Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

force had a low work ethos, low work motivation and low labour discipline
(Socha/Sztanderska 1991: 2). Economically active persons are only slowly gaining
competence in high technology and foreign languages and still show, albeit to a smaller
extent, attitudes adopted during communism – entitlement mentality, lack of initiative,
adversity to risk and competition and low occupational flexibility and mobility (Wiśniewski
2002: 334). In my firm studies, it showed that such characteristics are also now criticised in
some older workers and form one of the arguments for rejecting older applicants (see
section 4.3.).
Going abroad, the shadow economy and natural economy were alternatives to working
in the state sector (Socha/Sztanderska 1991: 5-6). In mid-nineties, one third of registered
unemployed were working in the shadow economy (Księżopolski 1997: 340); current
estimations oscillate between seven and 19 per cent of economically active persons (Kabaj
2004: 1; “10% Polaków pracuje w szarej strefie”, Gazeta.pl 29. April 2008). As will be seen
in section 4.3.7., the opportunity to moonlight moves some older workers to opt for early
exit.
Institutional changes in Polish economy were radical and rapid and had a ´big bang´
character (Jakóbik 1997: 105). Ownership transformations were initiated at the end of the
eighties. In the course of this, state-owned companies were often divided into smaller units,
while before the transformation, 65 per cent of employment was concentrated in large
enterprises above 1,000 workers (Socha/Sztanderska 1991: 2). Between 1990-1997, the
percentage of workers in private economy has increased from 48.9 per cent to 67.7 per cent
(Socha/Sztanderska 2000: 177-8). Unemployment, factually nonexistent during the centrally
planned economy, surged upwards in the transformation period – from 0.05 per cent in Dec.
1989, to 6.1 per cent in Dec. 1990 and 8.4 per cent in June 1991 (Góra et al. 1993: 144-5).
In 1993, the unemployment rate reached with 16.4 per cent its peak during the
transformation period and has started decreasing. Another peak was the year 2002 with an
almost 20 per cent unemployment rate.
On the basis of the knowledge presented in this section, hypothesis 3 stressing the
importance of structural factors upon firms´ behaviour can be further delimited: Due to the
bad financial standing and the higher pressure on personnel adjustments, older workers in
Polish enterprises will be in greater risk of being externalised than in German enterprises,
which operate in a more stable economic environment and did not have to accomplish the
paradigmatic change from planned to market economy.
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