Mass layoffs on the horizon? PIE analyzed the companies' announcements

For example, in April, five companies reported group layoffs in the Łódź Voivodeship. In an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza” in Łódź, Kamil Jeziorski, director of the Provincial Labor Office in Łódź, explained that these dismissals were, like in the previous months, the result of individual phenomena.

Labor market. Should layoffs worry us?

– This is not an expression of a general tendency towards employment reduction among companies from the Łódź region – assured the director of the Voivodeship Labor Office. – It is worth bearing in mind that group layoffs are only one of many possible criteria for assessing the functioning of the regional labor market.

In the latest Bulletin, the Polish Economic Institute noted that despite high employee costs, they want to employ new employees. A survey conducted at the beginning of May by PIE as part of the Monthly Economic Index (MIK) shows that by the end of April 2024, 12 percent. companies hired new employees, and twice as many (24 percent) plan to do so in the following months of 2024. It should be noted that among the companies that increased employment this year, 69 percent plans further recruitment this year. However, among those that did not increase employment by the end of April, 18 percent plans to do this in the following months of 2024.

Construction and logistics will be hiring

As many as 37 percent are thinking about increasing employment in the following months of 2024. construction companies. The seasonality of this industry means that construction workers are most in demand in spring and summer. According to PIE research conducted in May this year. shows that as many as 61 percent construction companies have problems with the availability of employees. Currently, construction is the industry where the unavailability of workers most hinders operations.

The unavailability of employees affects more than half (53%) of the surveyed companies in the TSL industry (transport, forwarding, logistics). Every tenth company has already hired new employees this year, and another 12 percent enterprises increased, and 24 percent plans to increase the number of employees in 2024.

37 percent construction companies are planning new recruitments this year. 14 percent each manufacturing companies want to hire and fire employees.

There will be no mass layoffs

Nearly every fourth company (23%) is thinking about recruitment in 2024. Every fourth service company and 22% also have plans to increase employment. trading companies. Manufacturing companies are the least willing to employ new employees in 2024 (14%), even though nearly half (49%) of manufacturing companies are struggling with the unavailability of employees.

The balance of new recruitments and employment reductions clearly indicates that Polish enterprises do not plan mass layoffs and, despite rising labor costs, intend to employ new employees. However, the unavailability of employees remains a problem – with a low unemployment rate, increasing employment often becomes a challenge faced by a significant number of entrepreneurs – sums up Katarzyna Dębkowska, an analyst at “PIE”.