How much can guest workers earn in Hungary?

Hungary is a popular target country among 3rd country guest workers because salaries are much higher than in their home countries. For example, the average wage in the Philippines is 2/3rd of the Hungarian minimum wage. Consequently, Filipino guest workers are proud of their Hungarian salaries, although the money they earn here is much less than the sum they could get in other parts of the European Union. But how much can guest workers earn in Hungary?

Anti-guest worker campaign in 2015

Hungary, led by PM Viktor Orbán, started a political smear campaign against illegal migrants in 2015, saying that 3rd country nationals can take jobs away from Hungarians. That came when the living conditions started to improve for the Hungarian workforce, wages began to increase following the 2008-2009 financial depression. The campaign won a third supermajority for Orbán’s Fidesz in 2018. However, the mass outflow of the Hungarian workforce to Western Europe and the increasing need for manual labour resulted in the rising need for guest workers.

Strict rules, copying Qatar

As a result, the Hungarian government and the parliament accepted strict rules for 3rd country guest workers (nationals from the EEA can work in Hungary without restrictions). PM Orbán said that in many aspects, they copied the Qatari regulations. That means that guest workers can reside in Hungary only as long as they have a work permit. Furthermore, they can only work in jobs where Hungarian companies cannot find suitable local workforce. Their permit is valid only for one FEOR (Hungarian Standard Classification of Occupations) number, so they cannot switch workplaces or leave the country (although many of them do, risking an eternal ban from Hungary’s and the European Union’s job market).

Hungarian laws state that there are no secondary workers in the country, so employees in the same positions must get the same wage. Therefore, in some positions, e.g. in the SSC sector, even 3rd country guest workers can receive high salaries (EUR 2-3,000 per month).

Due to the struggling Hungarian economy, the government introduced restrictions concerning the number and home country of the guest workers. The Orbán cabinet capped the number of guest workers per year at 35,000 (a significant reduction from 65,000 in 2024). Furthermore, they said that only countries that signed re-admission agreements with Hungary or the EU can send guest workers to the country. As a result, 13 countries can currently send guest workers to Hungary; only their nationals can get a so-called National Card (a type of Hungarian residence permit): Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Belarus, Moldova, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines.