We can either look at the pace of wage increases so far or at the government's willingness to raise wages for public sector employees, and it is doubtful that within three years we will reach the million-pound average wage announced by Orbán's government, he said on Thursday. GKI economic researcherwhich is summarized by HVG. According to their analysis, even taking into account the deterioration of the forint exchange rate and inflation, the plan can only partially succeed.
The government expects the minimum wage to rise to 1,000 euros and the average gross salary to 1 million forints by 2028. However, based on the analysis of economic researcher GKI, although the overall economic policy goal looks good, there are several downsides. , such as exchange rate deterioration and inflation, but according to them, it is also true that at least the aforementioned obligations can be met. partially.
Sandor Zumba: GKI constantly complains
Regarding the allegations, Index contacted Sandor Chomba, Minister of State responsible for Employment Policy, who said there was nothing new under the sun: “GKI constantly complains that staff reductions are expected due to an 'excessive' increase in the minimum staff wage.” According to him, on the other hand, the fact is that since 2016, an increase in the average minimum wage of about 12% per year has been achieved in Hungary, which cannot be called a small increase at all. The number of employees increased by more than 350,000 during that period.
This means an increase in the number of employees of more than 50 thousand people annually on average, while the number of unemployed people has also decreased significantly.
According to the State Clerk, the figures clearly show that increases in the minimum wage did not lead to a decrease in employment, but a significant increase was achieved in parallel with the wage increase.
“Unfortunately, we find that the GKI, as in all its analyses, estimates on a purely political basis, always adjusting the future development of the euro exchange rate as it pleases. According to him, the exchange rate shown in his recently published analysis is also outside the scope of nothing,” Zomba said.
This is nothing more than panic, intimidation and bullying.
For the government, it is very important that the minimum wage reaches 50% of the average normal gross income, which the social partners also agree on. In other words, the minimum wage should increase by 12 percent on average over the next three years.
Sandor Zomba emphasized that the government is goal-oriented, as it does not insist on a uniform increase, but in line with economic growth, and the principle of gradualism can be applied to the increase. The government expects economic growth of between 3 and 4% next year, and 4-5% in 2026, which could also apply to raising the minimum wage.
We continue to stress that an agreement on the minimum wage can only be reached through negotiation between employer representatives and employee interests, and the government plays an indirect role in this matter, and its task is to announce the minimum wage.
The State Secretary responsible for employment policy also stated that the government still wants to reach the minimum wage of 1,000 euros and the average gross salary of 1 million forints.
For those with two children, the real wage increase was 52.5 percent
According to the Secretary of State, these are not numbers from nothing at all: between 2017 and 2023, average nominal gross income rose by 12.3 percent. “Accordingly, the wage dynamics set by the government are not at all exaggerated, the Hungarian economy and Hungarian companies are capable of this, so there is a great opportunity to increase the minimum wage to 1,000 euros and the average wage to 1 Hungarian forint. million. The interests of employers and employees agree on the former during recent wage negotiations.
Sandor Zomba also explained to the Index that between 2010 and 2023, based on Eurostat data, real earnings for singles increased by almost 54 percent in Hungary, of which we had the fifth largest increase among EU countries, and first among the V4.
In the same period, an increase in real wages of 52.5 percent was observed for dual-earner workers with two children, which means sixth place in the EU ranking.
“In order to achieve the goals, it is still necessary to increase economic performance, and this is also served by the New Economic Policy Action Plan of 21 measures, which contribute to strengthening the growth of the Hungarian economy to the level between 3-6 percent,” Sándor Csómba concluded. He then drew attention to the fact that the government is trying to boost this process through a new program to support small and medium-sized enterprises worth hundreds of billions of Hungarian forints in the Sándor Demjan program as one of the pillars of the action plan. The SME sector employs two-thirds of workers in Hungary today.
According to the Secretary of State responsible for employment policy: “In addition, numerous support programs implemented from domestic and EU sources significantly help in finding work for under-30s and over-30s, actually improving the productivity of workers. All this It leaves hundreds of billions of forints to companies, helping to increase the number of employees and the level of education of employees.
(Cover photo: Emilia Nemeth/Index)
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