Companies Are Pausing Hiring Until the End of Summer. Experts Say It's a Costly Mistake
For years, the summer season has been considered a period of slowdown in the labor market. Many employers postpone hiring decisions, assuming that holidays and lower candidate activity reduce recruitment effectiveness. Meanwhile, the market increasingly shows that August in particular can become one of the most strategic months for workforce planning. Fewer recruitment processes running in parallel, reduced competition for candidates, and the opportunity to prepare the organization for an intensive fourth quarter mean that companies recruiting in summer often gain an advantage that cannot be made up for in the autumn.
What is changing is not so much the scale of hiring as the way recruitment is conducted. Businesses are acting more cautiously, planning further ahead, and increasingly treating HR policy as an element of business strategy rather than merely a response to current needs. This is also confirmed by data from Statistics Poland (GUS). At the end of Q1 2026, Poland had 100,200 job vacancies, 16.7% more than the previous quarter. The job vacancy rate rose to 0.81%, showing that companies continue to report significant demand for workers, even as they recruit more selectively than during the strongest periods of economic growth.
August Changes the Rules of the Game. Fewer Candidates Doesn't Mean Worse Recruitment
The most frequently repeated argument against recruiting in August is lower candidate activity. In practice, however, the market picture is far more complex. Indeed, some people use the holiday period to rest and put off their decision to change jobs until later. At the same time, many employers pause or scale back their recruitment processes, assuming that September will be a better time to start looking.
It is precisely this mechanism that often makes competition for active candidates lower in August than a few weeks later. As a result, organizations that maintain continuity in recruitment can reach specialists and operational staff faster, before the market speeds up again once the holiday season ends. Changes on the candidates' side also matter. The end of seasonal contracts, the end of the academic year, relocations, or the desire to start a new career stage after the holidays mean that precisely in summer, people appear on the market who may no longer be available by autumn.
– In recruitment practice, we don't see the market coming to a halt during the holiday period, but rather a shift in its dynamics. There are somewhat fewer candidates actively looking for work, but at the same time, the number of new processes launched by employers is also falling. From Gremi Personal's perspective as an employment agency, this means that companies recruiting in August too often have greater freedom in choosing candidates and shorter time-to-fill than organizations that only start acting after the holidays – says Anna Dzhobolda, Strategic Advisor in the Recruitment Department at Gremi Personal, an international employment and HR services agency.
The Biggest Risk Isn't Vacation Time, but HR Decisions Made Too Late
The changing economic environment means businesses are approaching workforce planning more cautiously. This does not, however, mean abandoning recruitment. On the contrary — the importance of preparing processes earlier and precisely defining staffing needs is growing.
This is particularly visible in the manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, food, and retail sectors, where the second half of the year brings a rise in orders and greater demand for staff. Organizations that only start looking in September very often compete for the same candidates with many other employers. The result is longer processes, greater wage pressure, and difficulty filling positions within the planned timeframe. The labor market is increasingly unforgiving of delays. Even when a recruitment process runs smoothly, a new employee needs time to onboard, get to know the organization, and reach full productivity. Postponing recruitment until autumn can therefore mean the team will only be ready once the rise in orders has already become a reality.
Increasingly, then, the companies gaining an edge are those that treat summer as a time to prepare for an intense autumn, rather than a period to wait out.
– As an employment agency working with businesses across Poland, we see that the biggest risk today isn't the summer drop in applications, but the postponement of staffing decisions. In practice, this means entering the most competitive time of year alongside dozens of other employers. Companies that plan hiring in advance gain greater flexibility and find it much easier to build teams ready to deliver on fourth-quarter business goals – emphasizes Anna Dzhobolda.
The Data Confirms: the Labor Market Has Not Fallen Into a Summer Lull
At the end of the first quarter of 2026, the number of job vacancies in the economy stood at 100,200, while the National Employment Index (NEI), developed by the Gremi Personal Analytical Center, reached 50 points, signaling a stable market situation. At the same time, the registered unemployment rate held steady at 6.1%, meaning that in many sectors, attracting the right workers still requires well-planned action.
Labor market analyses conducted by the Gremi Personal Analytical Center show that the structure of employment is also becoming increasingly important. In many sectors, foreign workers remain a key complement to the market. In Poland, more than 1.29 million foreigners were covered by social insurance, including more than 860,000 citizens of Ukraine. For companies in manufacturing, logistics, and industry, this means the need to pursue a long-term employment policy and plan recruitment processes sufficiently early.
- The data shows that the labor market today no longer operates on a simple split between "good" and "bad" months for recruitment. Organizational readiness, speed of decision-making, and the ability to anticipate staffing needs matter more and more. We're seeing that the companies achieving the best results don't scale back recruitment in summer — they use this period to build an advantage ahead of the autumn rise in market activity. Recruitment is no longer solely an HR department task. It is increasingly an element of organizational management that directly affects a company's ability to deliver on contracts, maintain customer service quality, or keep production on schedule. That's exactly why August is worth using as a month of preparation, not waiting – adds the expert.
For many organizations, August is a period of relatively quieter operational activity. This is precisely when it's easier to look at staffing needs from a broader perspective and plan hiring without the pressure of current business challenges. More and more companies are moving away from the model in which recruitment only begins once a vacancy appears. It is being replaced by forward planning that takes into account sales forecasts, production schedules, order seasonality, and the development of new projects.
Today, Candidates Judge Not Only the Offer, but Also How the Employer Operates
Candidates' expectations are also changing. The decision to take a new job increasingly depends on more than just salary. What matters is how the recruitment process is run, the pace of communication, and the employer's professionalism.
In practice, this means that even an attractive offer can lose out to the competition if the process drags on too long or the candidate goes for days without feedback. This applies both to specialist positions and to production or logistics workers, where the employer's response time is also becoming increasingly important. From a labor market perspective, this is one of the most significant shifts of recent years.
- Candidates today are far more aware of their position in the labor market. They judge not only employment terms, but also how the recruitment process is conducted. Fast feedback, transparent communication, and efficient decision-making build employer credibility. Gremi Personal's experience shows that organizations able to maintain a high standard of process even during the holiday period achieve higher recruitment effectiveness regardless of the season – emphasizes Anna Dzhobolda.
How to recruit effectively in August? Gremi Personal's experts point to five key rules:
- Don't wait until autumn to launch recruitment. Lower activity among some employers also means less competition for candidates. In many cases, August offers greater opportunities to reach valuable workers than early autumn does.
- Treat recruitment as part of business planning. The process of attracting staff should stem from the company's growth plans, sales forecasts, and operational needs — not solely from current vacancies.
- Shorten decision-making time. Long HR processes increase the risk of losing candidates. Organizational efficiency is becoming one of the most important factors determining hiring effectiveness today.
- Take care of the candidate experience. Professional communication, process transparency, and regular contact with candidates build the employer's image and increase recruitment effectiveness.
- Think about competencies for the long term. The most effective organizations don't focus solely on quickly filling a position. They build teams that will support the company's growth in the months and years ahead.