We show where to hire and where to fire - latest data on the Hungarian labour market
Hungarian companies are planning a slight overall increase in staff numbers by the third quarter of 2025: 28 percent of Hungarian employers plan to expand their current workforce during this period, while 23 percent are forecasting a reduction, according to Manpower Hungary's newly published Labour Market Forecast.
ManpowerGroup conducted its quarterly survey of almost 41,000 employers in 42 countries around the world, asking a representative sample of 530 employers in Hungary about their recruitment intentions for the third quarter of 2025.
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The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Indicator (NIE), derived from employer responses, averaged 5 percent,which, while down 3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter and 9 percentage points year-on-year, still reflects net growth prospects.
"In the current macroeconomic situation, a significant number of employers are taking a wait-and-see approach: 47 percent of them do not plan to increase or decrease their workforce in the coming months," said Péter Varga, Managing Director of Manpower Hungary. - Although labour shortages in most sectors have eased significantly in recent years, companies are still refraining from spectacular layoffs in the hope of an imminent recovery, preferring to reduce staffing levels only by temporarily keeping vacant positions empty."
As we look at the individual sectors, there are significant differences between the various industries:
While communication services (NFM: -17%) and health and life sciences (-10%) may see even more significant job cuts, financial intermediation and real estate ( 32%) and information technology ( 15%) may see more significant job growth. The most important sector for the economy is materials and manufacturing (9%), which could see slightly above-average job growth, while consumer goods and services (-3%), which is also significant, is close to stagnation.
There may also be significant differences between regions of the country:
Employers' expectations are above the national average in Central Transdanubia (NFM: 15%) and Northern Hungary( 12%). In the other regions, employers' expectations for job growth are around or below the average. This time downwards, Central Hungary (-6%) and Western Transdanubia (-8%) stand out: in these two regions more people are forecasting redundancies than hiring.
Based on company size, micro enterprises are the most pessimistic (NFM: -4%), with a slight majority of those in other categories planning to hire.
Internationally, the outlook for labour market movements is unchanged from the previous quarter:
The indicator currently stands at a very high 24 percent. A decline is not expected in any of the 42 countries surveyed. In Europe, the expectation is slightly below average, with the Netherlands (NFM: 30%) and Ireland ( 29%) the most widely expected to see significant labour force expansion on the Old Continent. Outside Europe, employers in the United Arab Emirates (48%), India (42%), Costa Rica (38%), Brazil (32%) and the United States (30%) are the countries where employers expect the largest increases in the coming months.
External crises, internal problems: HR in need from two directions
The variable composition section of the survey this time asked, among other things, to what extent respondents' hiring decisions are influenced by ongoing global trade uncertainties. Responses from domestic firms show that 45 percent of firms say that HR decisions are at most slightly influenced by this factor, 36 percent say it has a moderate impact, and only 17 percent say that conflicts over trade tariffs have a significant impact on their hiring decisions (2 percent did not answer).
Another question asked how current HR strategy is affected by the challenges of an aging workforce and the retirement of experienced employees. Unsurprisingly, 49% of respondents indicated that this factor has a moderate or even significant impact on their HR strategy. In Hungary, the average age of the workforce is rising, which also means that the working-age population could fall by nearly 300,000 in five years for demographic reasons.
The 15 biggest Hungarian factories shed workers in a year
image: freepik