Indians, Filipinos, Indonesians flooding Hungary: premeditated population change?

Hungary has a high demand for welders, truck drivers and even skilled workers to do the simplest jobs. Therefore, there is more and more foreign workforce coming to Hungary.

As Index wrote, many foreigners have chosen to work in Hungary. There are workers who have been here for over six years. However, a new act might put an end to that. If the new legislation comes into force, no one will be allowed to stay longer than three years. There are over 4.7 million workers in Hungary. Thus, unemployment is not an issue. On the contrary, there is a lack of workforce in the country.

According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), there are around 85,000 foreigners working in Hungary. Due to labour shortages, Hungary has expanded its list of non-EU countries from which it is legal to import labour. Now, the list contains Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Colombia, North Macedonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Vietnam. It is possible to come and work in Hungary from other countries as well, such as India, but there are stricter regulations.

Who gets picked?

The Hungarian labour market prefers skilled individuals with basic education and good English skills. The Philippines has been experiencing dynamic population growth. Approximately, there were 27 million people living in the Philippines in the sixties. Now, the number is close to 108 million. There are about one million Philippines every year who choose to leave their country behind and work abroad. Due to the American school system in the Philippines, Filipinos make the perfect workforce for the Hungarian labour market.

Some companies have Mongolian and Indonesian employees as well, but communication is harder, as not all of them speak and understand English. Naturally, these companies demand at least one person in a group of ten to speak English (or Russian). Of course, the workers must somehow tell their bosses if someone got sick over the weekend or has another kind of problem. If a dispute at work occurs, it is much easier to resolve it with an English-speaking “representative”.

How do these workers end up in Hungary?

As mentioned before, Hungary has a high demand for these workers. But how do they manage to come and work here? Workers arriving in Hungary can legally come in two forms. One way is that an intermediary company recruits the workers, and once the workers have been posted to the employer, the foreigners will be in contact with the company that employs them. This way, the intermediary does not have to deal with accommodation or payroll.

The other option is that the temporary employment agency brings in foreigners, takes them into its own staff, and lends them to Hungarian companies. There are 25 Hungarian temporary employment agencies that can legally bring workforce from Asian countries. Most of the Asian workers will work in the industry, in factories.

What do Asian workers do when they are not working?

Most Asian workers are happy to work overtime because they would like to take home as much money as possible. However, when they do decide to rest, it is highly important to have a comfortable bed and good Wi-Fi in their accommodation. After all, they would like to keep in touch with their families at home. Some workers try to learn Hungarian in their free time, but there are people who prefer to travel. These workers might visit Budapest, Lake Balaton, or other EU countries even. Filipinos like to play basketball or cook together as a joint leisure programme. There are smaller towns in Hungary that are flooded by Asian workers, but usually, there are no conflicts or perceived difficulties in living together.

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