My view of Poland

A country that has a lot to offer

I came to Poland in May 2018 with my family to establish a new center for Kimberly-Clark. I'm Slovak, so I immediately saw many similarities and felt at home. And while some may draw attention to the size of our countries, we are Slavs.

From the very beginning, I noticed that people have historical and cultural experiences in their genes, which influences their pursuit of development, success and perfection, and for me it simply means not giving up and pursuing the goal.

Many people working in the business services sector came to Poland either to study and decided to stay, or as tourists and started looking for a job, building their lives here. This, in my opinion, makes Poland an even more attractive place. If you look from a historical perspective, the country suffered greatly from wars, but now it is open, accepting and supporting other nations.

The business services sector has pushed Poland towards digital transformation, increasing technological capabilities and innovation. Poles love professional challenges and are very flexible, which makes this progress even more visible.

I am impressed by the value of human capital in Poland. Apart from the fact that Poles are very hard-working, which is widely known all over the world, they are also very talented and well-educated, professional, known for their work ethic, fluency in many foreign languages ​​and adaptability. There is no doubt that Poles are valued employees in the business services sector. It is worth noting that Poland has world-class universities, many business service centers run training programs there to support the development of qualified graduates.

In my opinion, Poland is a very progressive country with a lot to offer. Economic dynamics, social integration, human capital, business innovations and focus on development are the advantages that help strengthen the country's position as a location for the business services sector.

Together we can create the future.

An interesting and comfortable place to live

Goldman Sachs has been closely associated with investment banking in Poland for many years. Over the last 10 years, we have established the largest office in continental Europe here, employing over 1,000 people to support our activities in the EMEA region. In addition, we recently strengthened our presence in Poland with the acquisition of a leading player in the asset management industry, NN TFI, creating Goldman Sachs TFI.

We decided to invest here due to the high qualifications and skills of specialists present on the market. The Vistula region places great emphasis on education, which translates into the potential and quality of graduates leaving universities, which also attract students from the entire region. As a result, we employ people representing 53 nationalities and speaking 61 different languages.

However, when we take into account that Poland is still a young and dynamically developing market from the perspective of international financial services, we observe that it is sometimes difficult to find experienced employees with a specific specialization. The labor market is becoming more and more competitive, and we have the ambition to remain among the most attractive employers. That is why we place great emphasis on career development, investing in our employees, developing their skills and offering them attractive opportunities, also within the company's global structures.

Before moving from London to Warsaw, my family and I knew little about the city. After arriving, it turned out that Warsaw is a very interesting and comfortable place to live. The city has a lot to offer in terms of culture, sports and recreation, and at the same time it is relatively small, which makes it easy to get around. Another advantage of Warsaw is a large number of parks and a wide range of opportunities to spend time with the family. Besides Warsaw, we really liked other regions of Poland.

JPO