Polish Workers Adopt AI Faster Than Employers Can Invest In It

Polish employees are turning to artificial intelligence faster than their employers are able to deploy and appreciate it. The latest Randstad Workmonitor 2026 report shows that nearly 70 percent of people employed in Poland believe AI tools make their daily tasks easier, while among employers only about one in three see a boost in efficiency from the technology.

The Randstad Workmonitor is a recurring labor market survey conducted since 2003; this year's 23rd edition is based on the opinions of more than 27,000 employees and 1,225 employers from several dozen countries, supplemented by an analysis of three million job postings. In Poland, the research firm asked employees and company leaders, among other things, how artificial intelligence is changing daily work and whether both sides of the labor market see these changes in the same way.

A gap between workers and companies

The answers reveal a clear perception gap. Among employees, 64 percent say AI tools genuinely make it easier to carry out their duties, and a similar share report higher personal productivity thanks to the automation of repetitive tasks. On the employer side there is far less enthusiasm: only 33 percent of company leaders in Poland see a measurable increase in team efficiency from AI, and fewer than a third of managers admit the technology affects how tasks are performed in their organization at all.

The gap is even more visible in the pace of adoption. Only 38 percent of companies operating in Poland invested in AI technologies over the past twelve months. That is the lowest result among all the countries covered by the Randstad survey, against a global average of 63 percent. In other words, Polish employees are reaching for chatbots and text generators on their own, before the IT department or management does it for them.

Concerns about the future of work

The growing use of AI goes hand in hand with anxiety about job security. Nearly half, 48 percent, of those surveyed in Poland fear that automation will threaten their position, compared with 41 percent globally. The youngest workers feel this anxiety most strongly: among Generation Z respondents aged 18-24, about half express concern about job security over the next five years.

The concern among young workers is backed up by recruitment data. The report shows that 20 percent of companies in Poland plan to cut hiring for junior positions in 2026, a trend linked directly to generative AI tools taking over simpler, repetitive tasks. That is below the global average of 38 percent of companies, but the direction of change is the same worldwide.

Who is most affected

Randstad points out that the pressure of automation is not spread evenly. Administrative and data-entry positions are most exposed to the impact of generative AI, where routine, repetitive tasks are increasingly being taken over by algorithms or outsourcing firms using automation. The result is fewer new job postings in these segments and weaker wage growth.

At the same time, recruitment firms are seeing rising demand for an entirely different type of specialist, people who can deploy AI, integrate it with existing IT infrastructure, and ensure the quality of the data feeding the models. This is creating a two-track labor market: simple office positions are shrinking on one side, while demand is growing for engineers and specialists responsible for implementation on the other.

What this means for Polish companies

Randstad's data confirms a picture already familiar from other market studies: Polish employees are adopting AI from the bottom up, faster than companies' formal strategies can keep pace with the trend. For HR departments and executives, this means a risk that employees are using AI tools without oversight, without training, and without clear data security rules, while official rollouts are still in their infancy. 65 percent of employees expect companies to increase investment in developing AI-related skills, and nearly half name training in this area as a priority for their own professional development.

The report also fits into a broader regulatory context. Starting August 2, 2026, further provisions of the EU AI Act come into force, imposing new obligations on companies regarding transparency in the use of artificial intelligence. The gap between informal, widespread AI use by employees and the lack of formal policies on the employer side could in practice make it harder to meet these requirements.

The Workmonitor 2026 results also show that the scale of the problem is not unique to Poland, but rather a difference in pace. Globally, companies are investing in AI markedly faster than in Poland, which according to Randstad could deepen the competitive advantage of foreign organizations in the coming years, unless local companies speed up formal adoption and start deliberately managing how their teams are already using the tools available to them.