Is there an employee market in Poland?
An employee market emerges when the labor demand exceeds the workers’ supply, giving candidates a much stronger position in negotiations with employers.The employment rate for the 15-64 age group was 71.3 percent in 2022, 14.3 percentage points higher than in 2010. At the time of its accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004, Poland had the highest registered unemployment rate in the EU, reaching 19 percent. That rate has fallen from 13.4 percent to 5.2 percent in two decades. The country has maintained one of the lowest rates among EU members for several years. In 2018, for the first time in 30 years, the number of unemployed fell below one million people. Only the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak increased this number again to over one million. However, in 2021, the number of unemployed fell again, whereas new job vacancies increased. Nearly seven out of 10 employers also reported difficulties finding new employees to fill open positions in 2024.