EXPENSIVE AS A FOREIGNER. ADDITIONAL COSTS INCURRED BY COMPANIES EMPLOYING FOREIGNERS.

The paper discusses selected results of a telephone in-depth interview (TDI) study conducted among 20 Polish companies employing foreigners. The nature of the study was exploratory and it was aimed at detailing the current knowledge about the help the employers offer to foreign employees and the costs of it for the company. The analysis was made taking into account the labour market segment. Half of the surveyed organizations were respondents who employed foreign employers in jobs from the primary labour market (mental work, usually requiring higher qualifications). The second group were employers who employ foreigners in professions from the secondary labour market (physical work, not requiring high qualifications). Deliberate selection of the sample was used. The sample consisted of companies from several sectors: metal industry, construction, logistics, industrial processing, education, and health services. The respondents were mainly medium enterprises (9 entitles). Small and big companies made up a much smaller part of the group - 5 and 4 respondents and 2 entitles were micro-enterprises. The research presented in this paper supplements the current state of the art by examining the attitudes of employers towards foreign workers. Previous surveys carried out among employers established, that the use of foreign workforce is often connected with incurring additional costs by the employer and with additional obligations. The TDI allowed to indicate, among others the scope of assistance provided by employers to foreign employees and the amount of costs incurred by employers in connection with the provided assistance. The costs are often necessary because economic migrants have poor or non language skills; do not know how and where to find housing; and also have no sufficient funds to pay the necessary fees early during their stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]