Monday, 14 September 2026
Poland’s online recruitment market weakened in August after four months of improvement, but the national slowdown is masking significant differences between industries. Services remain comparatively strong, while logistics, transport and construction continue to show signs of underlying demand for workers.
The Barometr Ofert Pracy, compiled by the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów together with the Bureau for Investments and Economic Cycles, declined to 256.8 points in August from 261.5 points in July. Despite the monthly fall, the indicator remained slightly above the 254.9 points recorded in August 2025.
The latest decline follows four consecutive months of increases and reinforces a pattern that has been visible since 2025, with the number of vacancies advertised online moving within a relatively narrow range rather than establishing a sustained recovery. Poland’s seasonally adjusted registered unemployment rate, meanwhile, declined by 0.2 percentage points in July to 5.9%.
The August deterioration was geographically widespread. After seasonal influences were removed, the number of advertised vacancies declined across every Polish voivodeship. The largest monthly reductions were recorded in Wielkopolskie, Mazowieckie and Świętokrzyskie, while Podkarpackie, Zachodniopomorskie and Opolskie experienced relatively modest falls.
The sector breakdown, however, presents a considerably more mixed picture. Services have been one of the strongest areas of recruitment during 2026, with vacancies increasing progressively since the beginning of the year. By August, the number of advertisements in this broad category was approaching previous peak levels. Recruitment for physical occupations has been moving in the opposite direction, although the overall volume of available positions remains comparatively high.
For the property sector, one of the more significant developments is the continuing improvement in logistics recruitment. The number of vacancies in logistics has been increasing since December following an extended period of contraction, while recruitment connected with freight forwarding is also showing sustained improvement. Transport has remained relatively resilient despite higher fuel costs.
Tourism, logistics and education recorded some of the strongest increases in service-sector recruitment during August. Tourism vacancies have been increasing for almost a year and are moving towards previous highs, providing another indication of the strength of labour demand in parts of Poland’s service economy.
Construction presents another noteworthy contrast with the headline employment figures. The number of advertised construction positions declined during August, but this followed a period of stronger recruitment. Despite the latest monthly setback, the underlying direction in construction vacancies remains positive.
There was also a modest improvement in recruitment directly associated with real estate. Among occupations requiring social sciences or legal backgrounds, property was one of the relatively small number of categories where vacancies increased during August, alongside banking and purchasing. Across the wider group, however, employment demand remained subdued, with declines particularly evident in office, finance and graphic-design positions.
Engineering employment is showing similarly uneven conditions. Vacancies for engineers have been increasing for five months, although the pace of improvement has recently moderated. Occupational health and safety and research and development were among the categories recording relatively strong monthly increases. By contrast, recruitment in information technology weakened in August, particularly for systems administrators.
The divergence between sectors is increasingly important for Poland’s commercial property market. Continued recruitment in logistics, transport, construction and parts of the service economy points to ongoing demand from industries closely connected with warehouses, industrial facilities and business premises, even as the broader employment market struggles to establish stronger momentum.
The report also identifies economic risks that could affect future recruitment. Higher energy costs and continuing inflationary pressures are increasing uncertainty for employers, while the possibility of tighter monetary conditions could make investment financing and existing debt more expensive. These factors could make companies more cautious when planning expansion and recruitment.
For the moment, Poland’s labour market is therefore producing two different signals. Overall online recruitment has weakened again, but several industries important to the property sector continue to expand their search for employees. The August figures suggest that the next stage of Poland’s employment cycle may be shaped less by a uniform national recovery than by increasingly different conditions across individual sectors.
