6 Out of 10 Employers Plan On Raising Wages this Year

This year, six out of ten employers plan to raise wages by an average of 8.4%, Profession.hu reported on Tuesday, based on the results of its recent employer survey.

The job portal asked 440 of its corporate partners about their wage increases last year and their plans for 2025. This year employers are counting on an 8.4% increase in wages.

Large companies with a turnover of more than HUF 10 billion (EUR 25 million) and more than 300 employees expect an average wage increase of 5%, while companies in Eastern Hungary (average 10.4%) and those employing only manual workers (average 11.6%) expect a significantly higher increase.

Current company forecasts show that last year’s higher wave of wage increases will be followed by a more modest one in 2025, with a stronger demand for pay rises from employees. Six out of ten already believe that the rate of delivery will fall short of their expectations. They also pointed to the steady decline in the proportion of employers who would increase their fringe benefits.

More than one in five organizations (22%) would increase the overall amount of benefits (compared to 29% and 25% in 2023 and 2024 respectively), by an average of 7%. However, 73% of employers will make no change.

The survey shows that the reasons behind the increase in fringe benefits most often cited by respondents this year were to retain their current employees and to attract new professionals. However, 4% of companies will reduce this benefit package by an average of 8%, the job portal’s survey showed.

Hungary Near the Top in Job Satisfaction Statistics