Bigger Than Expected Interest in Summer Student Work Program

Hungary Today 2023.08.03.

There is huge interest in the summer student work program, the number of participants exceeded 28,200 against the planned 26-27,000, stressed Sándor Czomba, Secretary of State for Employment Policy of the Ministry of Economic Development, reports Hirado.hu.

Speaking to public television channel M1, the state secretary said that as in previous years, this year, 80 percent of the participants in the student work program are employed by local governments. Students were also received by agricultural enterprises, and about 5,000 people were employed in the tourism and hospitality sector. The government is providing HUF 3.5 billion (EUR 9 million) in funding for the summer student work program this year.

Sándor Czomba said

it was important for full-time students aged 16-25 to gain work experience, and the two months of the student work program are a good opportunity to do so.

He drew attention to the fact that workers under 25 years of age do not have to pay personal income tax, and this is also the case for those who undertake student work.

Fact

The average hourly wage for student workers at MelóDiák, the biggest student work agency network, is around 1,700 forints (EUR 4.5), but the pay received can be up to five to ten percent higher than the amount calculated on the basis of advertisements. This year again, the best paid jobs are those requiring more specialist skills, such as mechanical engineering or IT, and some hostess jobs, while the most modestly paid are telephone and manual jobs. Among students, the most popular jobs are those around Lake Balaton, at beaches, water slides, in restaurants, and at festivals, but agricultural jobs are also among the top choices in many places.

Meanwhile, for 10 years now, the government has been running the Summer Student Work Program with huge success, primarily providing wage subsidies to encourage secondary school and university students to take up holiday jobs, which is a valuable way of helping young people to gain work experience. The scheme is open to full-time students between the ages of 16 and 25 who are not currently in employment and do not have a business contract. The subsidies could be claimed by municipalities and businesses in agriculture, tourism, or catering. For municipalities, the state subsidy covers 100 percent of the wage contribution for up to six hours of employment, while in the competitive sector, companies receive 75 percent of the wage contribution for eight hours of employment.

The secretary of state underlined that the Hungarian labor market is extremely tight.

There are 4,766,000 people working in Hungary, the highest number since 1990, according to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office.

He pointed out that the investments coming into Hungary are generating new labor demand, a positive challenge compared to the previous period.

He emphasized that the government aims to increase the employment rate in the 20-64 age group to 85 percent by 2030. Czomba added that he saw a realistic chance of achieving this, as the employment rate is already above 80 percent, a figure that puts the country among the elite in the European Union.

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