Real wages in free fall in Hungary: Hungarians need a second job

The last time many Hungarians needed second and third jobs to make ends meet was during the final years of the Communist regime. The result was the Hungarian workers’ shockingly bad health and world-leading numbers in, e.g. cardiovascular and cancerous diseases on a global scale. Now, those days seem to return since more and more Hungarians need to find a second job because of the skyrocketing inflation and the real wage decrease following it.

According to rtl.hu, 1/3rd of the Hungarian employees must find a second job to make ends meet. According to the latest international survey of market leader Randstad, real wages in Hungary have been decreasing for nine months. Based on the Hungarian Central Statistical Office’s (KSH) data, the average salary was worth 8 percent less than one year before.

According to the results of Randstad’s survey, 34 percent of the employees in Hungary are in search for a second job. That is nine percent higher than the average of the 34 countries the survey monitored. Balázs Bábel, Vasas Trade Union deputy head, told RTL News that the main reason for the multiple jobs is that the people do not want to save every penny. “Everything costs more, so I must also work more”, Mr Bábel added.

Wages cannot increase as much as they should

He highlighted that the universal aim of trade unions is to fight for conditions allowing each worker to make ends meet with their base salary. However, inflation turned everything upside down, and people work overtime or accept plus shifts to have enough money for their families. The rate of people needing a second (or third) job is very high in Hungary. In Austria, only 11 percent of the workers need multiple workplaces. That figure is higher in the case of Czechia: 26 percent. In Poland, it is 31 percent.

József Nógrádi, the trade director of the Trenkwalder Magyarország, said Hungarians find plus work in the catering and agriculture sector. Typical jobs concern seasonal work beginning now. According to their survey, 45 percent of the manual workers have not received a pay rise yet. They are the most vulnerable, Mr Nógrádi added.

Real wages have been decreasing in Hungary since last September. József Hornyák, a macro analyst of Portfolio, said wages could not follow the 20 percent inflation. Based on the Randstad survey, 40 percent of Hungarian employees believe they will only retire between the ages of 65-69 due to the worsening economic prospects.