Internal transformation may come again in the labor market. Energy modernizations have multiplied, and remote work may gain ground again to a much smaller extent than during the epidemic.

Currently, unemployment is very low (the unemployment rate was 3.4 percent in August), employment is at an unprecedented level, and the number of vacant positions has already approached one hundred thousand, labor market expert Piroska Szalai told our newspaper.

He pointed out that we have never had such strong foundations before, and we are also among the best in the European Union. The Hungarian labor market does not (yet) experience the harmful economic effects of the war, such as layoffs and factory shutdowns.

He pointed out that our country is currently the only country that still receives Russian gas, which is not only necessary for winter heating, but also an indispensable raw material in many sectors. None of our companies will close due to gas and oil shortages. According to analysts, the European recession will be more noticeable in the Hungarian economy next year. A big question is what kind of processes this means in the labor market as a whole - pointed out Piroska Szalai.

The expert pointed out that during the financial crisis before 2010, the number of employed people in Hungary decreased by nearly 200,000 on average between 2006 and 2010, while during the epidemic, in 2019-2020, it decreased by a quarter (!), by 50,000. In fact, while in the first case it took eight years for the number of employees to return to the level before the 2006 crisis (as we know, the crisis and the fall in the number of employees began before 2008), during the epidemic we experienced a decrease in only one quarter, the second quarter of 2020 quarter, and the number of employees recovered from the third quarter, and a significant increase can be seen from the second quarter of 2021, he explained.

Behind the aggregated data, significant internal transformations were also experienced during the epidemic. The number of people working in the construction industry, in the field of pharmaceutical production and in the info-communication sector has increased significantly, and many more people work as self-employed entrepreneurs, not as employees. Even now, it is expected that there will be expanding sectors. According to Piroska Szalai, the construction industry, the manufacture of electrical equipment, the supply of electricity and gas, air conditioning, real estate, professional, scientific and technical activities, and the info-communications sector will certainly continue to have an increasing demand for labor.

It can be seen that the energy modernization and investments of both the population and businesses have multiplied. This process will continue next year as well. The modernization of windows and insulation, the installation of smart home, solar panel and heat pump systems will provide jobs for many professionals in the manufacturing, trade, construction industry, as well as IT and technical experts, he underlined.

In response to our question, he also said that many of us managed to keep our jobs during the epidemic with the option of remote work and later hybrid work. In addition to small children studying at home in the context of digital education, someone in every family had to stay at home, and in many cases this would have meant the loss of a job if there was no possibility to work at least partially at home in some jobs. As the epidemic receded, remote work in our country returned to a similar, very low level. According to Piroska Szalai, due to energy costs, hybrid work schedules may be introduced again, but at a lower rate than during the epidemic period.

According to the expert, the next year will be significantly influenced by how the war will develop, what result the American elections on November 8 will bring, and what decision will be made at the end of November regarding EU funds. It is likely that the agreement on next year's minimum wage will be reached after this - then we will know more about how the system of overhead reduction and price caps can be maintained next year.

Source: Magyar Hírlap

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