Poland’s marketing communication sector is struggling to find people who can combine creativity and communication with analytical and technological skills. In a 2026 skills-monitoring study, 76.8% of respondents described recruitment of suitably qualified candidates as difficult. At the same time, companies are not abandoning junior hiring as artificial intelligence spreads through the industry.
The findings come from the 2026 trend-monitoring study conducted by the Sectoral Council for Competences – Marketing Communication. Marcin Gaworski, a council member and president of the SAR Marketing Communication Association, told Newseria that critical thinking, creativity, communication and cooperation — including cooperation with AI systems — are becoming core skills for the industry.
AI skills top the list of shortages
Respondents most often pointed to shortages in AI and automation skills, cited by 15.66%. The ability to combine creative and technological competences followed at 14.29%, while 12.91% identified strategic marketing thinking. Cross-functional cooperation and leadership skills were also among the most frequently mentioned gaps.
Employers are increasingly looking for hybrid profiles: people who understand technology and specialist tools but can also communicate, organise their work and operate effectively under pressure. Resilience is becoming more important as teams adjust to rapid technological change.
The recruitment problem is substantial. Some 48.1% of respondents described finding appropriately skilled candidates as rather difficult and another 28.7% as very difficult. Together, that means 76.8% see recruitment as a significant challenge.
AI changes junior jobs rather than eliminating them
The study offers a more nuanced picture of AI’s impact on entry-level work. Among organisations planning recruitment over the next three years, 27.2% said they expected to hire across all age groups equally. Meanwhile, 58.3% said automation and AI had not caused them to reduce recruitment for junior positions and internships during the previous year.
What is changing is the type of work given to younger employees. Routine assistant tasks can increasingly be automated. Junior staff are therefore expected to assess AI-generated material, verify its quality, add business context and consult more experienced colleagues when necessary.
Gaworski describes young employees as becoming, in effect, curators of AI output. Their technological fluency can be an advantage, but companies need to provide onboarding and business context so that technical confidence translates into useful commercial judgement.
Degree subject matters less than the skills mix
More than any single field of study, employers appear to value the combination of skills a candidate can demonstrate. In the survey, the most common response was that a candidate’s field of education did not matter. Where employers did specify preferred backgrounds, marketing and communication ranked first, followed by management and business.
The report also warns that AI adoption brings risks. Agencies need to protect client data and intellectual property, verify generated information and avoid excessive dependence on models that can produce convincing but inaccurate answers. Another challenge is employee fatigue as tools and working methods change at high speed.
For marketing agencies, the emerging recruitment challenge is therefore not simply a shortage of technical specialists. The harder task is finding people who can connect technology with creativity, judgement, communication and an understanding of how organisations and clients actually work.
Sources: Newseria; Sectoral Council for Competences – Marketing Communication, 2026 trend monitoring.
