What Spain can teach Poland about temporary jobs

The political and economic transition of post-communist Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries brought major improvements in GDP per capita, productivity, incomes, and living standards. But certain worrying phenomena have emerged in the labor markets, reminiscent of earlier developments in Western and Southern European countries. One of these is a rise in temporary employment, which has created a “dual labor market” – that is, a segmented market with workers in one segment more privileged than those in the other. For Spain, Portugal, and Italy, this problem arose in the 1980s, whereas for the CEE economies – especially Poland – the onset was in the 2000s. Fortunately, a variety of possible solutions exist. But so far, the Polish government has done little to improve the situation.