Interesting news from the Cotton Mill (uScheiblera) website... 'Workers from the "New European Union" The construction works in Karol Scheibler’s weaving factory are under way. The roof is already gone, most of the fifth floor has been removed and the inner structure of the building is being torn down. As the construction progresses the investor plans to hire additional workers from Romania, which has become a new member state of the European Union this year. It was not so long ago that Polish people looked for work in the “West”, and now people from the “New Union” are taking jobs in Poland. The Romanian staff that is to come to Poland will include engineers, project management specialists, foremen and qualified workers. - For the last eight months we searched for people willing to help build lofts. Unfortunately, many qualified workers went abroad – explains Dorota Urawska of Opal Property Developments ltd. We have made many commitments with our clients. Our task is to maintain the pace of construction works to keep to the schedule and finish the lofts on time, i.e. by the end of 2008 – as Urawska stresses. Currently, most of the subcontractors for U Scheiblera are companies from Łódź. First professionals from Romania are already here, next ones will be coming as the works will be progressing. Contracts with the new subcontractor have already been signed. Opal Property Developments started cooperation with the company because of its experience and reliability. The person responsible for construction works on the investor’s side has been cooperating with it for 15 years on other sites all over the world. - Those are professionals experienced in realizing similar projects – as Dorota Urawska stresses – The revitalization of the historic complex is a complicated undertaking, so we have to be certain that it is done by highly qualified people. Throughout the country there is a shortage of workers and foremen. Job market specialists calculated that as many as 150.000 people would find jobs in the construction branch off-hand. Many Poles are leaving for work in Western countries, and youths are not willing to educate themselves in the field of construction. In this situation, the developers more and more often decide to look for workers abroad. The cost of hiring a foreign worker is the same as hiring his Polish counterpart.'

Hi "Minsk", the knock on effect is a shortage of labour in Romania. I am already seeing problems finding skilled labour for building projects and developers are struggling with their workload. Prices will undoubtedly be forced upwards because of this. Regards Alan