700,000 People in Temporary Work. Companies Seek Greater Employment Flexibility

Nearly 700,000 people assigned to temporary work in 2025, almost 1.4 million contracts concluded, and more than half of those assigned to this form of work were foreign nationals. The scale of these figures shows how important a part of the market flexible forms of employment have become. For companies with fluctuating staffing needs, it is increasingly important to separate permanent staffing needs from those that arise seasonally, with production growth, a new contract or absences. A permanent position, permanent recruitment, temporary work and foreign workers are not competing solutions, but answers to different needs of the same company.

The latest data from the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy (MRPiPS) show the scale of one such model. In 2025, temporary work agencies assigned 697,301 people to temporary work. A total of 1,387,673 contracts were concluded with temporary workers, compared with 1,310,776 a year earlier.

This does not mean that temporary work replaces permanent employment. It does, however, show the scale of a solution that allows companies to supplement their teams, among other situations when the demand for labor changes during the year.

– In companies with fluctuating demand for labor, the number of full-time positions alone does not always show whether an organization is well prepared in terms of staffing. A company may have the right number of employees on an annual basis and still face a shortage in specific months. That is why it is worth separating permanent demand from periodic demand and only then planning the employment structure – says Oleg Rudenko, analyst at the Gremi Personal Analytical Center.

A company needs 300 workers. Not always 300 throughout the year

In manufacturing, logistics, warehousing or retail, the number of workers needed may change with the season, order volume, the launch of a new production line, winning a contract or the level of absences. Maintaining a team matching peak demand all year round is not always economically justified. On the other hand, a permanent headcount that is too small may make it harder to fulfill orders when the need for additional workers arises quickly.

When planning employment, it is worth separating needs by their nature. A permanent team ensures continuity of operations and the retention of key competences. Permanent recruitment makes it possible to expand it where an employee is needed for the longer term. Temporary work can secure a periodic increase in headcount, while recruiting foreign workers allows companies to draw on a wider pool of candidates and build teams based on different sources of recruitment and competences.

– At the Gremi Personal employment agency, we see that the statement “we need 50 workers” is only the beginning of the conversation. Our recruiters need to know where this need comes from, when people are to start work, how long they will be needed and whether a similar need will recur. Building the core staff of a plant is one thing, expanding a team before the season is another, and recruiting a specialist the company wants to keep for years is yet another. It is not about choosing one best model, but about matching the way workers are sourced to the real business need – explains Anna Dzhobolda, strategic advisor of the recruitment department at Gremi Personal.

Almost 1.4 million contracts. Flexible employment operates on a large scale

According to MRPiPS data, in 2025 the number of contracts concluded with temporary workers was exactly 1,387,673, higher than a year earlier, when 1,310,776 such contracts were recorded. A total of 697,301 people were assigned to temporary work.

The scale is particularly visible in occupations related to logistics and production. Last year, the occupational groups for which the most temporary work contracts were concluded included warehouse workers and related occupations: 289,793 contracts, unskilled industrial workers: 146,409, and manual packers and labelers: 120,808.

For a company, what matters is not only the decision to use temporary work itself, but determining what part of its labor demand is truly permanent and what part is variable. Too large a share of flexible staffing can make it harder to build a stable team and retain competences. Conversely, planning all employment as permanent may limit the ability to respond quickly to short-term surges in demand.

– There is no universal proportion between the permanent and flexible parts of a team. A different one is right for a plant with stable production, another for a logistics center with distinct seasonal peaks, and yet another for a company starting to deliver a large contract. The employment structure is worth analyzing together with order seasonality, turnover, absences and the time needed to recruit workers. Only such a comparison shows where a company needs a stable core and where it needs the option of a periodic increase in headcount – notes Oleg Rudenko.

More than half of those assigned to temporary work are foreign nationals

Foreign workers remain an important part of this market. Of the 697,301 people assigned by agencies to temporary work in 2025, 361,309 were foreign nationals. That is 51.8 percent.

Their great importance is also visible in data on the entire labor market. According to ZUS (the Polish Social Insurance Institution), at the end of June 2026 more than 16.2 million people were registered for old-age and disability pension insurance, of whom foreign nationals accounted for 8.2%, or about 1.34 million people.

– In our daily work we see companies that build teams from several sources at the same time. They fill some positions permanently, need greater flexibility for others, and in some recruitments extending the search to foreign candidates makes it possible to reach more people. As an international employment agency, we therefore look not only at the number of vacancies, but also at how the client organizes work and how its demand changes during the year. This allows us to match the solution to the company’s real situation, instead of automatically proposing a single model – adds Anna Dzhobolda.