The Polish have built up a reputation for pulling their weight in the UK, but back home it is a different story
The Guardian, Helen Pidd, Friday 8 April 2011
A Polish builder at work in south London. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian |
Ever since hundreds of thousands of Poles abandoned the motherland following EU accession in 2004, the Polish diaspora has forged a reputation in the UK for being hardworking and reliable. This was largely because your average Polish plumber or builder took the revolutionary approach of turning up when he said he would, and doing whatever the work agreed within the allotted timeframe – rather than knocking a hole in the lounge wall, then disappearing for weeks to take up a more enticing offer.
But at home, Poles do not consider themselves hardworking. Some even suggest that communism has created a nation of lazy bones.
When the Soviets were in charge, there was (officially, at least) no unemployment, with everybody working for the state. With little possibility of being sacked or promoted – and with many of the goods manufactured heading east to the hated Russians – there was virtually no incentive to work hard. Some say that attitude prevails today.
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