Half of Hungarians don’t like their jobs

Nearly half of Hungarians (45 percent) are not really satisfied with their jobs, according to a survey by Erste of nearly 1,200 people representing the 16-69-year-old population of Hungary. The highest rates are among those working in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and those doing manual work in large companies (55 percent and 54 percent, respectively). At the other end of the scale are those who work as entrepreneurs: only 16 percent of them are not satisfied, which is understandable, since they mostly do the work they have chosen themselves.

Those with a high school diploma and those with a vocational qualification were the most negative about their satisfaction, while graduates were the least dissatisfied. By age, those aged 40-49 are the most dissatisfied (53 percent of those who make negative statements). Older people, those aged 60-69, feel the best at work, among them the least dissatisfied with their jobs and the most satisfied.

According to the survey, 51 percent of employees feel that they cannot really develop their talents at work. While those with a high school diploma or some kind of vocational qualification have a more negative view of the issue, with 59 and 54 percent believing that they cannot really develop their talents at work, the proportion among graduates and employees with eight general secondary education is 47 and 43 percent, respectively.

Half of the respondents (49 percent) do not see a chance to build their career at their current workplace, and do not consider it likely that they will be able to change jobs within the company or be promoted. Only 20 percent of employees consider moving to another field or job to be a realistic possibility, while 15 percent see a chance to move to a higher position. Among men, the proportion of those who believe that they have a chance of promotion is higher, at 18 percent, while only 12 percent of women calculate this. Overall, the youngest employees (aged 16-29) are the most optimistic about the development of their careers within the company.

Based on all this, it is not surprising that almost half of employees (47 percent) do not see themselves in their current job and would like to change within two years: 42 percent of them would move as soon as possible, while 58 percent imagine doing so in the next 1-2 years. Although many would like to move, the proportion of those thinking in the long term (5+ years) is also high, at 32 percent, while younger people (16-29 and 30-39 years old) are much smaller (22 percent) in planning for a period longer than five years. The insistence is also lower among graduates: 21 percent would move as soon as possible, only 10 percent plan for more than five years.