Government Prioritizes National Workforce Over Foreign Employees

“Let’s activate the labor market reserve, Hungarian labor comes first!” emphasized the Ministry for National Economy in a statement sent to MTI on Friday in response to articles published by HVG (an acclaimed weekly portal of economic issues).

They emphasized that, contrary to malicious claims published by HVG, the government continues to prioritize Hungarian workers while doing everything in its power to activate the domestic labor reserve. “This is in the common interest of the national economy.”

The Ministry for National Economy therefore rejects and considers unacceptable the disparagement of the domestic labor market reserve. They draw HVG’s attention to the fact that Hungary has one of the strictest regulations on guest workers in order to protect its own job seekers: In the country, it is only possible to stay temporarily and take up employment for purposes, on grounds and under conditions specified by the Hungarian state.

The government protects families and Hungarian jobs, which is why the residence of foreigners is always purpose-bound, subject to a permit and limited in time, the ministry pointed out.

Instead of stirring up emotions, let’s look at the facts again, the ministry said in its statement, pointing out that the number of foreign employees fell by 3% between February and June this year, mainly because the government tightened the rules on the employment of guest workers on January 1, 2025. Starting this year, job seekers can only come from countries with which Hungary has a readmission agreement or has an organization or office in the country that is recognized by the state of that country and undertakes to ensure that its citizens leave Hungary and return to their land of origin in the event of non-compliance with the law.

They reported that following the employment turnaround in 2010, a significant portion of the domestic labor reserve had been successfully integrated into the Hungarian labor market: in 2010, the labor reserve consisted of 738,000 people, and in 2024, it dropped to 315,000 people. The largest part of the labor reserve—about two-thirds—is made up of registered job seekers, to whom the state employment service offers positions that match their qualifications.

It was also pointed out that the number of foreign employees in Hungary remains low: third-country nationals represent 2.8% of the total workforce, and together with those from EU/EEA countries, the proportion of foreigners is 3%. Hungary has the lowest proportion of foreign employees among the Visegrad countries. In Slovakia, this figure is 4.5%, in Poland 7.1% and in the Czech Republic 16%.

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