16.5% of Poles fear they may lose their job this year, while 71.6% do not share such concerns. Another 11.9% are unsure whether they feel this kind of anxiety. These are the findings of a new market survey. The report’s authors emphasize that the results point to an elevated—though not extreme—level of social stress. In their view, greater worries may be felt by employees performing routine, administrative, and repetitive tasks that are increasingly being taken over by AI-based tools. Higher anxiety may also be more common in regions with less diversified labor markets.
According to the report “Poles’ Fears of Job Loss in 2026” prepared by UCE RESEARCH and the ePsycholodzy.pl platform, 16.5% of respondents are worried they may lose their job this year. “It’s clear that one in six people in Poland lives with uncertainty. This is a moderate share that reflects real tension within part of society. It also shows that the labor market is not in a state of complete calm, but neither is it dominated by an atmosphere of mass fear. It is more a picture of measured caution than crisis-level panic. It indicates an elevated, but not extreme, level of social stress,” says psychologist Michał Murgrabia, a co-author of the report from ePsycholodzy.pl.
The survey also shows that most Poles do not have such fears (71.6%). “This is a signal of relative stabilization and a sense of control over one’s professional situation—whether thanks to competencies, industry conditions, or the overall state of the labor market. In psychology, a sense of employment security is one of the key factors shaping mental well-being, stress levels, and engagement at work. People who do not fear losing their job more often display higher motivation, greater openness to development, and stronger trust in their employer,” comments Michał Pajdak, the second co-author of the report from ePsycholodzy.pl.
In addition, the study found that 11.9% of Poles do not know whether they have any concerns about losing their job. “A lack of clarity about the future may indicate insufficient communication within companies, a volatile market environment, or conflicting signals coming from the economy. This state of suspension encourages rumors and heightens anxiety when the first negative information appears,” Pajdak analyzes.
In Murgrabia’s view, those who may feel genuinely at risk are people employed in industries undergoing intense technological or organizational change. Greater concerns may also affect workers on unstable contracts, who tend to have less control over their professional situation. The expert notes that anxiety is increasingly affecting not only low-paid positions, but also specialists in sectors exposed to automation.
“Some people react to broad economic signals, such as reports of a slowdown or restructuring at large companies. Others are guided by the situation in their industry or specific messages from their employer. In practice, individual factors also often overlap—such as a previous experience of layoffs or a feeling that their skills are less competitive,” Murgrabia adds.
As Pajdak points out, a particularly strong sense of job-loss risk this year may be felt primarily by people working in sectors undergoing restructuring or facing heavy cost pressure. This includes parts of industry (especially energy-intensive and export-oriented segments), selected areas of retail, and companies affected by weaker investment activity. In these sectors, discussions about cost optimization, consolidation, or process automation are more common—naturally increasing uncertainty among employees.
“Greater concerns may be felt by workers performing routine, administrative, and repetitive tasks—especially where automation solutions and AI-based tools are being implemented. In this case, the fear does not always stem from concrete plans for layoffs, but from anxiety about a long-term shift in the work model,” Pajdak adds.
Experts from UCE RESEARCH, in turn, believe the risk is felt more strongly by people on fixed-term or project-based contracts, or those with short tenure in an organization. Anxiety may also be higher in regions with less diversified labor markets, where a single large employer or one industry dominates. In such places, any news about production cuts or reduced investment has a stronger impact on local sentiment.
“The importance of differences between industries and regions is growing. Some employers are still hiring, others are freezing recruitment, and any reductions—if they occur—are more often industry-specific than systemic. From the standpoint of hard macro indicators, the market does not look crisis-like. Projections and forecasts for 2026 assume continued economic growth. In its November 2025 projection, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) indicates higher GDP growth in 2026 than in 2025. Unemployment is expected to remain moderate, around 5.4–5.5% in forecasts for 2026–2027,” Pajdak reports.
As the report’s authors conclude, people who fear being laid off may be more inclined to look for alternative job offers, reduce spending, and make more cautious life decisions. Within organizations, this may translate into lower loyalty, higher turnover, or reduced engagement.
Methodology / research design
The survey was conducted as part of the project “Poles’ Fears of Job Loss in 2026” in the second half of February this year, using the CAWI method (Computer Assisted Web Interview). It was carried out by the analytical and research platform UCE RESEARCH and the online psychotherapy platform ePsycholodzy.pl on a nationwide sample of 1,011 adult Poles.
