Recruitment drive for Polish staff
Magda Gdula (left) and Diana Gajek at the Polish Education Centre. Photo: SG061112-139TW www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/buyaphoto
Polish workers who have learned English in the fields, factories and haulage firms of south Lincolnshire are being wooed by Canada to supply its skilled labour shortage.
But will Polish people who have settled in this area over the past ten years be tempted to leave for the promise of a better life?
Single mum Diana Gajek, who set up the EU Integration and Polish Education Centre in Spalding, said it all depends on their circumstances.
She said: “So you in the UK teach us English and then the Canadians come along and try to snatch us away!
“There are many Polish people with Masters’ degrees or excellent trade qualifications working in factories and on the land around here, making more money than they would doing the job they were trained for in Poland – if they could get a job at all.
“What’s holding them back is poor English, but people with ambition will learn and make it through, by which time they’re likely to have children in school here. Would they want to move again? Having said that, I’ve left my own country because life in the UK is easier. I’d move again for a better life for my child.
“Polish education and training is really excellent – the economy just can’t give the job you’re trained to do.
“I trained for five years in hotel management but the most I could earn in Poland is £300 a month, while all the bills are the same as here, and food costs more .”
Magda Gdula, who works for Diana, said: “I have a Masters in agricultural engineering but I worked in a shop in Poland before coming here to work in a factory. I don’t want to move, I’m very happy in my present job here in Spalding!”
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Weather for Spalding
Monday 20 May 2013
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Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
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