Six out of ten Hungarians working abroad say integration was easy

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 08. 11:22

Every tenth Hungarian employee has experience working abroad, most of them in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria or France. The opportunity to earn money is the most common reason for moving, but many are also attracted by cultural and language experiences, according to a recent survey by Profession.hu, a representative survey of the Hungarian population.

Half of Hungarians who work abroad found a job with the help of an acquaintance or friend who is already working abroad, 16 percent of them through a headhunting company, and 13 percent were delegated by their employer, but the proportion of foreign jobs on the Profession.hu platform has also increased significantly recently. It took the respondents an average of 3 months to find and fill a job abroad. Most of them, seven out of ten, were placed in manual jobs, and three out of ten in intellectual jobs.

Money is the most important consideration

Workers were mostly motivated by financial considerations to work abroad – 36 percent of them indicated this as the most important reason. 25 percent of them took up work abroad to gain new language and cultural experiences, 13 percent for the opportunity for professional development, while 12 percent mostly wanted better living conditions, and 6 percent took up work abroad for family reasons. The most popular countries for Hungarians working abroad are Germany (45%), the United Kingdom (16%), Austria (11%), or France (6%).

The biggest challenges

The survey showed that emotional factors seriously affect those moving abroad: six out of ten workers reported strong homesickness, and only one in five respondents said they had not faced this feeling at all during their stay abroad. The proportion of those who missed home was higher among women and those living in small settlements.

Despite homesickness, integration into the new environment was easier: 62 percent of respondents indicated that they were able to fully integrate into the communities abroad, 30 percent answered that they were partially successful, and only 8 percent reported significant difficulties in this regard.
A common problem when working abroad is the language barrier: four out of ten respondents faced this, but almost as many, three out of ten, experienced difficulties in establishing human relationships. Two out of ten people indicated that cultural differences caused a challenge. Employees faced similar rates of financial, housing, and administrative problems, with each occurring at around 15 percent.