A conference on co-operation between business and science and entrepreneurs’ expectations was held in Warsaw. Andrzej Kurkiewicz, a representative of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education presented the results of a study on expectations the job market has toward universities of technology.

According to the survey, changes should head towards:

• introduction of obligatory internships preparing for future work (72%),
• higher number of hours dedicated to practical exercises as opposed to current theoretical seminars (64%),
• adjustment of the curriculum to the needs of the local job market (58%).
• It turns out that in the field of technology, mathematics and natural sciences, professional competence (46%) work experience (29%) and soft skills (10%) are the most important for future employers.

According to a study carried out by Hays Poland, among enterprises employing highly-qualified personnel, speaking foreign languages is perceived as a strong asset of Poland by the international community. Poland has an opportunity to become a new European centre of highly-qualified services (BPO/SSC). The branch of Shared Services Centres/Business Process Outsourcing (BPO/SSE) in Poland experiences a dynamic growth.

More and more companies decide to establish their own shared services centres or to implement business process outsourcing to external partners under the current economic circumstances. At present, the BPO/SSC branch in Poland (estimated to include about 200-300 companies) employs over 40,000 workers, and in the next 2-3 years could increase to 70,000 employees. The majority of companies in the Polish BPO/SSC branch already implement programmes of competence training. (PAIiIZ/RK).