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Purpose: The aim of this article is to try to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the situation of unemployed people in Poland. Podkarpackie voivodeship, one of the regions in Poland which for many years has belonged to the group of Polish voivodeships with the highest level of unemployment, was used as a case study. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study used a multiple correspondence analysis and Ward's method. Their application allowed for the identification of regularities regarding respondents' opinions on the labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings: The methods used in the study turned out to be a helpful tool in presenting the impact of the pandemic on the situation of the unemployed. They indicated several discrepancies in the perception of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market by groups with different demographic and social characteristics. As the pandemic situation is still not stabilised, such analyses as in this article should be continued in the coming years. That will permit the observation of regularities or their absence, especially after the pandemic has ended. Practical Implications: The results of this type of research can help both labour market institutions and working, employed and unemployed people to understand how the pandemic affects the labour market, especially the situation of the unemployed. Such information will be helpful, on the one hand, in making decisions by labour market institutions regarding their future activities and, on the other hand, in shaping the individual's career path in times of crisis. Thus, the study fills the research gap in this area. Originality/value: The article contributes to the current scientific discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the situation of the unemployed in Europe.

Purpose: The main objective is an attempt to present the decision motives and situation of economic migrants during COVID-19 pandemic. The research hypothesis adopted is “The push, pull and indirect obstacles created in the first year of the pandemic, had an impact on European labour migrants only in the short term.” Design/Methodology/Approach: The basis were economic migrants from the Ukraine, Poland and Germany. The literature analysis, desk research and descriptive statistics method as well as selected statistical analysis indicators were applied. The conducted analyses feature references to reports and data bases collected from Eurostat and bureaus of statistics of individual countries. Findings: The impact of the COVID-19 on emigration depends on the nature of the migration factor dominating among emigrants. In the case of migrants from Ukraine or Poland (mainly labour nature of migration), the impact of the COVID-19 was short-term. Despite the restrictions, differences in the labour markets of the sending and receiving countries continued to be a strong motivation. The uncertainty for migrants in terms of legislation was also short-term. In the case of emigrants from Germany, in which emigration is dominated by more effective allocation of human capital, the pandemic slowed down the scale of emigration. Practical Implications: The results of the research will be useful not only for migrants, but also for governments. It can also constitute a starting point for in-depth considerations on pandemic impact on international migration and labour markets. Due to the different nature of European countries, economic migration will help government bodies to adopt effective migration policy by developing more effective methods to support the migrant employment. Originality/Value: It is a unique comparison of economic motives for foreign emigration taking into account the impact of the elements of the push-pull theory, both within the EU migration to/from the EU from/to third countries, in the first year of the pandemic.

Currently, the aging population is an important phenomenon facing Europe. This studyfocuses on demographic changes and their importance for the labour market that are becominga more noticeable problem in Poland. The conditions of depopulation have a significantimpact on the size of labour demand and supply.The article characterizes selectedfactors that determine the phenomenon of depopulationand its impact on labour market changes. The main aim of this study is to present the situationon the Polish modern labour market (using the example of Podkarpackie Voivodeship) withinthe context of assessing the dynamics of changes in selected parameters in relation to theprocess of current and future depopulation. The researchers used the desk research methodand descriptive statistical analysis to analyze the data. In addition, there was an analysis ofthe following demographic measures: age dependency ratio, total fertility rate (TFR),population growth, and net migration. Additionally, the authors describe the statisticalmeasures related to the labour market such as e.g. registered unemployment rate. The timerange includes the years 2012–2018 and forecasts from current time until 2050.

Improving energy efficiency includes a number of measures implemented as part of the greening of the energy industry, which in turn is a prerequisite for the creation of a sustainable energy industry to ensure energy and environmental security for the world. Despite the adoption of the EU directives on energy efficiency, there is still insufficient public awareness in this area in Poland and Slovakia. This is particularly surprising because improving energy efficiency not only brings national and global benefits, but also has a significant impact on the well-being of individuals and households. The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the national policies of Poland and Slovakia, which are based on the European Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency, and which introduce new measures aimed not only at increasing energy efficiency, but also at increasing the well-being of households and individuals. Methods of desk research and content analysis were used. The current situation in both countries is illustrated by case studies that document the administrative process (Slovakia) and the calculation of energy savings (Poland) when using renewable energy sources in the case of family houses.

The main aim of this chapter is to present the essence of one of the most important areas of Industry 4.0, that is, the Internet of Things, both in theoretical and practical aspects. The theoretical aspects are presented on the basis of studies of the literature of the subject. The practical aspect is presented based on companies in Europe whose activities are connected with Industry 4.0. The following main research methods were applied in the paper: the desk research method and own research analysis, where in-depth interviews were conducted on the basis of a non-standardized interview questionnaire. The interview was conducted with the representative of a company whose activity enters into the Industry 4.0 concept. This chapter provides many recommendations concerning the application of IoT in enterprises, including aspects related to IoT security.

Three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions come from burning fossil fuels for energy. To confront climate change, the world must move away from fossil fuels and decarbonise its energy systems. In the light of European Union documents, decarbonisation signifies the elimination of CO2 emissions on account of their harmfulness to the environment. The European Union is planning that by 2030, these emissions will be 40% lower in comparison to 1990. A fundamental query arises here: do the achievements of EU countries give cause for optimism in this regard? The aim of the study is an attempt to determine the tendency of changes concerning energy decarbonisation as well as to distinguish typological groups of bodies (EU countries) with similar dynamics in the researched phenomenon. Trend functions and the distance matrices of the growth rate of the researched phenomenon were used for the dynamic classification. The conducted research confirmed that EU countries indicate spatial differentiation in terms of CO2 emissions. It is related to the general socio-economic development of countries, their level of industrialisation, the quality of their natural environment, their degree of urbanisation, etc. The most favourable situation, in terms of the analysed phenomenon, i.e., the largest average decrease in CO2 per capita in the analysed period, was characteristic of Ireland, Greece, and Cyprus. On the other hand, an adverse situation relating to an increase in the indicator occurred in five EU countries, specifically in Luxembourg and Lithuania.

The article is devoted to the theoretical substantiation and development of methodological approaches and practical recommendations for modeling the assessment of the financial stability of a service sector enterprise. To assess the financial condition of the hotel industry, a visual interpretation of the neural network, a model of self-organizing Kohonen map, was used. It is proven that by the method of Kohonen maps for each service provided by the hotel industry, in a certain period of activity, it is possible to establish certain objective limitations of structural characteristics that will prevent the transition to problem clusters or ensure the transition to better ones. The authors propose an economic and mathematical model of the process of assessing financial stability by calculating the integral indicator of financial stability of the service sector. The types of control maps for each of the coefficients that have a significant impact on the assessment of the financial stability of the enterprise in the service sector were identified. Control maps were constructed for each coefficient, which are part of the integrated indicator of financial stability, and their analysis was carried out for the presence of special reasons for the variability of the process of financial stability assessment. The concept of modeling a system for assessing the financial stability of service enterprises is developed in the article, which is based on the collection of financial data, a comprehensive analysis of factors influencing the financial condition, a study of the controllability of the process of assessing financial stability, building a model of an integral indicator of financial stability, and its program implementation.

The paper presents problematic concerning knowledge and educational capital of young people who often have many difficulties in labour market entry in spite of their high education and skills. The paper puts essence and types of knowledge forward. It also distinguishes information from knowledge and wisdom as well as contemporary stage of social and economic development and education based on research conducted amongst Polish students.

The transition process between education and the labor market depends mainly on the education of graduates as well as on their remaining career capitals. In the article, we analyze the professional career paths of graduates of first and second cycle studies as well as uniform Master studies at the University of Rzeszów. The purpose of this article is to obtain information allowing to adapt courses of study and education programs to the current needs of the labor market. In the first part, the theories of the labor market are briefly characterized. Next, the conditions of the first employment were presented in the light of surveys on the career fate of graduates of the University of Rzeszów. The whole closes the summary of the deliberations.

In 2013-2017 Polish labour market was characterized by an intensive growth of the amount of declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner (filed by the employers) and work permits issued by Voivodes. Over 95% of all declarations registered in poviat labour offices and around 80% of all work permits, refered to Ukrainian workers. One of the voivodeships with the largest inflow of workforce from Ukraine was Podkaprackie Voivodeship. The aim of this study is to present the selected issues refer to dynamics and specificity of the Podkaprackie labour market changes caused by the mentioned Ukrainian workers inflow. Not only the dynamics of changes were analyzed, but also the efforts were made to examine in which sectors and groups of employees, the Ukrainians are employed and what is their correlation with the demand of the Podkarpackie labour market. The regional level situation analysis was presented on the analogous considerations in coutrywide background. The methods of desk research and statistical-descriptive analysis were used in this article. The statistical data used in this study are based on the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy database and show the effect of implementation of the Act of 20th April 2004 on the promotion of employment and labour market institutions (Journal of Laws of 2017, item 1065) by public administration bodies. They include the number of declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner and work permits registred in 2011-2017 in Poland and Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The analysis of empirical data was placed in the theory of the dual labour market and push-pull concept.

Problematyke przedsiebiorczych postaw mlodych osob w kontekście ich sklonności do podejmowania wlasnej dzialalności gospodarczej nalezy uznac za przedmiot badan, ktorego zglebianie skutkuje wnikliwym rozpoznaniem podejmowanej problematyki. Glownym celem artykulu jest przedstawienie sklonności mlodych osob do zakladania wlasnej dzialalności gospodarczej jako jednego z najbardziej oczywistych przejawow przedsiebiorczości. Analize przeprowadzono na przykladzie absolwentow Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego z rocznika 2014/2015 na tle tendencji ogolnopolskich. Zastosowane metody badawcze to desk research, analiza wynikow sondazu diagnostycznego Biura Karier UR i wynikow ogolnopolskiego systemu monitorowania Ekonomicznych Losow Absolwentow szkol wyzszych ELA (2014–2015).

Unemployment is a phenomenon that affects the individual, the family and society. Job loss and difficulty in finding a new cause in humans pessimism and apathy, health problems and financial. No possibility of raising income for their work is one of the main sources of poverty and social exclusion. Polish youth education is an essential component of intellectual capital. The resources contained in human capital, structural, social and relational can be a source of current and future welfare of the country.

Entrepreneurship of young people is perceived as a very profitable factor in socioeconomic development since it stimulates the innovativeness of managing and has a positive affect on the creation of new jobs. Facing the problems of difficulties in finding the employment among young people (including higher education graduates) one of the opportunities to successfully come into existence on the labour market is to set up one‘s own businesses. The aim of this article is to answer two prime questions: 1) To what degree the higher education graduates in Rzeszow are ready to set their own businesses? 2) Do they possess skills and features necessary to run one‘s own business? The aim had been achieved by the analysis of the results of an empirical survey conducted among higher education graduates of two greatest public academies of higher education in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship i.e. University of Rzeszow and Rzeszow University of Technology.

Celem artykulu jest przedstawienie zmian w znaczeniu sieci migracyjnych dla wspolczesnych zagranicznych migracji zarobkowych Polakow. Realizacja celu wymagala odwolania sie do najwazniejszych teoretycznych koncepcji w zakresie procesow migracyjnych oraz syntetycznej charakterystyki zasobow sieciowych i funkcji sieci, w kontekście ich znaczenia dla homo oeconomicus oraz homo dictyous. Nie bez znaczenia bylo ponadto określenie roli zaufania, jako elementu wzmacniającego siec migracyjną, jak rowniez pokazanie znaczenia migracyjnego kapitalu spolecznego („pomostowego” i „wiązącego”) oraz sieci (formalnych i nieformalnych) dla rozwoju procesow migracyjnych. Cześc teoretyczną przedstawiono w oparciu o wykorzystanie literatury przedmiotu. Natomiast podstawą analizy znaczenia i przemian kapitalu migracyjnego oraz sieci migracyjnych byly wyniki zastanych badan empirycznych, skonfrontowane z wynikami badan wlasnych, zrealizowanych w 2010 r. wśrod polskich i niemieckich studentow i absolwentow uczelni w miastach partnerskich: Rzeszowie i Bielefeld. Wśrod konkluzji, na szczegolną uwage zaslugują dwa wnioski. Po pierwsze, nielatwym zadaniem jest znalezienie klucza wyjaśniającego proces zmian w zakresie znaczenia i poziomu migracyjnego kapitalu spolecznego oraz przemian roli sieci migracyjnych w ostatnim czasie. W okresie poakcesyjnym obserwujemy bowiem z jednej strony wzrost znaczenia sieci migracyjnych, z drugiej oslabienie powiązan, przy czym zmiany te w niektorych sytuacjach dotyczą sieci nieformalnych, kiedy indziej sieci formalnych. Ponadto, przeprowadzona analiza dostarcza istotnych przeslanek, ktore potwierdzają zachodzące w ostatnim czasie wazne przemiany znaczenia sieci dla zjawisk migracyjnych, przy czym problem ten (ze wzgledu na swoją zlozonośc i interdyscyplinarny charakter) wymaga podjecia dalszych dzialan badawczych.

This paper deals with the migration motives of German and Polish final semester students and university graduates in the partner cities of Bielefeld (GER) and Rzeszow (PL), who are on the threshold of their professional careers. The survey presented here was motivated by the question: are the current migration motives of highly-skilled graduates still economically driven or have migration motives changed due to the increasing education level of migrants and new migration patterns, and will be described in this article. The survey provides insights into emigration destinations favoured by graduates from the two cities. In addition, the importance of informal networks for a migration-related job search was analysed. The survey’s accomplished results contribute, at a micro-level, to the broad literature and to migration theories at macro and meso-level. In times of high (youth) unemployment in several European regions as well as skills shortages and demand for highly-skilled workers in other European regions, new approaches on migration motives are required. The content of this study can help destination countries and regions reflect on their attraction strategy for highly-skilled workers and set new incentives based on an individual view.

Globalisation is full of paradox, however it features a strong feedback with the localization and regionalism which can be observed at all levels of political and social and economic life. Due to variability of actions impacting the quality of education at different levels, the objective of this elaboration is to focus on dependencies taking place mainly in two different dimension of establishing the quality of university level education; basically, in the global and local dimension (partially, also in the regional one). The main objective of this elaboration is an attempt to reply to the question whether the nature and kind of this type of connections and theory impact on the quality of university level education.