Labour Market

In 2003, within the total number of the inhabitants – 4.7 million, there was 67.7% of people in the production age, i.e. 3.1 million. The number of the employed was at the level of 1,496 thousand people, of whom 63.3% worked for the private sector.

The advantage of the regional labour market is the great number of highly qualified employees; among the employed in the ¦l±skie Voivodeship, 16.5% were university graduates, 41.2% finished secondary school, 36% - basic vocational school and 6.3% - incomplete vocational education. Every fourth employee was 30 – 39 years old and every third – 45-54 years old.

The restructuring processes are accompanied by the changes in the employment structure which results in the increasing number of people employed in industry and building engineering with the simultaneous growth in the service sector.

In spite of the significant employment reduction in mining that results from the long-term restructuring processes, the largest number of people is still employed in this sector - nearly 19% of the total number of workers employed in the enterprise sector. The share of the employees working in the “trade and repairs” sector is also high – 12.6% as well as those working in “servicing real-estate and companies; science” – 8,8% and in building engineering - 8.5%.

The largest number of the unemployed in the poviat towns:

• Sosnowiec – 18,300. 
• Częstochowa – 17,300
• Bytom – 15,800
• Katowice – 14,100

In the above-mentioned towns, 22.7% of the unemployed total number was registered.

The lowest unemployment is observed in the following land poviats:

• Bieruńsko-Lędziński – 2,600
• Rybnicki – 3,300
• Lubliniecki – 3,500

The general number of the unemployed registered in the region comprises the young people – up to 34 years old. In this group age, the largest group comprises the individuals 25 – 34 years old (i.e. 27%). The unemployment among the youth still remains a problem. The share index of the people 18 – 24 years old among all the registered unemployed was 22.8%

Among all the unemployed registered, the largest group is formed by the people with the basic vocational education – 32.9 % as well as the secondary vocational education – 22.4%. Almost 7% has the general secondary education and 5.6% – the higher education.

In August 2005, the unemployment rate in the region was at the level of 15.8% and was lower than the country’s average by 2 percentage points.

In 2003, the average monthly gross remuneration in the ¦l±skie Voivodeship within the national economy was at the level of 2,400 PLN and was higher than the country’s average by almost 200 PLN.

The exemplary average gross remuneration at the selected positions in October 2004 is presented in the juxtaposition below: