Monthly Business Index PIE March 2026
Slightly more companies plan to increase employment (11%) than to reduce it (7%). One in ten companies plans to raise salaries in the next three months. In March, the main barrier hindering business operations remains employee costs, which were indicated by as many as 68% of companies.
Every tenth company plans to raise salaries in the next three months, while 89 percent want to keep salaries unchanged. An increase of +5.1 points month-on-month, -1.7 points year-on-year. Financial liquidity 105.2 -10.2 points month-on-month, -18.2 points year-on-year. Employment 103.6 -1.1 points month-on-month, +0.4 points year-on-year. Production capacity +3.5 points month-on-month, +0.7 points year-on-year. New orders +5.4 points month-on-month, +0.9 points year-on-year. Sales value +2.8 points month-on-month, -6.7 points year-on-year. Investments -6.2 points month-on-month. The month-on-month changes in the wage index may result from adjustments to regulatory changes concerning the minimum wage, as well as from ongoing wage pressure in some sectors.
Somewhat more companies plan to increase employment (11 percent) than to reduce it (7 percent). The employment index remains above the neutral level, indicating the readiness of companies to maintain the current level of employment despite rising labor costs.
In March, the main barrier hindering business operations continues to be personnel costs, which were indicated by as many as 68 percent of companies. Almost 2/3 of companies complained about the uncertainty of the economic situation, and 54 percent about rising energy prices. Nearly half complained about the unavailability of workers and payment blockages. The least burdensome barriers remain rising financing costs (21 percent) and unavailability of products (18 percent). Compared to the previous month, the burden of almost all barriers increased, with economic uncertainty increasing the most (by as much as 8 percentage points).
