Warsaw is increasingly strengthening its position as a city that attracts highly qualified professionals, students, experts, and entrepreneurs from around the world. This is one of the key conclusions of the report Warsaw Attracts Global Talent, published by the City of Warsaw and prepared in cooperation with the Center for Research on Social Change and Human Mobility (CRASH) at Kozminski University.
The report presents an in-depth analysis of the role of talent - especially migrant talent – in the social and economic development of the Polish capital. It shows Warsaw as a city with a strong labour market, a significant academic base, and growing attractiveness for people with competences that are crucial for a knowledge-based economy.
According to the report, Warsaw stands out thanks to its dynamic labour market, low unemployment, high employment rate in the Warsaw region, and a growing number of international students. The capital is also Poland’s largest academic centre, with 84 higher education institutions, and a city with more than one million professionals active in the labour market.
An important part of the analysis focuses on migration skill corridors. The report identifies two major talent corridors for Warsaw: the Eastern European corridor, including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia, and the Asian corridor, including India, the Philippines, and Turkey. Migrants from these regions bring competences that are important for sectors such as IT, finance, business services, technology, education, and engineering.
The report also shows that global competition for talent requires cities to take more strategic and coordinated action. Warsaw has strong potential to become one of Europe’s leading talent hubs, but fully using this potential requires further support for integration, closer cooperation with universities and employers, language and mentoring programmes, and solutions that help retain international students and specialists.
The recommendations include creating a Welcome Desk for migrant talent, expanding professional integration and language support programmes, strengthening the retention of international students, and building international business and academic networks.
The involvement of CRASH at Kozminski University in the project demonstrates the importance of cooperation between academia and local government in designing data-driven urban policies. The research provides insights that can help Warsaw better understand mobility, labour market trends, and the role of global talent in the development of a modern, open, and innovative metropolis.
The report is available on the website of the City of Warsaw: https://um.warszawa.pl/waw/wspolpraca-z-nauka/-/warszawa-blizej-pozycji-lidera-w-przyciaganiu-globalnych-talentow (publication in Polish)
