GUS: 720 thousand Poles worked in more than one place.
The number of people with a second job increased by 40 thousand over the year. For employers, this raises questions about team workload; for those earning extra income, about the clauses in their contract with their main employer.
In Q2 2026, about 720 thousand people in Poland worked in more than one place. A year earlier, there were 680 thousand of them, which means an increase of 40 thousand, or nearly 6 percent. The data from Statistics Poland was reported by pulsHR.pl (opens in a new tab). In Q1 2026, 691 thousand people were earning extra income, and in 2025 the average was 684.5 thousand per quarter.
Eurostat gives a lower figure for Poland for the same quarter: 705.8 thousand people. The difference may result from differing methodologies in national and EU studies. Across the entire European Union, more than 8.4 million people had a second job, with the highest numbers in Germany (2.05 million), France (1.36 million) and the Netherlands (1.03 million).
A Hays Poland survey shows that over the past year, 27 percent of specialists took up additional paid work. The most common reason was the desire to gain experience (29 percent), followed by savings (23 percent), living costs (21 percent) and an expensive passion (10 percent). 43 percent of respondents spend from one to five hours a week on additional work, and 18 percent spend more than 15 hours.
In October 2026, Grupa Progres analysed more than 92 thousand advertisements in 45 categories. Additional job offers accounted for 8 percent of them, and 30 percent concerned positions with flexible working hours.
As a rule, a second job does not require the employer's consent. Restrictions stem from non-compete clauses, the obligation to maintain confidentiality, and specific regulations, for example for drivers.
As a rule, the very fact of taking up additional employment does not require consent or informing the current employer. There are, however, exceptions.
According to a Gi Group report cited by Gazeta Prawna, 58.6 percent of those earning extra income do not see a negative impact of additional work on their primary job, while 29.5 percent notice a decline in productivity. For companies, this means that some employees divide their time and energy between several occupations, which affects their availability and the planning of team work.