Workers’ Competencies in the Context of Industry 4.0. The Case of Poland

Competencies play an extremely important role in today's world. The discussion around human resources is increasing in the context of the fourth industrial revolution. There is an emerging need for competencies that enable employees, businesses and society to function effectively in the digital reality. Competition in the digital era is increasing and more aggressive. Employers need highly skilled employees who can handle all the new market challenges. Competencies of Industry 4.0 help companies stay competitive and adapt to a rapidly changing business environment. Investing in the development of employees to increase their competence brings many benefits and contributes to the long-term success of companies in all sectors and industries. The article focuses on competencies that are essential in the context of Industry 4.0, such as creativity and innovation, critical thinking skills, digital competencies, problem-solving skills, communication and collaboration, entrepreneurship and the process of permanent learning. The most up-to-date research reports conducted by various institutions in Poland dealing with labour market and worker competencies were reviewed under specific keywords listed below. The focus is on identifying the competencies that are relevant from the perspective of the Industry 4.0 from the point of view of employees and employers. The methods used were literature research of well know databases such as google scholar McKinsay.com, Deloitte.com, ResearchGate.com including surveys and reports with Polish cases such as google, stat.gov.pl keywords under search were ‘competences’, ‘skills’, ‘profession’, ‘industry 4.0’, ‘Poland’, ‘employee’ desk research, methods of quantitative analysis and frequency of distributions of answers to questions from diagnostic surveys that are research instruments in the reports analysed.