The Job Offer Barometer for May 2025, compiled by the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów and the Office for Investment and Economic Cycles, indicates that the number of online job advertisements remained effectively unchanged compared to April. The index recorded a slight decline from 257.9 points in April to 257.8 in May, and remains just below the 258.2 level observed in May 2024. Since the slowdown at the end of 2023, employer activity in advertising new vacancies has shown limited movement. While overall hiring remains cautious, conditions vary across occupational groups. Demand for manual workers and jobs in the construction sector continues to grow, maintaining a positive trend. The labour market also appears stable in education, healthcare, and tourism. There has been a gradual recovery in science and engineering-related professions, particularly in IT roles, with May marking the sixth consecutive monthly increase in job postings in these fields. However, the total number of vacancies in these professions remains relatively low due to sharp declines in previous years. In contrast, demand has stagnated in the social sciences and legal fields, where the number of job postings has seen little movement over the past 18 months. May also brought more declines than gains in this category. Notable increases were observed in real estate, marketing, and corporate purchasing, while the largest declines occurred in job advertisements for graphic designers, call centre roles, and HR specialists. Real estate job offers, after a short rebound, have returned to levels seen over the past two years, while marketing roles have seen four consecutive months of modest growth. Across Poland’s regions, more provinces recorded increases in job advertisements than declines. Podlaskie, Lubelskie, and Świętokrzyskie posted the highest month-on-month increases in vacancies, while Lubusz, Pomeranian, and Silesian provinces saw the largest drops. Among service occupations, job postings in education, shipping, and healthcare continued to rise. Demand in the education sector remains stable, despite some fluctuations, and interest in tourism-related positions has slowly increased. On the other hand, job advertisements in media and logistics (excluding freight forwarding) declined, continuing a downward trend. In science and engineering fields, IT roles led growth again in May, particularly in programming and system administration. This marks the seventh straight month of increases in programmer job offers. Despite stronger recovery in system administration—due to smaller previous losses—both areas are experiencing renewed employer interest. Research and development postings, however, have remained steady without significant change. A similar trend was observed in e-commerce. Conversely, declines were noted in health and safety, environmental protection, and engineering, despite relatively high activity in these sectors compared to past years. The overall registered unemployment rate (excluding seasonal employment) remained at 5.1% for the sixth consecutive month in April, highlighting continued market stability. Although employer activity is slowly improving, particularly in select sectors, the pace of recovery remains measured, and hiring decisions appear to be shaped by broader economic caution. Source: BIEC