More state support for Hungarian student summer employment

As a new element, the program now also offers funding to agricultural and catering businesses employing students, in order to meet strong workforce demand, the minister was cited as saying by state news wire MTI.

The program is expected to support the employment of about 25,000-30,000 students this summer, after more than 27,000 last year. For municipalities, the funding covers 100% of student wages, for a period of two months between June 18 and August 31, and for a maximum six hours a day. In the case of farm and catering businesses, 75% of the sum of student wages and related social contributions are refunded to the employer, MTI noted.

Meanwhile, economic news portal vg.hu notes that the number of students taking on jobs increases by some 30-40% during the summer period.

Students typically take on semi-skilled work in factories, commercial units, hotels and restaurants, as well as at beaches and festivals, while others take the opportunity to gain professional work experience useful in their fields of study, according to vg.hu. In this respect, some already look to begin building their future careers while still studying.

In a related report, MTI revealed that the DiákÉSZ association of student employment cooperatives saw revenues of its members climb 32% to HUF 27.2 bln last year. The number of companies with whom DiákÉSZ  cooperatives placed students increased 26% to 5,840, with almost 94,000 students placed in temporary jobs through DiákÉSZ members.

DiákÉSZ is Hungaryʼs student cooperative leader, controlling about half of the market. Student cooperatives organize temporary work and odd jobs for students in Hungary in a well-functioning legal framework that was recently adapted and adopted for pensioners to ease the labor shortage, noted MTI.