salary trends in 2027 in finance: who wins, who loses?

tl;dr / summary:

• Market polarisation in 2027: general salary increases in Polish finance have slowed to 2.5–5%, with compensation budgets strictly targeted toward roles that combine technology, regulatory compliance, and business strategy.
• Top salary winners: business controllers, ESG/Tax Specialists, KSeF/ERP implementation experts, and hybrid Finance/IT professionals (e.g., Power BI, risk modeling, AI) are commanding the highest pay growth.
• Transactional roles stagnate: traditional junior accounting, manual invoice processing, and non-tech CFOs face frozen wages and declining demand due to automation (RPA, OCR, KSeF).
• Impact of EU pay transparency: standardised pay bands eliminate extreme negotiation outliers for new external hires, favoring internal retention and equalised salary structures across teams.
• Strategic shift: the market favors hybrid schedules over 100% remote work, while finance departments evolve from retrospective record-keeping units into forward-looking analytical partners.

In 2026, the Polish financial market entered a phase of strict budgetary discipline—salary increases slowed down in most companies, settling into a conservative range of 2.5–5% (with only a select few granting above 10%). Additionally, businesses began intensively restructuring their pay scales in preparation for the EU Pay Transparency Directive. In 2027, these dynamics will intensify, further polarising the market into "winners" and "losers" of the ongoing technological and regulatory transformation.

Throughout 2026, finance departments across Polish enterprises—spanning manufacturing, retail, and services—have transitioned from cost centers into analytical powerhouses. Compensation trends directly reflect this shift.

who is gaining ground nationally?

• Business & financial controllers (Business Partners): Currently the biggest gainers. Companies actively seek professionals who can translate financial data into commercial strategy. Specialists capable of optimising margins amidst fluctuating energy and raw material costs can expect year-over-year salary growth of 15–20%.
• Tax & ESG reporting specialists: Driven by EU non-financial reporting mandates, finance professionals with ESG expertise (Environmental, Social, and Governance) are emerging as the new "salary elite." Their rates are rising significantly faster than those in traditional accounting.
• Treasurers & risk managers: In an era of volatile exchange rates and shifting interest rates, liquidity management expertise is valued higher than it has been in years.
• Chief accountants with systems expertise: A grasp of the Accounting Act is no longer enough. Professionals capable of leading organisations through KSeF (National e-Invoicing System) implementations and advanced ERP modules (e.g., SAP S/4HANA) are securing top premiums.
• Process migration & transformation experts: The highest pay increases are going to specialists driving Knowledge Transfer projects—relocating processes from local entities into centralised finance hubs.
• Global process owners (GPOs): Companies increasingly target leaders who design regional standards (e.g., EMEA) rather than handle operational posting, requiring deep proficiency in SAP and enterprise ERP platforms.
• Multicultural team leaders: With average headcount at Polish SSC/GBS hubs standing at approximately 336 employees, managers capable of steering large-scale operations across distributed teams are in exceptionally high demand.
• Financiers with niche languages: Premium language allowances persist across Poland for non-English fluency—with German, French, and Scandinavian languages fetching the highest compensation boosters.

who is facing stagnation?

• Traditional / classical accounting: Roles limited strictly to invoice entry and basic reconciliations continue to lose relevance. Automation and KSeF eliminate manual data entry, effectively freezing wage growth for transactional positions.
• Chief financial officers (CFOs) lacking IT proficiency: The era of the CFO acting merely as a "super-accountant" is over. Executives unable to navigate data structures and financial technologies are losing market appeal compared to tech-savvy competitors.
• Traditional small finance departments: Businesses that fail to invest in analytics tools often cannot match the competitive rates offered by mature GBS centers or modernised manufacturing firms.
• Entry-level transactional roles: New job openings in the Polish SSC/BPO sector reached historic lows recently, signaling reduced demand for large entry-level intakes assigned to simple operational tasks.
• Professionals lacking digital skills: In 2026, a "Digital Mindset" is baseline. Staff who avoid learning tools like Power BI, Access, or advanced Excel (VLOOKUPs, pivot tables) face declining marketability.
• Candidates demanding 100% remote work: The market has stabilised around hybrid arrangements. Strict refusal to visit the office has become a barrier to securing top-tier compensation packages.

key 2026 compensation trends across poland.

• Wage pressure vs. geographic location: While Warsaw remains the highest-paying market, salary gaps between the capital and regional hubs like Poznań or Wrocław are narrowing for high-caliber specialists. Poznań—where experienced finance specialists earn 10,500 to 17,000 PLN gross—serves as the primary benchmark for Western Poland.
• Work model vs. remuneration: Companies increasingly offer "presence bonuses" or higher base salaries for professionals willing to work in hybrid arrangements, moving away from fully remote setups to rebuild project teams in office spaces.
• Implementation bonuses: Project bonuses tied to successful IT system implementations that measurably shorten the month-end close cycle gained significant traction in 2026.

who wins in 2027?

Larger compensation budgets will flow to professionals who directly protect businesses from risk, automate processes, or generate unique value that cannot be replicated by algorithms.

• Digital transformation & financial AI experts (e.g., FinTech, Data Scientists, Risk Modeling Managers): Following the 2026 surge in hybrid "superteams" (human + AI), specialists who can program advanced risk models or automate management reporting will dictate terms in 2027. Their compensation - which reached 20,000 to 27,000 PLN gross in 2026 - will continue to grow at the fastest pace in the sector.
• Tax advisors & compliance experts: Regulatory changes in Poland and EU directives (such as ESG) show no signs of slowing down. Experienced Tax Managers and Tax Directors are mission-critical; companies prefer paying top tier (above 25,000 to 35,000 PLN gross) rather than exposing themselves to compliance errors.
• Specialised financial controllers & business advisors: Demand for commercial analytics remains high. The market places immense value on experts who move beyond report generation to extract strategic insights for executive boards in times of economic uncertainty.

who relatively loses in 2027?

In finance, "losing" rarely means a direct nominal pay cut; it more commonly translates to frozen pay rates, eroded purchasing power, or a shrinking volume of job offers.

• Traditional, repetitive accounting (Junior / Invoice Processing Roles): Systems like KSeF, advanced OCR engines, and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) mean repetitive tasks are heavily absorbed by software. Wage pressure at the baseline level will subside.
• Professionals rigidly tied to legacy frameworks: Finance professionals who fail to demonstrate agility or lack proficiency in BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) and basic automation will struggle to negotiate raises above inflation.
• 100% remote work advocates: Following the post-pandemic transition period, the office return trend hardened through 2025–2026. In 2027, flexibility is a key bargaining chip—candidates demanding exclusively remote roles may receive lower financial offers than those open to hybrid schedules.

core megatrends shaping pay scales.

Three overarching phenomena dictate compensation frameworks:

1. EU pay transparency directive: In 2026, companies hurriedly standardised internal pay bands to prepare for EU regulations. By 2027, pay chaotic structures—where two people in identical roles earned vastly different salaries—are largely history. Employers are increasingly cautious about offering inflated rates to external candidates to prevent disrupting internal equity.
2. End of the "universal raise" era: The era of automatic 10–15% inflation-linked pay hikes has ended. In 2027, raises are targeted and discretionary—budgets are reserved exclusively for core talent.
3. The new currency: Work-Life Balance & Stability: Following market volatility, finance professionals in 2027 place greater value on job security and organisational culture, occasionally accepting more modest pay growth in exchange for predictable hours and peace of mind.

randstad employer brand research (REBR) perspective.

Data from the 2026 REBR report highlights the shift from emotional market surges toward operational discipline and pragmatism - setting the stage for 2027 realities.

end of the job-hopping premium: internal retention over external bidding.

REBR data shows a clear deceleration in enterprise wage dynamics. Over half of companies (~51%) in 2026 froze headcount to maintain their cost structures. Only one in four employees planned to request a raise from their current employer—a marked decrease in candidate confidence compared to previous years.

This caution directly shapes the 2027 market. Employees who build strong internal standings rather than hopping from firm to firm stand to benefit. Employers in 2027 prefer rewarding key internal financiers to retain them over paying inflated market rates for external hires, reinforcing operational discipline.

the salary gap: traditional vs. hybrid skillsets.

Average compensation in professional and technical functions grew significantly faster in 2026 than in administrative or support roles.

In 2027, this develops into pronounced market polarisation. Traditional accounting and operational finance face pay stagnation. Conversely, finance professionals operating at the intersection of IT, Business Intelligence, and strategic advisory will capitalise on this trend. The ceiling for "standard" roles has settled, while compensation caps for hybrid IT/Finance specialists continue to expand.

impact of pay transparency on pay structures.

The 2026 REBR report noted that Polish companies proactively implemented salary transparency—with one in three voluntarily publishing broad salary bands in job listings—to get ahead of EU requirements.

In 2027, transparency becomes standard, curtailing extreme recruitment outliers where candidates negotiated salaries well above budget. Professionals with consistently strong competencies will benefit as pay scales flatten and equalise. Negotiation outliers will find fewer opportunities, as transparency limits employers from offering disproportionately higher salaries to new hires without adjusting pay across existing teams.

conclusion.

2026 was defined by adaptation and operational resilience. Companies learned to optimise costs amidst automation and regulatory shifts. Consequently, 2027 will not bring a sudden market collapse, but rather precise candidate selection—compensation budgets in finance will be targeted specifically where technology intersects with business strategy.

This represents an evolution rather than a crisis. Finance is transitioning from a function focused on tracking past records (traditional accounting) to one designing future outcomes (data science + business strategy). Professionals who navigate their careers toward technology and strategic advisory will secure top-tier market compensation in 2027.