Agency recruits Polish workers
They are willing and able to work - and now an agency has been set up in Gdansk for people to ease their way to the Black Country. Polish workers are being wooed to the region by a Walsall-based recruitment agency which has opened its new branch in one of the country's main cities.
Extra Personnel expects to bring 30 workers a week to the West Midlands from a city famous for its shipyards and the uprising that led to the downfall of communism in Poland.
They are destined for warehouses and haulage companies in the region - as well as on the buses at Travel West Midlands where one in six drivers behind a wheel are already from Eastern Europe.
Jeremy McGrail, managing director of Extra Personnel, said the move to open a branch in Poland had been created by demand from employers who have vacancies local workers are unwilling to fill.
Mr McGrail said: "We have seen many companies choose Polish workers to fill their industrial posts. They are sought after because they have a very good work ethic.
"We were already dealing with large numbers of Polish people who were keen to work in this country before we opened an office in Gdansk and it seemed a natural progression to bring supply and demand together by sourcing Polish workers direct from Poland."
It is estimated the average monthly wage in Poland is around £300 - a fraction of what the Poles can earn in England.
Staff brought from Poland are willing to work long hours for a relatively low wage.
Black Country businessman and Walsall councillor Mike Bird, who employed four Polish men while managing director of Dordon Brick in Tamworth, said he was impressed by their work ethic and Extra Personnel's decision to open a branch in Poland is no surprise.
Councillor Bird said: "Too many people in this country would rather take the easy option of claiming benefits than working for a living. In my experience Polish workers are reliable."
By Emma Tate
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