Pośrednistwo

[Keith Bradford]

I just need help with the word "pośrednistwo" but I don't speak any Polish at all.

This is the result of a survey, and the respondents are classified as "Stanowisko robotnicze = 39%; invalida/rencista = 16% .... pośrednistwo 5%". Google translate gave me "mediation" and "brokerage" which are meaningless in this context. How should I understand pośrednistwo?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

 

[zaffy]

I just need help with the word "pośrednictwo"

But I'm not sure what exactly your issue is. You're asking what it means?
I guess we need more context.

 

[Keith Bradford]

Yes, I'm asking what it means.

These are categories on a pie chart of 815 respondents. Their jobs (which add up to 100%) are:

1. Stanowisko robotnicze = 39%;
2. Invalida/rencista = 16%
3. Stanowisko kierownice = 12%
4. Pracownik wykwalifikowany = 11%
5. Samozattrudnienie = 9%
6. Pośrednistwo = 5%
7. Pozostałe = 8%

I understand nos. 1 - 5 and 7, but the idea that 5% of this population are either "mediators" or "brokers" (or which of the two, since they're very different jobs?) seems so odd that I feel I must have misunderstood something.

PS: It's possible that this is a mistranslation into Polish from an English original, but unfortunately it's the only source I have. Logically it could mean unemployed, but is that feasible?

 

[zaffy]

I understand it this way. Say you need to have your house painted. You ask me to do it or to find someone who would paint your house nicely. I find a painting company, make arrangments between you and them and I'm paid commission for arranging all the thing. This is how I see "pośrednictwo". Note the spelling.

 

[Keith Bradford]

"Agents" then? Still an unusually large percentage, but surveys should reveal the unusual.

Did you see my added comment: It's possible that this is a mistranslation into Polish from an English original, but unfortunately it's the only source I have. Logically it could mean unemployed, but is that feasible?

Sorry about the typo: I'm copy-typing from a poor graphic into an unknown language!

Thanks!

 

[zaffy]

Logically it could mean unemployed, but is that feasible?

Well, the unemployment rate is Poland is indeed about 5%. If it was a poor translation from English, then yes, it is feasible.

 

[anthox]

PS: It's possible that this is a mistranslation into Polish from an English original, but unfortunately it's the only source I have.

In that case, it's also conceivable it could mean something like "in-between jobs", so technically, "unemployed for now." Or, it could mean "temporary/transient work" of some sort. The adjective "pośredni" literally has the sense of "being in the middle" or "being between two things."

Of course, if it's not a mistranslation, it must be more or less what zaffy suggests.

 

[PA_System]

On a side note, because I think it has no bearing on the topic at hand, "pośredniak" is an informal term for the Labor Office, where unemployed people are registered.

 

[jasio]

At the first glance, the chart includes data from different - and nonexclusive -categories. Apples and oranges, you might say. For example you can be a manager and self-employed at the same time. Considering this aparent lack of consistency, I could argue that "pośrednictwo" could refer to being employed by a temporary work agency. But this is only a guess, as good as any other in this thread.

Do you have only the said chart, or is it accompanied with a textual information, description, report etc? The original questionnaire could do as well.

 

[Ben Jamin]

I just need help with the word "pośrednistwo" but I don't speak any Polish at all.

This is the result of a survey, and the respondents are classified as "Stanowisko robotnicze = 39%; invalida/rencista = 16% .... pośrednistwo 5%". Google translate gave me "mediation" and "brokerage" which are meaningless in this context. How should I understand pośrednistwo?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

The word is misspelled. It should be pośrednictwo, with a C after the T.
The text does not give any clue what the word actually mean, so mediation or brokerage are quite plausible alternatives, even if we don't know what it means specifically. It could mean working in the commerce buying from producers and selling to retail shops, it could be hiring workers to producing firms, or any other intermediary activity.

 

[Kokolinko]

Unemployeds have to be registered in "pośrednictwo pracy". You can be without work without registering, but then you wouldn't have the unemployed status i.e. money and health insurance. So my first thought is it's about the unemployed.