Saturday, 8 August 2026
Contracts of mandate are increasingly serving two very different groups in Poland’s labour market: young people entering employment for the first time and older workers who want to remain professionally active after reaching retirement age.
According to experimental data from Statistics Poland (GUS), around 1.4 million people were working exclusively under contracts of mandate and similar arrangements at the end of 2024. The analysis was conducted separately from the 14.1 million people working in the national economy, excluding individual agricultural holdings.
Personnel Service argues that the arrangement has evolved beyond its traditional association with students. For younger workers, it often provides a relatively easy entry point into employment, while for pensioners it offers a more flexible way to continue working without returning to a full-time position.
Krzysztof Inglot, labour market expert and founder of Personnel Service, said the contract now effectively links the beginning and the end of working life. He also pointed to the flexibility of the arrangement as one of its main attractions for both employers and workers.
The occupational structure differs significantly by age and gender.
Among women aged over 60 working solely under contracts of mandate, the largest group was employed in cleaning roles in offices, hotels and related facilities, accounting for 12.6%. This was followed by workers in family support, social assistance and social work at 8.8%, domestic personal care at 7.6%, and nurses without specialisation or still in training at 6.7%.
Among men aged over 65, security work was the most common occupation. Employees protecting people and property represented 15.5% of the group. Other significant roles included simple occupations not classified elsewhere, senior management positions, passenger and van drivers, bus and tram drivers, and other security-related jobs.
For younger workers, the pattern is different. Women aged up to 26 are concentrated mainly in retail and hospitality. Shop assistants and cashiers account for 13.5% of young women working only under mandate contracts, while other sales positions represent a further 3.1%. Waitressing, cleaning work and beauty services are also among the most common occupations.
Young men are more strongly represented in transport, logistics and manual work. Passenger and van drivers account for 6.4%, while warehouse workers represent 6.3%. Other common jobs include simple industrial roles and postal or related occupations.
The figures highlight how flexible employment arrangements are increasingly being used at both ends of the age spectrum. For employers, older workers can help address labour shortages by bringing experience into sectors such as security, transport, care and services. At the same time, younger workers provide an important recruitment pool for retail, logistics and hospitality.
However, Personnel Service warns that the growing dependence on older workers in some occupations also points to a longer-term challenge. If businesses do not invest in younger staff and ensure that knowledge and skills are transferred between generations, labour shortages in selected professions could become more severe.
The latest data therefore suggest that contracts of mandate are no longer simply a temporary form of work associated with students. They are increasingly becoming part of a broader labour market model in which flexibility allows younger people to enter employment and older workers to remain economically active for longer.
