The government of Hungary, headed by Peter Magyar, officially tightens the employment opportunities for guest workers.
As of Friday, labor rental agencies can no longer bring in workers from the Philippines, Georgia and Armenia under an accelerated procedure, government spokeswoman Wanda Sondi announced at a press conference. Telex.hu.
Those currently in Hungary can apply for an extension of their work permits, and applications submitted with today’s date will be considered valid and will be processed in the regular process.
Initially, the Tisa party announced a “stop for foreign workers” from June 1, stating that “from June 1, 2026, the import of workers from outside Europe will be suspended, and Hungarian workers who have been squeezed out of the labor market will be supported in employment and higher wages.”
However, the ban did not come into force on June 1: Wanda Sondi previously said that work is still being done to establish the system, and that the goal is for Hungarian workers to get jobs in large industrial enterprises, but that foreign workers can still come in sectors where labor is needed from abroad.
Currently, there are 24 different legal bases in Hungary under which foreign nationals can work, and they are distributed among different ministries, which is why there is no accurate data on how many foreign workers are currently working in the country. The government states that the situation is complicated and will not be resolved overnight, but that an audit is underway.
Business organizations, employment agencies and experts have warned that several sectors in the country would be severely affected if they were unable to hire new foreign workers.
Due to the announcement of the ban, several companies have already started the recruitment of foreign workers outside the EU in the first half of the year, he announced HR Portal.
According to the data of the Central Statistics Office of Hungary, in April the number of employees was 4.62 million, which is about 100,000 less than two years earlier, in April 2024.
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