Orbán administration committed to significant, predictable wage increase

The government is planning to introduce a predictable wage increase scheme spanning several years, one of the issues to be included in the new National Consultation public survey, a government official said on Saturday.

Balázs Hidvéghi, a state secretary at the Prime Minister’s cabinet office, said in a video on Facebook that the wage increase programme would be an important topic in the National Consultation survey that focuses on the government’s new economic policy.

Significant wage increases have been carried out in recent years, affecting such public sector workers as nurses, doctors, teachers, kindergarten workers, policemen, fire fighters and soldiers, he said. Wage increases have been ongoing also in the business sector, with the minimum wage and the minimum wage for skilled workers having been increased by three and a half-fold compared to the period when a left wing government had been in power, Hidvéghi said. Average wages have almost more than tripled since then, he added.

Hidvéghi said the aim was to have increased income for families concurrently with the strengthening of the economy.

A new agreement is needed between employers and employees about a wage increase programme spanning several years, he said. This will enable a rapid increase in the minimum wage and the minimum wage for skilled workers, as well in the average wage, he added.

“We want the [monthly] minimum wage to reach 400,000 forints (EUR 1,000) and the average wage 1 million forints,” Hidvéghi said, adding that everyone would soon get a chance to express their opinion on the matter in the next National Consultation survey.

Achieving govt wage goals requires 12pc annual minimum wage increases

Achieving the government’s wage goals will require the minimum wage to rise by an annual 12pc, on average, in the coming three years, representatives of employers and unions at wage talks with the government told MTI on Thursday. Laszlo Perlusz, the chief secretary of business association VOSZ, noted that the government aimed to bring the minimum wage up to EUR 1,000/month over the next three years, while raising it to 50pc of the average wage, excluding bonuses, by January 1, 2027. That will require a 12pc annual minimum wage increase, on average, over three years, he added.

He said an acceleration of economic growth would provide the foundation for a wage increase of that scale, but added that wage convergence needed to be supported by payroll tax cuts and economic development programmes, such as the Demján Sándor Programme for SMEs, to boost corporate efficiency, too. Without state support, wages can’t rise faster than productivity in a sustainable manner for years on end, he said.

He added that the VKF, a forum of employers, unions and the government, would next meet to discuss wages on November 11. Imre Palkovics, who heads employers’ association MOSZ, also said achieving the government’s wage targets would require 12pc annual minimum wage increases. He added that achieving GDP growth of 3-6pc in 2025 was another condition.

220,000 unemployed in Hungary, jobless rate grows

Hungary’s jobless rate for people between the ages of 15 and 74 stood at 4.5pc in September, data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on Friday show. In absolute terms, there were 220,000 unemployed. The number of employed averaged 4,699,000 in September, down 32,000 from twelve months earlier. KSH noted that the drop was from a high base.

For the period January-September, average employment numbers were little changed at 4,709,000. The number of people on the primary employment market edged up to 4,545,000. The number of Hungarians working abroad was little changed at 108,000. The number of people in fostered work programmes dropped by 10,000 to 56,000.

The employment rate for the 15-64 age group edged up 0.2pp to 75.3pc. Data from the National Employment Service (NFSZ) show there were 228,000 registered jobseekers at the end of September, up 0.2pc from twelve months earlier. Jobseekers spent 11.9 months, on average, looking for work, but 45pc of the jobless found new positions in under three months. The percentage of jobless who had been looking for work for at least one year reached 34pc.

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• Hungarian wages continue to climb, real earnings outpace inflation – read more HERE
• PM Orbán promises incredible wages in Hungary, says Brussels bureaucrats destroy our lives

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