Poland once sent workers west for higher wages. Now fewer Poles are arriving in Germany, while some return home. Digital public services and living costs are changing the calculation.

Kamila Gierko spent much of her life in Germany. She grew up there and worked in the Berlin judicial system. Then she and her husband, Zbyszek Perzyna, moved to Szczecin, across the Polish border.

They had grown tired of German bureaucracy and the lack of convenient digital services. In Poland, they found that many administrative tasks were easier to complete. Their experience features in an RBB documentary subsequently shown by Deutsche Welle.

Germany manufactures sophisticated machinery, yet some residents still struggle with government appointments and administrative procedures. Poland has invested in making everyday public services easier to use. The comparison is becoming more important as Polish workers reconsider their future in Germany.

The Migration Balance Has Turned Against Germany

For decades, Polish workers crossed the border in search of higher wages. Poland joined the EU in 2004, and transitional restrictions on employment in Germany ended in 2011. German employers benefited from this labour.

According to the Polish Economic Institute, Germany recorded a net migration deficit of about 8,700 with Poland in 2024. It widened to 13,600 in 2025. In 2023, the balance had favoured Germany by roughly 17,000.

The same analysis found that Germany’s net migration balance with nine Central and Eastern European countries reached minus 37,000 in 2025. These figures concern foreign citizens in German migration statistics, not every person moving between the countries.

There is an important qualification. The reversal mainly reflects fewer people arriving from Poland, not a sudden mass departure. Compared with 2013, arrivals from Poland had fallen by 66% in 2025, while departures to Poland had also declined by 36%. Germany is losing some of its former power to attract newcomers.

When a Higher Salary Is No Longer Enough

Tomasz, a truck driver in the documentary, has worked in Germany for more than ten years. Rising rent and grocery costs have changed his financial calculations. He plans to return to Poland when his daughter’s schooling allows it.

German wages remain higher in many occupations. But a family that owns a home in Poland, or has relatives who can help with childcare, may find that lower earnings still support a better daily life. Housing costs in Warsaw and other Polish cities can be high too. There is no universal financial winner.

Germany’s own cost-of-living debate shows why gross wages cannot tell the whole story. Workers compare what remains after rent and household expenses, not merely the amount printed on an employment contract.

Germany’s Paperwork Problem Is More Than an Annoyance

A worker can lose hours arranging an appointment or returning to an office with another document. For a small-business owner, that is time away from customers. For a family, it can mean more leave from work and another journey across town.

Germany’s federal structure divides responsibilities among national, state and municipal authorities. Some services are available online, but access and implementation vary. Older IT systems and separate procedures make reform difficult.

Germany has made progress. Electronic prescriptions became standard for most prescriptions under statutory health insurance in January 2024. Online identification and BundID also exist. The question is how reliably residents can complete the full task, rather than whether a digital form exists.

Poland’s Digital Leap Is Changing Expectations

Poland’s mObywatel application gives eligible users access to digital identity and public services. Its electronic prescription system allows patients to use prescription details without relying on a traditional paper slip.

These services do not raise anyone’s salary. They save time. A government office that can be reached from a phone changes the experience of ordinary life, especially for working families.

Poland is not free of administrative problems, and Germany has strong protections for residents. Still, the comparison challenges the assumption that German institutions must be more convenient simply because Germany is wealthier.

Germany Is Trying to Fix Its Administration

In May 2025 Germany established a Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, led by Karsten Wildberger. The government has set out plans to simplify public services and reduce administrative burdens.

Creating a ministry is only a beginning. Authorities must make their systems work together and remove unnecessary procedural steps. An online form that still waits for weeks in several offices does not solve the resident’s problem.

Poland Also Offers Some Returnees Tax Relief

Poland’s Ulga na powrót, or return relief, provides eligible people moving their tax residence to Poland with an income-tax exemption on specified earnings up to PLN 85,528 a year for four consecutive tax years. Eligibility rules apply; it is not a blanket exemption for every returning citizen.

The measure reflects Poland’s interest in bringing experienced emigrants home. Germany, meanwhile, is recruiting workers from abroad. Both countries face demographic pressures, but they are now competing more directly for workers who have choices.

German Employers Feel the Change

Michael Sünkler, a transport company manager in Oranienburg, describes losing Polish employees in the DW documentary. Experienced drivers cannot always be replaced quickly.

Germany has shortages in particular occupations even while hiring weakens elsewhere. Recruiting a new worker may require training and, for non-EU citizens, immigration procedures. Polish workers already have EU freedom of movement, making their decision to stay a question of opportunity rather than visa permission.

That makes retention important. Germany’s difficulties in helping immigrants settle and in providing affordable housing for foreign workers deserve attention alongside recruitment targets.

Germany Still Has Advantages

The documentary follows people who have left or are considering departure. Their experiences do not represent every Polish resident in Germany. Many have stable careers and established families there.

Germany remains a large industrial economy, with higher pay in many professions and extensive social protections. Poland also faces rising housing costs and its own demographic challenges. Returning home can be attractive without proving that one country’s entire system has overtaken another.

Philip Panek, a law student raised in Germany, sees professional opportunities and family connections in Poland. His decision illustrates how economic development at home can change a young professional’s plans. It cannot be reduced to paperwork alone.

Germany Cannot Rely on Its Reputation Forever

Kamila Gierko knew Germany well enough to build a career there. She nevertheless found another place where she preferred to live.

For previous generations, the German wage advantage often made migration west an obvious choice. Poland’s development has made that decision less automatic. German employers can offer better pay. Making daily administration easier requires changes beyond any individual workplace.

Germany has recognised the need for reform. The harder test is whether residents notice the difference before they decide to build their future elsewhere.

Sources and further reading

RBB original documentary; DW English documentary; Polish Economic Institute, August 2026.