Hungarian Job Market Shows Strong Employee Activity Despite Cautious Hiring

Job seekers in Hungary are showing increased interest in new opportunities even as employers remain cautious with their hiring plans, according to the latest quarterly report from Profession.hu, the country's leading job portal.

While job advertisements decreased by 1% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, applications jumped by nearly 5%, reflecting heightened activity among potential employees in a tightening labor market.

"Companies are focusing on retaining their existing employees," explained Imre Tüzes, Business Development Director at Profession.hu. "The number of companies posting job ads rose by 0.2% compared to Q1 last year, but the total number of ads saw a minimal decline. This indicates more advertisers are in the market, but each company is posting fewer positions on average."

The report revealed significant regional variations across Hungary's job market. Eleven counties, including Budapest, experienced decreases in new job postings, while eight counties saw growth. Heves, Békés, and Tolna counties were hardest hit with declines of 22%, 21%, and 13% respectively.

Conversely, Somogy County emerged as a bright spot for the third consecutive quarter, with job listings increasing by 14% year-over-year. Baranya and Csongrád-Csanád counties also showed strong growth with increases of 12% and 10% respectively.

Job seekers more active nationwide
The 4.8% nationwide increase in job applications suggests workers are actively exploring their options despite the slight reduction in available positions. Most counties experienced growth in application numbers, with only four regions—Hajdú-Bihar, Békés, Baranya, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg—showing declines.

Csongrád-Csanád County led the country with a remarkable 28% surge in applications, followed by Fejér (18%) and Győr-Moson-Sopron (17%). Profession.hu's user base grew by 3.6% compared to Q1 2024, though new registrations fell by 6.7% year-over-year.

Sector-specific trends
The technology sector appears to be cooling, with IT programming seeing one of the sharpest declines in both job postings and applications. In Budapest, IT positions dropped by 26%, while Shared Services Centers and engineering roles declined by 21% and 19% respectively.

However, public administration (up 53%), hospitality (up 43%), and legal consulting (up 26%) all showed substantial growth in recruitment activity.

Job seekers showed the strongest interest in company management, human resources, and public administration positions, while agriculture, customer service, legal professions, and IT programming saw declining application rates.

Regional highlights
Somogy County's impressive performance was driven by transport and procurement (up 100%), hospitality (up 94%), and sales (up 68%), though manufacturing, finance, and HR positions all declined.

In Baranya County, hospitality job listings more than tripled, while IT programming and operations also saw substantial increases. Meanwhile, Csongrád-Csanád County experienced strong growth in HR (up 121%) and finance positions (up 52%), but declines in IT, marketing, and engineering roles.

The data suggests a shifting employment landscape across Hungary, with regional economies developing at different rates and industries experiencing varying levels of growth and contraction as employers carefully manage their workforce needs.