Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is preparing for a power battle in the upcoming general elections in the spring of 2026. On Monday, November 25, the planned three-year salary agreement between the government, employers and workers’ representatives. The object of the agreement is a systematic increase in salaries for the period before the elections, during the election year and the year immediately following. With this, Prime Minister Orban tries to counter criticism of his socioeconomic policy by the opposition from the ranks of the new center-right Tisza party.
Three-year pay deal signed by Prime Minister Victor OrbánSecretary General of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ) Laszlo PerlusVice President of the National Association of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists (MGYOSZ) Ferenc RolekPresident of the National Association of Consumer Cooperatives and Commercial Societies (FPEOSZ-COOP) Zoltan ZakPresidents of the National Federation of Workers’ Councils Melinda Meszaros AND Imre PalkovicPresident of the Hungarian Trade Union Federation Robert Zlati.
The general secretary of the National Association of Businessmen and Entrepreneurs (VOSZ), László Perlus, praised the three-year wage agreement at a press conference in Budapest on Monday as an extremely ambitious undertaking. After last year’s “terrible inflation”, Hungary is expected to see very modest growth this year, and after two such difficult years, the parties were able to agree on a 7% increase in the guaranteed minimum wage and a 9% increase % in the minimum wage. salary next year. A salary increase of 13% was agreed for 2026 and 14% in 2027.
An increase in the minimum wage results in an increase in wages overall. It is worth remembering here that Hungary this year and in previous years had the highest inflation among the countries of the European Union.
According to the general secretary of VOSZ, employers see the wage agreement as a “business plan”, in which not only employers, but also employees and the government must do their “duties”.
“Entrepreneurs must be more competitive and productive, introduce the latest technologies, apply artificial intelligence and move towards digitalization and robotization. At the same time, employees must be open to learning and mastering new technologies.” – said.
The president of the union league, Melinda Meszáros, stated that if macroeconomic conditions, GDP or average salaries change, the current agreement will be reviewed and the necessary adjustments will be made.
He explained that this year the negotiations on regulated salary increases were carried out in a particularly difficult environment due to the current macroeconomic situation and the current military conflict in Ukraine, which has a serious impact on both the state of the Hungarian economy and the conditions of life and livelihoods of workers. Under these circumstances, Hungarian employers’ and workers’ organizations had to negotiate and agree on a multi-year agreement to increase wages.
Meszáros noted that Hungary is one of the six countries in the European Union where the minimum wage directive was introduced on time. It also sets a control value. Hungary wants to exceed the minimum wage by 50% by January 1, 2027.
