The 61st edition of the Labour Market Monitor report,

Randstad Study: they stay, although they do not always like their job. 42% of dissatisfied employees do only the necessary minimum, and every fourth no longer believes in their own competences. Polish labor market in the era of caution.

Dissatisfaction with work no longer means an automatic departure from the company. In the face of a slowing market, more and more Poles choose a well-known and safe, although not always liked, place of employment. They are prevented from changing not only by market barriers, but increasingly by psychological ones. The result is the phenomenon of "quiet quitting", which hits motivation and the work atmosphere – according to the 61st edition of the Labour Market Monitor report, prepared by the Randstad Research Institute and the Pollster Research Institute.

9 percent of dissatisfied - what keeps them in a job they do not like?
Although the group of people dissatisfied with their job is about 9 percent of all respondents, it is worth taking a closer look – because this is where future rotations and tensions are born, which employers can counteract in advance. In this edition of the study, Randstad checked what makes dissatisfied employees decide to stay in their current company despite everything.
It turns out that only 17 percent of them stay because they simply do not feel the need to change. The vast majority are held back by various fears and barriers. One of the most serious challenges pointed out by dissatisfied employees is the effect of the so-called vicious circle: 31 percent of such people have already tried to find a new job, but without success, and another 28 percent point to the lack of offers tailored to their competence profile. These repeated difficulties breed the conviction that changing the employer is impossible today – which is why purely market barriers are increasingly joined by more personal ones. Lack of self-belief paralyzes one in four dissatisfied employees from taking action, and over 20 percent feel fear of failure in the recruitment process. Interestingly, contrary to popular belief, high earnings keep only 6 percent of people who do not like their job with their current employer.

Quiet quitting is an increasing problem
The consequences of employees getting stuck in a dead end can be seen in the daily functioning of companies. Particularly visible in the latest Monitor data is the phenomenon of quiet quitting: as many as 42 percent of dissatisfied employees admit that they only do what they absolutely have to do at work – among satisfied employees, only every tenth declares such an attitude. About 60 percent of unhappy people in a given company have very low motivation, and dissatisfaction quickly "spills over" to the rest of the team – every third such person openly complains about the company in conversations with colleagues.
Dissatisfaction is a mechanism of interconnected vessels – it can be both a cause and an effect of a bad atmosphere. As many as 34 percent of people who report a lack of satisfaction in their place of employment point out that their supervisors build a work environment based on excessive control and pressure. In this situation, the recipe for regaining commitment turns out to be, above all, finance and sincere respect from the employer: for over 40 percent of employees, a strong impulse to change their attitude would simply be the feeling that they are appreciated for their daily work.

Market in pause mode. Rotation drops, caution grows
The above attitudes are a reflection of a wider slowdown, which can be seen in the data
on rotation. As we read in the 61st edition of our study, in the first quarter of 2026 only 15 percent of employees admit that they have changed their employer in the past six months. This is a drop of 4 percentage points compared to the middle of last year. Interestingly, and what has happened very rarely in the history of the study, more people changed their position within their current company (17%) than decided to transfer to another organization. Poles are clearly looking for development where they feel safe. The hierarchy of values is also changing: for 43 percent of people changing jobs, professional development becomes more important than the salary itself.
– For years, low rotation was a source of pride for HR departments – we read it as proof of people's attachment to the company. Today, the same indicator must be read a bit more cautiously, because beneath the surface of apparent stability sometimes lies resignation. People stay not because they want to, but because they see no alternative. And an employee who has mentally already left, although still physically sitting at the desk, is a burden and a cost for the team that cannot be seen in the tables. Their withdrawal spreads to others faster than enthusiasm. The paradox is that it is precisely in calmer times that it is easiest to miss the moment when loyalty of choice turns into loyalty of necessity – comments Joanna Kolasa, HR Consultancy Manager, Randstad Polska.

Finding a job takes longer and longer – a record 4.5 months
A certain slowdown and caution can also be seen in the duration of recruitment processes and the availability of job offers. The average time to find a new job extended to 4.5 months – this is the highest result in the history of Randstad measurements. The oldest employees (50–64 years old) found themselves in an exceptionally difficult situation, taking an average of as much as 8.7 months to find employment.
– The extension of the average job search time to 4.5 months is a natural effect of greater caution on the market. Employers, wanting to minimize risks, analyze the competences of talents more closely and often expand recruitment processes. However, the situation of candidates over fifty years old requires special attention, as for them this time is almost doubled. As a result, older employees may feel that despite long experience in the labor market, their age constitutes an additional obstacle to finding not only suitable, but often any job. In this situation, employers should analyze and verify their recruitment procedures on an ongoing basis. Too long and complex processes may cause organizations to overlook loyal and experienced experts who are of great value in times of market uncertainty – assesses Daria Seklecka, Senior Branch Manager, Randstad Polska.

Satisfaction still high, but optimism is declining
Despite the visible challenges and barriers, the general picture of mood on the Polish labor market remains positive – 69 percent of respondents declare satisfaction with their current job, and the sense of job security remains at a stable level. However, faith in an easy change of employer is noticeably weakening. The belief that in the next six months it will be possible to find any job fell from 83 to 77 percent. In turn, only 56 percent of employees believe that the position will be as good or better than the current one (this is 4 percentage points less than in our last year's research).
Offers disappoint, and recruitments frustrate
The pessimism of candidates has specific sources. As many as 42 percent of people actively looking for a job rate the quality of available offers as low or very low, and only every tenth finds proposals that they consider attractive. The main barrier remains finance – for 72 percent of candidates, the problem is too low proposed salary.
Just behind money, however, is a purely communication problem. 62 percent of candidates point to the lack of feedback after an job interview as a barrier discouraging change. The scale of the phenomenon of the so-called silent telephone is striking – only 11 percent of rejected candidates received any justification for the decision from recruiters without having to request it.
Full data on rotation in individual groups of employees and regions of Poland, all recruitment barriers encountered by employees, and assessments of recruitment processes can be found in the full report of the 61st edition of the Labour Market Monitor.