ŁÓDŹ — “I don’t want to end up like my father” who worked at his company 14 hours per day… “or like my brother,” an analyst who is on call 24 hours a day.
Łukasz, 20, lives in Łódź, Poland’s fourth-largest city, and is happy to have found a job in auto body repair shop.
Deciding to take on a manual job rather than going down the path of the rest of his family was an easy choice for him. What was harder was convincing his loved ones — most of all his father, who had great hopes for him in the business world — that he was making the right choice.
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“All throughout our middle school years, he kept telling my brother and I that we should be focused only on school, so that we could pass our exams well and go to university,” Łukasz says. “He said that we shouldn’t worry about anything, that he would take care of it, that he would make sure that we wouldn’t miss out on anything.”
Jakub, Łukasz’s older brother, followed their dad’s plan, without protest or any real doubts. He finished his studies at the Warsaw School of Economics, got a job at one bank, then another, and then left to work in London. He returned home after three years. Now, as an analyst for a multinational corporation, he must be on call at all times in case a crisis erupts anywhere in the world.
While growing up, Łukasz noticed the home was usually empty, his mom was also very busy in her own dental practice. That’s not how he wants to live, a view increasingly expressed by his Gen Z peers.
Breaking family tradition
“I didn’t want to follow the family tradition of stubbornness, chasing positions, money, titles,” Łukasz explains.
He insists that he had no problems at all with his studies, although he did not devote much time to them. Because of this, his father always thought he would follow in his older brother’s footsteps. But he was drawn to cars instead. Once, when his friend damaged the car he borrowed from his mother, Łukasz repaired the damage so well that the friend’s mother didn’t even notice. It was then that he decided that this was what he wanted to do professionally.
“A well-done bodywork repair is almost an art. Just look at what the car looks like before and after the repair,” says Łukasz. “Moments like these give me great satisfaction.”
It’s all very clear to him now: “Dad’s place is in the office, Kuba’s is in the bank, and mine is in the workshop.”
Downside of university
Łukasz is not some strange exception among the middle class members of Generation Z, who more and more often do not want to finish their studies just to end up working for a corporation. Edyta, 21, also from Łódź, chose to work in production instead. “I like repetitive tasks, they calm me down a lot,” she explains.
I do what I’m supposed to do, and I leave. I’m free.
She realizes that some of her friends feel she lacks ambition, or that she didn’t want to put effort into her studies, in order to have a better future. But that doesn’t seem to bother her much. “What does ‘better’ mean?,” she asks. “In stress, in corporate life, working a dozen or more hours per day? For prestige or approval? It’s not worth my health or my time. I go to work for eight hours, I do what I’m supposed to do, and I leave. I’m free.”
Her decision was also not well-received in her family. Only her grandmother, who worked for years in one of Łódź’s factories (the city was once known for its manufacturing) supported her choice. “She told my parents that since she was a manual worker and managed to raise and educate her children well, I would also be able to cope in life. It worked, I work happily in the factory. But who knows, maybe one day I’ll want to change.”
Physical work
A study by Job Impulse shows that 53% of surveyed people from Generation Z in Poland believe that physical work can be attractive, with 10% even saying “very attractive.” They rate it highly due to good remuneration, the ability to quickly enter the labor market and stability.
“Manual work still remains a key element of the development of the economy,” says Łukasz Koszczoł, the president of Job Impulse. “This is especially true in the context of turnover, staff deficits and the simultaneous growth of the logistics, construction and production sectors.”
These jobs are in high demand.
He adds that employers should focus on “modernizing the image” of physical work, showing that it is not only about muscle strength, but also the ability to use modern tools and technologies. “This will allow employees to develop practical skills and acquire specialized knowledge that can lead to promotions and new roles in company structures.”
What’s clear is that these jobs are high in demand. An occupational barometer for the country, prepared by the Provincial Labor Office in Kraków, shows that the need for physical work is on the rise. According to the barometer, the list of professions that will be most desired on the labor market next year includes sheet metal workers, roofers, electricians, electromechanics and electrical fitters. It also includes warehouse workers, mechanics and fitters.
If you’re a young person ready to become a bricklayer, plasterer, operator of earthmoving equipment, construction worker or welder, you will have no problem finding a job.
