Poland’s population is ageing, and its labour market is changing along with it. Companies must prepare for older employees to remain professionally active for longer while new generations enter employment. One challenge is making better use of the strengths of employees of different ages. Seven companies and the Diversity Hub think tank have launched Power Age, an initiative to develop solutions supporting cooperation across generations.
“There is considerable dynamism in the labour market linked to the simple fact that we are ageing as a society. This means retaining older people in employment or providing suitable working conditions for them. At the same time, new generations entering the labour market may have different attitudes to work, communicate differently and bring different expectations and experiences. We have to learn to work with that. It is a major challenge for organisations and for us as a society,” Dr Tomasz Dąbrowski, vice-president of Diversity Hub, told Newseria.
According to Statistics Poland, the working-age population stood at 21.7 million at the end of 2025, about 128,000 fewer than a year earlier. The number of people aged 18–44—the mobile working-age group—fell to 12.8 million, accounting for 34.3% of the population, compared with 39.8% in 2000. Around 8.9 million people were aged 45–59/64, representing 23.8% of the population.
Breaking down stereotypes
“In my view, the biggest threat is the stereotypes and prejudices associated with age: attaching labels to different generations and assigning them particular values. For example, if we are young, we are supposed to be a certain way, and if we are over 45, we are supposed to behave differently, have different values, work differently, relate differently to technology or communicate differently. Overcoming these obstacles gives us a chance simply to communicate and cooperate,” Dąbrowski said.
Working with people of different ages is a common experience. Last year’s “Does age matter in the workplace?” survey, conducted under the Ponad PESELAMI project through interviews with 800 people, found that 98% work or have worked in age-diverse teams. Among respondents with that experience, 51% saw no differences in cooperation between generations, while 29% did.
Respondents stressed that other characteristics matter more than age for effective cooperation, including a similar personality, shared values or professional experience. All age groups also gave similar answers about the foundations of successful teamwork: mutual respect and a supportive atmosphere, good communication, and a willingness to cooperate and help one another.
“Knowledge management, sharing knowledge between generations, and thinking about how to make people want to work together play a huge role. People should not fall into the illusion that age necessarily brings greater prestige at work or higher social status. That way of thinking makes dialogue between slightly older and slightly younger people harder, leading to a loss of potential, experience and knowledge. Passing on experience and maintaining continuity of skills is a major challenge, so that experiences, mistakes and the lessons learned from them are handed on,” Dąbrowski explained.
Seven companies join Power Age
Erste, IKEA, InPost, Orange Polska, Orlen, Polpharma and Unimot signed the Power Age agreement, with Diversity Hub coordinating its substantive work. The partners plan to exchange knowledge and experience, develop mentoring across generations, undertake educational activities and establish good practice in age management.
“Power Age has several dimensions. The most important concerns the challenges facing the modern world: ageing societies and technology. Combining technology and age can produce very interesting results, and that is what we want to explore as a group of companies particularly interested in the subject. How can this happen? Through promoting our solutions, exchanging experience, working together and drawing other companies’ attention to aspects that are becoming increasingly important in a changing world,” said Jacek Kowalski, Orange Polska management board member responsible for human capital.
Orange Polska, which employs more than 7,800 people, has spent years developing support for workers of different ages. Its Youth Advisory Board consists of 20 young employees who advise the management board and managers on younger colleagues’ needs and expectations. The company also runs “Generational Illusions” workshops to challenge stereotypes. Employees at least 15 years apart in age work in pairs on projects covering new technology and AI, wellbeing, the environment and process automation.
“One of our activities is the Let’s Orange internship programme for young people. In the latest edition, 13,000 young people applied for 100 places. Another is Reverse Mentoring: 22 pairs have been involved for some time, including members of the management board. It brings together young people in our organisation and experienced managers, but we learn from one another,” Kowalski said.
Combining experience with technological skills
The OECD’s Employment Outlook 2025 notes that age diversity can support productivity by combining the skills and experience of different groups.
“Working across generations is a source of richness and enormous opportunity, and anyone unable to use it will probably lose out in the market over the long term. On one side, we have experienced employees, managers and people who know the company and our customers. On the other, we have energetic young people who understand their technological skills. That mix can be highly effective for our market presence and very interesting when building a team focused on development,” Kowalski said.
Source: Newseria.
