Prominent labour shortage in the Hungarian in health-care sector

Over 5 percent of jobs are unfilled in Hungary’s health-care sector, business daily Világgazdaság said on Friday, citing data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

The sector employs some 42,000 doctors and 104,000 nurses, with 3.8 percent of doctor and 3.4 percent of nurse positions vacant, the paper said.

The biggest shortage is in the area of in-patient hospital care, with a 6.2 percent shortage of doctors and a 5 percent shortage of nurses and assistants.

A survey by the Hungarian Chamber of Health-care Workers (MESZK), however, found that worker shortage was actually 2-3 times higher.

“The biggest worker shortages are in central and western Hungary,” MESZK chairman Zoltán Balogh said, commenting on KSH’s data.

In the 2018 survey, head nurses reported a 15-20 percent worker shortage, with most respondents saying the situation could become critical within five years.

Balogh attributed the shortages to low wages, pointing out, however, a recent positive trend in wage growth within the sector.