Hungarian Companies Are Looking for Professionals in India

There is a significant shortage of truck drivers in the Hungarian labor market, which is why Hungarian companies are looking for drivers in India. Now it turns out that the situation is similar for IT specialists, but hiring foreign labor is not so easy, Világgazdaság reports.

There has been a labor shortage in highly skilled IT jobs for several years, and although companies can offer a competitive package mainly in the domestic market, there are some employers who are open to third-country workers, such as Indian workers, Balázs Simon, head of the technology division of Hays Hungary, a white-collar recruitment and selection company, told Világgazdaság.

However, it should be noted that recruiting Indian workers is not an easy task at all; it is a significant procedure, as it can take up to six months to obtain a work visa.

“For this, they have to come to Hungary. They usually work with an external work visa company that helps the candidate to obtain the permit. But the lead time is currently the notice period plus six months. There have been cases where the candidate was only able to start after nine months, so not many people apply,” said Simon.

Another recruitment target is the European Union and less well-paid countries in the European Economic Area, such as Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Ukraine, and Romania. However, if candidates from these countries are suitable for Hungarian IT jobs, they are likely to be suitable for jobs further west, so they will not stop in Hungary, the expert added.

Although IT is one of the highest paid professions, the sector has been facing a severe labor shortage for years, with a recent survey showing that there is currently a shortage of 44,000 IT professionals in the Hungarian labor market, and the market’s absorption capacity is much higher than the education could follow.

Yet it pays to become an IT specialist, because according to the latest employment data for 2021 from the Hungarian Central Statistics Office, a software developer in his 40s was earning an average of over one million forints gross (EUR 2,600)  two years ago, while a person under 30, i.e. just starting out in their career, could earn up to 700,000 forints gross (EUR 1,820), both very good salaries in Hungarian terms. Since this data is from two years ago, wages have probably increased further by now.

However, it is not only IT specialists who face labor shortages- the situation is similar for truck drivers. At the beginning of March, news broke in Hungary that the Hungarian subsidiary of the Danish-owned Baton Transport was recruiting female truck drivers in India for domestic positions, with a net monthly salary of 600-700,000 forints (EUR 1,560-1,820). In the first phase of the project, the transport company has started recruiting 25 Indian women, which will later be increased to 800.

The news came as a surprise to many, but looking at the market, there is a clear phenomenon: there is a serious shortage of truck drivers not only in Hungary, but also in Europe.

Autónavigátor reported that there are several major carrying companies in Europe where at least 10 percent of vehicles are at a standstill due to a shortage of drivers. Meanwhile, the search for people to do the job is on, as a truck driver’s license can be worth its weight in gold these days. However, the fact is that truck drivers’ lives are not easy: they are on the road almost all the time, they have to load and unload, and this discourages many from taking up the job.

Meanwhile, the presence of Indian drivers is not unprecedented in Hungary, as transport and logistics company Waberer’s announced last year that their first Indian driver had successfully completed their training program and started working for them. The company was training 79 Indian workers for international freight transport in the first round.

Featured photo via Pixabay