Average monthly wages in Poland in the business sector in July 2022 rose by 15.8% year on year, slightly faster than inflation, according to Statistics Poland (GUS) data. Increases and bonus payments in the forestry, mining and energy sectors are mainly responsible for the rise, say economists.
The average gross wage in the business sector – in companies employing more than nine people – was 6,778.63 zloty (€1,427) or just under 4,868 zloty net (€1,025), growing faster than the 12.8% expected by analysts. Month-on-month salaries increased by 3.4%.
“The increase in average salaries in July 2022 relative to June 2022 was due to, among other things, the payment of quarterly bonuses, half-yearly bonuses, incentive bonuses, jubilee bonuses, awards for Forester’s Day and Energy Day, as well as the payment of retirement gratuities,” Statistics Poland wrote in a statement.
“The increase in wages in July 2022 was also influenced by salary increases with their compensation, bonus payments due to inflation, as well as additional one-off awards, among others in the ‘Mining and quarrying’ section,” it said.
Solid wage growth in July came after two months when wages grew slower than inflation, which last month reached 15.6%, the highest level in 25 years. Since the beginning of the year, average gross monthly wages have increased by 13.2%.
“Wages are the story of a new record of nominal increases,” said analysts from mBank, adding that “a solid dose of scepticism is in order”.
“Wages are solidly disrupted by mining. The annual dynamics [of wage growth] increased from +17% to +81%. This means that this section bumped up wage dynamics by around 2 percentage points,” they wrote on Twitter, adding that without wage hikes in mining wage growth in Poland would be at 13.8%.
Month on month, salaries in the mining industry increased by 26.1%.
Płace to historia nowego rekordu wzrostów nominalnych. Udało się też ponownie prześcignąć inflację. Realny fundusz płac odbija. Tu jednak należy się solidna porcja sceptyzymu. Dlaczego? pic.twitter.com/fhsqfzNBv9
— mBank Research (@mbank_research) August 19, 2022
Analysts from Pekao Bank also added that the increase in wages and salaries in the forestry sector also came as a surprise. In their view, the bonuses paid on the occasion of Foresters’ Day – which takes place every year – were exceptionally high this year.
Forestry recorded the highest monthly wage growth rate, increasing by 62.6% during the month. Year on year, foresters’ salaries increased by 33.4%.
“The recession in Poland has fortunately bypassed the labour market for the time being,” said Pekao’s analysts. “In real terms, we even came out slightly ahead.”
Economists have indicated for many months that the Polish labour market is heating up with labour shortages in sectors such as transport, construction and IT putting pressure on wages. In June the unemployment rate in Poland dropped below 5% for the first time since 1990, when the country was beginning its post-communist transition.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated shortages in certain Polish industries, as large numbers of Ukrainian immigrants – mostly men – returned to help defend their homeland.
Main photo credit: Jennifer Lim-Tamkican / Unsplash
Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.
