Polish immigrants go home as work dries up in Britain

By Jeffrey Stinson, USA TODAY

LONDON — Polish immigrants who filled jobs as plumbers and waitresses helped fuel the recent economic boom here. Now they're going home, as Britain slips toward a recession and jobs disappear.
As many as 300,000 Poles — more than a quarter of those who came here the past four years — may have departed in the last year, says Wiktor Moszczynski, spokesman for the Federation of Poles in Great Britain.

The departure signals an end to one of Europe's biggest and fastest migrations since World War II. It also indicates how Poland's economy is now more attractive to some workers who had fled their homeland in search of better jobs.

"It's a big change," says Naomi Pollard of the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, who has tracked the trend. "But as unemployment goes up and people return home, there will be fewer people competing for the jobs in the British labor market."

The "Polish plumber" has become a symbol throughout western Europe of immigrants willing to take low-paying or low-skilled jobs that citizens were reluctant to do during boom years.

The economic turnabout is so strong that Britons are now being trained to replace departing Polish workers who were building facilities for London's 2012 Olympics. The Olympics Development Authority is working with construction and trade group to train British workers. And departing Poles could hook up with similar jobs in Poland as it prepares to host the 2012 European Cup soccer games.

Darek Pawlowski, 36, an independent construction contractor in London, says he's ready to go back to Poland if work continues to dry up.

"There's going to be less work (here). It's getting tough now," he says. "I know people who've already left."

Polish immigrants flooded Britain after Poland joined the European Union in 2004, when Britain was one of three western European nations to immediately open their doors, along with Ireland and Sweden.

The lures were jobs and pay they couldn't get in Poland's developing economy and a chance to learn English. By last year, the Polish population in Britain peaked at 1 million, Moszczynski estimates. Exact figures are unavailable, because most EU nations allow citizens to move between countries without needing a work permit.

"They came to do jobs that otherwise were unfilled," Pollard says.

The timing was good. Britain was riding a 14-year economic upswing, driven by a construction and housing boom. London's financial sector was creating a huge demand for everything from hotel workers to waitresses.

Many of the immigrants were skilled and took jobs way below their education level, says Robert Szaniawski, a spokesman for the Polish Embassy in London.

Now, however, Britain's economy is projected to shrink 1.5% next year, and the number of unemployed will grow to 2.5 million people in 2010 from the current 1.8 million, according to the National Institute of Social and Economic Research, an independent British think tank.

Poland's economy is so different now that Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week urged Poles living in Britain to return home. Tusk said Britain's economy is sicker than Poland's, although his government lowered its forecast for next year's economic growth to 3.7%, from 4.8%.

Another enticement to return: A paycheck in Britain no longer is worth as much. One British pound equals only 4.49 Polish zlotys, compared to more than 7 zlotys in 2004.

Not every Polish immigrant sees opportunity back home. Some also fear that Poland's current economy could quickly plummet as recession encircles the globe.

"I don't believe it's as good there as some people say," says Greg Grabowski, 47, who runs a landscaping business here. "I have one young guy working for me who is thinking about going back because he hears it's better. But I fear it won't last."

Pawlowski says the question is what jobs are available. He knows some immigrants returned and "moved up the ladder" to better-paying jobs after improving their English, saving money and bettering their education here.

"When they come back to Poland, in many cases, they have an opportunity to do something different — not just being a waitress, a plumber, but a technician or teacher," says the Polish Embassy's Szaniawski.

Maciek Bors, 46, isn't going back, although he's looking for work. Bors trained as an electrician but was a janitor in Poland before leaving four years ago, first to Austria and then Britain. He's found temporary construction jobs his past year here.

"I'd prefer to find something in Poland, but there's not always something for everybody," he says. "It's harder here right now. But I'm going to stay and see what I can find

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