How has the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected the Polish labor market?
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, companies were forced to transition to virtual office in order to ensure employee safety. Education and public administration were the two industries most likely to provide remote work, whereas fewer retail employees had the chance to work from home. The new working model resulted in Poles acquiring new IT skills. A survey conducted in 2021 revealed that almost 55 percent of employees got better at using communication platforms, e.g. Teams or Skype, and approximately four in ten respondents improved their cloud computing skills.Nonetheless, home-office also brought in a number of challenges. 27 percent of Poles found it difficult to maintain an adequate work-life balance when working remotely. In terms of external challenges, making new contacts and technical issues figured among the most-quoted difficulties. Additional costs wise, 48 percent of remote workers stated that they saw an increase in their electricity bills and nearly every fifth respondent faced additional expenses for office equipment.
