Developing Public Employment Services for Economically Inactive People in Poland

Faced with record-low unemployment and a shrinking workforce, Poland is seeking to engage potentially millions of economically inactive people to prevent future labour shortages and reduce social welfare expenditure. The 2025 Act on the Labour Market and Employment Services expands the mandate of Regional and Powiat Labour Offices to include identifying, engaging and activating individuals who are neither working nor registered with the Public Employment Services (PES). Operating within a multi-level governance structure, the PES will require adaptation at a national, regional and local level. Success will depend above all on the capacity of its 340 Powiat Labour Offices, which lead local outreach, client engagement and programme delivery, but will face differing workloads due to significant geographic variation in economic inactivity rates. Collaboration with community-based actors and inter-institutional partnerships can strengthen outreach and registration, while new activation tools and stronger engagement with local employers can help address complex employment barriers and shift the focus from limitations to capabilities for those most at risk of exclusion.