Feeling Burnt Out At Work?

Exotic Idea

What is the best solution when you experience fatigue at work? A year-long leave spent travelling to the farthest corners of the world. Increasingly more Polish employees decide to depart on such trips. “Employers from Western Europe long ago discovered that this is a splendid way of motivating their workers. They have even established the specific conditions under which such sabbaticals are granted,” says labour market expert Wojciech Nagel. Two years ago, a career was most important to Maciej Hebda. A strategic consultant in an international corporation, he had not had a single day off in more than a year. “I worked in the office as much as fifty hours a week,” says Hebda. After completing one of his projects he was offered a promotion and increased responsibilities. Instead of feeling overwhelming joy, Hebda panicked because he thought that his career would consume him. He did not accept the promotion and decided to travel to Africa and Asia for 9 months with his girlfriend.

“This was the best option. Not only have I kept my chance for promotion, but I managed to spread my wings,” he says. Maciej currently works as an analyst for Espirito Santo Investment Poland and he claims that his trip was a crucial asset during the job interview. His new employer was interested in Hebda’s experience. Like Hebda, many young Polish business people decide to take a break from  their career and travel to some exotic location for several months. Interestingly, they are aided by their employers. “It is still a fresh idea in Poland and only a few companies decide to organise such leaves in a formalised manner. These are usually international enterprises with experience taken from the West,” explains Wojciech Nagel. Such sabbaticals are available for Polish workers at Ernst&Young, IBM and PricewaterhouseCoopers. McDonald’s also offers sabbaticals to its employees who have been working for them for 10 years. Some employers see this as a good investment in their workers. They send their staff on special holidays because a well-motivated and rejuvenated employee works more efficiently.
Dziennik

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Dilmah to Open T-Bars

Poland - New Market?

The company Gourmet Foods, which imports and distributes Dilmah tea, will open a “t-bar” in Warsaw, the first outlet of a new tea shop chain. It is highly probable that the first t-bar will be opened in Warsaw this year. Gourmet Foods plans to develop the tea house chain under the name “t-bar”. “For the time being, we will establish only one tea shop and if customers like the idea, we will open other outlets. In the future, we would like to create a chain of tea houses in Poland,” says Mr Paweł Dudziak, communication coordinator of Gourmet Foods. If we manage to succeed, t-bars will be the first chain of tea shops in Poland, similar to those which already exist on the coffee market. As Ms Agata Zarębska, analyst of the food service market, notes, currently there are only independent tea houses or chains such as, Czas na herbatę (Tea Time) in Poland, which specialise mostly in selling tea to go. “In our shops, customers will be able not only to drink tea, but also eat and read, whilst the sale of take-away tea will just be an additional element of the business,” explains Paweł Dudziak. He also adds that the idea will most certainly turn out to be a success. “After analysing the hitherto sale of Dilmah tea, we are sure that t-bars will prove to be a success, especially since similar tea houses have already been operating in all the bigger cities in Europe, for instance, in Milan or France,” says Paweł Dudziak.
Gazeta Prawna

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Polish Motorcycle Riders in Top Ten

Orlen Team

All motorcycle riders from the Orlen Team are in the top ten after two stages of the Morocco Rally. Jakub Przygoński came out best and is now ranked seventh. Cyril Depsres won Monday’s stage and Jordi Viladoms maintained his position as leader. The stage was shortened because of a serious car accident to the technical crew. “We got lost. Fortunately, we didn’t lose much time but Marek and myself were beaten by our main competitors and now it will be hard to make up for that loss,” said Jacek Czachor. Jakub Przygoński had serious health problems and took part in the rally only after having taken strong painkillers. “I have had abdominal pains since yesterday. I haven’t eaten anything all day so during the stage I was in really bad form and did not have enough strength to ride fast. Also, I made a mistake and lost 4.5 minutes. I hope I will recover soon and that tomorrow I will be able to tackle the route head on rather than battling with myself.”

The results of the second stage:
1. Cyril Despres (France) 1:46.00
2. Marc Coma (Spain) 2.25
3. Juan Barreda (Spain) 4.05
…
8. Jakub Przygoński (Poland) 14.17
13. Jacek Czachor (Poland) 21.01
14. Marek Dąbrowski (Poland) 21.50

The general classification:
1. Jordi Viladoms (Sapin) 5:42.00
2. Marc Coma (Spain) 28 s
3. Cyril Despres (France) 2.37
…
7. Jakub Przygoński (Poland) 17.13
8. Jacek Czachor (Poland) 41.02
10. Marek Dąbrowski (Poland) 47.02
Dziennik

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Miss Poland Chosen

The Most Beautiful?

22-year-old Maria Nowakowska, from Legnica, is the new Miss Poland. She works as a sales representative in a pharmaceutical company and studies at the Witelon University of Applied Sciences in Legnica. She is interested in cinema, music, and tennis. Her biggest dream is to have a house by a lake and a family. Angelika Jakubowska, the former Miss Poland, crowned this year’s winner. Agata Biernat, from Zduńska Wola, was second and Katarzyna Suberska was third. The women taking part in the competition appeared on the stage dressed in local outfits, swimsuits, party gowns, wedding and evening dresses. Miss Poland apart from being deemed ‘the most beautiful woman in Poland’ also received a car and diamond jewellery. The final was held in the Biała Fabryka (White Factory) in Łódź.
Rzeczpospolita

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Michał Wiśniewski – King of Vice

Laughing Stock

Michał Wiśniewski is now world famous. The Polish singer, known for his red hair, garish clothes and ridiculous style hit the headlines on www.viceland.com. The British website enjoys making fun of random people and Wiśniewski just happened to fall into their path. However, Viceland was completely unaware of the fact that this ‘random’ fashion victim is a huge celebrity in Poland with thousands of adoring fans across the country. Viceland posted a picture of Wiśniewski with the title “Don’t” i.e. don’t do this, don’t look like this, don’t be anything like this.
Wirtualna Polska

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ShareTheMusic.com is Coming

Polish Attack on Online Music

Today ShareTheMusic.com, created by Desh – the music service, has its global première. It will compete with MySpace, Last.fm and Facebook. Tomasz Szladowski, the head of Desh and the owner of the service, described ShareTheMusic.com as a free, local and at the same time global internet portal. He adds that he wants to compete with other international services. At first ShareTheMusic.com will operate in eight languages but with time this will expand. The  Polish service will have to compete with global giants that offer wide access to music, e.g. MySpace – where one can check artist profiles; YouTube – where one can watch videos; and Last.fm – where one can listen to various radio stations. About 170 million people use MySpace and YouTube alone. ShareTheMusic.com should not forget about Facebook which is planning to sell songs on its website. Google also is not sitting on its laurels and is going to introduce easier access to music.
Dziennik

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Difficulties with Revised Shield Project

Stationed in Poland?

The visit of the American VP, Joe Biden, to Poland, his words and the revised anti-missile shield offer which he brought with him met with an optimistic response. However, there are still a number of issues that still need resolving.  As the American administration’s officials stressed yesterday, it still remains unknown just how many missiles would be located in Poland. What is known, however, is that the project’s implementation will start no sooner than 2015 and end before 2018. This timeline would reflect the successive stages of retrofitting the SM-3 missiles that have primarily been designed to be used solely on battleships. Such a distant date for implementing the revised plan is a cause for concern in Warsaw. There is also the matter of the still unresolved legal status of American soldiers stationed in Poland; an issue about which negotiations are still under way. Despite numerous declarations of the will to reach an agreement from both parties, a joint position on the soldiers’ liability is yet to be worked out. “There are some difficulties here but I hope that they will be resolved by making compromises on both sides,” said the Polish President after meeting with Biden. However, the head of the National Security Bureau (BBN), Aleksander Szczygło, was critical of the Polish PM’s optimistic declarations. “The perspective of 6 to 9 years needed for the shield to become a reality is a distant one. The PM’s statement is surprising. It is a shame that the government did not adopt the previous agreement this quickly. It is astonishing that it is agreeing to something that is very distant and drags on the talks on the status of American soldiers which is crucial for Patriot missiles to arrive in Poland along with any kind of American military presence on our soil,” commented Szczygło for Rzeczpospolita.
Rzeczpospolita

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Poland to Take New Shield

A Different Kind of Polish Patriot

After meeting American Vice-President Joe Biden, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirms that Poland will accept SM-3 launchers. Warsaw welcomed Joseph Biden in the cold and rain but the American guest had many warm words to say to the Poles. “Poland is one of our closest allies. We share the same values and ideals,” Biden said after the meeting with the Polish PM. Later on during the joint conference with the Polish President, Lech Kaczyński, the American VP said, “We have Poland in our hearts”. Biden came to Poland to neutralize the bad impression left by the unfortunate way Obama’s administration presented the new shield concept. He also came to confirm the US revised offer which Tusk later  declared that Poland will accept. “Poland is willing to participate in the SM-3 project,” he said. After the meeting with Biden, Tusk explained that “the new plan for the world needs Poland to be more than a country that just needs help”. He added, “For Americans we have become a partner expected to take action and joint responsibility for all the good that is supposed to happen in the world”.

His guest was clearly pleased with such a declaration. “The US appreciates Poland’s willingness to take this step and to have the system’s elements installed,” Biden said and went on to add that “the shield will not only work for America’s benefit but also to increase NATO and Polish security”. He assured the Polish authorities that the US treats its obligations to its allies seriously. Various Polish diplomats told Rzeczpospolita that Warsaw did not expect any specifics from this visit; rather a formal confirmation of the American will to locate the modified SM-3 missiles in Poland. Wess Mitchell, the head of the Center for European Policy Analysis in Washington, says that the significance of Biden’s visit is quite substantial. “It is a step in the right direction. The Central-European allies needed to be thoroughly run through the workings of the new anti-missile defence system. They also needed a specific offer inviting them to become a part of this system. The offer that was put on the table is very fair but for the time being it is too removed in the future for its details to be of any greater significance. What is important, however, is that America has shown its allies that it remains a credible partner which fulfils its obligations,” Mitchell told Rzeczpospolita. “We have good reason to feel satisfied,” according to Polish Foreign Affairs Minister, Radosław Sikorski, summing up Biden’s visit for Polsat News. He went on to say that he will be flying to Washington in November where, in all likelihood, he will meet up with the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
Rzeczpospolita

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Szyc Getting Married

No Longer Single

Borys Szyc is getting married very soon. Although the Polish actor has calmed down recently and for some time has been appearing in public accompanied by the same woman, Kaja Śródka, no one would ever guess that the famous womaniser wants to legalise their relationship. The engagement will probably take place in Hollywood, where in two weeks’ time Borys Szyc will start shooting a new film in which he will play alongside Bruce Willis. His beloved is going with him to keep an eye on him. According to Fakt the wedding ceremony is going to be very modest and closed to the public. After the wedding party, the newly-weds will go on their honeymoon trip. Such a quick decision about legalising the relationship is shocking not only because Borys Szyc is a womaniser but also because he has been with Kaja only for a short time. One of the reasons why Szyc has made such a decision may be the fact that Kaja became friendly with his 5-year-old daughter.
Dziennik

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Civil Servants Learning Languages

Adult Education for Euro 2012

Due to the upcoming Euro 2012, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration (MSWiA) has decided to enroll as many as 7,300 civil servants such as police officers, office workers and public officers into language study courses. Such professional training of firefighters, customs officers, government protection workers is said to cost PLN 23.5 million. The training is being financed by the European Union as “improving the know-how of civil servants”. “The Euro 2012 football championships will draw many tourists and sports fans to Poland and we want to be prepared for them. It is most important that civil servants who have direct contact with foreigners are trained,” says Krzysztof Hajdas, spokesperson for the Warsaw Police Department. Police officers form the largest group on these courses, but they are not the only group that participates.

The regional emergency services, hospitals and public offices also have also sent their employees onto these courses. In Katowice and Łódź about PLN 500,000 was acquired from EU funds to train nurses, doctors and ambulance crews in foreign languages. ”Euro 2012 is a perfect opportunity to not only learn languages but also take advantage of  EU funds. Increasingly more schools decide to take advantage of EU money,” says Anna Idzikowska, owner of the language school Szuster, in Łódź, where currently she is teaching almost 200 medical workers from the region. She received PLN 740,000 for her project. The host cities for Euro 2012 are heading this language revolution. In Poznań, bus and tram drivers will undergo language training, whereas Warsaw’s Municipal Transport Department (ZTM) will educate their ticket collectors. In Poznań, even taxi drivers have decided to learn foreign languages. The upcoming football championships are not the only reason for this sudden rush towards knowledge; another is the availability of EU funds. The budget of the Human Capital Program which finances language courses amounts to €11.3 billion. It is not known how much of this money was spent on such courses, but they are necessary because according to Eurostat it appears that 1/3 of Polish people (37%) does not know any foreign language.
Dziennik

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