After a 70,000 drop in 2009, the number of registered employees in Hungary could increase by 12,000 next year, Hungary’s Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs (SZMM) and the Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Trade (MKIK) told the press based on a joint survey on Tuesday.
Results of 7,151 economic organisations polled in September-October show that two-thirds expect an unchanged number of employees in 2010, Social and Labour Affairs Ministry State Secretary Judit Szekely said. Ms Szekely added that this year’s drop of 70,000 could have reached 170,000 if not for the state’s job-preservation measures.
The government spent HUF 20bn on job preservation in 2009, with an additional HUF 32.5bn subsidy from the EU for 2009-2010, State Secretary Gabor Simon said. HUF 20bn from the EU grants go toward SMEs, large companies will receive HUF 10bn and micro-businesses will get the remaining HUF 2.5bn.
Capacity utilisation averaged 76pc nationwide this year, dropping 6.5 percentage points from 2008, the survey showed.
Employment in Hungary is heavily influenced by the EU’s performance, and this year the eurozone’s GDP fell by 4pc, while next year’s increase is not expected to exceed 1pc, MKIK President Laszlo Parragh said.