Labor crunch

last updated 8 January 2015

Warsaw

Poland has exported so many workers to other countries that it now must import labor from India. About 2 million Poles have gone abroad to work since the country joined the E.U. in 2004. As a result of the exodus, work on venues for the 2012 European soccer championship, which Poland and Ukraine are jointly hosting, has fallen way behind schedule. New stadiums, hotels, airports, and roads still need to be built. Labor Minister Anna Kalata recently signed an agreement with India to allow Indians to work in Poland. If not enough Indians answer the call, the government said, it would have to use prison inmates as labor.