Polish companies increasingly want employees to have a solid command of English, with one owner saying it’s a must for their clients. 

Cezary Bielecki employs only Poles in his company, but he has established a culture of communicating exclusively in English.

“That helps a lot because we only have foreign clients,” he explains. Although he never formally studied English nor worked abroad, he tries to encourage his employees to use the language.

Still, “he doesn’t beat anyone over the head for speaking Polish,” he tells Polish Business Insider.

Bielecki’s company, Digital Forms, is a Warsaw-based software house that has been supporting digital transformation, primarily for mid-sized service companies, for over a decade. It also advises other companies on boldly entering the world of technology and leveraging it to support their businesses.

According to its website, Digital Forms “creates high-quality IT solutions for businesses and introduces them to the digital world” and has major clients including Audi and Virgin Atlantic. 

The company’s workforce of around 55 people are “all Poles, including those living abroad,”  Bielecki says.

But six months ago, he made a strategic decision: English became the official language at his company, and whenever possible, meetings are held exclusively in that language.

Polish employers often prefer English due to the country’s strong international business presence and the prevalence of English as a global language. This preference is particularly strong in sectors like IT, finance, and shared services, which frequently deal with international clients and partners. 

One report in 2024 concluded that employees increasingly need to flexibly adapt their skills to real-world conditions. According to the report “Trends in people development 2024” by House of Skills, this is largely related to tech, specifically AI, as that field continues to boom, but foreign languages are also key.

To stay on top of emerging software, the latest research, or even taking part in an international conference, another language is often a must, and that language is usually always English.