Wizz Air explained why they left passengers in France & UK without help
Wizz Air passengers wrote to Hungarian media outlets that they were left without proper help by the low-cost airline in Paris and London. People argued that Wizz Air did not acknowledge first that their flight was cancelled. Later they admitted that but offered no help for their passengers, who had to find accommodation, food, and drink in the French and British capital and rebook their flight. Some of them did not even speak the language. Here is Wizz Air’s explanation.
What happened?
As we reported yesterday, the Hungary-based low-cost airline, Wizz Air, left several passengers at the Paris-Orly airport without proper assistance. One of the victims wrote her story to Blikk. Orsolya stated that the most unpleasant thing was not the cancellation itself. It was the fact that she could neither rebook nor cancel the flight because she had already checked in, as Wizz Air only sent information messages about delays in the beginning.
Orsolya said that the company did not help them find accommodation for the night after it was clear their flight would not take off. Last weekend, a very similar case occurred. Wizz Air cancelled a flight commuting between London and Budapest but, allegedly, provided no proper help for the passengers.
The Hungarian low-cost airline sent a statement on the issue to Blikk, a Hungarian tabloid. In short, the company said
their delays were caused by the labour shortage the air traffic control struggled.
They added that they would refund their passengers and launch an investigation into yesterday’s Paris-Orly case.
Wizz Air’s explanation – labour shortage
They highlighted that they did everything to provide punctual service for their passengers. However, labour shortage hits hard not only the air traffic control but also the airports, the ground, baggage handling and security services. As a result, there are delays, which, due to the strict air safety rules, result in flight cancellations.
In the case of the Paris-Orly cancellation, that is what happened. Because of the air traffic control labour shortage, their flights suffered delays, and their colleagues could not fly back to Budapest before the airport’s closure. The statement clears that they notified their passengers via SMS and email about the delay.
They added that they have a partner company taking care of the people in case of cancellations. Wizz Air promised they would launch an investigation in the Paris-Orly case. If they found problems, they would act accordingly.
They offered alternative flights, refunding the ticket cost or crediting 120% of it on the passenger’s Wizz account. They added that they would try to process all requests in one week. Furthermore, passengers have the right to demand compensation on the company’s website, wizzair.com.
Systematic problem
Blikk says that the problem is more extended than just cancelling individual flights. EasyJet, for example, cancelled hundreds in May because of an IT problem. Lufthansa announced that they would do so with more than 2,000 flights because of the labour shortage at the Frankfurt and München airports. Thus, the problem is systematic.
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Orbán cabinet to ease hiring temporary workers from the Far East
Based on a new bill, the government would ease the hiring of temporary workers from the Far East. Therefore, licensed labour-hire agencies would be created in Hungary. Trade unions became enraged because of the bill on the parliament’s desk. They say that the government would like to ease the labour shortage with the help of Far-Eastern guest workers instead of searching for answers to why Hungarian employees quit.
Job in Hungary without a work permit?
According to Népszava, the government would like to open the country’s gates to Vietnamese, Indonesian, Mongolian, and Filipino guest workers. The new bill is part of a “salat bill” including all measures the government would like to introduce after the end of the COVID emergency state. If it passes, third world guest workers could come easier to Hungary with the help of licensed labour-hire agencies. As a result,
they could get a job even without a work permit.
Furthermore, the government decrees would regulate how a labour-hire agency can become licensed.
The idea is not new. Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó thought after the first wave that labour-hire agencies are the key to economic restart. Therefore, they signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Prohumán Ltd. Szijjártó announced last summer that they allowed guest workers to temporarily come to Hungary with the help of licensed labour-hire agencies. Last September, 13 firms could get into that category.
The government wants to deal with labour shortage
The website of Prohumán Ltd, one of the 13 licensed agencies, says that they hire guest workers from 11 non-EU countries: Serbia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Montenegro, and Vietnam.
Zoltán László, a vice-chairman of the Vasas federation of union workers, said that this measure would not solve the labour shortage in Hungary. He added that only some labour-hire agencies would receive good revenues. He said that the government thought a couple of years ago that the Serbian and Ukrainian guest workers would solve the labour shortage. However, too few came, and most went farther West quickly.
The Hungarian processing industry needs 100 thousand workers. However, considerable fluctuation causes the labour shortage in the sector. For example, there was a company putting into work 800 new staff in one year. But in the end, they had fewer employees than at the beginning of the year. That is because new workers quit in less than three months. Some disappear on their first day.
They do not feel OK and do not have a future perspective, Zoltán László said. Their salaries are low ,and they have to do a lot of overwork because of the labour shortage. Some companies expect the same quantity and quality from a newcomer as a veteran. If employers cannot deal with these problems, even Far-Eastern guest workers will quit.
This is how salaries can be kept low?
Some Hungarian workers have already received threats that they could be easily replaced with Asian guest workers who do not talk back. Many Hungarian companies hire their workers because that makes it easier to adapt to demand changes. Such employees are easy to send away: they terminate the contract with the labour-hire agency.
András Jámbor, an opposition MP, says that the government keeps salaries low for the Far-Eastern guest workers. Temporary guest workers weaken other workers’ interest representation, he added. Instead, he would support adult training programs for jobless people in the labour market. Jámbor believes that it is the only way to put an end to the labour shortage.
Opposition Jobbik and Democratic Coalition would delete the paragraphs making temporary guest workers come to Hungary easier. Their reasons are the same as Jámbor’s. DK and Jobbik would instead increase wages.
Read alsoCould Ukrainian refugees solve the Hungarian labour shortage?
LMP demands 10 pc wage hike for public sector employees to compensate for inflation
Opposition LMP has called on the government to increase without delay the wages of public sector employees to compensate for inflation.
LMP co-leader Máté Kanász-Nagy told a press conference on Tuesday that a wage increase scheme was needed to close the gap between wages in the public sector and the private sector.
He said that
public sector wages lagged behind considerably, citing social workers and career-starting teachers taking home around 170,000 forints (EUR 460) per month as against 310,000 forints by toolmakers and 270,000 by electricians.
He added that
the value of public sector wages dropped by around 4 percent as a result of inflation this year and the drop is 10 percent based on the increase in food prices.
Inflation boosts government revenues, giving the cabinet enough room for manoeuvre, he said.
As we wrote last week, the green LMP party wants the rapid implementation of strong measures to reduce car traffic in Budapest, and advocates the introduction of a congestion charge as well as a car-free embankment on the Pest side of the city, read more HERE.
Radical opposition slams new government structure
Dóra Dúró, deputy leader of the radical opposition Mi Hazánk (Our Homeland) party, said on Tuesday that the structure of Viktor Orbán’s incoming government failed to address the needs or priorities of Hungarian society.
“Family policy, education, health care, youth, children, and sports have not even been mentioned in the law outlining the new ministries,”
Dúró said, adding that “this clearly reflects the Orban government’s priority of values”.
Dúró also slammed the ruling parties for eliminating the post of minister for family affairs while the country’s reproduction rate had dropped once again. Dúró connected this with the vaccine campaign, saying the drop came “exactly nine months after the start of mass inoculations against coronavirus”. Mi Hazánk’s experts will do research to ascertain “if there is a link between the two developments”, she said.
Meanwhile, Dúró said
employees of the public sector would lose out because the new government was unconcerned by “the number of areas suffering from low pay and labour shortages”.
Also, Dúró called it “outrageous” that Antal Rogan, the prime minister’s cabinet chief, will be in charge of the secret services, whose activities have so far been overseen by three ministries. Rogan is “unsuited” to the task, she insisted.
As we wrote earlier, the Mi Hazánk is proposing scrapping lawmakers’ immunity with a view to curbing “politicians’ crimes”, details HERE.
Read alsoOrbán elected prime minister of Hungary for the fifth time – UPDATE
Hungary simplified the employment of Ukrainian refugees
From May, Ukrainian refugees can accept all kinds of jobs in Hungary, even if they do not have a work permit. Furthermore, employers receive allowances if they employ Ukrainian citizens who fled their country because of Russian aggression.
Hungary helps Ukrainian refugees
According to Magyar Nemzet, the simplification concerns Ukrainian citizens who applied for asylum. If not, the rules are the same as in the case of the citizens of any other third country. For example, they can work only in sectors struggling with labour shortages, like IT, catering, and construction. And only those Ukrainian citizens can utilise that state benefit who have a biometric passport.
Many Ukrainian refugees worked in Hungary before the war. A lot of employers now help their relatives to get a job.
The state pays an allowance to the employers if a Ukrainian employee worked for at least 90 days and arrived in Hungary after the outbreak of the war, applied for or received asylum. The maximum amount of that sum is currently HUF 30 thousand (EUR 77.75) per employee per month if they arrived before the war. If they came after the start of the Russian aggression, that amount increases to HUF 60 thousand (EUR 154) per month per employee. Furthermore, each child living with the employee receives HUF 12 thousand (EUR 31.1) per month.
The number of refugees is still high
According to the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), a total of 5,928 people crossed into Hungary directly from Ukraine on Friday, while another 6,546 people from Ukraine crossed from Romania, the national police headquarters said. Police issued
temporary residence permits valid for thirty days to 502 people,
the police website said on Saturday. Holders of such permits must contact a local immigration office near their place of residence within thirty days to apply for permanent documents, it added.
The Budapest police received 280 refugees, 66 children among them, by train, according to the municipal police website. Meanwhile, the municipal government office of Budapest said staff at the BOK sports and events centre serving as a humanitarian transit point had helped 272 refugees on Friday, accommodating 118 of whom stayed overnight.
The BOK centre provides food and drink, medical services, toilets, internet access, and help with travel arrangements in cooperation with charity organisations and volunteers.
The national railway, MAV, operates a ticket office at the site, while buses are provided to take people to the main train stations and the airport.
Read alsoThis Hungarian professor from Transcarpathia gives online classes from the front!
Hungarian police officers’ starting salary is lower than 520 EUR/month!
Inflation is skyrocketing in Hungary, and wages in the private sector are constantly increasing. However, the salaries in the public sector do not change, which means that teachers, police officers, librarians, and nurses lose more and more money every month. Not surprisingly, these sectors struggle with considerable labour shortages. But there are other reasons why young people do not choose to become police officers.
Falling number of police cadets
According to rtl.hu, the number of young Hungarians who choose to become policemen and policewomen decreased significantly in the last few years. In 2014, 3,060 applicants wanted to become non-commissioned officers. Their training lasted two years. This number fell to 460 this year. Official data show that only 10 pc of the police officer positions are unfilled, but union leaders stress that the system would need significantly more officers to avoid their frequent burnout and redeployment.
Unions highlight that most of the crew providing service at the Budapest police departments come from the countryside.
Since there are not enough new cadets for the long training period, the government introduced a shortened one. The 10-month police patrol training welcomed 1,282 students in 2021. However, a third of them do not even start the training since they fail the aptitude test.
The official data is misleading
Experience shows that the 10-month training is not sufficient to prepare police officers for the challenges they will face on the streets, union leaders believe. For example, they are expected to know and routinely use more than 800 different acts, which is impossible. Unions highlight that the official data is misleading. The high number of vacant positions does not result in the system’s collapse as many officers work overtime. Furthermore, they regularly work far from their homes.
Géza Pongó, the secretary of the Független Rendőr Szakszervezet (Independent Police Union, FRSZ), said that most officers in service in Budapest are redeployed from the countryside.
The government’s single gesture towards the police was that members of the armed forces received an extra six months’ pay before the elections.
Mr Pongó believes that this sum did not solve the problems. Officers can leave service now if their supervisors agree because of the emergency introduced due to the pandemic. However, that rule expires on 1 June.
He said that the starting salary is lower than 526 EUR per month,
so being a police officer is not an attractive profession for young Hungarians. Furthermore, even experienced officers do not get more than 800 EUR per month, so there is no incentive. Therefore, he would suggest a 50-100 pc pay rise.
More money and early retirement
Furthermore, there are a lot of administrative disadvantages. Some officers work both in the morning and the evening with an 8-hour-long rest period during the day. Lajos (28) was sent to work on the street with zero knowledge after he finished the 10-month training, he said.
Another police patrol told RTL that he earned only 172,000 HUF (453 EUR) per month.
He lives at her mother’s, so he can make ends meet. However, he studies to become an electrician and would like to start his own business with his colleagues. Both said they would be satisfied with a salary above 1,000 EUR/month. Another officer complained that he works 200 kilometres away from his home.
In conclusion, police officers would remain in their profession if salaries were higher and the early retirement option was reintroduced.
Read alsoHungary is the 3rd-cheapest country in Europe – it is not such good news as it may seem
Hungarian sea in trouble, rising property prices and no labour force
Since 2015, property prices have risen by 90 per cent everywhere, up to 200 per cent in some places. The average price per square metre, for both apartments and houses, has risen for both new and second-hand properties. The most popular settlement was Balatonfüred. A problem for this popular tourist destination is the lack of labour force. Many restaurants are unable to open.
Brutal property prices at Lake Balaton
Even during the economic crisis of 2008-2009, prices in Balaton municipalities did not decrease. Moreover, since 2014, prices for both apartments and houses have been rising steadily.
Prices have increased the most in Fonyód, Balatonfüred, Balatonalmádi, and Siófok.
In 2021, average house prices rose by 10.4 per cent compared to a year earlier, portfolio.hu reports. The price of second-hand homes per square metre was between 205 and 637 thousand forints in 2021. The most expensive properties were in and around Balatonfüred, while the cheapest were in Nagykanizsa.
In Csopak, Hévíz, Siófok, Balatonfüred, and Zamárdi, the price per square metre for new apartments was all above HUF 500,000. The trend is similar for second-hand properties. In 14 municipalities, the average price of second-hand properties was above HUF 30 million.
Housing prices are strongly influenced by proximity to the waterfront.
The closer the property is to the Hungarian sea, the higher the price per square metre. Analysts say that the upward trend is unlikely to slow down in the coming period.
Fewer restaurants due to labour shortages?
Like last year, in 2022, the restaurants of Lake Balaton are in a difficult situation, writes nlc.hu.
There will be a shortage of waiters and cooks in restaurants during the summer season.
Shortages are reported in almost all labour markets. Not only restaurants but also hotels complain about staff shortages. According to the president of the Hungarian Hospitality Industry Association, workers expect too much pay. “There will be those who will not even be able to open because they no longer dare to take on these costs and pass them on to their guests. I know of a restaurant in Western Hungary that closed after 39 years because it was unable to solve the labour problem,” said László Kovács.
Rising prices for raw materials, energy, and workers’ salaries could also lead to price increases in the catering sector.
This is how Ukrainian refugees can work in Hungary
Ukrainian refugees do not come to Hungary primarily for work. However, the opportunity to earn a living can help them get through this difficult period.
Ukrainian workers in Hungary
Csongor Juhász, CEO of Prohuman talked to vg.hu about the ways Ukrainian people could effectively survive the war period in Hungary. He believes that finding employment in Hungary would be beneficial for them for a number of reasons. It would not require them to travel far away from their home besides they would be able to start working almost immediately.
“In the last few weeks, we have already registered more than a thousand people who were interested. We are in the process of organising their placement and employment,”
said Csongor Juhász. However, Zoltán Karácsony, HR Portal’s job market expert, believes that we are still at the beginning of the process. So far, the recruitment of Ukrainian workers has not been proven particularly successful. There are several reasons behind this. According to the expert, one of the main reasons is that recruitment agencies used to employ special screening to find workers for different positions. In the case of Ukrainian refugees, this is a much more difficult and time-consuming task.
It is in the common interest that Ukrainian refugees be able to leave behind the horrid camp conditions, find decent accommodation and earn a living.
Csongor Juhász pointed out that since the outbreak of the war, there has been a helpline set up for Ukrainian refugees. People in need can acquire information and assistance at border stations and in Budapest as well. Assistance includes administration, travel and accommodation.
There is hope at the end of the tunnel
Among the thousands of refugees, naturally, there are many women with children. In these cases, the women cannot find employment until childcare is not taken care of.
Some families arrive in Hungary with barely any clothes, no knowledge of a foreign language and without any Hungarian connections.
In the past, large groups of workers would come from Ukraine to work in manufacturing or production. According to Juhász, these are still the most popular sectors. It is fortunate because this is where the greatest need for labour is.
Construction, hospitality and tourism are also popular sectors.
Jobtain’s managing director, Magdolna Mihályi says that each week they help hundreds of people find work. Thanks to a change in the Hungarian Government’s regulation, the time needed to obtain a humanitarian residence permit has been significantly reduced. In addition, hrportal.hu reports that employers can apply for a subsidy when hiring Ukrainian workers.
Read also: This is why refugees are returning from Budapest to Ukraine in large numbers
Indians to drive Hungarian trucks? Hungarian Waberer’s sets new trend
Waberer’s International, the leading Hungarian transport specialist, is to employ 80 drivers and two dispatchers from India to ease the labour shortage in the sector. The new colleagues will start in April, and from September they will work alone. Employing professionals from India is not rare in Europe in the transport sector. And they do not take away jobs from Hungarians. There are tens of thousands who could work as truck drivers in Hungary, but they do not want to. Therefore, demand for drivers from third countries like Serbia and Ukraine is rising.
Challenging profession
According to portfolio.hu, Waberer’s International starts testing the Indian applicants for the 82 open positions. The truck driver profession is ageing, leaving the job is frequent, while the demand is rising. The Hungarian economy news outlet says the increase in the sector is two-digit every year.
That vacuum cannot be solved with higher salaries – Zsolt Barna, CEO of the Hungarian Waberer’s, said. He added that the work was not easy. True, driving is easier than before, thanks to the many gadgets. However,
the job is stressful, parking is difficult everywhere in Europe, and journeys sometimes take very long.
Thus, divers rarely see their families.
Indian truck drivers are competent
The company said they still counted on Hungarian drivers and people from the Central, Eastern European regions. However, it has become hard to find Ukrainian, Serbian, Romanian drivers recently. Companies compete for Ukrainian drivers despite the ongoing war.
Since labour shortage baulks the company’s expansion, they resorted to employ Indian drivers.
Polish and Lithuanian transport companies also like to work with Indian drivers since they are well-prepared and hardworking. Furthermore, in India, working abroad has a long tradition. Thus, it is easy to recruit people with foreign driving experience. Currently, these people are the target group of the Hungarian transport giant.
The only things Indian drivers need to learn are the rules in Hungary plus they have to get some experience regarding the European driving style. The new colleagues will arrive in May, and the company organises internal training for them. Moreover,
they will have to pass several aptitude tests to find out whether they are eligible for the job or not.
Waberer’s provides all their Indian employees with a professional interpreter for the tests.
Trucks cannot stop
Portfolio.hu argues that low wages are not the number one reason for the labour shortage in the transport sector. Its main reason is the high demand and the low supply of professional drivers. Logistics companies in East Hungary have been working with Ukrainian drivers for a long time. They disappeared from the market because of the Russian invasion, leaving many unfilled positions behind – Tivadar Árvay, communications manager of a trade union, said.
Therefore, locals should expect to see more drivers from exotic countries like India from now on.
Mr Árvay added that they did not take the jobs away from Hungarians. There are tens of thousands of Hungarian drivers who do not work in their profession. To make matters worse, 40 pc of the active Hungarian drivers are above 50, 10-12 pc is even above 60. If they leave, it will cause an even more severe labour shortage.
If their jobs remain vacant, there will be significant problems in the supply chains. Therefore, the state should help more to employ third-country citizens – Árvay argued.
Read alsoAsian guest workers are flocking to Hungary
Could Ukrainian refugees solve the Hungarian labour shortage?
40,000 jobs should be filled. More than 200,000 Ukrainian refugees have already arrived in our country, and several organisations have already offered them jobs.
Are they the solution?
The real question is whether they can provide a solution for the Hungarian economy, which has been struggling with labour shortages for years. According to penzcentrum.hu, the answer is probably no. But their impact on the market in the short and long term was outlined by the Vice President of Communications of the National Association of Hungarian Labour Lenders.
The current figure of 200,000 refugees from Ukraine is likely to rise further. The Hungarian economy, which has a severe labour shortage, is welcoming people from Ukraine with open arms, but the big question is whether they can solve a problem that has been going on for years.
Government help
About this, Rajmund Roland Dénes, the Vice President of Communications of the National Association of Hungarian Labour Lenders, said:
“The government is reacting quickly to help those who apply for asylum status by issuing a government decree to the effect that if someone is granted asylum status, they can be employed in the so-called shortage occupations from then on, either in normal employment or as a temporary worker without a permit, but the employer has an obligation to notify the immigration authority,”
we can read in penzcentrum.hu’s article.
By the end of 2021, there were more than 40,000 vacancies in Hungary, which also means that it is in everyone’s interest to provide maximum assistance to family members and relatives of Ukrainian citizens currently working in Hungary, to make them feel safe and secure here, to help them find a job as soon as possible, and to help them participate in the “blood circulation” of the Hungarian economy, the expert says. He then adds:
During the war-induced migration crisis, there will be many who prefer to continue their migration westwards because of the asylum status offered by the EU. Either because their families work there or because they will find it easier to find work there.
Of course, there will also be citizens temporarily in our country or in other Western countries who will apply for asylum status and wait for the war to end and then return home. Even though they have had to leave their homeland and livelihood behind, they are drawn home by their hearts to rebuild their livelihoods.
Read alsoEmployers of Ukraine refugees get support by the govt
Hungarian retail chains ready to employ refugees
Hungary’s retail chains hit by a labour shortage are “open to employing refugees” from Ukraine, the head of the National Trade Association said on Thursday.
György Vámos said his association was in contact with charity organisations receiving refugees, and anyone seeking jobs would be informed about vacant positions.
Tesco said earlier that refugees planning to stay in Hungary were welcome to take up employment. Tesco currently has 385 jobs to offer Hungarian speakers. Auchan, another supermarket, told MTI the company was in the process of drawing up employment criteria for refugees.
- Read also: Orbán: refugees have to work in Hungary!
The Hungarian unit of German company Schott, which makes specialty glass products, plans to spend 28 billion forints to expand its base in Lukácsháza, in south-western Hungary, creating 120 jobs, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Thursday. Hungary’s government is supporting the investment with a 3.3 billion forint grant, the minister said.
Schott will add production of prefillable sterile syringes to its Hungarian operations with the project.
These products were earlier made solely at Schott’s Swiss-based unit, so there was intensive competition for the investment among potential locations, Szijjártó said.
Output of Hungary’s medical supplies sector rose 12 percent last year to 275 billion forints, the minister said. Hungary’s exports of syringes increased to fifty times its level in 2010 and the country takes eleventh place in the world in this respect, he said. Szijjártó also noted that the value of trade between Germany and Hungary also grew by 12 percent last year, to approaching 60 billion, while Hungarian exports to Germany amounted to 32 billion.
Read also Ukrainian guest workers demonstrated for peace in Hungary
The Hungarian labour market: average salary, inflation, real wages
Annual wage growth in Hungary slowed to 9.7 percent in December from 10.1 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Wednesday.
Data for businesses with at least five people on payroll show the average gross monthly wage for full-time employees was 492,800 forints (EUR 1,377), while the average net wage was 327,700 forints (EUR 915).
Calculating with annual inflation of 7.4 percent in December, real wages increased by 2.1 percent.
In January-December last year, average gross and net earnings increased by 8.7 percent compared with 2020.
A ministry of innovation and technology (ITM) official said
wages had steadily increased for 108 months straight.
Hungarian tax policy is helpful for both employers and employees, Sándor Bodó, the state secretary for employment policy, told public television, adding that the taxes on employment had been steadily decreasing, meaning that firms have more money to pay better wages. On the employee side, he mentioned the exemption on personal income tax for those under-25s.
Analysts told MTI that wage growth was likely to quicken this year, while rising wage costs may force businesses to hike prices, so
a possible price-wage spiral may call for tightening fiscal and monetary policy.
Péter Virovácz of ING Bank said the annual increase on gross wages including bonuses had been weaker than expected in December, but this could be connected with companies readying themselves for cost pressures this year.
The price-wage spiral was already apparent in January inflation data, and monetary and fiscal tightening would be required to address it, he said.
The average wage is likely to grow by around 15 percent due this year, he added.
Gábor Regős of Századvég noted that the private sector had seen lower wage growth than the public sector in previous months, but the two growth rates had leveled out by December. He reckoned that
the average wage would grow in double digits, underpinned by a sharp rise in the minimum wage, reduced employment contributions and a tight labour market.
But real wage growth would be stifled by strong inflation, he added.
As we wrote a few days earlier, the Hungarian government supports Asian guest workers to ease labour shortages. More and more Asian guest workers are arriving in Hungary, while the anti-migration propaganda is booming. Details here.
Read alsoHungary to fall behind Romania within 1-2 years!?
Asian guest workers are flocking to Hungary
The Hungarian government also supports Asian guest workers to ease labour shortages. More and more Asian guest workers are arriving in Hungary, while the anti-migration propaganda is booming.
According to G7.hu, although the coronavirus pandemic has slowed down the increment of the number of foreign workers and immigrants arriving in Hungary, their overall numbers have been rising at an astonishing rate in recent years. Meanwhile, the composition of guest workers working in Hungary is also changing rapidly.
It seems that the “migrant propaganda” is just a sham, as the portal writes, a communication stunt. In fact, the Hungarian government has entered the global race for Asian labour, perhaps best illustrated by a decree that came into force last September to encourage large numbers of workers from the Far East.
Countries from where workers are coming
The news portal also adds that recently, more and more workers from India, Vietnam and the Philippines have been arriving in Hungary.
As we can read in Napi.hu’s article, in recent years, the National Employment Service (Nemzeti Foglalkoztatási Szolgálat, NFSZ) has published annual summaries on the subject, which show that the number of foreigners working in Hungary increased significantly between 2015 and 2020:
from almost 17,000 in 2015 and 2016, the figure was close to 70,000 in 2019, and then fell to just over 36,000 in 2020, but this may already include the impact of the pandemic.
If we put the annual reports side by side, we can see that workers are arriving in Hungary from more and more countries. For example, in 2020, 131 Syrians, 194 Pakistanis, 208 Nigerians, 426 Filipinos and 630 Moldovans were granted work permits. However, Vietnam tops this list with 5140 workers, almost 2,000 more than China in second place and about double the number of South Korea in third place.
Qualifications
According to G7.hu, 45% of those working in casual employment do simple, unskilled work.
About half of them have a primary school education and 18% have a vocational secondary school education. Just over 40% are in administrative and service support jobs, and 13% work in the construction sector.
The number and proportion of migrant workers from within the EU have fallen, while the number and proportion of migrant workers from Asia, including Vietnam, South Korea and India, have increased in recent years, and even the arrival of large numbers of Ukrainian migrant workers did not change this.
Read alsoWizz Air is in trouble amidst the Russian-Ukrainian conflict
There is a significant labour shortage in the Southern Great Plain region
The demand is huge for welders, machine cutters, but forklift drivers, seamstresses and electricians are also wanted in the area – Press Release
The labour market of the Southern Great Plain region suffered significantly from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, and the unemployment rate temporarily rose sharply during its first waves. However, in the last two quarters of 2021 a rearrangement was experienced, resulting in labour shortage in the region in several areas. There is a great demand for skilled workers, especially in the food- and heavy industry and also for skilled manual workers. The automotive sector has recoiled due to the global semiconductor shortage, but the industry is also expected to recover significantly in the first half of this year, which is likely to create further labour demand in the Southern Great Plain region, according to the Regional Manager of WHC Group.
WHC Group, being the largest Hungarian-owned HR service provider in the country, specializes primarily in temporary staffing and recruitment. The company serves its regional customers from its own local offices. WHC serves its partners located in Csongrád-Csanád and Békés counties from Szeged, and Bács-Kiskun and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok counties from Kecskemét.
Therefore, WHC has a direct and significant insight into the labour market processes in the region. “In our experience, the service and the automotive industries have suffered the most from the pandemic in terms of the labour market. In Csongrád-Csanád county, as an area strongly building on services, significant layoffs were made in the hospitality sector, for example. The manufacturing industry, on the other hand, provided an opportunity for dismissed workers almost immediately, as demand for the products of several, such as chemical companies, increased – precisely because of the pandemic, which required significant labour force. In Bács-Kiskun and Békés counties, due to the global semiconductor shortage, some redundancies were made in the automotive industry in the second and third quarters of 2021. However, the sector is expected to recover in the first half of this year,” highlighted Márk Bajkán, Regional Manager of WHC Group, responsible for Csongrád-Csanád and Békés counties.
Read also 4.67 million people work in Hungary!
According to the experience of WHC, the number of unemployed increased significantly in the whole region in the second quarter of 2020, which peaked in the first quarter of 2021: the rate of the unemployed in the population has roughly doubled from the level of a year earlier. “After the peak, a decline began, and by the third quarter of 2021, the situation was beginning to normalize. In Csongrád-Csanád county, for example, the unemployment rate of 4.9% at the beginning of the year fell to less than half, to 2.4%,” explains the manager of the Szeged office.
In the region, heavy industry and agriculture dominates, while in Szeged knowledge-intensive industries do
Examining the general labour market characteristics of the Southern Great Plain region, it can be seen that the automotive industry and its suppliers, and companies operating in the plastics, metal and electronics industries provide the most jobs. Within this, in Csongrád-Csanád county the light industry and the service sector are the main employers. Although Békés county can be considered primarily an agricultural area from an economic point of view, the active age population still works mostly in the manufacturing industry.
“A strong labour market factor in the region is the labour absorption of seasonal agricultural work from other sectors, which can lead to a significant reorganization of the labour market at different times of the year, such as during the cresting or harvest period,” added Márk Bajkán.
Within the region, Szeged has special features, as compared to other towns, it is not the heavy industry which dominates the economy, but the so-called “diversified knowledge-intensive” industry. In addition to the spread of Shared Service Centers (SSCs) for multinational companies, the IT sector is gaining ground in the city as well. The largest employer in the city is the University of Szeged.
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There is a significant labour shortage in the metal industry
At the regional level, the number of vacancies is highest in trained physical jobs that do not require qualification. Among jobs that require a professional qualification, metal industry workers are typically needed the most, such as welder, machine cutter, locksmith; but there is also a shortage of forklift workers, machine adjusters, electricians and mechanics. Filling these positions is the greatest challenge, as workers with relevant experience typically have higher earning opportunities in the Western part of the country and abroad.
Most of the open job opportunities cover trained physical jobs, generally in the assembling, packing and material handling positions.
With the recovery of the automotive industry, huge demand for labour force can be expected from car manufacturers and their most important suppliers from the first and second quarters of 2022, for which the solution, according to WHC, may be to employ workers from the Far East in the longer term.
“Regarding third-country workers, we find that Hungarian-owned employers are more cautious about their employment for the time being, but multinational companies are open to employ foreign workers, as the number of people of working age in Hungary is declining. The integration of cross-border workers into production can provide the fastest and most efficient response to labour shortages, as fluctuation is not as high amongst them, and at the same time they can reduce the overburdening of Hungarian workers. They can play a key role in productivity of the employing companies; thus, they have an importance in retaining the local workforce and jobs as well,” explains the Regional Manager of WHC Group.
The increase of the gross general minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage is expected to have a labour-retaining effect in Békés and Csongrád-Csanád counties, but it will affect Bács-Kiskun county only to a lesser extent. “At the national level, Békés county has one of the lowest average net earnings (HUF 205,000 in the first quarter of 2021), Csongrád-Csanád county is placed in the middle (HUF 236,000 in the first quarter of 2021). It is expected that, as in previous years, the wage development will follow the tendency of the gross general minimum wage and the guaranteed minimum wage increase, and employers will try to compensate for the lower base wage with various non-wage benefits,” explains Márk Bajkán.
“In our 10-person office in Szeged, which serves Csongrád-Csanád and Békés counties, we work with dozens of customers, operating mainly in the automotive, metal and manufacturing sectors. But of course, our team of experts caters to the HR needs of partners in any field, regardless of industry,” summarises the activities of the Szeged office Márk Bajkán. The main focus of the regional office is the employment and placement of skilled and trained workers, but the office provides a wide range of HR services; in addition to temporary workforce hiring, it also manages recruitment and cooperative employment as well. “WHC, which has been acclaimed three times with Best Employers Award by Kincentric, is proud to have achieved its success as a team, in a unit, in which individual performance also plays a huge role,” the Regional Manager added.
Read alsoIndian guest workers caused panic among the locals of Hajdúnánás
Indian guest workers caused panic among the locals of Hajdúnánás
Indian guest workers caused panic in Hajdúnánás because locals thought illegal migrants swarmed their town. Many people wrote to the mayor about how they were afraid once they realised foreigners were wandering on the streets.
Fake news about the Indian citizens started to spread immediately
According to ATV, their reporters immediately found the foreigners living in Hajdúnánás. Three of them were going home from a local shop when the reporters started their work in the Eastern Hungarian town. Locals were startled when they saw the first group of Indians.
News about illegal migrants arriving in the city immediately started to spread.
Dezső Pál-Kovács knows the foreigners very well. He is the owner of the place where the Indians live. The Indian nationals came to Hajdúnánás from Tiszaújváros. Mr Pál-Kovács told ATV News that they arrived to work on a MOL project in the nearby city. However, their papers are not ready yet. That is why the company asked the hotel owner in Hajdúnánás to accommodate them and provide them with food.
30 foreigners arrived in Hajdúnánás
The local government of the city published an announcement saying that no migrants came to the city. According to the statement, guest workers came to the settlement.
Authorities said that 30 foreigners arrived in Hajdúnánás.
Local opposition politicians were not surprised that the arrival of foreigners caused a kind of panic among the residents. According to Miklós Oláh, a representative of the Socialists in the city council, people feel dread the moment they see some people dressing or speaking in a way that is different from locals. That is because of the anti-migration campaign the Orbán cabinet has been conducting since 2015, he added.
Authorities told ATV News that they regularly check up on the guest workers. The Indian nationals living in Hajdúnánás pose no security threat, and their residence in Hungary is legal.
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Could schools close due to mandatory vaccination for teachers?
According to a recent coronavirus-related measure which was introduced by the Hungarian government, healthcare workers, teachers and educators have to be vaccinated. If they fail to do so, they have to take a compulsory leave of absence otherwise their work will be suspended. Trade unions have been organising strikes against mandatory vaccination for teachers.
Compulsory vaccination for employees in education
According to Telex, the initial deadline to abide by this new regulation was 15 December, but the government has extended this period. Unvaccinated teachers and employees working in education have been warned this Monday to take the jab until the 30th of December. Otherwise, they will not be abe to return to work from the 3rd of January.
There are many individulas who do not agree with this measure. Last Saturday, residents in Devecser have organised demonstrations to side by teachers who refuse to take the vaccine.
Additionally, Telex reports that both the Teachers’ Union (PSZ) and Teacher’s Democratic Union (PDSZ) will organise strikes on the 31st of January to call the Government’s attention to the need to raise teachers’ pay as well as to dismiss the mandatory vaccination measure.
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The unions said that they would likely hold a strike only during the first two lessons of the class schedule, during which children are advised not to attend school, but they would also organise another strike in March that may last for days if necessary.
According to Péter Horváth, the chairman of the National Faculty of Education, it is expected that about 5-6% of teachers will not take the vaccine.
While this number does not seem that high, Index wrote that some schools would not be able to operate from the 3rd of January due to lack of teaching staff.
The leader of the teachers’ unions, Zsuzsa Szabó highlighted that some schools may only provide childcare from January as classes cannot be held when there is a dramatic shortage of specialists.
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Next step: mandatory vaccination for students?
Just a few days ago, the Semmelweis University of Medicine and Health Sciences posted on their Facebook page that students are required to take the booster jab in order to continue their studies.
“As a healthcare student, we come into contact with patients on a daily basis during our internships and volunteer work, so we need to protect not only ourselves and our families, but all Hungarian people to whom we commit to serve with our professional knowledge,” – the statement stressed.
The deadline for taking the booster jab is the 1st of February, Vg reported.
The jab is offered without appointment for all students of the Semmelweis University at any of the three university vaccination points.
Students are exempt from the deadline if:
- they received their second jabs (or first in the case of single dose vaccines) within 180 days
- those who recovered from Covid infection less than 3 months ago
- students who medically prove that they cannot receive the vaccine.
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Law enforcement to collapse because of the mandatory vaccination?
The inoculation rate of the people working in law enforcement is around 70 pc currently – the employee leader of the BÉT (domestic bargaining commission) said. Pál Powell added that the lowest inoculation rate is among the colleagues working in the field.
Judit Bárdos, the chairwoman of the BRDSZ trade union, said that 10 thousand out of the 36 thousand employees working in law enforcement were not inoculated. Meanwhile, these numbers are 2 thousand and 15 thousand in the case of administration employees – Népszava reported.
30 pc of their employees of the National Directorate General for Disaster Management did not get the jab. In the case of the 7,000 firefighters, the figures are even worse. The inoculation rate is only 60 pc among them.
There are still a lot of questions about the mandatory vaccination of law enforcement employees. The government summoned the domestic bargaining commission in November. But they could not answer a lot of questions. One of the most pressing issues was whether those not regularly meeting with clients have to receive the vaccine or not.
According to the relevant government decree, the last deadline for the employees of law enforcement bodies is 31 January. However, in the case of those, who regularly meet with clients, it is 15 December. The leaders of the different law enforcement branches had to write their suggestions on modifications by 30 November. The decision is in the hands of the interior minister, Sándor Pintér.
However, nobody knows when he will make up his mind and whether he will announce the final rules before the deadline, 31 January.
– blikk.hu said.
That creates considerable uncertainties in the system and among the law enforcement employees. Trade unions say that there will be many people who would not accept the vaccine because of various reasons. For example, because the level of antigens is high in their blood and they have an official certification of that. There are several other questions the government did not give a straight answer to. For example, nobody knows whether employees sent on unpaid leave will receive their so-called “weapon money”, which equals their half-year salary.
One of the trade unions warned the minister.
They admitted that Pintér was right to clear that only healthy people can serve and protect the country. However, those sent on unpaid leave cannot serve, they added. Therefore, the biggest question is how the system will survive the mandatory vaccination because labour shortage has been severe for years because of the low salaries. The trade unions highlighted that if more employees are sent to unpaid leave, overtime work will not be enough to fill the gaps.
LMP party: Govt should provide 80% wage subsidy for ppl who lost their job
Hungary must prepare for the possibility of a prolonged economic slowdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, a lawmaker of opposition LMP said on Friday.
More and more western European countries are bringing back lockdowns, which will also affect the Hungarian economy, Péter Ungár told an online press conference, predicting that the country’s tourism sector would not recover until at least March next year.
He said the government was not doing enough to ease the effects of the crisis on certain sectors and was only looking at macroeconomic indicators.
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“But GDP growth is no consolation to someone who has had to close their restaurant,” Ungár argued.
He pointed out that the Austrian government had paid out 50 times as much wage support money as the Hungarian government.
He said the government should provide an 80 percent wage subsidy to those who had lost their jobs during the pandemic and extend the period of eligibility for unemployment benefits from three months to nine.
