6:09 9 September 2026
Foreign worker permits stall company hiring
Polish companies are facing increasingly long delays in obtaining work permits for foreign employees, complicating recruitment as labor shortages persist. Puls Biznesu reports that the Mazowieckie Voivodeship Office, responsible for about 30 percent of permits issued nationally, received 24,500 applications from January through July 2026 but issued only 9,400. In the first half of 2025, it issued 35,300 permits from 41,300 applications.
Employers say statutory deadlines are regularly exceeded, making staffing and production planning harder. Konfederacja Lewiatan says decisions that should take 30 days can take six or seven months, while temporary residence procedures can average around 340 days against a statutory 60. The Mazowieckie office denies restricting permits, saying applications are assessed under current law. Recruitment agencies warn that prolonged uncertainty can disrupt contracts and push some workers toward informal employment. Pressure is acute across manufacturing, logistics and construction.
Source: pb.pl
