Representatives of the trade unions and employers met in Warsaw this morning to discuss a package of anti-crisis measures to deal with the prospect of a sharp rise in unemployment.

Last December, the average pay in the private sector increased by 5.4 percent, employment rose by 2.3 percent – but the upward movement was slower than expected. Analysts say that these figures were driven by their momentum and point out that six months earlier, pay and employment increased at twice that pace. At the end of 2008, the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. It is certain to rise as economic growth slows down. Alarming reports are coming from job centers. In the central Mazowsze region, where the situation is relatively good, firms plan to lay off a total of 10 thousand workers.

People are scared and the mass media and labor related web pages are brimming over with scary predictions, concerning lay offs. But experts point out that massive unemployment is not a forgone conclusion. Everything depends on how the crisis evolves, says Mateusz Walewski, an expert from the Case Center for Social and Economic Research. He predicts that unemployment may rise to 15 percent, if things go bad.

The labor ministry is considering the introduction of special legislation on employee rights. Minister Jolanta Fedak says it would remain in place for two to three years.

'We want to come up with a package of measures, which would make it possible to reach for the guaranteed employee benefits fund before the company actually goes bankrupt, to introduce more flexible working time regulations and to fulfill some demands of the trade unions – for example concerning temporary job contracts.'

The trade unions are ready to accept flexible ways of working to protect jobs. Volkswagen’s factory in the mid-western city of Poznan suspended production for a week at the beginning of this month and will again suspend it at the end of February.

Labor experts suggest that for many people, who will lose their jobs or who will return to Poland as foreign labor markets become to shrink, teleworking may be a solution. Today only 1 percent of the employed, that is some 160 thousand Poles, work from home, compared with 21 percent in Denmark, for example.

Click on the audio icon to listen to the report by Krysia Kołosowska.