Focus on labor market challenges in the agricultural industry

By: STA Date: 2025. 05. 15. 09:15

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With the rise of modern technologies, agriculture and the food industry increasingly require professionals with technological knowledge. Mechanization, digitalization and innovation have become not only an opportunity, but also a prerequisite – however, the lack of adequate labor force can hinder the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular – said Olga Beáta Felkai, Deputy State Secretary responsible for the food chain, at the Oeconomus Foundation conference on labor market challenges.

(Photo: AM)

The Deputy State Secretary highlighted that the approximately 2,900 billion forints of the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan provides an opportunity for labor-intensive sectors – such as horticulture and animal husbandry – to create jobs locally, thereby mitigating the population decline in rural areas. The job-creating effect of the subsidies is also strengthened by the 2024 investment applications and the Young Farmer program. She added that the investment subsidies announced in 2024 – including in the fields of meat processing, fruit and vegetable processing, and feed production – have outstanding job creation potential. Within the framework of the Rural Development Programme, 37 calls for support contributed to the creation of approximately 15,000 new jobs, primarily in micro and small enterprises. The agricultural generational change is encouraged by the Young Farmer Programme, with a budget of HUF 79 billion.

Olga Beáta Felkai also highlighted that special attention is being paid to disadvantaged workers and self-employed people living in the smallest settlements

The challenges in the labour market are not only of economic but also of social importance. The aim is to create a sustainable and competitive agricultural economy that can ensure the population retention power of rural areas in the long term, the retention of young people, and an employment structure that is aligned with technological development.