In Poland, as many as 66% of organizations struggle to fill job positions with new workers who possess the required skills. This figure is 6 percentage points lower than in 2023 (72%), and also lower than the global average (75%) – as is highlighted in the recently published ManpowerGroup report “Talent Shortage.” The research indicates that skills in IT and data analysis are the most challenging to find among candidates, as reported by 23% of organizations, followed by technical skills, reported by 22% of companies.
The latest ManpowerGroup report points out that organizations in Poland have the greatest difficulty in recruiting competent candidates in the field of IT and data analysis, as reported by 23% of respondents. Technical skills come in second (22%), followed by logistics and operations (19%), sales and marketing (19%), and customer service (18%).
“Although the talent shortage level in Poland is still high, the drop of 6 percentage points compared to last year’s survey indicates that the situation in the Polish market is beginning to improve,” said Tomasz Walenczak, ManpowerGroup’s general director in Poland. He added that global recruitment of candidates with desired skills is an even greater challenge for companies, with 75% of employers pinpointing this issue.
The job market is undergoing a technological transformation, striving to utilize artificial intelligence, digitalization, and automation of many processes. Therefore, professionals with IT and data analysis skills are most sought after by organizations. Despite many market challenges, employers should constantly focus on employees, their morale, and talent retention in companies. By emphasizing development, upskilling, or reskilling within organizations, they will be able to build teams of the best experts in the market, while also adapting them to the evolving job market.
The finance and real estate industries have the highest competition for desired talents, with 74% of organizations in these sectors reporting difficulties in finding suitable job candidates. High deficits in this area are also felt by organizations in the field of consumer goods and services (71%) and energy and utilities (70%). Transportation, logistics and automotive companies (69%), as well as life sciences and healthcare (68%) also report recruitment difficulties at a similar level.
The ManpowerGroup report takes into account six sizes of organizations. The data indicate that organizations with 250-999 employees (71%) as well as those with over 5000 employees experience the highest recruitment challenges. Employers with teams ranging from 10 to 49 employees (67%), and 50 to 249 employees also point out a talent shortage at a similar level. Employers with teams of less than 10 people (63%) face slightly less difficulty in filling positions with desired candidates. The lowest shortage of suitable candidates is reported by companies employing 1000 to 4999 talents.
When asked about the actions they intend to take to address this phenomenon, the Polish respondents who indicated a shortage of candidates with desired skills plan to increase the flexibility of the workplace and working hours (45%), and also to increase wages (39%). Employers in Poland would also like to adopt more flexible working time arrangements, such as part-time employment and flexible working hours (30%), or keeping teams at the same level, even if certain roles are not essential in the organization (30%).
The “Talent Shortage” survey was conducted among 525 employers in Poland and over 40,000 companies worldwide. The aim of the research was to measure the scale of difficulties in attracting new employees with desired competencies. The report presents data divided into six regions of Poland and eight market sectors. The report also includes data on the hardest-to-find skills among candidates. The survey was conducted between the 2nd and 31st of October 2023, reflecting the most current recruitment trends in Poland.
