American giants shape Poland's industry with billions in investment and thousands of jobs

Poland's industrial landscape is significantly shaped by major American corporations, whose investments total tens of billions of zlotys and generate tens of thousands of jobs, including positions for highly skilled specialists and engineers.

Procter & Gamble, a global giant with 60 factories worldwide, has been present in Poland since 1991. The company operates factories producing Pampers diapers in Warsaw and cosmetics in Aleksandrów Łódzki. Its facility in Warsaw is also the world's largest for Gillette razors and blades. Furthermore, P&G's Warsaw headquarters serves as a regional hub for Central Europe, supporting nearly 120 million consumers. The company also runs service centers that provide global support, specializing in product identification, supply chain planning, Business Intelligence, and Big Data. Its European Planning and Logistics Center in Warsaw, established in 2013, manages supply chains across Europe. P&G has invested several billion zlotys in Poland, with investments exceeding 4 billion zlotys within its first 25 years of operation.

Whirlpool Corporation, another significant American player in the home appliance market, entered Poland in 1993 by investing in the Polar factories in Wrocław. In 2014, Whirlpool acquired the Italian company Indesit for 1.1 billion euros, bringing its factories in Łódź and Radomsko under its umbrella. Between 2015 and 2018, Whirlpool invested over 1.25 billion zlotys in Poland, including establishing a new dryer factory in Łódź, making its Polish plants responsible for one-third of the company's European production.

However, the situation for Whirlpool's European division changed significantly in 2023-2024. The European operations were acquired by the Turkish company Arçelik, the owner of the Beko brand. This merger created Beko Europe, a new entity where Arçelik holds a 75% stake and Whirlpool retains 25%. Consequently, Whirlpool's Polish factories are now part of this new joint venture.