Is retirement not enough? So many seniors are still working

There are more and more employees of retirement age on the Polish labor market; the number of working people aged 65+ increased by 4.0%. in September 2025 – PIE analysts reported in the economic weekly.

“The number of employees of retirement age is gradually increasing on the Polish labor market. From January to October 2025, the number of working people aged 65+ increased by 4.0 percent. In October 2025, 524,000 people over 65 years of age worked in Poland.” – wrote analysts.

They added that the increase in employment of seniors was much stronger than in other age groups, while in the youngest age category, i.e. among people aged 15-24, a significant drop in employment was observed (by 2.4%).

“The growing share of people over 65 years of age in the Polish labor market is partly due to demographic changes. The decline in the number of births, which has been ongoing for many years, is reflected in the labor market, among others, by the fact that the age groups entering the labor market are, on average, twice as numerous as those acquiring pension rights,” PIE analysts explained.

On the other hand, in their opinion, the employment of seniors is also influenced by economic pressure, i.e. the decreasing value of the first pension compared to the last salary they received, as well as tax reliefs in force from 2022, i.e. exemption of their income from PIT.

Seniors most often work in smaller companies employing up to 9 employees.

“57% of all professionally active seniors work in micro-enterprises (up to 9 employees). This is due to the fact that many people of retirement age run their own business or support family businesses on a part-time basis. The data show a clear negative correlation between the size of the employing entity and the share of employees from the oldest age group,” wrote the analysts.

They added that in the largest entities employing over 1,000 employees, this percentage is only approximately 6.7%. When it comes to industries, seniors most often work in traditional economic sectors, especially those that experience the greatest staff shortages. (PAP Business)

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