The Hungarian government will launch a 200 billion forint (EUR 507.3m) European Union-funded program to boost employment among Hungarians under 30 in April.
Sándor Czomba, the state secretary for employment policy, said on public television on Tuesday that the scheme, which will include support for wages, rent and commuting costs, as well as for training, could help around 84,000 young Hungarians find work in 2024-2029. Between 60,000 and 70,000 of those could get wage support and 25,000-30,000 could participate in the training pillar of the scheme, he added. The programme will offer to cover half of employers’ payroll costs for new hires under 30 for up to six months. It will make up to 180,000 forints available for rent support for potential hires who live more than 60km away from work. New hires who opt to commute could get 10,000 forints in support for every 10km they need to travel to work. Czomba noted that around 23,500 Hungarians under the age of 25 were registered job-seekers. He added that the activity rate for Hungarians under 30 was around 10 percentage points under the EU average for the age group.