On 29 May this year, the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Economic Sociology of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) and the Department of Work and Economic Sociology of the Institute of Sociology of the University of Wrocław organised a seminar at the SGH entitled “Poles working in times of multicrisis. Results of panel studies 2021 and 2023″, during which the results of the panel studies carried out under the COV-WORK project were presented. We invite you to read the summary prepared by Dr Jan Czarzasty (SGH).
Despite the official end of the COVID-19 pandemic announced in early May this year by the WHO, its social and economic impacts are still being felt. Many of them will probably stay with us for a long time, some perhaps forever, while others have already subsided or will soon pass. We have the opportunity to assess the timing of the pandemic and post-pandemic on the basis of empirical evidence we have been collecting since early 2021 as part of the National Science Centre-funded COV-WORK project (Socio-economic awareness, work experiences and coping strategies of Poles in the context of the post-pandemic crisis)[1] dedicated to the transformation of work, life and collective consciousness at the peak of the pandemic, during its extinction and the simultaneous emergence of new crises caused by the war in Ukraine, high inflation or the energy crisis. The multiplicity of these disturbing phenomena occurring in parallel gives rise to the claim that we are currently operating in the reality of a polycrisis.
The project is conducted by a research consortium whose Leader is the University of Wrocław (the implementing unit is the Department of Labour and Economic Sociology of the Institute of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences), and Partner is the Warsaw School of Economics (the implementing unit is the Department of Economic Sociology of the Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Economic Sociology at the Economic and Social College). The project manager is Adam Mrozowicki, PhD, while at the Warsaw School of Economics the project is headed by Jan Czarzasty, PhD.
For more than two years we conducted more than one hundred individual biographical, expert and focus interviews and, in addition, a unique panel survey on a nationwide representative sample in two waves: 2021 and 2023 carried out on our behalf by PBS. Panel surveys, due to organisational and financial barriers, are currently rare in the social sciences, so we are pleased to present the results of a survey of this type that has recently been closed.
A general conclusion from a preliminary comparison of the 2023 survey data with those from 2021 is the relative stability of opinions and ratings.
In terms of well-being, there was a slight increase between 2021 and 2023 in the percentage of people who feel lonely (from 13.1 to 15.7 per cent), who are concerned about their own health (from 36 to 39.3 per cent) and that of their loved ones (from 64.8 to 65.8 per cent), and about their financial situation (a trace increase from 42.2 to 44 per cent).
Perceptions of the state and its ability to deal with crises are unfavourable. Currently, 56.2% rate the state of the economy badly (57.5% in 2021), and 58.6% (down from 49.3% in 2021) think that we are not prepared for further pandemic crises. There is a higher proportion of those who rate living conditions in Poland badly (35.8% – bad, down from 40.9% in 2021) than those who consider them good (29.5 and 25.0% respectively).
The expiry of the pandemic marks a change in the perception of essential occupations, and therefore those that, in the crisis, were crucial to the daily functioning of society and the provision of basic services. This is most evident for food couriers (from 74.3% to 66.5%), less so for others. A large majority still consider the basic medical professions as essential, i.e. nurses (92.1%, down from 96.8%), doctors – 91.9% (down from 96.5%), teachers – 88.3% (down from 89.9%); saleswomen and salesmen (85.2% – stable), with slightly lower indications for social workers, but even here the percentage considering these professions as essential remains high (down from 72.9% to 70.7%).
The crisis that is most acute from the point of view of respondents who took part in the first wave of the survey and who answered the interviewers’ questions again this year is inflation: a total of 91.9% indicate that this problem affects them. Other crises are seen as less onerous on a personal level. The war in Ukraine affects 58.8%, climate change 56.9% and rising credit costs 48.5%. The pandemic is not a crisis seen as closed and resolved, with as many as 45.5% saying that Covid-19 is affecting them. The crisis of traditional values (family, patriotism, etc.) is seen as burdensome by 40.1%, while the least severe crisis is the increase in the number of immigrants and refugees, 35.0% consider themselves to be affected.
The pandemic period brought an exponential increase in the popularity of remote working. The end of the pandemic and the associated sanitary restrictions translated into a decrease in the percentage of people working from home, from 34.7% to 25.2%, which was faced by an increase in the percentage of those working at the workplace (from 53.5 to 60.6%) and those working at places designated by the employer or clients – 27.5% (compared to 19.5% in 2021, which probably means a return to stationary work for representatives of some service professions). Nevertheless, a rather strong preference for working from home persists. Given the choice, at least a few times a week from home, 32% would like to work from home in 2023 compared to 39% in 2021. During the pandemic period, 26.4% of respondents used remote working tools (instant messaging, etc.) at work several times a week each, including 16.4% on a daily basis. 54.3% of respondents never used such tools. Currently, 19.6% use these tools several times a week and 9.8% use them daily (65.0% never).
Looking at the Well-Ordered Economy Index, a tool used in research at the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) for forty years to diagnose social expectations regarding the desired economic order, we can hazard a guess that between 2021 and 2023 there was a slight leaning of preferences towards the free market, but at the same time expectations of a protectionist nature strengthened. Thus, compared to 2021, there was an increase in the levels of indications that competition is good for the economy – 78.5% (from 74.8%) (but also some increase in the percentage of undecided), that the employer can make redundancies without severance pay – 10.9% (from 8%), support for the abolition of Social Security – 42.9% (from 42.2%) and international mobility of workers – 72,3% (from 71.1%), with a stable level of agreement on the existence of unemployment (51.3% in 2023 against 51.1% in 2021), a decrease in support for state regulation of the economy – from 47.3% to 41.1%, support for guaranteed income – from 32.2 to 31.7% and employee participation in management – from 56.1% to 53%, support for funding R&D from taxes – 72.3% from 74.8%, or funding for start-ups – 50.3% (previously 52.8%). In addition to this, there is a clear increase in the percentage of those opposed to selling Polish companies to foreign capital – 77.1% (from 71.6%) and a strong increase in support for protectionism (preferential treatment) for Polish companies – 82.1% from 73.0%. The picture is completed by a marked increase in support for the influence of trade unions on the economy – 45.4% from 36.8% – and even stronger support for permanent employment contracts than in 2021 – 92.2% (up from 89.9%). Support for egalitarian tax policies remains stable: in 2021. – 54.4%, currently 54.8%.
With regard to the assessment of social and organisational working conditions, it can be said that the pandemic and crises did not change the moderately optimistic picture. Between 2021 and 2023, the level of evaluations worsened in the case of supervisors’ authority with employees 61.5% (down from 69.5%), informing employees about the company’s situation 59.8% (down from 65.0%), supporting teamwork 73.2% (down from 75.4%). Ratings improved in the areas of listening to employees 68.8% (from 67.3%), fair evaluation and reward of work 67.6% (up from 59.1%), supervisors’ trust in employees 61.1% (up from 56.3%), as well as subordinates’ trust in supervisors 67.4% (up from 62.5%). Added to this is a decrease in the endorsement of rivalry and individual competition in the workplace 16.8% (down from 18.6%).
The quality of work is rated slightly better in 2023 than two years earlier. However, it should be remembered that ratings were relatively good in this respect in 2021 as well. Ratings of career opportunities improved, 52.2% in 2023 (up from 49.0% in 2021), much better ratings of work-life balance (combining work and life with ease) – 67.5% in 2021 and 79.3% in 2023 (which may indicate, indirectly, the inconvenience of working remotely for some respondents), an increase in the feeling that it would be easy to find a job with a similar salary if they lost their current one – 50.5% in 2012 and 62% in 2023. In addition, 70% feel that they receive deserved recognition for their work and 63.9% feel that they are adequately rewarded for the effort they put in. Virtually unchanged is the job security rating (no fear of losing their job) of 64.2% in 2021 and 64.1% in 2023.
The first wave of the survey came at a time when vaccination was one of the hot topics of public debate. In wave I, more people declared that they had been vaccinated with all doses – 66.2 % – than in wave II (43.8 %), which can probably be interpreted in terms of not having received an additional, third dose, the so-called booster. It is very telling that of those who did not vaccinate with all recommended doses, as many as 89.4% do not intend to do so, while during wave I the level of such declarations was only 59.1%.
As we indicated earlier, our research is multi-pronged, with qualitative research being an essential component alongside quantitative research.
As part of the qualitative module, we are conducting research with essential workers representing the following industries: health, social assistance, education and logistics. We conducted 64 biographical interviews and 15 focus group interviews with pandemic workers in hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses, transport and courier services. In addition, we conducted 30 expert interviews with representatives of trade unions, employers’ organisations and local and supralocal authorities. A separate element of the project is the analysis of press discourse from 2020-2023 (selected newspapers and portals), which we are conducting in collaboration with the CLARIN-PL consortium represented by the Wrocław University of Technology.
The main conclusion from the analysis of the qualitative material is the limited impact of the pandemic on the situation of workers in essential industries in the long term and the deterioration of some dimensions of the quality of their jobs during the pandemic period. The quality of jobs varied by industry, but it was quite common for our interviewees and interviewees to talk about problems related to the increase in workload (intensification) and the disruption of the relationship between work and non-work life. On the other hand, for some of them, the pandemic brought a periodic increase in salaries due to an increase in orders, e.g. for courier services, or the “covidien allowances” granted to some people working in health care.” It is evident in the interviews collected that there is a sense of undervaluation of the work they do after a brief period of recognition from society.
After the initial shock of the introduction of pandemic restrictions and the transition in many parts of the economy to a crisis mode of working, we are seeing a progressive normalisation as the dominant way of coping with the crisis. Normalisation means adapting to crisis conditions without attempting to change one’s situation in the workplace, whether on an individual level (e.g.: changing jobs or reorganising) or on a collective level (involvement in trade union structures or participation in protests).
One of the more interesting observations emerging from the analysis of the qualitative material is the importance of bottom-up innovations in the workplace under conditions of pandemic and subsequent crises. These have proven to be particularly important in ensuring the continuity of public services such as education, health care or social assistance. In the absence of crisis procedures, the chronic scarcity of work tools and personal security measures necessary under the new conditions and, in extreme cases, the absence or paralysis of anti-crisis management, the resourcefulness, ingenuity, mutual aid and informal, personal contacts of workers made it possible to provide essential education, health and social services.
It is worth pointing out the feeling, revealed in expert interviews with representatives of trade unions and employers’ organisations, of limited participation of social partners in the introduction of anti-crisis solutions by the government. The pandemic exacerbated the chronic crisis of social dialogue institutions at the national level, such as the Social Dialogue Council, and reinforced the tendency for the government to take unilateral decisions, justified by exceptional circumstances and lack of time for consultation. Although this did not translate into an increase in industrial action and strikes in 2020-22, there are clearly increasing tensions for all industries surveyed in the post-pandemic period. As late as 2021, health care workers were still protesting, and new trade union organisations were formed in some nursing homes. There is now increasing conflict between teachers’ unions and the government, social workers are mobilising in many cities; an industrial dispute is ongoing at Amazon’s logistics centres. Workers’ wage pressures are reinforced by record high inflation and relatively low unemployment, as well as a growing awareness of the importance of the work they do for society at large.
The dominant theme in the interviews we collected, however, is not mobilisation for improved working conditions, but rather the ‘taming’ of subsequent crises. At the level of biographies of essential workers, we observe the limited role of the pandemic as a turning point in the lives of the interviewees. Most of our interviewees do not integrate this experience into a fundamental reflection on life and their situation. From the interviews we have conducted so far, family and individual ways of coping with crises outweigh those of a collective nature, facilitated by the low level of workers’ organisation in trade unions, a relatively high distrust of the institutions of the state and the world of work, and culturally entrenched patterns of coping with social crises in the past.
[1] Projekt UMO-2020/37/B/HS6/00479
