Polish industry is entering a stage of advanced technologies, but skilled professionals are in short supply

Poland is increasingly developing its high-tech industry. Electromobility, automation, electronics, and the announced hub in Jaworzno, developed with Taiwan’s Foxconn, all indicate the direction in which manufacturing investments are moving. In theory, everything looks impressive, but the key question is: does Poland have the right skilled professionals? Modern plants will need not only lower-level workers, but above all technicians, automation specialists, operators of advanced production lines, and quality control specialists. Experts from Smart Solutions HR point out that the pace of development of advanced manufacturing in Poland may be determined primarily by the availability of specialists and their relevant technical competencies.

A new stage of industrial investment

Industry is one of the most important areas of the Polish labour market. According to Statistics Poland data from “Employed, unemployed and economically inactive persons (preliminary results of the Labour Force Survey in Q3 2025)”, in the third quarter of 2025, more than 3 million people were employed in manufacturing, accounting for 19.6% of all employed persons. At the same time, the nature of manufacturing investments is gradually changing. Projects requiring automation, the use of advanced process control systems, and technical competencies are becoming increasingly important.

One example of this shift is semiconductors, which are appearing more and more often in discussions about the directions of development for Polish industry. In the document “Poland in the game for the future. Policy for the semiconductor sector 2025+”, the Ministry of Digital Affairs indicates that the development of this sector should be based, among other things, on investments, international cooperation, infrastructure, and workforce education.

A good example is Polish-Taiwanese cooperation. As SEMI Europe announced in its press release “SEMI Europe and the Polish Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce Partner to Accelerate Semiconductor Industry Expansions in Poland” dated 13 March 2026, the memorandum signed with the Polish-Taiwanese Chamber of Industry and Commerce is intended to support the development of the semiconductor sector in Poland and strengthen economic relations.

Skilled professionals as the bottleneck for investment

This direction of investment means even greater demand for qualified specialists. At the investment preparation stage, process engineers, automation specialists, mechatronics specialists, and professionals responsible for commissioning, calibrating, and optimizing technological lines will be particularly important. Once the plant starts operating, competencies related to maintenance, the operation of modern production lines, and ensuring process stability will become crucial.

The problem, however, is that such specialists are already in short supply on the Polish market. Poland has a strong industrial base, but this does not mean there is a large reserve of available candidates. Many of them are already employed — in manufacturing, energy, logistics, automotive, service companies, or maintenance departments. New investments will therefore compete for the same employees with sectors that are themselves facing staff shortages.

“Polish industry is moving in an increasingly advanced direction — and this is a positive sign for strengthening the country’s competitiveness on the international stage. The scale and nature of the planned investments are impressive, but without specialists with the right qualifications, they may remain only projects on paper. In high-tech investments, workforce risk is beginning to have a direct business impact. If a company fails to secure the necessary competencies on time, this may affect the pace of line start-up, production stability, downtime costs, and the ability to scale operations. This means that workforce availability is becoming one of the elements in assessing the feasibility of an investment, not only a task for the HR department,” says Marcin Korbel, Business Development Manager at Smart Solutions HR.

This challenge will be particularly visible in industrial areas such as electromobility, electronics, industrial automation, modern automotive, and the production of technological components. In these cases, the success of an investment will depend not only on launching the plant, but also on building teams capable of maintaining quality, stability, and continuity of production after the start-up phase.

Manufacturing needs technical competencies

High-tech investments will not only increase demand for technical workers, but will in fact force a change in the competency profile. A good example is the automotive industry, one of the most important areas of the Polish economy, where automation, electromobility, and electronics are increasingly changing the nature of production work. According to the report by the Polish Economic Institute, “Diagnosis and prospects for the development of the automotive sector in Poland,” in 2024 this industry employed between 240,000 and 340,000 people. The analysis also indicates that automotive is the third-largest industrial sector in the country.

At the same time, this sector is undergoing transformation. Components for electromobility, batteries, electronics, software, and solutions supporting more automated and precise production are becoming increasingly important. This translates into greater demand for employees, as well as for new qualifications and roles.

“The shortage of specialists often results from the fact that more and more is expected of them. Today’s production worker increasingly needs to understand process parameters, operate specialized equipment, use technical documentation, cooperate with quality and maintenance departments, and navigate an environment in which repeatability and precision are of key importance. This means that companies are no longer looking only for people to perform simple tasks, but for candidates who can work in a more demanding, technology-driven process. Employees who know English and are ready to work in an international environment will have an additional advantage, especially in projects related to technology transfer from Asia,” says the expert.

The scale of the challenge is reflected in data on shortage occupations. According to the “Occupational Barometer 2026” prepared by the Voivodeship Labour Office in Kraków, shortage occupations nationwide include, among others, electricians, electromechanics and electrical fitters, welders, and CNC machine operators. These positions are directly linked to the development of component production, line automation, electromobility, electronics, and the maintenance of specialized machinery.

“In the case of high-tech plants, the list of required roles will continue to grow, but the biggest challenge will not be simply finding operators. The most difficult recruitment processes will concern positions that combine several competencies: PLC automation programmers, robotics specialists, mechatronics specialists, maintenance technicians with electrical qualifications, process engineers, quality specialists, and, increasingly, IT/OT experts, industrial cybersecurity specialists, production data analysts, and production management systems specialists,” explains Marcin Korbel.

Workforce as the foundation of success

The situation on the labour market shows that companies planning to develop technologically advanced manufacturing should start with competency mapping. Building a talent pipeline should begin even several years before production starts and include, for example, internship programmes, cooperation with technical schools and universities, scholarships, and the early identification of candidates from related industries. In the case of Asian investments, this may also mean, for example, trips to plants in Taiwan, South Korea, or other countries in the region, so that employees can become familiar with the technology, work standards, and organisational culture before production is launched in Poland.

An example of building a competency base even before young people enter the labour market can be found in the activities of companies from the electromobility sector. In its press release “Innovative Electromobility Laboratory at Wrocław University of Science and Technology”, LG Energy Solution Wrocław stated that it cooperates with universities and technical schools, and in 2023 launched the “Charge The Future” internship programme for students of Polish universities. The company also supported the creation of the Electromobility Laboratory at Wrocław University of Science and Technology — according to the university, the laboratory was established thanks to the support of LG Energy Solution Wrocław, which donated more than PLN 600,000 for this purpose.

If the local market is unable to provide a sufficient number of specialists, one direction for supplementing competencies may be international recruitment. In the case of advanced manufacturing, however, this will not be mass recruitment, but a selective search for people with specific technical, production, or engineering experience. In addition to directions already well known to Polish employers, such as Ukraine or Belarus, the importance of candidates from South and Southeast Asia, including India and the Philippines, may grow.

Experts from Smart Solutions HR point out that employees from India can bring competencies related to IT, engineering, design, and industry, while Filipinos can contribute experience in technical services, outsourcing, and ICT. In a high-tech environment, their readiness to work according to international standards, knowledge of procedures, and greater employment stability may also be important — especially in the context of long onboarding processes and technology transfer. At the production launch stage, engineers and managers from Taiwan, Korea, or other Asian countries may also come to Poland, being responsible for process implementation, training local teams, and transferring technology.

“The development of advanced manufacturing is a major opportunity for Poland, but only if employee competencies keep pace with investments. A modern factory is not only a hall, machines, and a production start date. Above all, it is people who can launch a line, fix a breakdown, check quality, and improve the process when something goes wrong. The biggest challenge is that several problems may occur at the same time: limited availability of workers, a shortage of technical competencies, a slow response from the education system, competition between industries, and migration-related difficulties. The factory itself can be built relatively quickly, but the competencies needed to launch, maintain, and develop it are built over years. If companies, schools, universities, and public administration do not act in advance, even the largest investment may operate below its potential,” concludes Marcin Korbel.

Sources: Statistics Poland, “Employed, unemployed and economically inactive persons (preliminary results of the Labour Force Survey in Q3 2025)”; Ministry of Digital Affairs, “Poland in the game for the future. Policy for the semiconductor sector 2025+”; SEMI Europe, “SEMI Europe and the Polish Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce Partner to Accelerate Semiconductor Industry Expansions in Poland”, 13 March 2026; Business Insider Polska, “Poland close to an agreement with an Asian giant. A huge factory will be built in Silesia”; Polish Economic Institute, “Diagnosis and prospects for the development of the automotive sector in Poland”; Voivodeship Labour Office in Kraków, “Occupational Barometer 2026. Report summarising the survey in Poland”.; LG