Polish migration to Ireland has had a lasting impact on the Irish workforce and wider society according to new research published by Trinity College Dublin.
The three-year research project, which traced the trajectories of a group of Polish nationals working in Ireland, found the standards required from Irish workers increased as a result of Polish migrants.
The arrival of more than 300,000 Polish nationals to Ireland over the last few years has meant the demands for labour could be met easily according to TCD Professor James Wickham.
As a result, Irish workers had to upgrade their skills, Prof Wickham said, adding: “There is now has a more skilled, more flexible labour force than there used to be”.
Irish workers still have a long way to go in terms of competing with other European workers as the majority of Irish people only have one language, Prof Wickham said.
Monolingualism is a “massive problem and really shows the failure of the Irish educational system. Polish people speak Polish and English, whereas most Irish people only speak English,” he said.
“Everyone in Europe has English now, so it’s no advantage. Irish people are going to need another major language to compete with their European counterparts,” he added.
The arrival of Polish migrants led to the emergence of new Polish communities across the country and a visible presence in many workplaces, according to the research, titled Migrant Careers and Aspirations.
The most surprising thing about the research according to Professor Wickham was “the extent to which people’s experiences of Ireland was a positive one event though most migrants got paid less that the equivalent qualifed Irish person”.
“They found the Irish workplace more informal, employers fairer and managers less authoritarian than in Poland,” he said.
The research shows that migrants have been more affected by rising unemployment than Irish nationals, with migrants from the new EU member states particularly badly hit.