Number of foreign workers in Hungary booms

As of September 2023, there are 95,000 foreign citizens who are employed in Hungary. Experts expect this number to continue to grow. A regular growth can be noted in the numbers, according to the report made by Hungary’s Central Statistical Office (KSH). This means the number of foreign workers can soon reach 100,000.

Seeing the latest data in this report, the growth is notable in the number of employed foreigners. In 2020, the number was around 60-70,000, last year, it moved to around 80,000. In the September of this year, it was 95,500. This means that in the last year, the country experienced an influx of roughly 13,000 foreign workers.

Where are they coming from?

In the last three years, the number of expats arriving from outside the European Union has doubled from 35,000 to 73,000. This is most likely helped by the simplified process of welcoming workers from more than a dozen countries along with Serbia and Ukraine, writes Portfolio. Companies can ‘borrow’ workers with expedited administration from these countries, but the influx of expats is not limited to these countries. Although, it’s mostly the bigger companies that can afford to borrow workers, in contrast to the smaller companies where there are not enough resources for the labor import.

Changes in regulation

However, things are bound to change with the new immigration regulation that will take effect in a year. The new regulation also introduced a new type of categorisation for expats. These new categories limit the length of the stay at a maximum of 3 years, the shortest being the six months allowed for seasonal guest workers. The regulation states that there’s no crossing allowed between the categories. This new regulation will also specify the jobs that can’t employ foreign workers, thus ensuring that the domestic vacancies are filled by Hungarians.

On the contrary

The Central Statistical Office’s report every three months provides insight into the unoccupied jobs, pointing towards the labor shortages in these areas. The most recent data reported 80,000 unfilled jobs. This means Hungary definitely needs the foreign workers who seem to be flooding into the country.

Surprisingly, against prejudices, the guest workers who come to Hungary contribute to the economy and are well worth employing for the companies. Calculations indicate that every worker who arrives to Hungary saves three Hungarian jobs, because the company continues to operate and expand in Hungary. Especially in the case of Asian expats who are exceedingly more productive in their jobs than those previously employed. This way giving incentive to these previously employed colleagues to work harder in order to keep their job. In some sectors, productivity grew by 30%. It’s easy to see why companies are prone to employ foreign workers and why the Hungarian economy is in dire need of them.

• Read more about foreign construction companies HERE.
• Read more about Budapest’s foreign population HERE.