Hungarian employers expect to expand their workforce more cautiously than before in the coming months

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 06. 01. 11:06

Overall, Hungarian companies are planning a small increase in staff numbers for the third quarter of 2025: during this period, 28 percent of domestic employers plan to expand their current workforce, while 23 percent anticipate a reduction, according to Manpower Hungary’s newly published Labor Market Forecast.

ManpowerGroup conducted its quarterly survey among almost 41,000 employers in 42 countries around the world, in which a representative sample of 530 employers in Hungary were asked about their hiring intentions for the third quarter of 2025.

The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook (NEO) derived from employer responses reached an average value of +5 percent, which shows a decrease of 3 percentage points on a quarterly basis and 9 percentage points on an annual basis, but still reflects net growth prospects.

“In the current macroeconomic situation, a significant number of employers are waiting: 47 percent of them do not plan to increase or reduce their workforce in the coming months,” said Péter Varga, Managing Director of Manpower Hungary. “Although the labor shortage in most sectors has eased significantly over the past few years, in the hope of an imminent recovery, companies continue to refrain from making spectacular layoffs, preferring to implement staff reductions by temporarily keeping vacant positions empty.”

Examining the individual sectors, it can be stated that there are significant differences between the different industries. While communication services (NFM: -17%) and healthcare and life sciences (-10%) may see significant layoffs, finance and real estate (+32%) and information technology (+15%) may also see significant staff increases. The most important sector for the economy is the raw materials and manufacturing industry (+9%), where the number of employees may be slightly above average, while the consumer goods and services sector (-3%), which also represents a significant share, is showing signs of stagnation.

There may also be significant differences between some regions of the country. Employers’ expectations are above the national average in Central Transdanubia (NFM: +15%) and Northern Hungary (+12%). In the other regions, an increase in the number of employees around or below the average can be expected. This time, Central Hungary (-6%) and Western Transdanubia (-8%) stand out from the rest: in these two regions, more people are predicting layoffs than hiring.

Based on company size, micro-enterprises are the most pessimistic (NFM: -4%), while in the other categories, those planning to hire are in a slight majority.