Homesick but thriving: What it’s really like for Hungarians working abroad
One in ten Hungarian workers already has experience working abroad, with most taking jobs in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, or France. The most common motivation for moving is financial gain, but cultural and language experiences also attract many, according to a recent representative survey of the Hungarian population conducted by Profession.hu.
Half of Hungarians working abroad found their jobs with the help of acquaintances or friends already working there, 16% through headhunting agencies, and 13% were delegated by their employers, but recently the proportion of foreign jobs on the Profession.hu platform has also increased significantly. On average, it took respondents three months to find and start a job abroad. Most of them, seven out of ten, found manual labour jobs, while three out of ten found white-collar jobs.
Money is the most important factor
Financial considerations were the main motivation for workers to take up employment abroad, with 36% citing this as the most important reason. 25% took a job abroad to gain new language and cultural experiences, 13% for professional development opportunities, while 12% wanted better living conditions, and 6% took a job abroad for family reasons. The most popular countries for Hungarians working abroad are Germany (45%), the United Kingdom (16%), Austria (11%) and France (6%).
The biggest challenges
The survey highlighted that emotional factors have a serious impact on those who move abroad: six out of ten workers reported feeling homesick, and only one in five respondents said they had not experienced this feeling at all during their stay abroad. The proportion of those who felt homesick was higher among women and those living in small settlements.
Despite homesickness, integration into the new environment was easier: 62% of respondents said they were able to integrate fully into their new communities, 30% said they had partially succeeded, and only 8% reported significant difficulties in this regard.
Language barriers are also a common problem when working abroad: four out of ten respondents faced this, but almost as many, three out of ten, experienced difficulties in forming human relationships. Two out of ten people indicated that cultural differences posed a challenge. Employees faced financial, housing and administrative problems in similar proportions, with all three occurring at around 15%.
Positive effects
Based on the responses, working abroad has largely been a positive experience for those who left the country, with seven out of ten reporting an improvement in their quality of life compared to before, and half of them reporting a significant improvement. Two out of ten considered their quality of life to be similar to before, while only 2% reported a negative change in their financial situation.
“Based on the results of the survey, money is the main motivation for working abroad, but professional development is also among the three most important factors. Regardless of whether this was their original reason for taking up employment outside Hungary, the respondents were almost unanimous in their opinion that the experience gained in other countries provides a very good opportunity to develop professional skills and, for many, offers new perspectives for their career: eight out of ten respondents said so. Two-thirds of them returned to Hungary to use the knowledge they gained abroad, and 40% plan to work outside the country in the future,” said Blanka Dencső, market research and business development expert at Profession.hu.
Of those who have worked abroad, nearly half (45%) stayed for a few months, while 22% worked outside the country for 1-2 years, 19% for 2-5 years, 12% for 5-10 years, and 3% for more than 10 years.
Read more about Hungarians abroad HERE.
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