The biggest barriers to business efficiency today are not primarily technological limitations, but staff and skills shortages, employee turnover, poor work organisation and team fatigue. Employees themselves see the situation in a similar way, most often pointing to exhaustion, stress and the excessive number of tasks being carried out simultaneously. The findings of the “Labour Market Barometer 2026” by Gi Group Holding show that further productivity growth requires improvements in management, work organisation and the development of both employee and managerial competences.
Staff Shortages and Fatigue Are the Main Barriers to Productivity
According to the surveyed companies, the most frequently indicated barrier to productivity is a shortage of employees, mentioned by 26.7% of respondents. This is followed by fatigue and occupational burnout, cited by 22.5% of companies, an excessive workload and the need to handle several projects at the same time, indicated by 20.4%, a mismatch between employee skills and organisational needs, mentioned by 19.4%, and high employee turnover, reported by 17.5%.
These results suggest that companies are increasingly aware that productivity challenges are now more often related to people and organisational issues than to technology itself. Inefficient work or production organisation was indicated by 15.7% of companies, while an insufficient level of automation and use of technology was mentioned by 15.1%. This does not mean, however, that technology plays a minor role.
“For many companies, the most urgent constraints today may be those related to the here and now: staff shortages, overburdened teams, employee turnover and skills gaps. Insufficient automation or limited use of technology may be pushed into the background, even though in practice they also reduce efficiency,” says Anna Wesołowska, Managing Director at Gi Group.
It is also worth noting that almost one in five surveyed companies, 18.8%, do not see any significant productivity barriers within their organisations, while 14.5% have difficulty identifying them. This may indicate a relatively good situation in some companies, but it may also suggest that productivity is not being systematically measured and analysed everywhere in sufficient detail to identify the sources of problems precisely.
Large Companies More Often Struggle With Overload and Turnover
The scale and nature of productivity barriers vary significantly depending on the size of the organisation and the sector in which it operates.
Small companies most often point to staff shortages, cited by 29% of respondents. Skills mismatches and employee fatigue are also relatively common, each indicated by 21% of small firms.
Medium-sized enterprises also most frequently struggle with labour shortages, mentioned by 24% of respondents. However, their problems are more dispersed. One in five medium-sized companies points simultaneously to fatigue and occupational burnout, as well as employee turnover.
Large organisations most often indicate three problems at the same time: staff shortages, fatigue and burnout, each at 27%, and an excessive number of tasks and projects, cited by 24%. Compared with smaller companies, large organisations are also more likely to report high employee turnover, mentioned by 20% of respondents.
Although labour shortages are a common problem across most sectors of the economy, the data from Gi Group Holding’s “Labour Market Barometer 2026” show that the causes of declining productivity depend largely on the specific nature of each industry.
In retail, in addition to staff shortages, companies particularly often point to an excessive number of tasks, indicated by 23%, inefficient process organisation and team fatigue, both mentioned by 21%.
In services, companies most often indicate fatigue, occupational burnout and too many tasks being carried out at the same time.
In industry, apart from staff shortages, cited by 27%, high employee turnover is also a significant problem, mentioned by 23%.
In transport and logistics, staff shortages are accompanied by fatigue and excessive workloads, each indicated by 22%, as well as skills mismatches, cited by 23%. Less frequent references to turnover, inefficient process organisation or insufficient automation may suggest that the sector is coping relatively better in these areas.
In the public sector, the strongest barriers are employee fatigue, mentioned by 31%, and staff shortages, cited by 30%.
Companies Are Focusing on Better Work Organisation
“For years, optimisation primarily meant cost reduction. This model is becoming exhausted. It is increasingly clear that further cuts do not improve efficiency, but instead weaken company stability and the quality of work. Apart from investments in technological improvements, the natural direction is now the quality of management and work organisation. The second key area is competences — both their development and their alignment with business needs,” says Paweł Prociak, Managing Director at Wyser Executive Search.
Companies most often see opportunities to improve productivity in better planning and organisation of work. Over the past year, nearly 40% of organisations have implemented such measures. Medium-sized companies were particularly active in this respect, with 44% reporting such actions, as were companies from the transport and logistics sector, where the figure reached 50%.
The second most common solution is the development of employee competences. Such measures were implemented by more than 28% of organisations. Small and large companies invested in this area more often, particularly those operating in retail and services.
By contrast, companies were much less likely to invest in automation and technology, indicated by 19.8%, or process optimisation, mentioned by 19.6%. Activity in these areas was visible mainly among the largest organisations and industrial companies.
Another noteworthy finding is that nearly one in four organisations, 23.3%, declare that they did not take any action aimed at increasing productivity over the past year. This was most often the case among large companies, 25%, and medium-sized enterprises, 24%. Such a result may indicate either a lack of strong pressure to introduce changes in some organisations or limited capacity to implement development initiatives. The public sector most frequently declared a lack of activity in improving productivity, with 31% of respondents indicating no such measures.
Employee Perspective: Overload Depends on Age, Position and Sector
The employee perspective largely overlaps with the diagnosis made by companies. The main barriers preventing employees from performing their duties effectively are primarily organisational in nature and result from work overload.
“Many companies maintain high efficiency through increased pressure on teams, which in the longer term may lead to falling productivity, occupational burnout and higher turnover. This is why the ability to consciously manage teams and set priorities is becoming increasingly important. It also means developing managerial competences that make it possible to decide which tasks are essential and which can be abandoned or postponed,” explains Ewa Michalska, Operations Director at Grafton Recruitment.
The pressure of work intensity is felt most strongly by people aged 25 to 54. In the 25–44 age group, as many as 39% of respondents identify fatigue or stress as the main barrier to effectiveness, while 37% point to too many tasks being performed at the same time. The problem of fatigue is even more visible among people aged 45–54, where the share reaches 43%, the highest result among all age groups. This may be linked to the fact that these employees often combine high professional responsibility with private obligations.
The youngest employees more often than older groups point to organisational problems, cited by 20%, as well as frequent team changes and the onboarding of new people, also indicated by 20%. This may suggest that people at the beginning of their careers are more sensitive to organisational chaos in the workplace.
By contrast, people aged 55 and over are relatively less likely to report fatigue or organisational problems, and much more often than other age groups say they do not see any significant barriers to their effectiveness. This view is shared by 29% of respondents in this group. The result may be explained by longer professional experience and a more stable position in the labour market.
Managers and Specialists Are Under the Greatest Multitasking Pressure
There are also very clear differences between job levels. The greatest overload is reported by people in managerial positions and specialists.
As many as 44% of managers indicate too many tasks being carried out simultaneously as the main barrier to their effectiveness. Among senior specialists, this figure rises to 47%. These are also the groups in which fatigue and stress are particularly strongly felt, indicated by 33% of managers and 41% of senior specialists.
Lower-level and manual workers assess their situation differently. In these groups, fatigue, indicated by 37%, and excessive workloads, cited by 26%, remain important, but insufficient staffing levels are mentioned relatively more often. Among manual workers, almost one third of respondents point to this problem. This shows that in these areas staff shortages remain a key challenge with a direct impact on efficiency.
Public Sector Employees Are the Most Overloaded
The data from Gi Group Holding’s “Labour Market Barometer” show that as many as 52% of employees in administration and public institutions indicate too many tasks being performed at the same time as the main barrier to effectiveness, while 42% mention fatigue or stress. These are the highest results among all analysed sectors.
Such a high level of overload may be the result of long-term staff shortages, a growing number of duties and limited opportunities to increase employment.
High levels of overload are also visible in transport and logistics, as well as in industry. In logistics, 40% of employees point to fatigue or stress, while 31% indicate insufficient team staffing. In industry, the problem of too many tasks being carried out simultaneously is particularly visible, mentioned by 40% of respondents, as are staff shortages, indicated by 31%.
In retail, one in four employees points to poor work or process organisation, while 30% mention too few employees in teams.
Compared with other sectors, services perform relatively better. Employees in this sector more often declare that they do not experience significant problems affecting their effectiveness. Nevertheless, fatigue and excessive workloads remain important challenges here as well, each indicated by 34% of respondents.
Productivity Problems Increasingly Concern Work Organisation
The data show that modern barriers to efficiency are less and less often caused solely by technology or a lack of tools. Much more frequently, they are related to the way work is organised, the overload placed on teams and persistent staff shortages. In practice, this means that improving productivity today requires not only investment in technology, but also better management of team time, more realistic work planning and a reduction in excessive multitasking.
“Productivity is increasingly less about intensifying work and increasingly more about the quality of management. In practice, the greatest impact on results today comes from clear priorities, simplified processes, limiting parallel tasks and better management of team workloads. Maintaining workforce stability is also becoming increasingly important. Overload, burnout and turnover directly reduce efficiency and increase operating costs, producing the opposite effect to that intended,” concludes Paweł Prociak, Managing Director at Wyser Executive Search.
The “Labour Market Barometer 2026” is the 20th edition of the report, which has been prepared since 2014. It was developed by experts from Gi Group Holding based on research conducted by the market and opinion research agency SW Research. The employer survey was carried out using the CATI method between 25 February and 9 March 2026, while the employee survey was conducted using the CAWI method between 23 February and 3 March 2026. The report’s partners are the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs, the Polish HR Forum and the Lewiatan Confederation.
