Author
Access to the labour market
Refugees and persons with subsidiary protection have access to the labour market under the same conditions as Hungarian citizens.[1] This means that no labour market test is applicable regarding their employment. There is only one provision established in the Asylum Act, which makes a difference as to beneficiaries of international protection. Accordingly, beneficiaries may not take up a job or hold an office or position, which is required by law to be fulfilled by a Hungarian citizen.[2] Typically, the positions of public servant and civil servant demand Hungarian citizenship.
There is no statistical data available on the employment of beneficiaries,[3] thus the effectiveness of their access to employment in practice cannot be measured. In practice, the main obstacle beneficiaries of international protection have upon job search is Hungarian language. This has been confirmed by Next Step Hungary Association, an NGO supporting integration of people with migratory/refugee background, concerning 2023.[4] There is no state support targeting specifically people with international protection to obtain employment. Beneficiaries of international protection are entitled to use the services of the National Labour Office under the same condition as Hungarian citizens, even though it is hard to find an English-speaking case officer. According to the statistics available, in 2024, 11 refugees and 3 beneficiaries of temporary protection were registered as job-seekers.[5]
In practice, having recognised that the absence of social capital, the knowledge of local language and the cultural differences pose major challenges for beneficiaries seeking jobs, such as regarding housing (see Housing), NGOs provide some assistance in this sector as well. However, their activities are limited to Budapest.
Even though the ‘MentoHRing’ programme of the Menedék Association[6] was terminated with the end of the AMIF funding in June 2018, the organisation still had certain activities facilitating the job search of beneficiaries of international protection in 2020. In the absence of state information provision on the legislative changes concerning labour law introduced in response to the pandemic, the Menedék Association provided information and counselling to beneficiaries of international protection in 2022 too. In addition, Menedék Association ran a project, Skills for refugees in 2023 together with IKEA. The initiative aims at helping beneficiaries of international protection gain new skills and work experience, so that they have a better chance of finding a job, either in IKEA stores and units or in other companies. In this way, they have better opportunities to integrate into their new host communities.[7] In 2024, Menedék within their complex integration program continued helping foreigners living in Hungary, including beneficiaries of international protection and asylum seekers, to find employment.[8]
In 2023, Workonnect, the labour market office of the Evangelical Lutheran Diakonia, was established, where, in addition to personalised job search and job placement services for beneficiaries of international protection, the charity provides targeted labour market counselling. Diakonia states 95% of their clients were Ukrainian temporary protection beneficiaries, but 6 persons enjoying international protection also used their service.[9] Their services continued in 2024.
Kalunba has a coaching programme which, similarly to previous years, supported beneficiaries of international protection. The programme entails job market counselling, mediation and mentoring. It ran in 2022.[10] No report arrived from Kalunba regarding 2023, nor 2024.
Reportedly, due to language and cultural barriers access to employment is essentially limited to certain sectors such as physical labour (as working in construction, storage etc.) and hospitality. The average working hours are 12 hours per day (although in many cases people are provided only with a part-time contract), which renders integration of people with international protection status more difficult since they have no free time besides work. Next Step Hungary Association also points out that there are not enough institutions carrying out skill validation/recognition, therefore, hindering the labour market access of well-experienced beneficiaries.[11]
Pursuant to Section 9(2) of Act C of 2001 on the Recognition of Foreign Certificates and Diplomas, the proceeding authority (the Hungarian Equivalence and Information Centre operating within the framework of the Education Office) shall decide in the procedure for recognizing the level of qualification within 45 days from the day following the receipt of the application, and in the procedure for recognizing professional qualifications within a further 75 days. The procedure requires the attachment of a certified translation of certificates and diplomas, which costs a significant amount of money, which beneficiaries of international protection often cannot afford, and the recognition procedure is also subject to a fee. The recognition of secondary vocational qualifications is generally within the competence of the Pest County Government Office or the National Hospital Directorate General. In the case of those granted international protection, the problem is that in many cases they do not have documents (diplomas, certificates) issued in their country of origin. If they do, it may be difficult for the authority conducting the recognition procedure to contact the educational institution operating in the country of origin. In addition, it often happens that they have not obtained a formal vocational qualification in their country of origin/previous residence either.[12]
In 2021, as per the Maltese Care Nonprofit Ltd., the labour market started to stabilise again, and in the end of the year, the demand for third-country national employees had grown. The Menedék Association noted that this tendency became even more prevalent in 2022, especially in the hospitality sector where many Hungarians left their positions, the labour force became scarce. Therefore, international protection beneficiaries could more easily find a job. The Association nonetheless highlights that that they recorded more cases in 2022 when their beneficiary clients had to work overtime without compensation or when the employer paid them in cash without officially record the transaction.[13] The Lutheran Church also reported that job opportunities were available primarily in the tourism and the hospitality sectors. The Jesuit Refugee Service reported that many people were forced to take up manual jobs even when offering bad contractual conditions, and to accept part-time or periodical employments. This reflects the general experience of the HHC according to which clients reported, e.g., no holidays to compensate for the overtime working hours were included in their contracts.
In 2021, the Menedék Association published a policy brief on ‘Vulnerability and Discrimination in the Employment of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Hungary – Social Integration of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Hungary’, presenting the development of the employment situation from 2007 by following the analysis of the implementation of the asylum, anti-dis-crimination and employment rules through individual interviews conducted on the basis of the employment indicators of the National Integration Evaluation Mechanism project.[14] The policy brief highlights that the main factors that hinder the successful integration of beneficiaries of international protection into the labour market are the lack of Hungarian language skills and difficulties in recognising qualifications and skills.[15]
According to the JRS experience and their 2024 needs assessment data, financial support remains the greatest need (87%), as even those with jobs continue to struggle with financial difficulties. The primary obstacle to employment for refugees living in Budapest is the lack of knowledge of the Hungarian language, which affected nearly half of the respondents. The need to care for household members, limited access to childcare services, and the lack of decent job opportunities also represented significant obstacles.[16]
[1] See the general right to equal treatment in Section 10(1) Asylum Act.
[2] Section 10(2)(b) Asylum Act.
[3] Information provided by the Employment Department of Budapest Government Office, 14 March 2018.
[4] Information received from Next Step Hungary Association by the HHC on 2 May 2024.
[5] Information received from the Ministry of national economy, 12 February 2025.
[7] Information received from Menedék Association by the HHC on 28 February 2023. See Menedék, ‘Skills for Refugees’, available here.
[8] Information received from Menedék Association by the HHC on 26 February 2025.
[9] Information received from the Evangelical Lutheran Diakonia by the HHC on 24 February 2024.
[10] Information received from Kalunba Non-Profit Association by the HHC on 6 February 2023.
[11] Information received from the Next Step Hungary Association by the HHC on 6 February 2023.
[12] Information received from Menedék Association by the HHC on 26 February 2025.
[13] Information received from Menedék Association by the HHC on 28 February 2023. See also the study Budai, B., Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Labour Market Situation of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Hungary, Social Integration of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Hungary, Menedék – Hungarian Association for Migrants, 2021, available here.
[14] See NIEM, Vulnerability and Discrimination in the Employment of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Hungary, 2021, available here.
[15] Ammended following the authorities’ comments to the report.
[16] Information received from the Jesuit Refugee Service by the HHC on 28 February 2025.