The hidden job market refers to the part of the recruitment market where job openings are not publicly advertised through standard channels—they do not appear on job portals, career pages, or public social media posts. Instead, these roles are filled quietly, for example through referrals, personal networks, or recruiters. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the Polish IT sector. It is estimated that as many as around 60% of all vacancies may be filled via the hidden job market, i.e. outside official job postings. In the case of Poland’s IT sector, available data confirms this scale. According to the latest Next Technology Professionals report for 2025, public job portals accounted for only 42% of IT specialist hires, while as many as 58% of recruitments took place through unofficial channels—via recruitment agencies (19%) or employee referrals (16%). In other words, nearly 6 out of 10 IT job offers never appear publicly on job boards but circulate through hidden channels. Moreover, the more experienced the candidate, the more likely they are to land a new role through such hidden offers—senior professionals far more often find jobs via recruiters or recommendations, while junior candidates rely mainly on open advertisements.
Main Channels of Hidden Job Offers in IT
Since so many recruitments happen outside official postings, how do “hidden” job offers reach candidates? The most important distribution channels for non-public IT roles include:
Employee referrals and professional networks. Recommendations from industry peers and former colleagues form the foundation of the hidden job market. Companies often run employee referral programs, encouraging current staff to recommend candidates for open roles—successful referrals are typically rewarded. In practice, this means that many positions are filled through personal connections before a job ad is ever published. An experienced specialist who lets trusted contacts know they are open to new challenges may be invited into a recruitment process before the offer appears online. Networking plays a crucial role here—industry contacts provide access to hiring processes that are not publicly announced. Many mid-level and senior IT professionals openly admit that their best offers (often with top-tier salaries) came through referrals or personal connections.
Recruiters and headhunting agencies. IT-focused recruitment firms (such as Hays, Michael Page, or Poland-based Next Technology) maintain their own candidate databases and often run confidential recruitment projects without public ads. Headhunters actively search for suitable specialists (e.g. via LinkedIn or their own networks) and present them with offers that have never been published anywhere. For employers, this is a convenient way to reach passive talent—people who do not browse job ads but may be tempted by an attractive proposal. As a result, many roles—especially senior positions or those requiring unique skills—are available exclusively to selected candidates via trusted recruiters. From an IT specialist’s perspective, staying in touch with industry recruiters is therefore worthwhile—agencies often have “exclusive” roles accessible only through direct search.
Industry communities and discussion groups. Hidden offers can also be found in less formal social channels. Closed Facebook or LinkedIn groups dedicated to IT jobs are popular places where companies or their employees occasionally share recruitment information “under the radar.” Examples include groups such as “Just Join IT – offers” or “No Fluff Jobs – IT discussions,” as well as local tech communities where mentions of open roles appear before official postings go live. Similar situations occur on online forums (e.g. 4programmers.net) or even on platforms like Wykop—users sometimes share that their company is informally looking for people for a project and encourage private contact. For attentive candidates, such communities offer a chance to spot opportunities that never reach the wider public.
Internal promotions and internal recruitment. Although this mainly concerns existing employees rather than external candidates, it is worth noting that many IT positions are filled internally. Employers often prefer to promote or reassign a current employee instead of hiring from outside. From a market perspective, this results in fewer external job postings, since vacancies never enter public recruitment. UK CIPD studies confirm that employers frequently opt for internal promotions or referral hiring instead of open recruitment. For external candidates, such internal movements also create a hidden segment of the market—openings are never publicly announced because they are already filled internally.
Direct contact with employers. The hidden market is a two-way game—not only do companies quietly look for candidates, but candidates themselves can take the initiative. It is not uncommon for a specialist interested in working for a specific company to make direct contact (e.g. by sending a CV or message to a manager) despite the absence of an official opening. Such proactivity is often rewarded—if the candidate has sought-after skills, the company may create a role specifically for them or invite them into a recruitment process before publishing a job ad. Labor market experts advise not to fear this approach: direct contact with a potential employer can be the key to success in the hidden job market. In other words, “knocking on the door” before it officially opens can be an effective strategy.
Why Do Companies Hide Job Offers? Key Reasons
Why do employers decide not to publish job ads and instead recruit discreetly? There are several reasons—mostly practical ones. The most common include:
Time and cost savings. Publishing job ads on portals (such as No Fluff Jobs or Just Join IT) involves costs—companies must pay for postings or recruitment packages. On top of that, there is the time required to screen hundreds of applications. For many employers, it is faster and cheaper to rely on referrals or their own contact networks instead of running a lengthy official recruitment process. As noted by Anna Karwowska, a career mentor at Crispy HR, traditional job postings often generate a “flood of applications, most of which fail to meet basic requirements.” By avoiding open ads, companies save time on reviewing dozens of unsuitable CVs and can reach relevant candidates more quickly.
Better fit and higher candidate quality. Non-public offers usually reach a narrower, pre-selected group of candidates, often through trusted recommendations. This gives employers greater confidence that candidates actually possess the required skills and match the company culture. Trust plays a crucial role—managers are more inclined to hire someone referred by a current employee or a known recruiter, which reduces the risk of a poor hiring decision. Recruitment via networking also means that candidates learn about the company firsthand (e.g. from someone already working there), increasing the likelihood of cultural fit.
Avoiding floods of random applications. A popular posting on a major job board can attract hundreds of applications in a short time. For HR teams, this is challenging—they must quickly reject dozens of unsuitable candidates. The hidden market solves this problem: instead of reviewing 200 CVs, a company interviews 5–6 selected candidates sourced through networks or agencies. From the employer’s perspective, this means less noise and higher efficiency. For candidates, it also means less competition—sometimes they are one of only a handful of people being considered, whereas in an open recruitment they would compete with dozens of others.
Confidentiality and discretion. Some roles are intentionally kept confidential due to the sensitive nature of the recruitment. This may involve replacing a current employee (who may not yet know they are being replaced), roles linked to a new strategy or project the company wants to keep secret from competitors, or executive positions where public recruitment could trigger unwanted speculation. In such cases, HR cannot openly announce the vacancy, so discreet methods are used—headhunter-led confidential searches or trusted referrals. In the UK, it is often noted that certain roles are not advertised publicly specifically due to confidential plans or discreet replacements. Similar practices are seen in Poland—especially for senior IT leadership roles, which are often recruited “under the radar.”
Highly specific or niche requirements. When a company is looking for very specific expertise or a unique combination of skills, a standard job posting may be ineffective. Instead of waiting for the perfect candidate to apply, the employer prefers to search proactively, e.g. through industry networks or specialized recruiters. This often applies to emerging technologies or rare specializations (e.g. a security expert with a niche certification or a developer skilled in a unique tech stack). Companies know such professionals are scarce, so they approach them directly. Sometimes the role itself is so new or unique that it only comes into existence once the right candidate is found—for example, a talented engineer presents their skills, and the company creates a position specifically for them.
Employer-side budget constraints. Not every company can afford large-scale recruitment campaigns with extensive advertising. Startups and smaller software houses often save on recruitment costs by relying on cheaper channels. Instead of paying for listings across multiple portals or expensive agency services, they use their own resources: word-of-mouth referrals, local communities, LinkedIn. Although recruitment agencies can also be costly (charging a success fee), many companies prefer to pay only once a candidate is hired rather than investing in dozens of ads and filtering hundreds of CVs. Referral bonuses paid to employees (e.g. several thousand PLN) often prove more cost-effective than a full recruitment process.
Project dynamics and urgent staffing needs. The IT industry is often unpredictable—new projects or sudden market changes can create a need for a specialist “right now.” In such cases, companies may not have time for traditional recruitment (which can take weeks from posting to hire). Instead, they reach for someone immediately available within their network. A manager might call a developer they know to ask about availability or ask the team for recommendations. This allows the vacancy to be filled within days, whereas waiting for official postings might take weeks. This flexibility and fast response are yet another reason why not all job offers ever make it to job boards—by the time a portal could publish the ad, the position is already filled.
Open vs. Hidden Job Market – What’s the Difference?
The hidden job market differs significantly from the open (public) job market in many respects. Below is a comparison of the key differences between publicly advertised job openings and “hidden” offers that circulate informally:
Aspect: Recruitment channels Open job market (public postings): Public job boards and portals (e.g. No Fluff Jobs, Just Join IT), official company websites and profiles, job ads on social media.
Hidden job market (non-published offers): Private professional networks, employee referrals, recruiters and headhunters, closed industry groups, direct contacts.
Aspect: Availability of job offers Open job market: Universal — offers are visible to all interested candidates.
Hidden job market: Limited — information about the vacancy reaches only selected individuals (e.g. via referrals or a recruiter’s database).
Aspect: Number of candidates Open job market: Very high competition; dozens or sometimes hundreds of CVs are submitted for a single posting.
Hidden job market: Lower competition — often only a few candidates are considered, and in some cases the role is created specifically for one person.
Aspect: Requirements and candidate profile Open job market: Criteria clearly defined in the job ad; roles are available to juniors and a broad pool of candidates. The employer selects from many applications.
Hidden job market: Profiles are often “tailor-made.” Employers seek specialists with very specific skills (often seniors). Requirements may be flexible, as the role is adapted to the identified talent.
Aspect: How candidates are sourced Open job market: Candidates apply proactively to job ads — active applications.
Hidden job market: Candidates are searched for or recommended; often passive candidates who are not formally looking for a job.
Aspect: Time and recruitment process Open job market: Usually longer: publishing the job ad, waiting for applications, multi-stage screening.
Hidden job market: Often faster and more direct — conversations may begin even before recruitment is formally opened.
Aspect: Transparency of information Open job market: Generally high — role descriptions, requirements, and often salary ranges (especially on portals like NFJ).
Hidden job market: Limited — details are disclosed during direct conversations; terms are often subject to individual negotiation.
Aspect: Example roles Open job market: High-volume or planned recruitments, e.g. junior developer, helpdesk roles, rotational positions.
Hidden job market: Niche and key roles: system architect, AI expert, CTO, managerial positions, confidential projects, or urgent contracts.
The Hidden IT Job Market in the US and Europe – A Reference Point
Poland’s IT sector is not unique — the hidden job market exists worldwide and plays a particularly important role in the technology sector. In Western Europe and the United States, this phenomenon has been discussed for years. Studies suggest that as many as 70–80% of all job offers are never publicly advertised. This means that globally, the majority of hires take place through networking, referrals, or direct recruitment, with only a smaller share of roles appearing on official job boards. In the UK, the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) confirms that employers most often fill vacancies through internal promotions, employee referrals, or trusted recruitment agencies, rather than broad public advertising. The reasons are very similar to those in Poland: the cost of postings, the desire to avoid floods of CVs, a preference for trusted candidates, and the need for discretion in certain recruitments.
In the United States, the concept of the “hidden job market” is also taken very seriously. Estimates commonly indicate that around 70–80% of recruitments take place behind the scenes, before any job posting appears online. Especially in the tech industry, many companies rely on referrals and headhunters rather than public ads. One indication of this is the popularity of referral programs — according to Aptitude Research, as many as 82% of US employers use employee referrals to source and screen candidates. Companies such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are well known for hiring a large proportion of new engineers through internal recommendations or direct contacts made at conferences and meetups, often offering substantial referral bonuses. As a result, an American IT specialist who limits themselves to browsing public job listings may miss a significant portion of employment opportunities, because many of them are never officially published.
It is worth noting that the trend toward the hidden job market has intensified globally in recent years. Competition for IT talent is strong, while tools like LinkedIn make it easier to reach candidates directly. Employers are increasingly eager to get ahead of the market, trying to fill positions before competitors even learn that a vacancy exists. For candidates, this means that the ability to navigate the hidden job market has become critical. Networking, building a personal brand online, participating in industry communities, and maintaining relationships with recruiters are now key elements of an effective career strategy — both in Poland and in Western markets. As one British report aptly put it, public job postings are just “the tip of the iceberg,” while real opportunities often lie beneath the surface.
Summary
The hidden job market in the Polish IT sector is a real and significant phenomenon — a large share of attractive offers never reach public job boards. From an employer’s perspective, this is often a deliberate strategy that enables faster, more efficient hiring of well-matched candidates while avoiding costs and an influx of unsuitable applications. For specialists and engineers, it means moving beyond the simple strategy of sending CVs only to open job ads. The best-paid and most interesting roles are often “under the table” — accessible through networks, referrals, or direct approaches from recruiters. Therefore, when planning an IT career, it is worth investing time in networking, nurturing industry relationships, and being present where technical communities are active. At the same time, public job portals should not be ignored — they still provide many opportunities (for example, in 2025 alone, Just Join IT published over 90,000 tech job ads). However, awareness of the hidden job market helps candidates better understand where to look for their next career opportunity. In a dynamic IT industry, where shortages of specialized talent are common, skillfully navigating both segments — the open and the hidden market — offers a clear advantage to both employees and employers.