It is harder for specialists and managers to get attractive job offers

The number of job offers published in the first half of the year on Pracuj.pl, the largest recruitment website (395,000) was only slightly lower, by one thousand, than the year before. However, the number of candidates, i.e., clicks on the "Apply" button, increased for another consecutive year. Although Pracuj.pl doesn't disclose the number, it notes that it once again reached a record high, growing by 6.5% compared to the first half of 2024.

Statistics from the Traffit recruitment system also demonstrate the intensification of competition for job offers. In the first quarter of 2025, the average number of candidates applying for a single position increased to 49, a 30% increase compared to the first quarter of last year.

Smaller selection of offers

The latest data from the 50 largest recruitment portals, summarized in a Grant Thornton report, doesn't bode well for weakening competition for job offers. In June, 249,000 new job postings were published – a staggering 9% fewer than a year earlier. (On an annual basis, this was the first decline since November of last year.)

Meanwhile, the latest data from the Central Statistical Office (GUS) shows that in the first five months of this year, 183,500 people were registered with employment offices as dismissed for reasons related to their workplaces, 15,500 more than a year earlier. Most of them are looking for, or will soon be looking for, new jobs, which – given the low unemployment rate (5.1% in June) – should be relatively easy to find. Is that really the case?

"Finding employment isn't a problem in Poland, but finding a good job is difficult these days," says Piotr Kuron, a career management expert and director at LHH, a company specializing in outplacement services, i.e., support for laid-off employees. According to him, one of the biggest challenges facing the labor market today is the declining overall quality of job offers, which are less likely to offer attractive pay and work flexibility.

This is evident in the growing share of job postings on Pracuj.pl that assume on-site work, which is preferred by most companies (64% in the first half of this year), as well as the slowing pace of wage growth in the economy. In previous years, competition for employees, rather than high inflation, drove these ads.

Labor cost barrier

It is true that some experienced professionals and specialists can still count on a double-digit pay raise and improved conditions in a new job, but this applies to a rather narrow group of professional specialties, e.g. doctors or experts in cybersecurity, AI or the digital cloud.

The remaining candidates must consider the effects of intense pressure to reduce and optimize costs, including labor costs, which are currently the main challenge for many companies. In the July edition of the Monthly Business Cycle Index of the Polish Economic Institute, labor costs again topped the list of barriers hindering business operations (70% of responses). Moreover, with lower energy costs, they now constitute a major part of companies' overall costs.

Despite this, the percentage of companies planning to recruit employees in the next three months rose to 14% in July from 10% in June. However, as Andrzej Kubisiak, deputy director of the Employment Agency, points out, this increased demand for labor is largely seasonal, affecting mainly manual workers in construction and the transport, forwarding, and logistics sectors.

According to observations by LHH, which currently works for approximately 500 companies, job applicants may be increasing. While reports of large-scale group layoffs are less frequent, Piotr Kuron estimates that there are even slightly more layoffs than a year ago.

Moreover, the number of layoffs is increasing, especially among those holding high-level specialist positions, especially management positions. As Kuron explains, companies that fail to achieve their business goals are increasingly looking for personnel savings.

They eliminate expensive managerial positions in business support areas (HR, finance, marketing, or sales), which have no direct impact on operational efficiency. The victims of such cost-cutting measures, which also result from the consolidation and centralization of business processes, include management advisors, key supplier directors, and key account managers coordinating the work of key account managers. In difficult times, such positions can be eliminated relatively easily without harming the business.

Competence barrier

Laid-off managers, especially those aged 45-55, find it difficult to re-establish themselves in the job market. According to Piotr Kuron, many of them must accept lower salaries and longer commutes to their new jobs.

Not only has the economic downturn resulted in a decline in attractive, well-paid positions across the economy, but also in many specializations and business areas, expectations for candidates have increased and changed. Driven by digital transformation supported by AI, the labor market has undergone significant changes in recent years in terms of competency requirements.

A person losing their job in a company that was a laggard in the digital revolution may find it difficult to find work at a time when knowledge of AI, cloud tools and data analytics is becoming a standard requirement for specialist and managerial positions.

As this year's report from the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL) reminds us, the current validity period of technical competencies is currently estimated at just 2.5 years. It's no wonder, then, that – according to a study by Pluralsight – 74% of IT professionals are concerned about knowledge obsolescence.

According to Andrzej Kubisiak, the playing field in the job market is changing so rapidly that it's not just IT that will require additional training or retraining every two or three years. "This volatility also presents an opportunity, and a culture of agile learning is becoming a competitive advantage," emphasize the authors of the ABSL report.