Skills shortages and mismatches on the Polish labour market and public policy recommendations

Abstract

Studies from various countries indicate that one of the most important issues recently affecting the labour market is skills mismatch and skills shortage. This paper presents the results of imbalances on the Polish labour market in the period 2010–2014. The research took a unique approach by comparing data on positions and skills from both the demand and supply perspectives in order to deduce the impacts on skills shortage and skills mismatch. It examined a wider range of skills as compared to other similar approaches and further referred them to positions for which they were requested by employers. The findings were then juxtaposed with the opinions of job seekers for the same positions. Based on the results, the paper presents a set of recommendations for public policies designed to address those problems. The findings of this research are consistent with similar studies in other countries, thus emphasising the applicability of the method and the findings in a broader context.