Polish Language Blog

As in the other countries of Eastern Europe, Poland’s work visa and residency permit rules are designed to protect the Polish work force from foreign competition, particularly during these times of high unemployment.

Because the Polish government has experienced many difficulties since 1989 – prime ministers have come and gone, scandals are common, and reviving the stagnant economy remains a Herculean task – don’t count on the rules staying the same.

Americans don’t need a visa to enter Poland, but they do require both a work permit and residency status for stays longer than ninety days. Because of the high rate of unemployment, foreigners who are looking for jobs often find it difficult to get work papers.

Though big business has made quick advances in the largest and most religious of the countries of Eastern, it is not as popular a destination among North American expats as the Czech Republic or Hungary. This is not to say that it isn’t an interesting or appealing choice.

Here is a list of Polish consulates and embassies in USA that can help you with any questions related to visas you may need:

Embassy of the Republic of Poland

2640 16th Street NW

Washington, DC 20009

Phone: (202) 234-3800

Consulate General of the Republic of Poland

12400 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 555

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Phone: (310) 442-8500

Consulate General of the Republic of Poland

1540 N Lake Shore Drive

Chicago, IL 60610

Phone: (312) 337-8166

Consulate General of the Republic of Poland

233 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

Phone: (212) 889-8360

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

Finding a suitable balance between work and life (odpowiednia równowaga między pracą a życiem) is a challenge for all workers, especially working parents. Some couples would like to have more children, but do not see how they could afford to stop working. Other parents are happy with the number of children in their family, but would like to work more. This is a challenge to governments because if parents cannot achieve their desired work/life balance, not only is their welfare (opieka społeczna) lowered but so is development in the country.

People spend one-tenth to one-fifth of their time on unpaid work . The distribution of tasks within the family is still influenced by gender roles: men are more likely to spend more hours in paid work, while women spend longer on unpaid domestic work (praca w domu). Men in Poland, spend 157 minutes per day cooking, cleaning or caring. It is still considerably less than Polish women who spend 296 minutes per day on average on domestic work .

Another important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may impair personal health, jeopardize safety and increase stress. People in Poland work 1 939 hours a year. In Poland, some 7% of employees work very long hours. Overall, men spend more hours in paid work: in Poland 11% of men work very long hours, compared with 3% for women.

The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others or leisure. The amount and quality of leisure time is important for people’s overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits (fizyczne i psychiczne korzyści zdrowotne). People in Poland devote 66% of their day, or 14.2 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure(socializing with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.). Fewer hours in paid work for women do not necessarily result in greater leisure time. In Poland, both men and women devote approximately 14 hours per day to personal care and leisure.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

In recent years, business related degree and post-degree programmes offered in English have been increasing in numbers and in popularity in Poland. MBA and Executive MBA programmes in particular have been growing in popularity among candidates and employers in recent years as the growth of Polish economy continues bolstered by foreign investment, which, in turn, results in an increased demand for managers with globally recognised skills.

Today, there are in Poland several dozen MBA (Master In Business Administration) programmes to choose from.  The majority are offered in Polish and English, although a number of programmes are offered exclusively in English.  Programmes offered include two-year full-time MBA courses for students who have completed a university degree and want to become managers and Executive MBA (EMBA) programmes, which are geared towards people already working as managers; they are usually required to have at least three  years of work experience.  These programmes usually last around twenty months.  Increasingly, specialised programmes are   emerging to reflect the changing needs of employers.   The better programmes focus on a practical approach and emphasise case studies based on real-life businesses.

Many of the more highly regarded MBA programmes in Poland partner with foreign business schools, and – in many cases – graduates receive a degree from both the Polish school offering the programme and its foreign partner school.   The Canadian Executive Master of Business Administration Programme (CEMBA), for example, is conducted as a joint venture between the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM).  The graduates receive a degree from both schools.   The Warsaw School of Economics also offers a post-graduate finance programme in English, ‘Warsaw School of Economics and Ernst & Young Executive Studies in Finance’ – a post graduate programme which gives working professionals without a background in finance the opportunity to obtain financial skills.  The courses are taught by university professors and professional trainers from Ernst & Young. 

Other highly regarded international co-operations include: the Warsaw-Illinois Executive MBA, the WEMBA programme, which is a partnership between the Warsaw School of Economics and the University of Minnesota; the partnerships of the Business School of the Warsaw University of Technology with the London Business School, HEC School of Management in Paris and the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

This by all means is not an exhaustive list, and there are numerous similar international co-operations between major Polish Universities and highly respected foreign schools which have many years of experience and proven track records of administering internationally renowned MBA programmes.  These types of co-operations help to ensure that the same standards are maintained regardless of whether the degree is obtained in Poland or abroad.

Although expensive compared to other types of post-graduate studies in Poland, Polish MBAs provide excellent value compared to that of their counterparts in the West.  In the UK, for example, an MBA can cost up to GB£ 45, 000.  Meanwhile, MBA programmes in the United States can often cost up to US$ 120, 000 or approximately GB£ 78, 000.   In Poland, internationally recognised programmes of a similar quality generally range from PLN 30, 000 to PLN 70, 000, or approximately GB£ 6, 700 to approximately GB£ 15, 000.

The relatively lower costs and high quality of most of the top MBA programmes in Poland are attracting more and more foreign students, with some schools reporting close to half of their students coming from abroad.  The percentage of foreign students, however, is much smaller in Executive MBA programmes as they require travel on weekends.  Still, for example, the CEMBA programme, which consistently ranks in the top of the field of Executive MBA programmes in Poland, reports that 12.1% of its graduates are foreign and another 14.9% have both Polish and foreign citizenships.  As Polish MBA programmes and Executive MBA programmes continue to participate and move up in international rankings and gain more teaching experience, it is likely that the number of foreign candidates for MBAs in Poland will increase.