The job market in Poland is becoming increasingly demanding. A study conducted by the job portal okpraca24.pl among HR specialists shows that companies have to deal with a number of challenges, such as wage expectations, competition for talent, and staff turnover. How are Polish businesses adapting to these demanding market conditions?
Growing wage expectations and competition for employees
One of the most frequently mentioned problems by HR specialists are the rising financial requirements of employees. As many as 89% of respondents see this as a serious challenge that can affect the stability of many companies. Only 3% of those surveyed said that they don’t see such a problem in their organisation.
Currently, many companies also face personnel problems. 70% of HR specialists indicate that the competition in the job market is becoming increasingly fierce, which makes retaining and attracting employees challenging. The situation is further complicated by the fact that 49% of HR professionals feel a severe lack of talent in their organizations. Moreover, many respondents note difficulties related to insufficient qualifications of candidates – 63% of respondents admit that recruiting the right people is a serious problem. This lack of experience and qualifications, combined with turnover – which 47% of respondents consider a challenge – makes the job market situation increasingly complex. This is further complicated by low employee engagement (45% of indications), which makes maintaining high productivity even harder. Therefore, employers must seek new ways to effectively manage human resources to face these difficulties.
“We face a challenging situation in the market. As results from the research show, it is currently hard for companies to employ workers who would meet their expectations. Many candidates lack the necessary qualifications, and the situation is made even more difficult by high financial expectations even among newly hired persons. However, this does not mean we have an employee market, because people without experience and skills might find it difficult to find a job,” says Przemysław Rączka, CEO of okpraca24.pl.
Moreover, the report indicates that issues such as remote work and flexible working hours (30% indications) and managing an international team (21% indications) are relatively less of a problem compared to wage pressure and personnel issues. This shows that currently, businesses are mostly facing difficulties arising from the current market conditions instead of organizational procedures or employment structure.
Actions taken by companies
To meet these challenges, companies have launched series of actions in the past year. The report shows that as many as 86.8% of companies decided to increase wages and benefits for their employees, aiming to both attract and retain talent. The second step is investing in new technologies (61.3% indications) – upgrading systems and implementing new solutions can increase the operational efficiency of companies.
Furthermore, 57.5% of HR professionals declared that their companies implemented flexible work forms, including remote work and flexible working hours, aiming to increase employee satisfaction and enhance their productivity. Given the difficulties in recruitment, 51.9% of companies increased expenditure on recruitment actions, and 56.6% invested in employee development and training.
Less than half of the companies (47.2%) decided to expand the range of employee benefits, indicating that for many organizations, wages and work flexibility were top priorities. Moreover, only 4.7% of respondents indicated other actions as significant over the past year.
Most commonly lacking competencies in candidates
When asked about the skills most often lacking in job applicants, the analysis suggests that the highest percentage of responses related to sector experience – 50% of respondents admitted that this is a key gap in candidate competencies. Equally problematic is the lack of technical skills, signalled by 49.1% of respondents.
47.2% of HR professionals also indicated that candidates lack analytical skills, such as problem analysis, decision making or strategic planning. Soft skills, such as communication, team management, and other interpersonal competences are also often insufficient – 45.3% of respondents highlighted this.
Only 21.7% of HR professionals noted that the issue with candidates is the lack of specialised certificates. This shows that although competencies are important, they should primarily be backed by practical experience, rather than solely from completed training. The remaining 12.3% of respondents indicated other less typical deficiencies in candidate skills.
“The Polish job market values experience and hard skills the most. This is particularly valuable advice for young people, who should know that it’s not worth delaying their first job, even if it’s not initially a full-time position but internships or even volunteering. It’s also good to consciously choose study fields that provide practical skills,” emphasizes Przemysław Rączka, CEO of okpraca24.pl.
The study conducted by okpraca24.pl was carried out in June 2024. It covered specialists working in HR positions in the largest companies in Poland. The study was carried out under the academic supervision of Prof. Dr. Dariusz Tworzydło from the University of Warsaw.
Source: https://ceo.com.pl/polski-rynek-pracy-pod-presja-rosnace-oczekiwania-placowe-brak-talentow-i-wyzwania-rekrutacyjne-28813
