Fidesz Will Issue 35,000 Guest Worker Permits Next Year

From an article originally published in Hungarian by Magyar Jelen on December 4, 2025 by Éva Remenyiczki.

At the signing of the 2026 wage agreement, Viktor Orbán indicated that they cannot raise economic growth above a certain level as long as “the shadow of war is hanging over our heads,” MTI reported from the prime minister’s press conference. As we have come to expect from the party governing our country, once again the war is being blamed for what is in fact a government failure: fifteen years of misguided economic policy.

Fidesz is therefore once again trying to distance itself from responsibility and, by pointing to external factors, seeks to find scapegoats, even though the task of a strong national government should be to guarantee the livelihoods of workers.

Orbán stated that there are currently 65,000 unfilled jobs in Hungary, and that next year 35,000 permits will be issued to guest workers. Once again, attempts are being made to resolve the labor shortage with immigrants, a solution that serves the interests of multinational companies far more than those of Hungarian workers.

According to information from MTI (Hungary's state news agency), the prime minister also mentioned the three-percent interest first-home program as an element supporting the agreement. He explained that while this is not directly linked to wages, it is connected to them, because for most people earning income serves the purpose of obtaining their own home, and this is particularly true in the case of young people.

For young people, however, the solution should not be low loan interest rates: they would either need wages that allow them to cover soaring housing prices, or the government should exert an influence on the real estate market that would make homes more accessible.

The prime minister also announced that the minimum wage will increase by 11 percent, meaning it will reach a gross 322,800 forints per month, while the guaranteed minimum wage will rise to 373,200 forints after a 7 percent increase. 

It should not be forgotten, however, that while wages are rising on paper, in reality a significant portion of this increase has been eroded by inflation.

“We have every opportunity to keep the Hungarian economy on a good track,” Orbán concluded, as if the Hungarian economy were currently on a good track.

László Toroczkai, chairman of the Our Homeland Movement (Mi Hazánk Mozgalom), has previously pointed out on several occasions, including in parliamentary speeches, that according to the government there is “not a single migrant here” and that “Hungary is being protected from migration.” He also recalled that his party has opposed migration since its founding, and that he himself has opposed it for an even longer time. For a while, the government claimed the same, but it has since become clear that “this was just a deception.”