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Only 36% of surveyed business owners said conditions for running a company in Poland in 2025 were favourable. Almost as many, 32%, gave the opposite answer. Geopolitical instability was identified as the foremost challenge, while the greatest barrier to Polish business proved to be bureaucracy and complex regulations. These are findings from the extensive EY Entrepreneurship Barometer 2025, conducted in February and March 2025 in 16 European countries, including Poland. A total of 1,031 companies were surveyed, including 179 Polish ones. What are the main conclusions about Polish and European entrepreneurship in 2025? Read on.
Conditions for entrepreneurship in Poland? Opinions are deeply divided
Responses to the question about conditions for entrepreneurship in Poland in the EY Entrepreneurship Barometer 2025 varied considerably.
32% of business owners considered conditions unfavourable, 30% neutral and 36% favourable. Polish business owners are therefore more positive about their environment than the surveyed European average. Only 24% of companies in the surveyed part of Europe were satisfied with business conditions in their country, while as many as 50% said it was impossible to do business in their economy.
Despite Polish business owners' relatively positive responses, only 20% said regulations and business practices in our country support and encourage innovation. Meanwhile, 16% considered regulations very restrictive and an obstacle to development.
It is therefore unsurprising that bureaucracy was identified as the greatest barrier to entrepreneurship in Poland by more than half of respondents, exactly 53%. These burdens were even more troublesome for businesses in the region, where 62% cited them.
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Polish companies' financial security threatened by… geopolitical instability?
The factors expected to affect business financial security over the next 12 months were primarily geopolitical instability (68%), higher operating costs (67%), higher labour costs (65%) and inflationary pressure (63%).
Polish respondents were again generally more optimistic than regional respondents, particularly about future consumer sentiment leading to reduced purchases. Only 34% of Polish business owners fear this, 26 percentage points fewer than in the rest of the surveyed European region.
The main factors potentially increasing costs in Polish companies were:
- Energy and utility expenses (33% of respondents indicated a major impact);
- Labour costs (31% described the impact as major);
- Insurance contributions (25%);
- Rent and maintenance costs (23%);
- Raw-material and supply costs (22%).
Despite everything, companies still want to hire… Only 4% of Polish business owners plan redundancies
Despite numerous challenges and barriers faced by Polish and European companies, the EY Entrepreneurship Barometer 2025 clearly shows that Polish business owners still want to hire new employees. As many as 47% reported such plans for the next 12 months. Maintaining current staffing levels was planned by 23%, while only 4% wanted to reduce employee numbers.
At the same time, more than half report difficulties finding employees with the right skills (53%) or required experience (41%). The development of artificial intelligence and the associated revolution requiring new employee skills are particularly emphasised. Another EY survey, “3R in HR: Recruitment, Development, Retention”, showed that almost half of surveyed companies also struggle to develop existing staff and adapt them to modern technology requirements. Training and staff development are therefore extremely important in today's business world.
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Summary
Having problems with your company's HR and payroll? Looking for solutions to improve current or future employees' skills and motivation effectively? Or are bureaucracy and complex regulations affecting different parts of your business? The TaxCoach accounting firm helps business owners with, among other things, HR and payroll, accounting and taxes. Also explore our local offices: accounting office in Poznań and accounting office in Wrocław.
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