Labour Market Trends and Outlook in Veszprém County

Introduction

The basic labour market processes of Veszprém County are included in our analysis mostly on the basis of the regular residential and institutional surveys and data collection conducted by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. The labour market structure of the county’s population is also presented here, including the situation and wages of employees and the largest employer sectors. Labour market demands are described through job vacancies, while the supply of labour is reviewed through job seekers.

The labour market structure of the county’s population

Based on labour surveys conducted by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, in the second quarter of 2016, 61.9 percent of Veszprém County’s residents aged 15-74 (163,500) were economically active, i.e. either employed or unemployed. The market labour participation of the people living in this region is above the national average; the rate of economically active population is higher only in Győr-Sopron County and Budapest. Sixty percent of the residents were employed in the county. This employment rate is considered to be high among the various counties: Veszprém County is ranked second in the list of counties. 3.1 percent of the economically active population, i.e. 5,000 people were unemployed on average in this quarter. This unemployment rate is 2 percentage points better than the national average and the sixth lowest in the list of counties.

Labour market participation has shown an increasing trend since 2011 in the county: the rate of the economically active population was 5.3 percent higher in the second quarter of 2016. The rate of employed residents within the entire population has risen by 8.3 percentage points since the second quarter of 2008.

International outlook

Labour surveys for the age group of 15 to 64 years provide an opportunity for an international comparison of economic activities. Based on the results of the survey for the first quarter of 2016, the rate of employed people in Hungary is similar to the average of the EU members (65.8 percent), while this figure is significantly higher in Austria. The rate of employment in Romania, Slovakia and Poland, which has a history similar to the other countries of the region, lags behind the Hungarian level.

The unemployment rate of the population aged 15-64 years is 6.7 percent in the EU 28. The unemployment rate is below the EU average in four countries (Hungary, Romania, Austria and Poland), while it significantly exceeds that in Slovakia. This index in Hungary is lower than in the other countries and Veszprém County saw an unemployment rate that is even lower than the national average.

30.8 percent of the Hungarian population between the ages of 15 and 64 were inactive, which is 3.3 percentage points higher than the EU average. The rate of inactive people was higher in Romania and Poland than in Hungary (and Veszprém County).

Employed people, wages

Enterprises having their registered address in Veszprém County and employing at least 5 people, budgetary institutions and the non-profit organizations under review had a total of 83,400 employees in the first half of 2016, with 57,600 of them being employed in the private sector. The number of employed people rose by 3,400 within a year (there were 2,800 more employees in the private sector and 300 more in the public sector). Regarding the various sectors of the economy, there were 1,400 more people working in the industry, which was the largest employer, compared to last year, and staff increase could be seen also in the field of healthcare and social services, education, public administration and trade. More than half of all the people employed in the industry were engaged in the automotive industry, the manufacture and processing of metals and the rubber, plastic and construction material industry: the number of employees was over 5,000 in each of these fields.

Based on institutional HR statistics, an average of 3,500 people (merely 4 percent of all the people employed) worked in the first half of the year within the scope of public employment for business associations having their registered office in Veszprém County. 80 percent of all public workers were employed in the governmental sector.

In the period between January and June, the monthly average salary of full-time employees was HUF 226,000 (gross) in Veszprém County. The gross average salary rose by 6.9 percent compared to the first half of 2015, which exceeded the national growth rate.

Commuting

According to the data of the census of 2011, 54 percent of the employees living in Veszprém County worked at the settlement where they lived. Based on data on commuting, Veszprém County is rather considered to be a workforce generator county: 24,000 people crossed the county border for work on a daily basis. The majority of people travelling to other counties for work found a job in Fejér and Győr-Moson-Sopron Counties (more specifically, in the county seats) as well as in the capital city. There were 3,664 people coming to Veszprém County for work from other counties, mainly from Székesfehérvár and Budapest.

Vacant jobs

In parallel with the economic expansion of the past few years, not only the number of employees but also the demand for labour have been constantly increasing in Veszprém County and on a national level, which is manifested in the form of a tight labour market in certain sectors.

In the first half of 2016, the private sector enterprises of the county having at least 5 employees reported 1,132 vacant jobs, which is 1.5 times more than in the previous year and 3.7 times more than in the first half of 2010.

Regarding the various sectors of production, 20 vacant jobs were reported in the agriculture and 40 in the construction industry. The number of vacant jobs grew most significantly in the industry, more specifically in the manufacturing industry: 808 open positions were posted, 53% more than in the first half of 2015 and nearly five times more than six years ago. Within the sector, the automotive industry and the manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products suffered most from labour shortage.

In the field of services, there were 61 vacant jobs in trade, the largest employer, 62 vacancies in catering and accommodation services, which play an important role in Veszprém County, and 40 open positions in transportation and warehousing as well as in the field of financial and insurance services each. The greatest shortage is witnessed in the division of machine operators and drivers as well as in professions requiring no special qualifications. They were followed by professions requiring a degree.

Registered job seekers

Based on the data provided by the National Employment Service, there were 6,600 registered job seekers in Veszprém County in June 2016. Their number had significantly decreased year by year since 2010, by a total of 11,500. With regard to the duration of job seeking, forty percent of job seekers had themselves registered 1 to 3 months ago, while 13 percent of them more than a year ago. Half of the registered job seekers were women, 13 percent of them were under 25 years of age and 8.8 percent were registered as people starting out on their career. When young people enter the labour market, the lack of experience counts as a negative factor, however, the future employer will benefit from the various subsidies available for employing such people and also from the cheaper, easily trainable, quickly adapting and more flexible workforce. As a result of this, the number of job seekers under 25 years of age is now the lowest in six years (867) and there were 584 registered job seekers starting out on their career at the end of June.