles to find enough construction workers.

Well, Poland may just have found a solution: importing labor from India. Poland already hosts around 3,000 Indian workers, but could welcome hundreds of thousands more as a result of a recent agreement between the two countries to make Poland the "next hot destination for Indians."

It's a supply that's much needed. Between 800,000 and 2 million Poles have left the country since it joined the European Union three years ago. India, for its part, will no doubt benefit as well through remittances sent back from workers in Poland, especially as demand for workers from countries in the Middle East starts to dry up. And as India's IT competitiveness declines slightly, it can still take advantage of its main competitive advantage: abundant labor.

Eastern Europe hit by shortage of workers [Financial Times]
With its workers over here, Poland turns east to get the country rebuilt [Guardian]
India, Poland to resolve migration issues [Headlines India]
Poland next hot destination for Indians [Hindustan Times]

-ac

No comments: