Hungary Needs 500,000 Additional Workers, Minister of Economic Development Says

In the meeting of the National Council for Sustainable Development, the Minister said that additional workers should preferably be found on the national market before Hungary turns to guest workers, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Nagy emphasized that the country’s economy should be built on investments, which require a constant stream of foreign capital, in addition to modernization, research as well as development.

The Minister said that the investment rate in Hungary was 27.2 per cent last year, which is the third-highest among OECD countries. He noted that the government was committed to the country’s convergence despite the negative effects of the war as well as the energy crisis.

Minister Nagy revealed that the country’s GDP per capita reached a total of 77.5 per cent of the European Union average in 2022, increasing from 75 per cent registered a year earlier.

“Those who say Hungary’s convergence was interrupted last year aren’t telling the truth. The indicators prove that this was the biggest jump in convergence in a decade,” the Minister noted.

Nagy stressed that with a targeted GDP growth of 1.5 per cent this year, the country’s development level is reaching 80 per cent of the EU average, adding that there was a realistic chance of getting 90 per cent by 2030.

The Minister also noted that the success of the government’s policy of opening up to the East could be found in FDI, emphasizing a notable expansion of the share of Asian investors.

While mentioning the importance of the country’s role as a bridge between German vehicle makers and their battery-making partners in the East suits, he said that with the construction of new capacity, the country was set to become among the biggest battery makers in the world.

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (HCSO) noted that the unemployment rate surged to 4.0 per cent in February, while the three-month moving average increased to 4.1 per cent in December-February.

The spread of the Coronavirus and its new variants has brought to light the fact that EU countries need a large number of workers in order to fill in labour shortage gaps noted in many industries.

In order to bring to their countries a more significant number of foreign workers, up to this point, several countries, such as Austria, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, introduced the Job Seeker visa, permitting foreigners to enter a specific country to search for a job.