Germany’s MAN vehicles manufacturer, Miele, Bosch, and Mercedes have set up shop in Poland. For the firms, it’s a way to cut costs. But Poland also offers skilled and motivated workers, good infrastructure, and less red tape.
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00:00This truck is almost finished. One of up to 300 that rolls off MAN's production line in Krakow, Poland every day.
00:08About two-thirds of all the company's trucks worldwide are assembled here.
00:13MAN is banking on the Krakow site and has invested 200 million euros in its expansion.
00:21A production meeting is underway.
00:23Richard Slovak is the plant manager here. He's from Slovakia and is especially impressed with the Polish colleagues' language skills.
00:34Most of them also speak German or English, which helps a lot with day-to-day collaboration.
00:39But that's not the only reason why he likes working in Poland.
00:45Labour costs here are lower than in Germany.
00:49There's just no getting around that. That makes hiring new workers here quicker and easier.
00:54Those are some of the major advantages of Poland, and that draws investors and companies to come here.
01:05Engineer Stefan Hütner was sent to Krakow from MAN's Munich headquarters to get the new production line up and running, together with his Polish colleagues.
01:14He's noticed that when it comes to work-life balance, work tends to take a higher priority here.
01:21Workers here are more willing to set their personal interests aside in favour of the company.
01:26That's the rule, not the exception.
01:28Take overtime, for example, or working on the weekend.
01:32You don't have to ask for volunteers here.
01:34People volunteer of their own accord, because they want to.
01:39Some 400 kilometres to the northeast, Ela Grünefeld is holding a team meeting.
01:45The Polish interim manager works setting up sites for German companies here in Poland.
01:51Her current client is RSP, a mid-sized company based in eastern Germany.
01:56RSP has taken over the Polish company, along with its skilled workforce, and plans to manufacture vehicles here.
02:04When it comes to German investors, Poland rolls out the red carpet for them.
02:12If you say, I'd like to have a rail connection, I'd like to have a road, I'd like electricity in a specific voltage or current, you get it.
02:26Poland also offers tax incentives, affordable real estate and less red tape.
02:31Ela Grünefeld says Germany could learn a lot from Poland.
02:35She's also worked as a consultant for other German companies like Volkswagen, Heinz Glas and Bayer.
02:43I've been working non-stop for two years, without a break.
02:49When one job ends, I start another one.
02:54And when this job is done, I've got another one lined up already.
02:58It's nice to have job security and to be in demand like this.
03:04The interim manager says that Poland has several key strengths, including a highly skilled and motivated workforce.
03:11The mentality is more collectivist and puts a higher priority on the needs of the team rather than the individual.
03:18Grünefeld also advises companies on intercultural issues.
03:22In Germany, work life and personal life are more separate.
03:27That's not the case here in Poland.
03:30One reason is that Polish workers want to show the best side of themselves in the workplace.
03:35That makes them more highly motivated.
03:40Back at MAN in Krakow, plant manager Richard Slovak says Poland offers a lot of potential for growth and plans are already underway.
03:48We're contemplating new projects and more investment in Poland.
03:53And it's not just MAN, it's also the Volkswagen Group in general.
03:58We have a plant in Starachowice, which manufactures buses for MAN.
04:03So prospects are definitely good for the group and the plants in Poland.
04:10Poland is booming.
04:12And if this trend continues, it could become Europe's growth champion.