“Mechatronization of the labor market” – the demand for mechatronic qualifications in the context of development processes in Poland Searching for and recognizing the relationships between the economy, the labor market and education is today a necessary condition for effective management of the education system and the professional career of individuals. The dynamic changes in the area of technology that we are witnessing transform the nature of the labor market. Reliable, credible and fast information is all the more important as Poland is generally an area of ongoing economic transformation. Although some branches of industry are dying out (e.g. textiles), they are still an important branch of the economy. The economic profiles of individual regions are not yet fully formed.
According to the development strategies for individual parts of the country, developed at the request of local government institutions, the leading emerging industries (or should become such) are: logistics, energy, modern technologies (IT and household
appliances), BPO. There is also talk about the development of modern textile and clothing technologies, biotechnology, bio-farming, etc.
The dynamics of the labor market, which is natural for the transforming economy (caused here by both global and local changes), makes information about the ongoing transformations all the more important. which is delivered to the institutions responsible for designing the education system. Employees particularly sought after on the labor market are not only specialists in the field of broadly understood IT, or its fields: programming, graphics or network administration, but also, among others, mechatronics and automation specialists.
The observed phenomenon of mechatronization of technology causes an increasing demand on the labor market for specialists from various areas: from those able to design and manage the installation of industrial automation and its operation, to mechanics who can repair a car "packed with" electronics. What characterizes mechatronics is interdisciplinarity. Mechatronics is a combination of such fields as: electronics, mechanics, automatics, electronics and computer science, and its applications can be found today in such diverse fields as: the toy industry, heavy industry or high-tech. According to the data obtained on the basis of the analytical and research project: "What employee – what profession? Analysis of online and press job offers”, which was carried out at the Observatories of the Labor Market for Education in the following professions: mechatronics, automation, electronics, CNC operator, belonged to the group of professions most often sought by employers under such sections as: “production”, “installation, maintenance, service” and “engineering, construction, technology”.
The demand for specialists in modern technologies (including mechatronics), which is growing today and forecasted in the future, is also indicated by a number of expert opinions. Market forecasts emphasize that in Poland, as in other countries, the profession of mechatronics will be combined with other skills. Particular attention should be paid here to the projected change that further automation of manufacturing processes will require new skills. Although some of today's traditional professions in the field of mechanics will exist in the future in the same (or similar to today's) form, the vast majority of technological changes will have a revolutionary impact on changing the profile of a given profession. Further computerization and robotization of work is only a matter of time. Mechatronization of production processes is not a distant vision, but an obvious consequence of technological development.
Sources
Jaki pracownik – jaki zawód? Analiza internetowych i prasowych ofert pracy, Obserwatorium
Rynku Pracy dla Edukacji, Łódź 2018
