More than just casual labour - students and retired people in the job market

Demographic projections show that in just five years, the working-age population could fall by 300,000 people by 2030, making it essential to mobilise labour reserves as efficiently as possible. As Róbert Göbl, President of Min-Diák Szövetkezet, put it.

There are currently 158,000 retirees in work, but there is still plenty of potential in this group. In addition, the fact that they can work on top of their pension and pay no additional contributions on their wages other than personal income tax encourages pensioners to work.

Rozália Tóth, a member of the board of directors of Prohuman, says the mobilisation of students has been boosted thanks also to the SJS exemption for under-25s. He said that in their experience, the number of hours worked has increased. He stressed.

Akos Margitics, head of co-operative services at WHC, said the two age groupsare a good complement to each other: "retirement and student work complement each other well, because of the differences in the schedules of the two age groups", and their employment also has a positive impact on other permanent employees of the company, because it makes it easier to manage holidays, overtime or periods of particularly heavy workload.

EFO change - growing demand for student work

The need for student employment may also increase this year because of the significant increase in the cost of simplified employment (public charges) and the reduction in the annual timeframe for employment (120 days). Thus, many employers with increasing capacity needs, particularly for seasonal work, for example in summer, may turn to student workers and school cooperatives instead of simplified employment, as it may be a more cost-effective and flexible solution to employ them.

Experts agree that employers are increasingly taking into account the needs and wants of both student and retired workers. Rozália Tóth says competitive wages and flexible working hours remain the most important for these workers. Thus, shorter shifts, flexible schedules and bus services can also be decisive when choosing a job, confirms Ákos Margitics. At the same time, Róbert Göbl points out that many employers are still looking for workers for 25-35 hours a week, which is often too high, especially for students and retired people who would prefer to work only 10-20 hours a week.

Hourly wages in 2025

Wages by area are as follows:

- In the region gross £1800-2100,

- In Budapest and priority areas (e.g. Lake Balaton) gross 2000-2200 HUF,

-- for spiritual jobs: gross 2200-2500 HUF, (the upper limit also requires other skills, e.g. language skills or experience).

According to a national survey by the Mind-Skills Cooperative:

- In the summer season of 2025, student hourly wages will range between 1700 and 2500 forints gross - with the average being around 2000 forints.

- The minimum will continue to be the current minimum hourly wage: gross 1 672 HUF, and 2005 HUF/hour for jobs requiring secondary education or a school leaving certificate. However, students can earn several times more if they have a driving licence, specialised skills or language skills.

- Traineeships are still among the best-paid opportunities: young people under 25 can expect to earn between 2005 and 2500 HUF an hourly gross wage, which is fully net thanks to the tax exemption.

- Including:

- in engineering and finance, hourly rates of 2000-3000 forints are typical,

- while in the IT sector, wages of 3000-4000 forints or more are not uncommon, especially for specialised project tasks.

- In contrast, students working in light manual or administrative jobs can generally expect to earn between 1700 and 1900 forints per hour.

Relying on their quarterly regional research, Prohuman wrote that major jumps in wages basically occur at the beginning of the year, usually linked to minimum wage increases. But changes can also occur outside of this, for example, a jump is when a larger firm pushes up its own wages in the hope of gaining a competitive advantage and other market players follow suit. However, this is not expected to happen this quarter because of the economic trends. Depending on what expectations are for the position,

firms may offer wages from 1672/2005 HUF per hour up to 3500

.

Popular areas for students

As in previous years, seasonal jobs are most typical for student workers in trade, tourism and catering. The area around Lake Balaton is a particular focus, with an increasing number of jobs for students in beaches, hotels, spas and festivals

.

Not to be exhaustive, some of the jobs are.

The Prohuman Student Employment expert sees a trend change in long-term intellectual positions: "the IT and engineering line is still strong - but there is also increased competition among candidates, more and more internships requiring specific language skills, especially French and German - where there are fewer applicants and a high percentage of people moving to full-time jobs"

.

Popular areas for retired people

Akos Margitics, head of WHC's co-operative services division, says

- commercial (e.g. cashiering)

- operator jobs,

- light manual work in logistics.

- Many people are also looking for cleaning jobs, but the hourly wages make this work less popular.

Examples include Rozália Tóth, a board member of Prohuman.

- Poll

- Telephone customer service

- Office administrative tasks

- Cleaning duties

Robert Göbl, President of Mind-Diak Cooperative, highlighted the following areas:

- In the field of trade and catering: cashier, shop assistant, kitchen assistant or waiter,

- light manual jobs: cleaning, stocking, gardening or social care

--the light manual jobs: cleaning, stocking, gardening or social care

- Highly skilled retirees, such as engineers, payroll clerks, programmers, doctors or accountants, are also in demand.

- In addition, there is a strong demand for seniors and retirees over 60 with decades of experience in niche professions such as electricians, locksmiths and carpenters.

Robert Göbl noted that it is also common for retired people to be re-employed in the public sector, especially in education and health.

The cooperative employers stressed that they have found that the integration of retired workers is generally not a problem, as they are experienced, "veteran" workers who are aware of the expectations of the workplace. Moreover, in many cases, they benefit from being back in the community, having a sense of belonging and usefulness. All this is important for them, in addition to the extra income," said Ákos Margitics.

Rozália Tóth also mentioned some of the challenges that can arise when employing retired people:

- Prejudices or previous negative experiences from the immediate manager - especially if the manager is younger and less experienced in intergenerational cooperation.

- Because of financial constraints, a retiree may take a job that is physically demanding or unsustainable in the long term because of their health.

At the same time, a general positive experience from professionals is that employers who are specifically looking for retired workers are making efforts to provide them with suitable working conditions, suitable tasks, taking into account the needs of the age group, such as flexible working hours, part-time work, not working every day, easily accessible workplaces.

Employers also like to employ retired people because they are reliable, punctual and conscientious, typically have a good work ethic, are persistent, tolerate monotony well and are committed. In other words, well-designed job roles, mutual openness and adaptability can mean a long-term relationship between employer and retiree.

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