50% of Hungarian Firms Expect Higher Net Sales This Year

Every second Hungarian company surveyed expect their net sales to increase this year, two-thirds of those surveyed expect a 4-10% increase and 21% expect an even higher increase, according to the results of Randstad 2025 HR Trends, the results of which were released to MTI on Monday.

The survey, which was conducted between October and December last year, polled nearly 400 senior executives from domestic companies operating in various industries: 67% of the participants were international, 14% national and 18% local. Randstad collaborated with global market research and analysis company Evalueserve on the research.

They found that the FMCG and HORECA sectors are the most confident in terms of sectors, but that the majority of companies in retail and logistics also expect their turnover to grow. Indeed, the continued rise in the price of basic consumer goods is driving growth in the food industry, followed by trade and freight forwarding, although the latter is seeing its profits "eaten into" by the rise in petrol prices.

For the first time in many years, the construction sector is also in the majority of those expecting growth, and their optimism may also be an indicator of a change in the broader economic climate.

They said firms should be encouraged by the fact that wage pressures are easing due to lower inflation, with 8% fewer firms citing increased wage costs as a challenge compared to last year's survey. However, they indicated that it remains a major concern, with 70% of respondents citing it.

Last year and again this year, 30% of respondents said they planned to increase staff numbers in the first half of the year. The number of firms not replacing those who left has fallen from 17% last year to 13% this year. 10% of those surveyed said they planned to make redundancies this year, up from 7% last year. Across industries, IT and telecoms companies and business services firms have the strongest intention to cut staff. Among jobs, the most in-demand in 2025 will be manufacturing workers, engineers, sales and IT professionals.