Employment Agencies – Legal Regulations of the Interwar Period in Poland

Abstract

The state of unemployment in Poland in the interwar period was one of the biggest socio-economic problems that every government had to face. The rebuilding of the Polish state, economic crises, both internal and global, have left their mark on the labor market.

By setting up state employment agencies in 1919, the state decided in imperial order to intervene in this sphere of social policy and positively influence the situation on the labor market. It took on the same responsibility for helping the unemployed. The prevailing conviction was that only well- organized state employment agencies are the most effective and direct means of combating high unemployment, which was a constant phenomenon of the times. At the same time, social and private employment agencies were allowed to supplement the instruments of state employment and help the unemployed. These, however, acted on the basis of restrictive rules and based on strict regulation, as to the number of people who could undertake such activities.

However, it can not be denied that within 5 years a cohesive system of job placement was created, based on state offices, supported by a system of social and gainful job placement. This is important because it was not an easy task, and social expectations probably could not cope with the actual possibility of their operation.