Society

At the end of 2020, the Małopolska Region was inhabited by 3 496 thousand people. As compared to 2019, a decline in the population by 0.1% was recorded. A reversal of the positive trend that had been observed for many years was caused by a significant increase in the number of deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, urban population prevailed in the population structure by place of residence. They constituted 53.07% of the region's inhabitants. Most inhabitants of the Wielkopolska Region are still women (51.4%), their advantage over men is however relatively small.

In the Wielkopolska Region, as in the country, gradual changes in the structure of the population by economic age groups are being recorded. In 2020, the share of the post-working age population increased again to 20.8%. The number of pre-working age people is also systematically growing (by 0.1 percentage point, as compared to 2019). On the other hand, the number of working age people is decreasing, they constituted 59.7% of the inhabitants of the Wielkopolska Region in 2020.

Labour market

The Wielkopolska Region is one of the most dynamically developing regions of the country. Its large production potential, developed service sector, high agricultural productivity, high level of entrepreneurship are just some of the factors of economic development. The potential of the Wielkopolska Region makes it an attractive region for both Polish and foreign investors.

Despite the ongoing SARS-COV-2 pandemic, the Wielkopolska Region labour market situation has developed very well in recent years. Employment rate of working age people remained at a high level, which indicates that more and more people aged 18-60/65 decide to work for profit. Even though, the impact of individual waves of the pandemic on the value of this indicator is clearly visible, in the long term we are observing an upward trend, which will positively influence the Wielkopolska Region economy.

The analysis of unemployment data also results in a very positive assessment. In recent years, unemployment rate has remained low. Even during the pandemic, our region had the lowest unemployment rate in the entire country. It is also worth noting that, as compared to 2020, the unemployment rate at the end of 2021 was 0.6 percentage point lower.

Despite such a positive trend in this respect, it should not be forgotten that unemployment in our region varies territorially depending on the location of a poviat on the map of the Wielkopolska Region. At the end of 2021, the lowest unemployment rate was recorded in the Poznan and Kępno poviats (1.6%), and the highest in the Konin poviat (8.3%). The difference between them is significant and amounts to 6.7 percentage points. Therefore, the Public Employment Services operating in our region every year conduct strenuous activities for professional activation, making maximum use of the funds received from the Labor Fund and other sources (including EU funds or the National Training Fund).

High employment rate and low unemployment rate indicate a shrinking of human resources in the Wielkopolska Region. According to the 7th edition of the Occupation Barometer survey, there are as many as forty-seven shortage occupations in the Wielkopolska Region. The deficiencies in two areas important for the future of the Wielkopolska Region are particularly worrying, i.e., in education, which helps educate future employees, and in medicine, which is becoming crucial due to the aging of the society.
Other industries important for the region also experience staff shortages. There are more job vacancies than qualified and interested people in the industrial processing (including furniture and food), the transport and logistics industries and the construction industry. Employers are mainly looking for highly qualified employees with current qualifications and knowledge of new technologies. Professional experience is a prerequisite for employment in many construction professions.

Employing foreigners who arrived even before the armed conflict in Ukraine can turn out to be a solution to the problems. In 2021, poviat labor offices in the Wielkopolska Region registered 196,257 declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner, which constituted 9.9% of all declarations registered throughout the country. On the other hand, the Voivode of the Wielkopolska Region issued 57,582 type A work permits in 2021, which constituted 11.8% of all permits of this type issued in the country and placed our region the second following the Mazowsze Region.