Hungary lowers guest worker cap, 10 countries on the banned list

Hungary has lowered the cap on the number of guest work permits issued to non-European Union nationals to 35,000 for 2025 in a decree issued by by the national economy minister.

Guest worker cap in Hungary

The new cap was set prioritising the protection of Hungarian families, employees, and the labour market, the National Economy Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry noted that the cap was less than half of the regulatory maximum: the average number of unfilled workplaces in the previous four quarters, or 71,000, according to data from the Central Statistics Office (KSH).

There is no doubt how many inactive reserves there are in Hungary and how to attract them into the labour market.

As we have already reported, in a village in Somogy County, Filipino guest workers are milking cows.

The phenomenon is not unique and points to a deeper problem: in many cases, no reliable Hungarian workers who could be hired for a particular job were found either locally or from the surrounding area. In contrast, behind the tightening is the government’s consistent policy of filling vacancies by activating the Hungarian labour reserve and attracting jobseekers and inactive people.

Viktor Orbán said in a Facebook post on the subject. Therefore, we will not let migrants in, and only as many guest workers as we need.”

Mr Orbán also noted that the Qatari model had been copied and modified, but that the essence of the regulation came from there. The Hungarian PM pointed out that all countries have been given a transitional period to create legislation on readmission, and our country will not accept those who fail to do so. Accordingly, ten countries were immediately removed the list, so that no guest workers can come from them. The government has not named the 10 countries, but we will inform our readers as soon as it becomes available to the public.

As we reported earlier, the amendment, published in the Hungarian Gazette on the night of 23 December, states that third-country nationals may be employed in Hungary if Hungary or the European Union has a readmission agreement with that country.

related article: Hungarian Government drastically tightens guest worker rules from 2025!

Two countries are mentioned in the Annex as exceptions, Georgia and Armenia. The Regulation does not apply to the renewal of permits issued until 31 December 2024. Neither will it apply to pending cases that have already commenced.

Orbán told a press conference that there is a quota, 65,000 last year and only 35,000 this year, under which guest workers can arrive. The government believes there are still 300-500,000 people who can be brought into the labour market in Hungary. The final decision on how to do this will be taken in January-February.

Emigation, low-wage policy

Another issue is that the Orbán government, which has been in power for 14 years, has failed to stop the emigration of Hungarian workers abroad. There are still hundreds of thousands of valuable workers in Western Europe because Hungarian wages cannot compete with those in Germany or Austria, for instance.

However, the Hungarian government does not intend to change its low-wage policy, because this is how they can attract foreign investors, who receive huge subsidies if they come here, and can operate here at a discount, with low wages and a high-quality workforce.

There is also the serious question of where the labour of the foreign factories attracted here will be filled, because labour shortages are already being experienced in many sectors, and this will exacerbate the problem by the opening of more factories.

Read also:

Attention! Hungary reintroduces Schengen border control on the entry side from this country

Draconian measures for guest workers to be implemented in Hungary from 1 January, details HERE