Business woes continue to plague Poland after Blachotrapez, the largest employer in Poland’s Podhale region, announced layoffs, and employees are worried that more are coming.
So far, only 70 people have received notice from the roofing and facade-covering manufacturer, reports Do Rzeczy, a reduction in the company’s workforce of 7 percent. However, in unofficial conversations, employees admit they fear the layoffs will affect up to 200 people.
Blachotrapez cites the reasons for the layoffs as a significant decline in orders, limited sales, and high steel costs. Currency fluctuations and a lack of access to steel from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine are also exacerbating the situation.
Last year, the company recorded a loss of PLN 13 million (€3 million) versus PLN 10 million in 2023.
Some employees also believe that poor business decisions are responsible for the company’s financial problems.
“They opened a new plant in Myślenice, invested a huge amount of money, and left themselves no financial cushion. Pruszyński is somehow managing, while we’re sinking,” one employee told media.
By the end of September alone, employers across Poland had reported their intention to lay off over 88,000 employees, which is 53,800 more than in the previous year, although the most affected area is the capital of Warsaw.
According to Business Insider Polska, the number of people reported for layoffs
is growing year over year. “In 2022, 26,271 people were at risk of losing their jobs, 34,191 in 2024, and 88,053 in 2025, and that’s just until September 2025,” we read.
The highest number of redundancy notifications was recorded in the Masovian Voivodeship, with 68,227 cases. This is a record increase, as during the same period in 2024, 9,304 people were at risk of redundancy, compared to 12,863 employees the previous year.
High business costs, from wages to resources and materials, have contributed to the ongoing employment problem. And now, a recent report highlights that prices in Poland are so high, Germans are no longer making the trip to shop across the border.
The portal of the Berlin and Brandenburg radio station RBB, cited by Do Rzeczy, referred to data from the Polish-German Consumer Information Center, comparing prices in the border cities of Frankfurt (Oder) and Słubice.
It found that the benefits of shopping in Poland had diminished. “The reason: Prices in Poland have risen more sharply than in Germany,” the RBB website points out.
Although other data claims that meat, dairy products, and some fruits and vegetables are still worth the trip, it appears that Germans are only making the cross-border trip to fill up their cars with cheaper gas.
