Wage Growth in Poland to Slow in 2026 as Companies Turn Cautious, Survey Shows

Polish companies are adopting a more cautious budgeting stance for the upcoming year, with the proportion of employers planning salary hikes in 2026 dropping to 39%, a decline of 8 percentage points from 2025, a survey by the Randstad Research Institute and Pollster Research Institute showed.

“2026 brings the first clear weakening of wage pressure in three years. Only 39% of companies plan raises as part of their new year salary reviews,” the report stated. “More than half (52%) intend to keep rates at the same level. This is a significant change from previous years when rising living costs and minimum wage growth forced more frequent pay updates.”

The survey revealed that the real estate and business services sector has the highest share of planned raises at 53%, with the finance, insurance, and IT sectors following at 45% each. Larger firms with more than 250 employees are also more likely to boost pay, with 43% planning to do so.

Among those companies planning to increase salaries, the majority of raises will be modest. Over half, at 52%, are set to offer increases between 2% and 4%. Another 23% of organizations are targeting hikes of 4% to 7%, while larger raises of 7% to 10% are planned by only 5% of firms. No companies surveyed intended to raise salaries by more than 10%.

While 43% of the surveyed companies currently employ staff at the minimum wage, most (65%) reported that the mandated increase in the minimum wage will not affect their business operations.

Hiring intentions for the first half of 2026 also indicate a period of stabilization, as 78% of companies plan to maintain their current headcount. This shift suggests a cooling labor market after years of more aggressive expansion. Just 15% of businesses are planning new recruitment drives, while planned staff reductions have fallen to 5%, a 3 percentage point improvement from the previous year.

New hiring will be most prominent among large companies, where 35% intend to expand their workforce. The industrial and construction sectors show the strongest appetite for new employees, at 23% and 21% respectively. In contrast, recruitment is expected to be slowest in real estate and business services (10%) and trade (9%).

Financial Health Improves Despite Cautious Outlook

This cautious approach to wages and hiring comes as Polish companies report improved financial health compared to a year ago. A significant 75% of businesses described their financial condition as good or very good, marking a 15 percentage point increase from the second half of 2024. Only 3% reported their situation as bad or very bad, a 4-point drop year-on-year.

The finance and insurance (88% good ratings), IT (81%), and industrial (78%) sectors continue to lead in financial stability. The weakest results were in the real estate and business services sector, where 7% of firms reported a poor or very poor condition. A notable gap also exists between large and small firms, with companies employing over 250 people being 16 percentage points more likely to rate their condition as good than the smallest organizations.

For more on labor market trends, see data from Statistics Poland.

The survey was conducted between October 10-28, 2025, among a group of 1,000 company representatives.