Gig Work Index Q3 2026

Nearly half of students plan to earn extra money during the summer.
There is no shortage of offers

45 percent of students and pupils plan to earn extra money during the summer season. At the same time, the demand for temporary workers remains high - two out of three Polish enterprises will be looking for additional people to work in the third quarter of 2026. These are the results of the latest Casual Work Index, conducted periodically since 2023 by the Immediate Job Agency Tikrow.

In the third quarter of the year, 65 percent of companies in the retail, production, and logistics sectors plan to hire temporary workers. This result represents a decrease of 5 percentage points quarterly and is the lowest reading this year. At the same time, the highest demand for temporary workers is visible in production - 70 percent of companies in this sector will be looking for additional people (a decrease of 7 percentage points). In retail, the demand for casual workers is 63 percent (a decrease of 6 percentage points), and in logistics and warehouses - 61 percent (a decrease of 3 percentage points).

- The third quarter of the year confirms the strong position of flexible work in the human resource strategies of Polish enterprises. The retail, production, and logistics sectors maintain a high demand for external personnel. Although this index noted a correction compared to the very intense second quarter, the data clearly show that the vast majority of enterprises still base their operational liquidity on flexible forms of employment – says Krzysztof Trębski, CEO of Tikrow.

High employment costs a challenge for companies

Rising employment costs and seasonal increases in orders (characteristic of the third and fourth quarters) are the most common reasons for hiring casual workers. They were indicated by 42 percent (an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the second quarter) and 38 percent (a decrease of 5 percentage points) of respondents representing Polish companies, respectively. The third most popular reason is the difficulty in acquiring physical workers and non-specialists - 35 percent (an increase of 4 percentage points). Seasonality represents the greatest challenge in the third quarter for one industry - retail (indicated by 40 percent of respondents).

Pupils and students active in the labor market

Every fifth Pole (19 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point compared to the previous quarter) declares a willingness to take up temporary work in the summer. The most active group in this aspect is pupils and students, for whom the school and academic year has ended. Nearly half of them (45 percent) intend to take up casual work during the summer. This is an increase of as much as 11 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Full-time employees also have a plan to earn extra money - 22 percent of Poles (an increase of 2 percentage points) who have a permanent job want to take up a casual occupation this summer.

- Analysis of the motivation of people deciding on additional employment clearly shows that casual work has become a key tool for Poles to stabilize household budgets in the face of the rising cost of living. Although the main motive for taking up additional employment is the need to finance extra expenses, indicated by 58 percent of respondents (an increase of 1 percentage point quarterly, a decrease of 8 percentage points year-on-year), at the same time, the group of people for whom temporary work is a way to cover ongoing financial obligations is growing dynamically - as many as 48 percent of respondents indicate high prices and the rising costs of daily living and maintenance as the reason. This is a significant increase of 4 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and as much as 10 percentage points year-on-year – comments Krzysztof Trębski on the results of the Casual Work Index.