On 30 July the Ministry of Economic Development, Labour and Technology introduced a project of a new classification of professions and specialties. The draft regulation, which is to enter into force on 1 January 2022, includes 81 labor market professions which have appeared on the labor market, and do not have their counterparts in the classification set out in the regulation dated 2014. Many of them concern IT professionals, including such as user interface designer, artificial intelligence development specialist, or virtual reality specialist.
The purpose of the planned introduction of the new classification is to improve and enhance the work of labor offices as well as other labor market institutions. It may also imply the extension of the catalog of professions exempt from the labor market test (LMT) and a step towards addressing the staffing gap in the IT industry market.
In 2018, the amendment to the Regulation of the Minister of Labor and Social Policy on the determination of cases in which a work permit for a foreign national is issued regardless of the detailed conditions for issuing work permits, introduced a list of professions for which the voivode issues a work permit without the necessity to obtain from the head of the labor office the information on the inability to satisfy the employer’s staffing needs on the local labor market, commonly known as the "labor market test".
The lack of necessity to apply for the information to the head of the labor market in case of certain professions allows for a faster path to obtain a work permit. Examples of job positions which may use this path include IT specialists, recognized as a scarce profession in Poland. IT systems development specialists and designers of network applications and multimedia are among the professions exempt from the "labor market test". Adding the professions which reflect the current labor market needs and demand may positively affect the acquisition of employees from abroad. At the same time addressing the staffing gap in this industry would require more revolutionary changes in the complex immigration regulations currently in force in Poland. The changes may be brought about by the new migration policy for Poland in the coming years which assumes, among others, support in replenishing the shortage on the labor market, including attracting foreign students of deficit faculties (medical, technical, IT) to Poland and introducing system solutions for the recognition of professional qualifications and academic credentials obtained outside the EU, as well as concluding intergovernmental agreements on cooperation on the labor market.
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