Nearly 2,300 people under 30 were registered as unemployed in Krakow at the end of the third quarter of 2025. This is almost 40 percent more than a year earlier, according to the latest report from the Municipal Employment Office, cited by wPolityce.
“The rise in unemployment among people under 30 in Krakow is the result of several overlapping trends. For several years now, the city has been losing some of its shared service centers, which served as a natural entry point into the job market for graduates and young professionals,” said Krzysztof Inglot, labor market expert and founder of Personnel Service, for PAP.
“At the same time, increasing automation and the use of artificial intelligence-based tools are reducing the number of entry-level positions. This doesn’t mean Krakow is becoming unfriendly to young people, but rather that the entry threshold has significantly increased – employers now expect competencies and experience that the education system itself often doesn’t yet provide. As a result, young people are taking longer to find work or are considering relocation. This is already statistically evident in the rising unemployment rate in this age group,” he added.
The latest report of the Municipal Employment Office – “Krakow Labor Market Observatory” – summarizes the situation on the local labor market in the third quarter of 2025. The publication is largely devoted to the position of Generation Z, i.e., people born after 1995.
According to the Central Employment Office (GUP), Krakow is home to over 230,000 people under the age of 30 (as of the end of 2024), representing nearly 29 percent of the city’s total population. At the end of September 2025, exactly 2,290 unemployed people were registered in this group, a 37.7 percent increase compared to the previous year.
The share of young people in the total number of unemployed was 17.8 percent, and, as reported by the Central Statistical Office, although their situation has gradually worsened in recent years, it still remains more favorable than during the economic slowdown of several years ago.
The report shows that young unemployed people are increasingly often people with higher education, often without documented professional experience, which indicates difficulties in smoothly entering the labor market after completing their education.
According to the report, Generation Z values appreciation, a positive work atmosphere, work-life balance, and a supportive management style. This generation is aware of technological changes and the impact of artificial intelligence on the job market, which is why they are increasingly choosing job stability over rapid advancement.
The publication shows that young Krakow residents are striving for entrepreneurship. Between 2021 and 2025, people under 30 years of age accounted for over one-third of the beneficiaries of business start-up grants awarded by the Municipal Employment Office. Over 75 percent of these businesses remained active, and those who ceased their businesses rarely returned to the unemployment register.
At the end of September 2025, the total number of unemployed people in the capital of “Małopolska” (Lesser Poland) was 12,878, representing an increase of almost 23 percent year-over-year. The unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percent, reaching 2.5 percent, compared to 2 percent at the same time in 2024.
In its summary of the report, the Central Employment Office (GUP) assessed the Krakow labor market as moderately stable, with visible signs of structural change. Employment remained high, and average wages continued to grow, as did the number of registered businesses.
According to the authors of the report, the increase in unemployment should be interpreted mainly in the context of legislative changes and the reform of employment offices, which changed the registration rules, and not as a direct result of the worsening economic situation.
“The Krakow labor market remains relatively stable, but the growing number of reports of planned group layoffs indicates that many companies are undergoing reorganization processes. This is a signal that requires careful monitoring in the coming quarters,” reads the report.
The report also stated, among other things, that between January and September 2025, 29 employers in Krakow reported their intention to conduct collective layoffs, with 3,903 of these layoffs occurring, an 80.4 percent increase year-over-year.
The majority of notifications came from the IT industry and the professional, scientific, and technical activities sectors.
In September alone, the city office received 1,109 job offers, which is less than half as many as a year earlier.
