- According to the government's announcement, from January 1, 2025, the minimum wage will be PLN 4,626 gross.
- According to the latest information from the Central Statistical Office, the average salary in Poland has exceeded PLN 8,000 for the first time in history.
- We see the biggest increases in salaries in professions that are in short supply but are essential for the job market. Electricians, assemblers, process automation specialists, sales and purchasing specialists, and managers dealing with artificial intelligence earn more.
- In recent times, people have been earning less in construction, transport and services.
- Experts from the Northern Chamber of Commerce note that the predicted decline in IT wages has not yet occurred
According to labor market experts and entrepreneurs associated in the Northern Chamber of Commerce, the coming months will mean that we will no longer hear so often about "record wage increases" or "record average wages". – Many industries are in a difficult situation. Employees' expectations must be realistic, and many sectors of the economy: from industry through services, have no way to raise employees' salaries – admits Hanna Mojsiuk, president of the Northern Chamber of Commerce in Szczecin.
As Hanna Mojsiuk, president of the Northern Chamber of Commerce in Szczecin, says, the increase in the minimum wage proposed by the government is expected and did not surprise entrepreneurs.
– There has been talk of such amounts. This is not a cascading increase. However, entrepreneurs have always assumed that the market, not laws, should create the average salary scale, and therefore the minimum wage. The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has not conducted social consultations in this area. We hope that in the case of larger changes, such consultations would take place – says Hanna Mojsiuk.
Will the increase in the minimum wage force entrepreneurs to raise wages in their companies even more?
– There is no indication that in the near future the increase in total wages will exceed the current dynamics of the increase in the minimum wage. According to our data, employers are not planning any significant increases for this year, and those from the first part of the year were usually around 6-10%, which, compared to the almost 20% increase in the minimum wage, gives smaller increases. The announced change in the minimum wage in 2025 is also evidence of a decrease in the dynamics of wage increases in the near future – says Maria Skowrońska, Operations Manager, LSJ HR Group
The fall in inflation has caused the pressure from employees on employers to be lower. At the same time, many industries are signaling that the situation on the labor market is much more difficult. This is visible in the number of recruitments in some industries or how much the recruitment dynamics have changed.
– We can currently see that companies are taking a closer look at the employees they are recruiting. They are not hiring "as is the case, as long as there is a will" as was sometimes the case in IT, service sectors or construction. A more difficult economic situation always makes competences a priority for the employer – says Dorota Siedziniewska – Brzeźniak, a labor market expert at IDEA HR Group.
– In the West Pomeranian and Lubuskie provinces, we do not currently have many group layoffs. Our regional economic situation is therefore good enough to speak of a certain stabilization. We do not expect changes until the end of the year, although we see a certain caution among entrepreneurs – adds Dorota Siedziniewska – Brzeźniak.
