Gov’t Plans New Labor Program

Parliament started debating last Monday the latest proposal to help invigorate Hungary’s labor market, offering subsidies to employers that hire fresh graduates, mothers returning from maternity leave or unemployed over 50.

The government plans spectacular results from its new, low-budget labor program. Spending a total of HUF 8.3 billion, it aims to help social and age groups whose members face hard time finding jobs. The program offers special tax relief for employers who choose their staff from the specified groups. The government reimburses half of the employers’ social security payments on gross wages up to HUF 90,000 a month, which translates into a maximum HUF 13,050 monthly savings per employee.

“We have plenty of money, but at least enough to help part of Hungary’s 3 million inactive people find jobs in the next few years,” said Labor Minister Gábor Csizmár recently. Of Hungary’s population between 15-65 years of age, only 60% (or close to 4 million) have jobs, while 1.3 million are pensioners, 800,000 are students, 300,000 are on maternity leave, 250,000 are unemployed and more than half a million either live on their families’ incomes or work illegally. “If there’s plenty of money, companies employing disadvantaged people should be granted full waiver from social security payments for nine months [after taking on a new employee],” said Fidesz MP Csaba Sümeghy, a member of Parliament’s Labor Committee.