Black Labor Market Keeps Expanding

  • 26 Apr 2018 9:29 AM
  • Budapest Business Journal
Black Labor Market Keeps Expanding
Hungarian authorities imposed more than HUF 200 million in fines last year related to labor irregularities. Illegal hiring of workers grew by 5% between 2016 and 2017, business news portal vg.hu reports.

According to data released by the Ministry for National Economy, checks conducted revealed that 17.11% of employees were hired illegally in 2017, while in 2016 this was only 12.73%.

The rate is extremely high in the construction industry, where 47% were not registered last year, compared to 42% in 2016, vg.hu reports.

Black market labor is somewhat less prevalent in agriculture, where one third of employees checked were found to be working illegally last year.

Security and services saw 22% illegal workers in 2017, slightly up on 21% in 2016, while the hospitality industry hired 19%  illegally in 2017, up from 16% in 2016.

As for those legally hired, the most common irregularity is the omission of registration with the authorities, the ministry said.

  • How does this content make you feel?

XpatLoop Media Partner

Budapest Business Journal

Hungary's largest and oldest source of business and financial news in English. Since 1992 it has presented essential information on Hungarian business life, including international analyses about the country. These days the BBJ newspaper is published every other week, while it releases daily business news online including premium paid content.