Poland

Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union (6th in terms of population) and one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe. With 38 million inhabitants it’s the second largest labour market in the CEE region (not including Russia), just after Ukraine. Next in line, Romania, is almost twice smaller.

Thanks to this, Poland’s labour market is characterized as very stable and resistant to sudden changes. A large pool of working-age population and stable inflow of new candidates starting their careers gives assurance to companies that the workforce can be found. However, it requires more effort and investment to attract candidates. Due to a very low unemployment rate (third lowest in the EU) sourcing must be done from neighboring companies and competition. The remuneration of employees has also been increasing over the last couple of years with the average change in salary being recorded at 6-8% annually. The increase in employment costs in the logistics and production sectors is closely related to the increase of the minimum wage. The majority of employees are blue-collar workers, whose salaries are close to the statutory minimum. In 2019, the minimum wage was increased by 7.1% and by a significant 15.6% in in 2020 to PLN 2,600 gross (ca. EUR 590).

The most sought after profiles for production and logistics have remained the same for quite a few years, mainly because these two industries are often looking for similar qualifications and roles. Forklift drivers and low skilled employees that can be hired as production operators/warehouse workers, or pickers, are always in high demand.

The availability of the workforce is closely correlated to the unemployment rate and located mostly in the eastern part of Poland. Regions like Podlaskie, Podkarpackie, Warmińsko-Mazurskie, Lubuskie, Świętokrzyskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie are still good places to find candidates, especially blue-collar workers. For highly qualified white-collar employees, companies should look to large agglomerations with numerous universities and technical schools such as Warsaw, Wroclaw, Katowice, Krakow, Poznan, and Tricity.

As in most markets, COVID-19 has made an impact on the labour market dynamics. Companies put their recruitment activities on hold, resulting in a 30-40% drop in jobs advertised on popular job portals between March and April 2020. In the same period, there were 26% less job offers reported to Labour Offices across Poland. Yet, half of the offers were targeted towards blue-collar workers, confirming that the larger decrease was noted in demand for white-collar employees. The production industry, especially automotive, introduced production stoppages, which resulted in the release of large groups of blue-collar workers, but mainly those employed on a temporary basis.

As for the next few months, it’s very difficult to predict how the market will behave, especially when a new wave of COVID-19 is expected in the autumn. According to research conducted by Randstad, 56% of companies predict they will be back to normal within a maximum period of 6 months. Most of the companies from the production and logistics industry are already operational and re-started their hiring activities. There could be an increased interest in the temporary workforce solutions due to the higher flexibility it brings, which will allow companies to quickly change their employment levels as required.