Technology companies have become the main driver of Poland’s regional office market. In the second quarter of 2026, IT businesses accounted for 25% of all office space leased in the country’s eight largest regional markets outside Warsaw.
Tenant activity increased significantly during the quarter. Companies signed leases covering a total of 187,500 square metres, 56% more than in the first three months of the year. Kraków, Poznań and Katowice attracted the strongest demand, while the availability of vacant office space continued to decline across Poland’s major cities.
Companies gradually bring employees back to offices
The IT industry continues to play a central role in regional office markets, although activity is increasingly coming from companies outside the traditional business process outsourcing sector.
BPO businesses are still reviewing and optimising their office portfolios, while larger technology corporations are gradually increasing the number of days employees are expected to spend in the workplace.
According to Mariusz Wiśniewski, head of regional markets in CBRE’s office department, fully remote working has become relatively uncommon and is now found mainly among startups. Larger corporations increasingly use hybrid arrangements requiring employees to work from the office two or three days a week.
The changing working model is encouraging companies to relocate to newer, better-connected buildings surrounded by restaurants, shops and services.
Modern offices are also frequently more energy-efficient. As a result, they may offer lower total occupancy costs even when their headline rents are higher than those charged by older buildings.
For many companies, relocation provides an opportunity not only to reduce or reorganise the amount of space they occupy, but also to create a more functional working environment.
Older office buildings are therefore finding it increasingly difficult to compete, even when landlords offer lower rents. The supply of modern, well-located space remains limited in several regional markets.
Share of remote IT job offers declines
Labour-market data also indicate a gradual return to more frequent office attendance.
Although remote positions still represent the largest category of IT job advertisements, their share is falling. According to data cited from a report by No Fluff Jobs and HSBC Technology Poland, remote roles accounted for 55% of technology vacancies two years ago. Their current share has declined to 43%.
Technology companies were responsible for one-quarter of the office space leased in Poland’s eight largest regional cities in the second quarter of 2026.
Business services companies ranked second, with a 12% share of demand, followed by banking and investment businesses at 11%.
Office leasing increased by more than half
Companies leased 187,500 square metres of regional office space during the quarter.
This represented an increase of 56% compared with the first quarter of 2026, although the result was 13% lower than in the corresponding period of 2025.
Kraków recorded the strongest leasing activity, with transactions covering 58,400 square metres. Poznań followed with 42,800 square metres, while companies leased 25,100 square metres in Katowice.
New lease agreements represented 45% of total demand. Renegotiations accounted for 42%, while expansions generated a further 10%.
The high share of new agreements indicates that companies are not limiting their activity to extending existing leases. A significant number are still moving to different buildings or establishing new operations.
At the same time, the large proportion of renegotiations shows that many businesses remain cautious about relocation costs and long-term space requirements.
Four office projects completed during the quarter
Four new office developments with a combined area of 26,600 square metres were delivered in the second quarter.
These included the Wita B and Wita C buildings in Kraków, Selgros HQ in Poznań and the Chorzowska 111 development in Katowice.
Kraków remains Poland’s largest office market outside Warsaw, with a total stock of approximately 1.87 million square metres.
Wrocław ranks second with 1.35 million square metres, followed by the Tricity market with approximately 1.07 million square metres.
Despite rising employment costs, Poland continues to be regarded as an attractive destination for investments in technology and modern business services.
Kraków, Wrocław and the Tricity area remain particularly important locations for international companies establishing or expanding service and technology centres.
The gradual return of employees to offices, combined with relocations to newer buildings, is contributing to falling vacancy rates in most regional cities.
Vacancy rate falls to 17.3%
At the end of June 2026, approximately 1.17 million square metres of office space remained available for lease across Poland’s regional markets.
This corresponded to an average vacancy rate of 17.3%, representing a slight decline both quarter on quarter and year on year.
Katowice recorded the highest vacancy rate, at 22.2%, followed closely by Wrocław at 21.8%.
The lowest proportion of unoccupied office space was reported in Szczecin, where the vacancy rate stood at 8.4%. The Tricity market followed with 10.4%.
The figures show that the balance between supply and demand differs significantly between cities.
Markets with relatively high vacancy rates continue to provide tenants with a broad choice of buildings and a stronger negotiating position. In cities with limited availability, securing modern space in a desirable location may become increasingly difficult.
BBH and Enea complete the largest transactions
One of the largest transactions of the second quarter was the lease of the entire Wita C office building in Kraków by Brown Brothers Harriman.
The agreement covered approximately 13,700 square metres.
Another major transaction involved Enea Group, which extended its lease and expanded its occupied space to 11,500 square metres in the Business Garden complex in Poznań.
The two agreements illustrate the main trends shaping the regional office market: demand for modern buildings, the continued importance of large corporate tenants and the growing preference for locations offering strong transport connections and a wide range of nearby amenities.
The improvement in quarterly leasing activity suggests that Poland’s regional office market is becoming more active after a period dominated by portfolio optimisation and uncertainty over hybrid working.
Technology companies are likely to remain one of its most important sources of demand. Further declines in vacancy rates will, however, depend on the scale of new construction, corporate hiring and the pace at which employers continue bringing staff back to offices.
