According to the Hays Salary Report for the IT Contracting industry, the technology sector plans to continue recruiting, albeit on a smaller scale compared to last year. Recruitment plans for 2025 are declared by 88% of IT companies, which is 6 percentage points lower than the previous year. Cuts in investment in technology are limiting the availability of projects. Consequently, IT contractors (individuals cooperating with companies on a B2B model) are more cautious about career changes. Nonetheless, 57% of IT specialists still consider changing their job or project in 2025, and the same percentage positively assess their career prospects.
Increased uncertainty translates into wage trends in the IT sector. Although 76% of technology sector companies plan to raise salaries, only 16% of them anticipate increases exceeding 10%. While there is no stagnation in IT contracting wages, there is a noticeable slowdown in the rate of growth.
Despite the uncertain market situation and the slowdown noted last year in many European economies, the technology sector remains one of the most stable and resilient to pressure. Even though the IT industry has also experienced consequences of the general unrest, data indicates a stable situation. According to this year’s Hays Poland survey in the IT sector, 88% of firms plan to recruit, and 43% still expect difficulties in this area.
As highlighted in the “IT Contracting Salary Report 2025,” developed by the personnel consulting agency Hays Poland, unrealistic candidate expectations (41%) and a shortage of candidates for specialist and managerial positions (22%) are among the main challenges for recruiting firms. However, over the year, the percentage of IT firms identifying the skills gap as the biggest recruitment difficulty dropped by 25 percentage points. Meanwhile, the group of employers noting that more candidates are currently seeking employment than in the past grew from 50% to 69%.
Arkadiusz Wargin, CEE Executive Director – IT & Engineering Contracting at Hays, notes that the IT sector is not free from various turbulences, and planned recruitments are not evenly distributed across the industry and individual specialization areas. “Enterprises in the market are strongly feeling the effect of the economic slowdown and are making decisions to reduce employment. This often goes hand in hand with reduced investment in technology. The reduced availability of projects and general market uncertainty, in turn, influence the decisions of IT contractors, who have recently declared a lesser willingness to change jobs,” comments the Hays expert.
ECONOMIC CONTEXT AFFECTS WAGES
The economic context in which technology companies currently operate affects the general availability of job offers, and thus also the rates. According to the Hays study, although there is no talk of a complete stagnation in wages in the sector of new technologies, wage pressure and the dynamics of salary growth are significantly lower. Although over 70% of the surveyed IT sector firms anticipate raises, the majority will not reach the 10% level.
Moreover, as Hays experts note, this year’s compilation of wage expectations for IT contractors in many places revealed the maintenance of rates at last year’s level, and sometimes even their decline. This applies particularly to junior developers and programmers specializing in mobile application development.
“It does not mean, however, that IT specialists are facing a difficult year. Much will depend on their area of specialization, experience, technological preparation, and the current economic situation. Experts in security, data analysis, ERP programs, and artificial intelligence hold a very strong position in today’s market. Last year, they experienced an increase in rates, and the dynamic development of the disciplines in which they specialize provides them with good professional prospects,” notes Arkadiusz Wargin from Hays Poland.
CAREER PROSPECTS DEPEND ON SPECIALIZATION AND COMPETENCIES
As Milena Osiurak, Recruitment Manager at Hays Poland, observes, IT sector employees, almost at all levels, are currently facing challenges related to the functional implementation of artificial intelligence and further automation of processes in companies. These trends will define the competency demand of companies. “The year 2025 on the Polish technology market promises further focus on automation, transformations, optimizations, and the development of AI solutions. Specialists in these fields will certainly be able to count on many attractive offers and projects,” emphasizes the expert.
Particularly interesting is the progress of artificial intelligence, which entails an increase in demand for new competencies. This translates not only into a growing demand for AI experts but also new, practical skills that every professional involved in technologies should have.
From the Hays study, it appears that the percentage of IT specialists who use AI tools at work has increased by 12 percentage points to 61% over the year. This will certainly have a significant impact on the advanced technology industry, which IT specialists themselves also recognize.
Although 45% of IT specialists believe that the development of artificial intelligence will create more career opportunities for them or will not affect their career prospects, 34% are concerned that AI may ultimately limit their job opportunities. Over the year, this percentage has increased by 13 percentage points. Both employers and specialists should keep this in mind, investing in upskilling and reskilling.
ABOUT THE REPORT
The Hays IT Contracting Salary Report is a compilation of salary levels for over 100 positions, supplemented with conclusions and comments from experts. The report is based on financial expectations of more than 15,000 IT contractors. The compilation was developed based on data obtained during recruitment projects carried out by Hays Poland in 2024.
Hays Poland is a personnel consulting firm belonging to the international group Hays plc, which is the largest specialist recruitment firm globally. Since its founding over 50 years ago, Hays has expanded its operations to 236 offices in 33 countries, employing more than 11,100 experts. The first office in Poland was opened in 2002.
