Poland needs large investments in vocational education

Although Poland is perceived favorably by foreign investors, the number of investments, especially in special economic zones, is lower than the attractive areas prepared for them.

Human capital could attract investors, unfortunately there is a shortage of people with the professional skills for which there is a demand. The Katowice SEZ together with the Silesian University of Technology are planning to launch dual studies that will allow for the simultaneous learning of theory and practice in a specific company.

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– There are many more places to invest, well-equipped with infrastructure and well-connected, than potential investors, so we have to reach for much more expensive to maintain or achieve competitive advantages. We are returning to our basic advantage, which is human capital – says Piotr Wojaczek, president of the Katowice Special Economic Zone. – The labor market has undergone a certain deformation. Vocational schools educated in the professions that are needed in the world, and not here – cooks or hairdressers. We need people to run modern factories.

A year ago, the Katowice SEZ started a pilot program K2 – Career and Competences. In May, a Competence Center was launched at the headquarters of the Vocational Training Center in Katowice, the purpose of which is to provide an educational offer in the field of automation, pneumatics, hydraulics, robotics and industrial mechatronics.

– Schools must change so that their results prove that this is a prestigious place. The number of students who get a good job within six months and the average salary are the parameters that make the school educate in a good specialization at the right level. But it all has to be built – argues Wojaczek.

As he says, preparations are underway at the Silesian University of Technology to launch three-year undergraduate professional studies at the Faculty of Mechanics and Technology. They are to start in the next academic year. Students will spend half of their time in companies learning the profession in practice.

– Their diploma theses will be a solution to specific technical or technological problems at the employer. These people will have a job immediately, because no one will let such a person leave him, if he or she has passed this cycle correctly before then – argues Wojaczek. – State aid will probably end one day, but we will have the advantage of a well-organized place for investments, an inexpensive and great labor market. These are two things that need to be improved and developed and then we will still be leaders.

The Katowice SEZ celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. During this time, it has collected over EUR 5.5 billion for investments. The largest part of them was provided by Americans – 35.8 percent, and Italians – 22.4 percent. Investments in the zone include, among others, Poles, Germans, Japanese and Spaniards.

– Our clients are developing towards high technology and innovation. This is somewhat in contradiction to the basic assumption of the zone, ie that it is supposed to create jobs. But the trend of reinvesting profits in the zone in order to, for example, build another modern production line, which, in comparison with the former, will employ 10 times fewer people, nevertheless means that thanks to this we are protecting the first jobs – the president of the Katowice SEZ shares his experience.

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As he emphasizes, dissatisfied investors could leave the zone and eliminate all jobs. Moreover, investments in technologically advanced solutions increase the professional qualifications of employees, giving them higher competences, which makes it unprofitable for employers to dismiss them. Additionally, the positive side of investments made in the Katowice SEZ is the fact that investors are not dependent on a single recipient whose troubles could result in their bankruptcy or at least the need to reduce production.

– These companies, especially in the automotive industry, have so well diversified order books that even confusion in one or two factories does not cause any frustration for the owner, let alone the employees we are talking about. It all goes unnoticed – says Wojaczek.

The automotive industry is the most important industry in the zone. Responsible for over 60 percent. investment. Another – glass products – is nine times smaller.

– Poland is fighting for more car factories, but even if this factory does not come to us, but to Slovakia, Hungary or the Czech Republic, suppliers will still place orders in our clients’ portfolios. And it is precisely diversification that makes the stability of this employment several times greater than in one factory, which usually depends on the production of one model – argues.