Are you looking for valuable employees in the Polish market? Without the right employer branding strategy, it will be hard for you to attract and retain the strongest players in the employee market. To make the process easier for you, with this blog post we have gathered the latest statistics on the situation, trends, and tendencies in Polish employer branding. Here is everything you need to know in 2022!
Table of contents:
- Situation on the labour market in Poland
- Pandemic and the Polish labour market
- Remote working and hybrid working
- Situation of employer branding in Poland
- Successful employer branding strategies
- Measures of employer branding in Poland
Situation on the labour market in Poland
1. According to the most recent data from the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the registered unemployment rate in Poland in August 2022 was 2.7%. Compared to last year, the rate fell by 1.1 p.p.. This means a reduction in unemployment!
2. Poland also compares quite favourably with other European Union countries. According to current Eurostat data, the average unemployment rate of the member states is 6.6%. Only the Czech Republic recorded a lower level of unemployment than Poland.
Number of job vacancies in Poland in 2022
3. The number of job offers published online has been increasing since June 2021. According to the Grant Thorton report ‘Job offers in Poland’, the largest number of new job advertisements can be found in Warsaw and Kraków. When it comes to industries, IT is the king here. It is among the professions from this sector that the largest number of job offers can be seen. IT is followed by HR and recruitment positions.
4. The majority of companies operating in the Polish market find it most difficult to attract employees with the right competencies. 33% of companies declare that employee competencies are of great or very great importance for the functioning of the company.
5. Employers in Poland are also facing a huge talent shortage. As many as 81% are affected by it, which significantly hinders the development of companies.
6. The biggest trend in the Polish labour market at the moment is rapid technological development, which has greatly accelerated during the pandemic. The digitalisation and automation associated with this trend will mean that the labour market may soon undergo a complete revolution. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2020 report, 50% of workers will need to retrain by 2025.
7. A second developing trend is so-called GIGs, i.e. people taking on temporary work and flexible employment terms. This is an increasingly popular career path among Polish millennials. It is predicted that by 2025, GIG-ers will make up around 20% of the Polish workforce. Many of them will take up remote work for foreign companies, making them completely independent of Polish employers.
8. According to the survey presented in the Guide to Employer Superbrands in Poland by the HRM Institute, they consider economic changes (66% of indications), technological changes (55% of indications) changes, and work model changes (52% of indications) to be the biggest influence on whether employees will work for a given company.
9. Beyond the obvious trends, Poles’ attitudes to work are also changing. Increasingly, they come there solely to work, rather than to seek happiness or life fulfillment. According to the 2021 Employer Brand Report in Poland, from around 55 to as many as 80% see work as something to be endured rather than something to be enjoyed.
10. A particularly interesting trend can be observed among young employees. More than 74.2% of Polish students who took part in the survey Young Poles on the labour market 2021, conducted by PwC, rely on stable employment based on an employment contract, while only 22.5% want to be self-employed.
11. In view of these trends, does the company itself, where a Pole starts work, make any difference to him at all? Yes – and a lot. Over 70% of candidates say they do not want to work for a company with a bad reputation. As many as 50% will not accept a job offer from an organisation with a poor image, even if it is financially more advantageous. This is a clear signal that an employer branding strategy is incredibly important. It will avoid the negative effects of a talent shortage on the market, greater employee autonomy, or the rapid development of technology.
Pandemic and the Polish labour market
12. More than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic began, a certain duality can be observed among Polish employees. On the one hand, 46% of employees surveyed say they feel fatigue, and 23% professional burnout, while on the other, as many as 28% indicate that they now have more time for family or their passions.
13. However, it is noteworthy that 35% of the Polish employees interviewed perceived a blurring of the boundaries between work and personal life as a result of the pandemic. This is particularly strong for those working in office jobs who did not return to stationary work after the pandemic, or who work in a hybrid mode.
14. Covid-19 also had a lot of positive impact on the operations of Polish companies. Some of the solutions introduced to companies during the pandemic worked so well that they have stayed. Among these, the most popular are the possibility to work remotely to a greater extent (69% of indications), better internal communication about the current situation in the company (55% of indications), online meetings, trainings, workshops or events (45% of indications), better care for the mental and physical health of employees (45% of indications), running online corporate image campaigns (31% of indications) and regular online meetings with management (28% of indications).
15. Of particular note is a new trend – employer interest in the health and general well-being of employees. Entrepreneurs operating in the Polish market have recognised the impact of employees’ mental health on their commitment and effectiveness when performing their tasks. According to a recent report by Nationale-Nederlanden, as many as 37% of respondents feel that the company they work for cares about their wellbeing.
16. Syno Poland for the epsycholodzy.pl platform shows that 65% of Poles experience symptoms of professional burnout. This puts Poland in third place in Europe.
17. Polish employees’ demands on employers are increasing. One in five employees would like to have regular consultations with a psychologist.
18. Expectations do not end there. More than half of the Polish employees surveyed expect their employer to provide a more transparent system of promotions and salaries. Many of them also point to an appropriate way of managing the company, and one in ten to greater stability of employment, a more satisfactory division of responsibilities, and a better system of appreciation.
Remote working and hybrid working
19. As we already know, the biggest change in the Polish labour market brought about by the pandemic is the greater openness of employers to the possibility of remote or partially remote (hybrid) working. How large a percentage of Poles can enjoy this work model? Based on the data, it can be estimated that the percentage of Poles exclusively working remotely is between 8 and 14, stationary work is about 70% and hybrid work is about 22%.
20. As shown by the data available in the Guide to employer super-brands in Poland of the HRM Institute, Poles consider the hybrid model of work to be the most attractive (as many as 76% of respondents would choose it!). They would be most likely to turn up at the office around 2-3 times a week. Only 17% of surveyed employees would choose completely remote work.
21. The trend of working from outside the office can already be seen in the job adverts themselves. In January 2020, remote work was attracted in only 6% of adverts, and by the end of 2021, this figure was already over 16%.
Situation of employer branding in Poland
22. According to the latest Randstad Employer Brand Research, 80% of employers admit that a good corporate image makes it easier to attract talent.
23. According to the report ‘Employer Branding 2022: How employee priorities are changing’ prepared by Indeed, 56% of Polish employers believe that employer branding should change in the new world of work.
24. 52% of the surveyed entrepreneurs believe they already have a well-defined employer brand. At the same time, as many as 48% of employers say their company does not have an identified employer branding strategy. This creates a gap that can be brilliantly exploited by entering the Polish employee market and seeking new talent for their company.
25. So who is in charge of employer branding and caring for the employer brand in Polish companies? In the main, it is HR departments (51% of the companies surveyed) or a specially created Employer Branding or Employer Brand Management department (24%). Slightly less common are the Marketing Department (23%), the Internal Communication Department (12%), the External Communication Department (10%) and the Talent Management Department (6%).
26. Why is employer branding so important in Poland? According to the latest ‘Talent Shortage’ report, compiled by ManpowerGroup, 81% of employers in Poland report difficulties in finding employees with the required skills, and the talent shortage is felt by as many as 69% of companies. This is the biggest talent shortage in Poland in 15 years! IT workers are currently most in demand.
Talent shortage around the world
27. What competencies are currently sought after by companies operating in Poland? In addition to relevant qualifications or hard skills, these include, above all: communication skills (33% of indications), digital and technical competencies (30% of indications), fast learning (28% of indications), resistance to stress and change (26% of indications), effective remote working (24% of indications), and analytical thinking (21% of indications).
Successful employer branding strategies
28. When assessing the priority of external employer branding activities, companies with Polish employees point to employer branding on the internet (41% of indications) and an increased presence in social media (29%).
29. According to the Randstad report, as many as 62% of candidates will check social media reviews of your company before deciding to apply for a position.
30. According to the Employer Branding 2022 report, the best way to promote employer branding of companies operating in Poland is through paid advertising (33% of employers’ indications).
31. Polish employers believe that the other most effective strategies to support the employer brand include: content developed for social media (33%), content and job descriptions consistent with company culture (19%), and external communication with the press (18%).
32. A very important element of the strategy should also be a company website with an appropriate tab dedicated to potential employees. The website increases the chance of applying for a particular offer by more than double! It is a phenomenal way to promote the company culture and write about its successes – all in one place.
33. In employer branding in the Polish market, it is good to use the power of social proof. The data is clear – as many as 79% of Polish employers share the opinions of satisfied employees when promoting their employer branding.
34. Among the most important employer attributes, Poles mention attractive remuneration (87% of indications), being appreciated at work (57% of indications), the possibility to work remotely (53% of respondents), a friendly atmosphere (50% of indications), a sense of purpose (49% of indications), organisational culture in line with their values (48%), interesting tasks performed at work (47% of indications), as well as employment stability (46% of indications).
Which elements of employer branding does your employer brand focus on?
35. The figures for all Poles differ little from those for young workers. Participants in the PwC survey confirmed that when choosing a company they pay attention to: the employer’s profile and industry (97.2%), remuneration (93.5%), opinions about the employer on the internet (85.8%), benefits (74.9%) and, interestingly, the location and appearance of the office (73.6%).
36. It is worth ensuring that the employer attributes chosen by the company are communicated at the recruitment stage. As many as 77% of the surveyed employee candidates in Poland make it a condition of entering the recruitment process in the first place.
37. When designing an EVP (Employer Value Proposition) for the Polish employee market, it is worth communicating the opportunities for development that working for a given company brings. Many Poles are looking for positions where they can develop themselves, e.g. through access to training to broaden their competencies. As many as 34% of Poles systematically pay for the development of their skills!
38. From an employee perspective, corporate ethics are also important. 44% of Millennials and 49% of Generation Z make their workplace choices based on their ethical principles. Social responsibility, for example, is particularly relevant here. As the data show, up to 90% of those surveyed indicate that this is important (although not the most important) to them. They believe that their potential employer should take action for the benefit of local communities (56% of indications), as well as run its business in a sustainable way (53%).
39. Interestingly, Polish employers seem to place more importance not on attracting new talent, but on nurturing the employees they already have under their wings. Among the priority employer branding activities they indicate are employer branding within the company (48% of indications) and internal communication(45%).
Measures of employer branding in Poland
40. The most popular measure of employer branding activities in Poland is the cost of investment per employee (44% of indications). In second place is the reach of activities, i.e. the number of potential employees reached with the message (34% of indications). They also pay attention to the job conversion rate (27%), the number of positive reviews (22%), as well as the scores on company websites (20%).
41. The most common indicator for measuring ROI from employer branding activities in Poland is the level of company turnover. It was indicated by almost half of Polish entrepreneurs. Further down the list of indicators for measuring ROI is the level of employee engagement (47%), the number of applications submitted for a given position (44%), the quality of applications submitted (34%), the average length of time an employee is employed (34%), the number of people hired under a referral program (28%), the cost of hiring an employee (25%), the level of engagement in content posted on social media (24%) and ranking in surveys and rankings of top employers in Poland (23%).
42. Polish employers benefit from numerous survey results and employer rankings. The most popular of these include Top Employers (57% of indications), own research (46%), Great Place to Work (43%), AIESEC Employer of the Year (24%), The Universum Talent Survey (23%) and Kinetric Best Employers (13%).
Which rankings and research results do Polish companies use?
Do you want to implement an employer branding strategy in Poland – external, internal, or both? Get in touch with us! We are a Polish marketing agency specialising in supporting foreign brands in the Polish market. We will help you attract new talent to your company.