Poland’s Ministry of Education has published its annual forecast, identifying 34 professions with significant demand on the national and regional labor markets for 2026.
Forecast of Demand for Vocational School Professions
“Forecast of demand for employees in vocational school professions on the national and voivodeship labor market” is an annual document published as a notice in the Monitor Polski. It was first announced in 2019. The aim of the forecast is to indicate in which direction the offer of vocational education should develop, depending on the needs of the national and voivodeship labor market. The list contains a list of professions in alphabetical order.
Professions of Special Importance for the State’s Development
The document states that the professions of particular importance for the development of the state are currently: automation technician, concrete worker-carpenter, carpenter, roofer, electromechanic, electrician, mechanic driver, mechanic-machine and equipment assembler, mechatronics technician, industrial insulation installer, building construction assembler, railway surface assembler, building joinery assembler, operator of machines and equipment for earth and road works, operator of machines and equipment in waste management, caregiver in a social assistance home, operator of cutting machines, automation technician, railway traffic control automation technician, road construction technician, roofing technician, railway transport electrical energy technician, electromobility technician, electrician, energy technician, real estate economy technician, waste management technician, industrial insulation technician, mechanic, mechatronics technician, building joinery assembly and automation technician, robotics technician, welding technician, and railway transport technician.
Changes to the List of Professions: A New Addition and Removals
Compared to last year’s list, two professions were removed from the national list: operator of machines and equipment for the processing of plastics and caregiver for the elderly. A brand new profession, however, has appeared – real estate economy technician.
This year’s forecast, in addition to the national list, also includes voivodeship lists of professions with particularly significant, significant or moderate demand in a given region. The professions in these lists are also arranged alphabetically. In each voivodeship, priority professions have been highlighted among those of particular importance.
Provincial Lists of In-Demand Professions
In the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, these are: underground mining technician for minerals other than hard coal and telecommunications technician; in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship – agribusiness technician and renewable energy equipment and systems technician; in the Lublin Voivodeship – dairy processing technician and food technology technician; in the Lubusz Voivodeship – telecommunications technician and renewable energy equipment and systems technician; in the Łódzkie Voivodeship – aviation mechanic technician and fashion industry technician; in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship – electronics technician and foundry technician; in the Masovian Voivodeship – aviation mechanic technician and chemical technology technician; in the Opole Voivodeship – agricultural machinery and agrotronics technician and food technology technician; in the Pomeranian Voivodeship – telecommunications technician and renewable energy equipment and systems technician; in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship – avionics technician and aviation mechanic technician; in the Podlaskie Voivodeship – agribusiness technician and food technology technician; in the Silesian Voivodeship – aviation mechanic technician and metallurgical industry technician; in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship – sanitary engineering technician and agricultural machinery and agrotronics technician; in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship – wood industry technician and yacht industry technician; in the Greater Poland Voivodeship – interior design technician and exhibition industry service technician; in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship – marine electro-automation technician and chemical technology technician.
Significance of the Forecast for Funding Vocational Education
The document “Forecast of demand for employees in vocational school professions on the national and voivodeship labor market” along with all lists is published in the Monitor Polski: https://monitorpolski.gov.pl/MP/2026/146.
In accordance with the Act on the revenues of local government units, on the basis of the forecast, the amounts determined for pupils or trainees covered by vocational training are differentiated when dividing the total amount of educational needs between individual local government units.
For those professions for which, due to their importance for the development of the state, a particular demand for employees on the national or voivodeship labor market is forecast for 2026, justifying an increase in the amounts of educational needs division between individual local government units for the year 2027 and an increase in the amount of co-financing for the costs of training one juvenile worker. (PAP)
