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The job portal’s research, based on responses from 449 companies and a representative sample of 1,000 Hungarian residents, shows that only 55% of companies plan wage increases this year, compared with nearly two-thirds that anticipated pay raises for 2025. The average planned increase has also declined, falling from 8% last year to 7%.
Profession.hu noted that previous surveys have consistently shown that most companies that plan wage increases ultimately implement them, and in some cases more employers introduce pay rises than initially expected. In 2025, for example, 60% of companies originally planned wage adjustments, but 72% ultimately implemented them.
However, employers appear significantly more cautious this year, both in terms of the number of planned increases and their scale.
The most frequently cited reason for wage increases is to compensate employees for rising living costs, with 67% of employers identifying this as their primary motivation. The minimum wage increase announced at the end of last year also had a major impact, with four in 10 companies saying it influenced their decision to adjust salaries.
For about one-quarter of companies, wage developments are linked to broader economic conditions.
Among employers that introduced general wage increases last year and plan to do so again in 2026, 22% expect to provide higher increases than in 2025, 33% anticipate lower increases, and 46% expect the level to remain unchanged.
While companies are scaling back their plans, employee expectations remain high. The survey found that 82% of workers expect some improvement in their compensation package this year, including salary increases or enhanced fringe benefits.
Half of employees specifically expect a pay rise in 2026. About one-third anticipate a net monthly increase of around HUF 20,000, while another third expect between HUF 20,000 and HUF 50,000. The remaining respondents expect larger increases.
In 2025, 66% of employees reported that their compensation package had expanded, slightly lower than the 69% recorded in 2024. However, workers appear skeptical about the scale of upcoming increases, with seven in 10 saying they expect a smaller raise than they believe would be justified.
Blanka Dencső, market research and business development expert at Profession.hu, said the findings reflect a broader labor market trend toward caution.
“The research confirmed the labor market trend that companies are waiting and planning more cautiously not only in recruitment but also in the area of wage increases. The minimum wage increase significantly rewrote several employers’ preliminary plans for this year — four out of ten of them increased wages at least partly because of this,” she said.
She added that compliance with the EU’s wage transparency directive is also affecting many companies, with preparations for implementation expected to begin for some firms this year.
According to the survey, the proportion of companies planning to expand their compensation packages is five percentage points lower than last year, highlighting growing caution among employers despite continued wage pressures.
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