FOREIGN STUDENTS IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION – A CHANCE FOR THE LABOUR MARKET OF THE POZNAŃ AGGLOMERATION

Abstract

The labour market of the Poznań agglomeration is characterised by the lowest unemployment rate in Poland, as well as large and varied employer demands, which can be met only to a limited extent by the local workforce. The potential human resources, which for the Poznań agglomeration's employers may be foreign students attending technical and first-degree technical and industry schools, have been characterised on the basis of the conducted desk research and analysis of the empirical data derived from the own research of the Observatory of Economy and Labour Market of the Poznań Agglomeration. The article's aim was to answer two questions: 1) ‘to what extent is vocational education able to prepare foreign students to enter the Polish labour market?' and 2) ‘to what extent do the resources of foreign students meet the needs of local employers?'. The analysis shows that migrant students as participants of Polish vocational education have a chance to effectively adapt to the labour market and to use their competency resources in long-term perspective. It requires a variety of actions to be taken with experts' participation, including in the field of cultural and language education, career counselling, recognition of preferences and predispositions, training of hard and soft skills.