The Hungarian labor market remains tight

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 12. 04. 10:55

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The Hungarian labor market remains tight: almost 4.7 million people are working continuously, and the unemployment rate is between 4-4.5 percent – said the State Secretary for Employment Policy of the Ministry of National Economy (NGM) on Wednesday on the M1 current affairs channel.

Sándor Czomba said that this is due to the decision made by the Hungarian government in 2010 to focus on a work-based society instead of social welfare systems.

The State Secretary told Kossuth Radio Good morning, Hungary! highlighted in his program that Hungary still ranks 8th and 9th in the EU in terms of both employment and unemployment; moreover, there are one million more jobs than in 2010.

On the current channel M1, the host also asked the state secretary about the wage negotiations, which will result in an 11 percent minimum wage and a 7 percent guaranteed minimum wage increase next year.

Sándor Czomba said about the negotiations that this is always a difficult path, this year the employers started with 5-8 percent for the two wage elements, while the employees started with around 10-12 percent. Based on all this, he believed that they had gone through very serious negotiations and everyone had to go to the wall.

According to the Secretary of State, a particularly good agreement was reached with the 11 percent minimum wage increase and the 7 percent guaranteed minimum wage increase. This is good for employers because they do not risk job security, and from the employee side, he listed the government measures taken in recent times to increase net earnings. As an example, he mentioned the personal income tax exemption for those under 25, as well as the family tax benefit for mothers with 4 and 3 children.

He also drew attention to the fact that real earnings will also increase, since next year, alongside the 11 and 7 percent increase in the two wage components, inflation is expected to be around 4 percent or below.

Sándor Czomba said on the M1 current affairs channel that

Based on data from previous years, the increase in average earnings next year will also be between the minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage, thus between 7-11 percent.

The Secretary of State was asked on the current affairs channel M1 about the leaked document, which includes tax increases, which some link to the Tisza Party. Sándor Czomba said about the measures in the document that “there is no young, old or middle-aged worker in the country who would not be adversely affected by it.” Therefore, “we must continue the path that the Hungarian government has been charting in the economy since 2010, and then the results that we expect in the coming years will be achieved,” said Sándor Czomba. In addition, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Finance also mentioned on Kossuth Radio that, according to the latest data from the Central Statistical Office, the Hungarian population has fallen below 9.5 million. He believed that the entire developed world is struggling with this phenomenon.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that the Hungarian government is not trying to increase the workforce through migration policy, but rather “we have dedicated our lives to trying to find those within the country who know, want and are able to work, and we have approximately 300 thousand such compatriots.”

He also called the family support system important, through which they are trying to ensure that having children is not a burden but an opportunity – said Sándor Czomba.

In a statement sent to MTI on Wednesday by the Ministry of National Economy, Sándor Czomba reported that the Hungarian labor market is stable and strong, employment remains high, while the number of job seekers is at a low point.