Enterprise-Sector Employment Falls by 78,000 Year on Year as Wages Reach PLN 9,354

Average employment in Poland’s enterprise sector fell to 6.379 million full-time equivalent positions in the second quarter of 2026, down by around 78,000 year on year. At the same time, the average gross monthly wage increased to PLN 9,353.76, 5.4% higher than a year earlier, according to seasonally adjusted data from Statistics Poland.

Enterprise-sector employment continues to decline

Average employment in the enterprise sector stood at 6.379 million FTEs in Q2 2026, compared with 6.457 million in the same period of 2025. This represents a decline of around 78,000, or 1.2%.

Employment was also lower than in the first quarter of 2026, when it averaged 6.403 million FTEs. The quarterly decline was around 24,000, or 0.4%.

Compared with the second quarter of 2023, when enterprise-sector employment stood at about 6.537 million, the decline reaches roughly 158,000 FTEs, or 2.4%.

Employment also declined across the wider economy

Average employment in the national economy was 9.370 million in Q2 2026, compared with 9.410 million a year earlier. That is a decline of around 40,000, or 0.4%.

Compared with the first quarter of 2026, employment fell by about 13,000. These figures describe average employment measured on an FTE-type basis and should not be interpreted as the total number of people in employment.

Average wages rose to PLN 9,353.76

While employment declined, average gross monthly wages continued to increase. In the enterprise sector, the seasonally adjusted average reached PLN 9,353.76 in Q2 2026, up from PLN 8,877.61 a year earlier.

The increase amounted to PLN 476.15, or 5.4%. Compared with Q1 2026, when the average wage was PLN 9,258.40, the increase was around 1%.

Between Q2 2024 and Q2 2026, enterprise-sector employment fell by roughly 124,000 FTEs, while the average wage increased by about 14.5%.

Wage growth slowed during the summer

Seasonally adjusted monthly wages rose from PLN 9,177.88 in January to PLN 9,467.96 in August 2026. The August figure was PLN 494.29, or 5.5%, higher than in August 2025.

However, the increase between July and August was only PLN 3.77, from PLN 9,464.19 to PLN 9,467.96.

The data do not identify a single cause of weaker employment

The decline in average employment may reflect several factors, including cautious recruitment, companies not replacing departing employees and changes in the structure of employment. The Statistics Poland data alone do not identify one dominant explanation.

The figures nevertheless show a clear divergence: employment in the enterprise sector has been gradually declining while average wages continue to rise.

Source: Statistics Poland, seasonally adjusted quarterly and monthly data on average employment and gross monthly wages.