Budapest Business Journal 2608

HUNGARY’S PRACTICAL BUSINESS BI-WEEKLY SINCE 1992 | WWW.BBJ.HU

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BUSINESS JOURNAL BUDAPEST

VOL. 26. NUMBER 8

APRIL 20 – MAY 3, 2018

SPECIAL REPORT HR

NEWS

Election Ensures Continuity in Economic Policy Markets have welcomed the political continuity brought by the landslide victory of Hungary’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition on April 8, analysts say unanimously. Some warn, however, that loosening fiscal policy further might be problematic in the longer run.  3

SPECIAL REPORT

Growing Challenges and Better Care in the HR Market

If finding labor was challenging last year, it is getting close to impossible in some cases now. HR agencies have to reach out to the market to fulfill workforce needs and the competition is acute. Yet the crisis is also bringing a more humane attitude to the labor market.  21

SOCIALITE

Amazons and Horses and Havasi Choreographer and co-founder of ExperiDance Sándor Román is facing an extremely busy 12-months, but even so he is thinking longerterm, and determined to set an example to artistic creatives.  31

Source, Train, Retain.

S PEC

RE IAL

POR

T

Barbara Szigeti, retail people director at Tesco, is charged with keeping one of Hungary’s biggest headcounts happy. It runs the gammut from sourcing seasonal summer cover at Lake Balaton to finding innovative ways to retain staff, with training a key element.  9

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

THE EDITOR SAYS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robin Marshall EDITORIAL STAFF: Zsófia Czifra, Bridget Daley, Kester

Eddy, David Holzer, Christian Keszthelyi, Gary J. Morrell, Rob Smyth, Bálint Szőnyi, Ágnes Vinkovits.

LISTS: BBJ Research (research@bbj.hu) NEWS AND PRESS RELEASES:

Should be submitted in English to news@bbj.hu LAYOUT: Zsolt Pataki PUBLISHER: Business Publishing Services Kft. CEO: Tamás Botka ADVERTISING: AMS Services Kft. CEO: Balázs Román SALES: sales@bbj.hu

CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTIONS: circulation@bbj.hu

Address: Madách Trade Center 1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13-14., Building A, 8th floor. Telephone +36 (1) 398-0344, Fax +36 (1) 398-0345, www.bbj.hu SUBSCRIPTIONS: Budapest Business Journal 1 year 6 months 3 months

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News Services Hungary A.M., Energy Today, Regional Today 1 year, from HUF 179,000+VAT 6 months, from HUF 104,900+VAT 3 months, from HUF 58,900+VAT Book of Lists 2017-2018: HUF 19,120+VAT DigiBOL HUF 39,900+VAT Call +36 1 398-0344 or email circulation@bbj.hu What We Stand For: The Budapest Business Journal aspires to be the most trusted newspaper in Hungary. We believe that managers should work on behalf of their shareholders. We believe that among the most important contributions a government can make to society is improving the business and investment climate so that its citizens may realize their full potential.

This issue has a special focus on HR issues, which gives me an opportunity to say something that I don’t think you will hear very often: the newspaper industry is ahead of the curve.

Specifically, I am thinking of atypical employment, by which I mean anything other than a salaried person sitting in front of a computer from nine to five, or whatever the set hours may be.

We have those as well, and every company needs them, but newspapers have also long had freelancers, people who may work for a number of publications and have no set desk in the HQ. For a period of eight years or so I did just that between editorships, working from my home office for a number of diverse organizations, providing a range of communications services from straightforward news reporting, to copywriting and copy editing, to internal and external corporate communications.

Working from home is not for everyone. It requires a degree of discipline (personally speaking, I always found the thought that I had no guaranteed monthly salary an immense aid in this if internet searches became too distracting), but the freedom that came with it – to push the seat back from the desk, grab the dogs and go for a walk because it was a nice day, for example – was wonderful.

It also requires discipline from those around you should there be others at home. While she was on maternity leave looking after our youngest child, my wife did not always appreciate that I could just drop everything and “pop out to the shops”. But we worked our way around it.

I can’t work from home in the same way now; editing a newspaper comes with too many other responsibilities and duties that require you to be in the office fairly regularly. But to managers afraid of letting staff work from home, at least part of the time, I say that it can do wonders for their wellbeing and productivity, provided you choose the right people. Just because it is “atypical”, does not mean it is unworkable.

• • • • • • • In the same week that the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrat (KDNP) coalition won a sweeping election victory here, two more news organizations folded. One, Magyar Nemzet, was a venerable, 80-year-old conservative newspaper, the other, the Budapest Beacon, a four-year-old English language web portal. Both were independent of the government, and frequently critical of it. You can argue all you like about financial models and sustainability, and no one has a devine right to stay in business, but as I wrote when Népszabadság, an equally venerable newspaper bastion of the left, was shuttered in 2016, such closures should be noted and mourned because every society needs a plurality of views.

With Hungarian newspapers and portals increasingly in the hands of pro-government supporters, that plurality is fast disappearing. And that should concern readers, whoever makes up the government, because none of us has a monopoly on wisdom, and, as businesses know very well, diverse organizations (including diverse thoughts and views) are frequently better, healthier and more profitable places.

Robin Marshall Editor-in-chief

MTI/Tibor Rosta

fortepan.hu/Tamás Urbán

The Budapest Business Journal, HU ISSN 1216-7304, is published bi-weekly on Friday, registration No. 0109069462. It is distributed by HungaroPress.

Reproduction or use without permission of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited. ©2017 BUSINESS MEDIA SERVICES LLC with all rights reserved.

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In the color photo, 101-year-old István Sin is casting his vote on April 8, in Hungary’s eighth parliamentary general election since the first multi-party ballot after the change in regime in 1990.

In the black and white photo, ballots are being cast during the 1971 parliamentary elections.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

News

///macroscope

Election Outcome Ensures Continuity in Economic Policy

Markets have welcomed the political continuity brought by the landslide victory of Hungary’s FideszKDNP coalition on April 8, analysts say unanimously. Some warn, however, that loosening fiscal policy further – as promised by the prime minister in the election campaign – might be problematic in the longer run.

ZSÓFIA CZIFRA

The victory of the ruling coalition in the Hungarian legislative elections will ensure economic policy continuity, said Fitch Ratings in a press release following the announcement of the result.

Fidesz did not publish a specific manifesto policy program ahead of the elections, Fitch wrote, instead it highlighed its record in government

since

2010.

Fitch therefore expects economic policy continuity, with accommodative fiscal policies in 2018 likely to support the strong cyclical position of the economy.

“We forecast growth to remain around 4% this year, partly due to another minimum wage increase,” analysts at the rating institution said.

Limited Volatility

Erste group analysts also noted that election results had caused no great swings on the money markets. “In Hungary, the election outcome might induce some limited market volatility in the short-run, but no major

The Evolution of Inflation in Hungary, 1991-2018 (January-March) Change compared to the same period of the previous year, %

Source: KSH/MTVA Sajtóadatbank/MTI

movements are expected either in FX or HGB market,” Erste wrote in a note one day after the election.

Others highlight several risk factors though. Fidesz-KDNP’s sweeping victory might have been welcomed by local financial markets, but the late stage of the economic cycle means the government’s next term is likely to be characterized by higher inflation and slower growth than the last, Emerging Europe economist Liam Carson said in a note after April 8.

According to him, local financial markets reacted positively to the result.

The equity market was up by

almost

2%

on the morning after election day, and the forint appreciated slightly against the euro. Investors seem to have been reassured by the political stability that the election result has brought, Carson explained, adding that the fragmented nature of the opposition means that if Fidesz-KDNP hadn’t won a majority, then the resulting coalition talks could have been messy.

The Emerging Europe economist warns that the vote has put the spotlight back onto the erosion of institutional quality under the government’s rule, and he thinks this is something to be concerned about.

According to him, this might endanger foreign investment activity in an economy that already has a very low investment rate. What is perceived as the erosion of institutions might also have an economic impact via the pullback of EU structural fund inflows.

Emerging Europe recalls that loose fiscal policy meant that the past few years have been characterized by subdued inflation and strong GDP growth, which had allowed the central bank to lower interest rates to historic lows.

Capacity Constraints

However, after years of rapid economic growth, capacity constraints are starting to mount, Carson warned. He mentioned that labor market shortages seem to be particularly acute and wage growth had jumped. Therefore, although inflation has been soft in recent months, it is likely to rise over the course of the coming parliamentary term, Carson warned. Growth is ADVERTISEMENT

likely to be constrained by Hungary’s potential GDP growth rate, which is

around

2-2.5%.

In this respect, the direction of policymaking is concerning, Emerging Europe’s note states.

Carson also reminded readers that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán promised to further loosen fiscal policy, mainly through further cuts in the personal income tax rate. Such tax cuts are likely to cause the budget deficit to tip over the 3% of GDP threshold, which might result in further disputes with the EU. He also warns that there is a growing risk that monetary policy is being kept too loose for too long.

Overly-accommodative fiscal and monetary policy could cause imbalances to build, inflation could rise further, the current account surplus is likely to swing to a deficit, the forint would come under pressure, and asset bubbles could develop, Carson summarized.

Fitch, however, thinks that while tax cuts might indeed cause a bigger deficit in the budget, the government will be able to keep the general government headline deficit below the EU criterion of 3% of GDP.

Numbers to watch in the coming weeks The Central Statistical Office (KSH) will detail how much money Hungarians earned in January and February today (April 20). Four days later, second estimates of February retail trade data will follow.

Employment and unemployment statistics for the January-March period will come out on April 27.

Retail trade figures for March will be published on May 4.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Business World Reacts to Election Result Business organizations have given a cautious welcome to the news of the sweeping FideszKDNP election win.

ROBIN MARSHALL

Given that they will work closely with the new government once it is formed, the Budapest Business Journal contacted a number of the leading chambers of commerce to gauge their reaction.

“AmCham Hungary promotes the global competitiveness of the country, as one of the largest representatives of the business community in Hungary.

Therefore, AmCham is committed to continue the constructive dialogue with the re-elected government in order to further strengthen the competitiveness of the economy,” the American chamber of Commerce told the BBJ in relaying a statement from its board.

“We are especially focusing on the areas of an investment-friendly business climate, creating a more competitive education and broadening the talent pool, fostering innovation and championing digitalization,” the board statement added.

For the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the reelection was seen through the light of Brexit.

Strengthening Relationship “As the U.K. is in the process of redefining its relationship with the EU, the BCCH is looking forward to further strengthening the working relationship with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and relevant government

“I don’t wish to comment on the two-thirds majority; the market has already commented on that.” organizations in Hungary to facilitate the development of a strong bilateral trade relationship with the U.K. after Brexit,” the chamber said in an email statement.

Dirk Wölfer, head of communications of the German-Hungarian Chamber

of Industry and Commerce said: “The Hungarian voters have expressed strong support for the policy of Fidesz-KDNP. For the corporate sphere it will be important that the new government should continue to provide the necessary policy framework for the efficient and competitive operations.

For the Hungarian economy the membership in the European Union is of paramount importance, so we are looking forward to expanding, mutually beneficial economic ties with Germany and other major partners in the EU.” Others, such as the NetherlandsHungarian Chamber of Commerce and the Swiss chamber declined to comment to the BBJ, saying they do not discuss political issues.

Leading domestic business figures did give their own reaction, however. OTP Bank chairman-CEO Sándor Csányi, speaking to Hungarian state news agency MTI, praised the “fantastic” work of the National Bank of Hungary, noting policy makers’ decisions to lower interest rates, provide financing for cheap credit for businesses and push banking sector liquidity out of central bank deposits and into government securities.

He declined to speak directly about the election results, however, telling the wire service: “I don’t wish to comment on the two-thirds majority; the market has already commented on that.” (The equity market was up by almost 2% on the

Sándor Csányi. morning after the election, and the forint had appreciated slightly against the euro.)

International ratings agency Fitch said the election result ensured economic policy continuity. For more on this and other analysis from market analysts, see Macroscope on page three.

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Hungarian premiere Művészeti Szalon és Kávéház 1052 Budapest, Szervita tér 5.

Jegypénztár: 06-1-266-8337 jegy@rozsavolgyi.hu www.szalon.rozsavolgyi.hu

Florian Zeller: Behind the Curtains Daniel and Isabelle are expecting their friend, Patrick, and his new partner, Emma, to dinner. During the preparations of this seemingly cheerful evening, tension seems to rise. The couple was good friends with Patrick and his ex-wife, whom Patrick left for his new love. Emma is young and pretty, but she is very different from the deserted wife. Seeing Patrick’s delirious happiness, the hosts slowly start to question their own comfortable daily family routine.

Behind the Curtains is a very honest and outspoken drama about midlife crisis. However, its author presents his characters with humour and irony. The dialogues are often interrupted by the “amplified” thoughts of the characters.

There are no lies, secret thoughts and suppressed desires that remain hidden before the audience – all covers get blown!

Florian Zeller is a contemporary novelist and playwright. “The most intriguing new playwright of our age” - The Guardian. His play, The Father won the Moliére Award in France. His comedy, Behind the Curtains (L’Envers du décor) was written in 2016, and was met with critical acclaim.

Starring Andrea Spolarics, Dóra Sztarenki, Csaba Vasvári and Róbert Kardos Translation and dramaturgy by Krisztina Oláh Directed by Tamás Ördög

Florian Zeller

BEHIND THE CURTAINS HUNGARIAN PREMIERE

Starring Andrea Spolarics, Dóra Sztarenki, Csaba Vasvári and Róbert Kardos Directed by Tamás Ördög Premiere: April 27 in Szentendre, April 29 in Rózsavölgyi Szalon

Presented in co-production by Szentendrei Teátrum and Rózsavölgyi Szalon.

Premiere: April 27 in Szentendre, April 29 in Rózsavölgyi Szalon Further performances: April 30 Rózsavölgyi Salon Arts & Café 1052 Budapest, Szervita tér 5.

Tel.: +36 1 486 33 38 Ticket information: +36 30 463 88 22 szalon@rozsavolgyi.hu www.szalon.rozsavolgyi.hu facebook.com/rozsavolgyiszalon

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

News///in brief

M LIN E O T T O B E H T

Hungarian First: Electrojet Prototype

Language Education in Hungary at the State Level Failing its Customers

include experienced electric What its designers claim is the boat designers and shipbuilders world’s first electric-powered jet as well as management. ski developed for mass production “Our development center was put through its paces on Lake has been established in Balaton near Balatonkenese (96 km southwest of Budapest) by designer Balatonvilágos [92 km from Budapest, virtually at the Ákos Réder on Monday (April 16). end of the M7 motorway], According to the Narke website where we are to prepare series (the name is apparently taken from production and can test the a genus of electric ray found in electrojet live.” the western Indo-Pacific and off The team says the electrojet southern Africa) the electrojet “is “thanks to its electric drive, is not a jet-ski and not a half-solution transformed from a gasoline model, environmentally friendly and represents a sustainable future”. but a whole new genre in sailing”.

They add: “Its construction is a The Hungarian team behind Hungarian success story.” the prototype of the electrojet MTI Photo: Tamás Kovács

The headline to a recent article on the website of a leading Hungarian political think tank read: “ … 58% of the Hungarians do not speak any foreight language at all.” (sic)

DUIHK sees improving economy, business climate The annual gauge of investor confidence of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) rose from 21 points to a record 28 points in 2017, DUIHK Chairman Dale A. Martin said on Tuesday. Surveyed German companies in Hungary see an excellent economic environment and improving business prospects.

For the 24th occasion, the DUIHK surveyed its members and other foreign investors about how they view the economic situation and business climate in Hungary. The general assessment of the Hungarian economy was positive and encouraging, thanks to which an improving trend has been seen in terms of both investment and employment, a DUIHK press release cited Martin as saying.

The survey showed that companies’ willingness to make investments became stronger as did their hiring plans, with more than half of respondents planning to increase headcount and just 10% planning lay-offs, according to state news wire MTI. About 43% of respondents said they plan to spend more on investments than in earlier years, while only 11% said they would spend less on developments. At the same time, respondents had negative views on the availability of qualified workforce in both Hungary and the region, Martin noted.

The survey showed that company managers have seen significant improvement in the areas of taxation

and public administration. At the same time, assessments of the availability of qualified workforce deteriorated, as did views on legal security, corruption, and the transparency of public procurement.

The commitment of German investors operating in Hungary strengthened, with 84% of respondents saying they would bring their investments here again if they had to make the decision now, a higher percentage than last year.

Martin acknowledged the dynamic economic growth seen in other countries of the region, noting that last year seven of the 11 EU member states of Eastern Europe recorded economic growth of higher than 4%, as the region far outstripped the average pace of growth among the Western member countries.

At the same time, the chairman noted that the current upbeat mood is largely attributable to a favorable external economic environment, and that this also carries certain risks for the future.

Since 2006, the same survey has been carried out by German chambers of commerce in 15 other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Based on the international results, stated the DUIHK press release, it can be said that the opinions of companies in Hungary more or less correspond to the average in the region.

This year a total of 205 business leaders participated in the DUIHK questionnaire between February 1 and March 6. The report can be downloaded for free from the chamber website in its entirety.

KESTER EDDY

The article has since been taken down, and I’ll save the blushes of an oft-quoted analyst by not naming names. In any case, native English writers are not immune from typos, spelling errors and grammar glitches – yours truly included.

But as Klemens Wersonig observes (see interview on page ten), despite improving since 1990, foreign language skills in Hungary are “probably the lowest in the region”.

The Austrian-born headhunter told the Budapest Business Journal: “Here, language teaching is very much grammar based, rarely is it speaking. So, often, we have people with quite high skills in reading and understanding, but they cannot communicate.” Here, he was referring to graduate level: below that, he agreed standards are “appalling”.

Wersonig is in a good position to judge: with offices across the region, he finds executive recruits from Szczecin to Sofia and much in between. Recently, because of an acute shortage in Vienna, he’s been targeting German speaking Slovaks with IT skills. The successful candidates, graduates with a year or two’s experience, can walk into a job with a minimum monthly salary of EUR 4,000.

Official statistical data gives credence to the anecdotal evidence: in the Eurostat “Quality of Life” report of 2015, 62% of Hungarians admitted to not knowing another language, the second worse figure behind Ireland in the countries studied (which excluded the United Kingdom). In Estonia, belonging to a similar language group, the figure was a mere 14%.

That report drew on data from 2011, but the situation has changed little. In fact, it has possibly got worse. According to the

Education Office, middle-level passes in English language have tumbled from some 89,500 in 2010 to 67,100 in 2017 – a

25% drop.

The slump in German language passes at the same level was even more dramatic – at near 40%.

Shocked into Action

In 2014, the government was shocked into action: some 50,000 former students were in a kind of educational no-man’s land, unable to officially graduate because they lacked a “B2” (the equivalent of the middle-level) foreign language qualification needed after 2006 to qualify for a first university degree in any subject.

The authorities launched the so-called “diplomamentő” program, a subsidized language teaching project designed to clear this backlog. According to press reports last summer,

some

10,250

such former students had taken the course.

Bizarrely – given the aim of the program – the rules meant teachers had to hold a Hungarian language teaching qualification, which excluded the vast majority of non-Magyar teachers. Despite this quirky job-protection scheme, the results – at least on paper – were excellent: the pass rate was 96%.

This is a start, but hardly a panacea for a problem set to get worse. From 2020, new regulations mandate that students need at least one “B2” level foreign language qualification to enroll on an undergraduate course. Educational experts have been warning for at least two years that many schools, especially in more deprived areas of the country, simply do not have enough skilled teachers to prepare would-be students for the new enrolment conditions.

Language education in Hungary today at the state level is failing its customers – the students themselves and employers who pay taxes in order to hire staff capable of competing in the modern world. Schemes like diplomamentő would thus appear to have considerable life in them yet.

Potential teachers can find details at: ofa. hu/hu/diplomamento It is available, of course, in Hungarian only.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Business CTP Expanding in Hungary

The industrial and business park developer, CTP is expanding its activities in the Hungarian industrial market: the company has made two land purchases in Biatorbágy and Dunaharaszti in the greater Budapest area. The acquisitions will increase the value of assets owned by the company in Hungary to EUR 320 million by the end of 2018, according to CTP. GARY J. MORRELL

The Hungarian industrial and logistics market is seen as recording high demand from automotive, retail and e-commerce companies for a limited supply of welllocated, quality, contiguous space. Vacancy currently stands at a record low of 4%, against a Central European average of 5%.

Hungary has an estimated 8.6 million sqm of industrial space,

in both capital and regional cities,” commented Remon Vos, CEO of CTP. The full-service logistics and industrial park developer and operator currently has more than 4.5 million sqm of Class “A” properties in more than 82 strategic locations in Central Europe. This divides between around 50% light manufacturing and R&D and 50% pure logistics and distribution space.

Most of the expansion is being undertaken in its newer Central European markets of Hungary and Romania, which

constituted

66%

44% of which is leased and the remainder owner-occupied;

around

70%

to complete work in the first quarter of 2019. CTP defines itself as a long-term investor and industrial park owner. The company currently has 14,000 sqm under construction at CTPark Győr II, 10,600 sqm is being developed at CTPark Budapest West and, outside the capital, 1,7000 sqm is being constructed at CTPark Komárom.

of stock is located in the greater Budapest area.

CTP already owns 165,000 sqm of space in Biatorbágy where a further two warehouses consisting of around 60,000 sqm of space will be developed; in addition, two warehouses of 60,000 sqm of space are being developed in Dunaharaszti, an established industrial location.

“This year we will continue with our Extended Network expansion activities. CTP will invest “By developing in Hungary and Romania approximately EUR 60 mln into these we have now extended the CTP network new CTParks. These projects will create to the whole Central European region. a variety of jobs, both direct and indirect, We are long-term operators and therefore and we estimate that the number of new maintain ownership of our parks. Our jobs could exceed 2,000,” said Rudolf development strategy is to follow our Nemes, country manager at CTP Hungary. clients as two-thirds of our business Construction on both locations will is with existing clients. We develop begin in the second quarter and CTP plans

of the overall portfolio growth in 2017. The company is now present in Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania and plans to develop up to one million sqm of space this year.

Despite the historically low vacancy of around 5% in Central Europe, CTP is continuing to develop on a largely builtto-suit basis with a small amount of speculative shell and core space. The company is in the process of acquiring a development plot in Serbia and also plans to develop in western Ukraine. The aim is to have a 7.3 million sqm portfolio by 2020.

The CTP portfolio is valued at EUR 4.3 billion. “Due to the strong overall economic performance of CEE markets in 2017, the industrial real estate sector posted the highest occupancy rates on record. CTP core occupancy hit 97.7%. Low vacancy, coupled with strong new demand, has resulted in total rental income rising to EUR 233 mln for the year, and we expect this to increase to 17% year-on-year in 2018,” said CTP. The company retains responsibility for property management activities and all new BREEAM-accredited buildings include in-house facility management, grid sizes of 12x24 meters with a 10.5 meters clear height and LED lightning. According to Nemes, the usual construction period is around nine months.

Investment Volumes Expected to Approach EUR 2 bln Most attendees at the recent “CBRE Investment Breakfast” expect a similar investment volume to 2017 as more established investors are operating in Hungary, giving the market more stability, according to the organizers.

GARY J. MORRELL

The ninth investment breakfast at the Sofitel Hotel Budapest Chain Bridge was attended by more than 80 investors, financiers and asset managers; it acts as a barometer on the state of the Hungarian property investment market, based on the opinions of property professionals surveyed at the event. Delegates at the recent MIPIM 2018 also saw improved investor sentiment towards Hungary.

In response to the question “What investment turnover do you expect

in Hungary for 2018?” some 36% of respondents indicated that they expect total investment volume to reach last year’s sum of EUR 1.7-1.8 billion, 25% expected a higher volume at EUR 1.8 bln-2.1 bln and 28% expected less at EUR 1.3 bln-1.7 bln.

The world-wide trend is that investors are seeking to release more funds. CBRE recorded that more surveyed investors intend to deploy more capital in 2018 than in the previous year.

Budapest, Prague and Warsaw are all now attracting German open-ended funds.

Asked which asset class they would purchase, 21% chose value-add

offices, while 19% opted for newly built offices and

10% chose

shopping centers. However, retail is still regarded as an attractive investment option.

Incredibly Interesting

“The retail market in the CEE region, especially the markets of Hungary, Czech [Republic] and Poland are incredibly interesting for investors, who continue to see rental growth within the shopping center sector,” commented Chris Gardener, head of EMEA retail investment at CBRE. “This is ultimately driven by increasing catchment populations, growing personal wealth, low levels of personal debt and strong consumer behavior. Poland and Hungary, for example, are showing lower levels of internet penetration rates at present of around 6% of total consumer expenditure, when compared

to say Germany (10%) and the U.K. (17%),” Gardener added.

Yields are expected to further compress as CBRE put office yields at 6%, shopping centers at 5.75% and industrial at 7.75%.

Challenges to the Hungarian investment market include the geo-political climate, a possible rise in interest rates, rising construction costs and the possibility that property could be overpriced, according to CBRE. As many as 38% of respondents saw the main challenge to the investment market in Hungary as “scarcity of product”.

This reflects the pent-up demand in Hungary as investors are ready to invest but there is a lack of product according to Tim O’Sullivan, head of capital markets at CBRE Hungary.

With regard to the type of investors operating in Hungary, 49% of the attendees expect Western European investors to be most active, 25% expect it to be Hungarian investors and 21% percent expect new capital.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

WHO’S NEWS

Do you know someone on the move? /// Send information to news@bbj.hu

Corporate Tax Expert Joins PwC Hungary

stockbroker in Hungary. His hobbies include running and cooking, and he is also a Formula-1 enthusiast.

Erik Landgraf Moves to Szabó Kelemen & Partners Attorneys

Bálint Gombkötő has joined the corporate tax group of professional services firm PwC Hungary as a director from March 2018. Previously he worked at advisory KPMG Tanácsadó Kft., where he gained extensive experience in corporate taxation.

Gombkötő refined his international taxation expertise in London, in connection with international corporate taxation and the tax implications of EU accession, with special regard to European Community rules on direct taxation.

He has in-depth knowledge of EU law, including in particular its direct taxation aspects, according to PwC. Gombkötő has gained extensive experience in tax litigation in Hungarian courts and in the Court of Justice of the European Union and established a good working relationship with the EU Commission. He has clients in many sectors, including energy, commerce, real estate, and financial services. In his new role he will advise on domestic and international tax planning.

Gombkötő holds a degree in economics with legal specialization, and is a licensed tax advisor, tax expert, and

Szabó Kelemen & Partners Attorneys has announced that from March 1 Erik Landgraf has joined the law firm as a cooperating attorney, strengthening the banking and finance practice of the law firm, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

Landgraf has more than 25 years of experience gained at credit institutions in the area of financial and banking law. In his previous position as head of the legal department of FHB Mortgage Bank, he was responsible for creating and operating real estate financing and refinancing structures, establishing financial service provider company groups, and developing the regulatory environment.

Landgraf was a founding member of the Association of Hungarian Mortgage Banks, and actively participated in the legislation process concerning financial law, and thus in the professional debates around the mortgage chapter of the new Hungarian Civil Code.

Daimler Most Attractive Employer in Hungary

German carmaker Daimler’s unit in Kecskemét (92 km southeast of Budapest) is the most attractive employer in Hungary, according to a survey by staffing company Randstad. Runner-up was U.S. IT company IBM, with German engineering giant Bosch in third place.

German carmaker Audi was presented with a special acknowledgement for being named Hungary’s most attractive employer on three occasions in the past five years. The survey showed that remuneration is still the most important consideration for employees, followed by working environment and job security.

Kravtex to Double Manufacturing Capacity Kravtex-Kühne group will soon launch a HUF 2 billion capacity expansion program in Mosonmagyaróvár (165 km northeast of Budapest) and Győr (124 km northeast of the capital), magyaridok.hu reported.

The program will include construction and technological developments. Kravtex will use its own funds to expand the production halls by 4,000 sqm and 1,000 sqm, respectively. In 2018 and 2019 the new Credobus models will be launched.

Since 2015, Kravtex has delivered 500 Credobuses to public transport service providers. The current developments are supposed to increase the volume of production dynamically. The government intends to renew the fleet of public transport companies using vehicles produced in Hungary.

FHB Bank Changes Name The National Bank of Hungary has approved the request of FHB Kereskedelmi Bank to change its name to Takarék Kereskedelmi Bank Zrt. as of April 16, 2018, and of FHB Jelzálogbank to change its name to Takarék Jelzálogbank Nyrt. as of April 25, napi.hu reported. The Takarék Csoport has announced that the name change of Takarék Jelzálogbank Nyrt. is on the agenda for approval by the shareholders’ meeting to be held on April 27. The two banks are also changing

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their image. FHB updated its website last weekend. The process of integration of FHB into Takarék Csoport has been ongoing since 2015. Takarék Csoport now has a 6.5% market share, which makes it the fourth biggest bank group in Hungary. The number of branches Takarék Csoport operates has increased by 50% in Budapest.

Hungarian Company Ranked High in FT 1000 The Financial Times has released its complete list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies. The FT 1000 lists the companies in 31 European countries that have achieved the highest compound annual growth rate in revenue between 2013 and 2016. Technology remains the best represented sector, contributing 155 companies to the list, with a food delivery company topping the list for the second year in a row: U.K.-based Deliveroo takes the place of Germany’s HelloFresh. The list also includes a Hungarian company started eight years ago, Supercharge, ranked at 103rd. With a compound annual growth of 1,124%, Supercharge Kft. is Hungary’s fastest-growing company, and one of the top ten at regional level, the company said in a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal. Supercharge, started in 2010 by Hungarian students, offers digital products that make everyday life easier. Its clients include OTP Bank, Santander Bank and it has offices in Budapest and London.

Budget Magyarország to buy 350 Vehicles Budget Magyarország will be acquiring 350 new vehicles at a cost of EUR 5.5 million by the beginning of summer, the car rental company told the Hungarian news agency MTI. The number of vehicles in Budget Magyarország’s fleet will climb to almost 1,000 as a result.

The car rental company had a 9% market share in the first quarter but expects íto reach 12.5% by yearend. Hungarian car rental companies’ combined revenue came to HUF 23.9 billion last year, data from Euromonitor shows.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

MOL’s ‘2030 – Enter Tomorrow Strategy’ Looks to the Future Future driven innovation

sponsored by

Today we launch a new column in collaboration with Audi looking at how innovation is integrated into some of Hungary’s leading companies.

What does “innovation” mean to them? How is it implemented? How is it changing the company?

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Aspiring to turn MOL Group into the best-in-class company in Central Europe, the Hungarian oil and gas giant has recently unveiled its “2030 – Enter Tomorrow Strategy”. Beyond its Upstream (exploration), Downstream (refining and sales) and Chemical ambitions, the company has also highlighted the aim of becoming the first choice of customer and primary source of future demand solutions, it tells the Budapest Business Journal .

“On one hand, the gas and oil industry is constantly developing: New technologies, new resources

and new market needs are popping up every day. On the other hand, innovation has been an accelerating process for decades already. Professional investment tools, an intensively growing R&D environment and innovation-hungry attitude among developers make innovation a must for all companies,” MOL says.

Furthermore, the group says it is one of the stakeholders at the center of such trends. “Thus, MOL Group is a forerunner in several newly transforming industries. Our continuous investments in the field of the polychemical world, and also in the field of consumer services secure

and extend the group’s portfolio and market potential in the future as well,” the statement adds.

Open Innovation

MOL Group also established the Open Innovation Hub in 2017 to facilitate the usage of open innovation tools in the company’s innovation processes. One of the hub’s main roles is to connect and involve local and global innovation ecosystems via open innovation toolsets, the company says.

“Innovation has several meanings. From an employee engagement point of view, innovation is the bricks and mortar of a winning community,” MOL pinpoints.

“By providing consumer services in eight countries in the CEE region, with around 2,000 service stations and more than one million transactions on a daily basis, all employees need to know that they

“Innovation has several meanings. From an employee engagement point of view, innovation is the bricks and mortar of a winning community,” belong to a future-proof enterprise, all the service they provide should be more than competitive in the market.

Customers should also be happy and

satisfied with the products, so, in this game, innovation is one of the key assets,” the company says.

From a business perspective, MOL Group — which has operations in more than 30 countries and employs almost 27,000 people worldwide — sees innovation as a must in order to ensure the market position and operational effectiveness in a highly competitive environment.

“At the moment, there are production activities in eight countries and exploration assets in 13 countries. The group operates four refineries and two petrochemicals plants under integrated supply chain management in Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia. MOL Group also owns a network of service stations across 11 countries in Central & South Eastern Europe,” the group concludes. MOL says that its list of activities and their interferences, together with the value chain development opportunities, have a huge potential for further improvement and development, all driven by innovation.

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Special Report Human Resources

Searching for Bakers, Covering the Summer Rush Szigeti: We have closed the negotiations with trade unions about wages for 2018 on December 5, 2017. Ever since there is a partnership, a continuous and open dialogue between the trade unions and Tesco is focusing on the interests of colleagues. Just recently we have developed together a new jubilee scheme to recognize the loyalty of our colleagues.

According to the 2017-18 Book of Lists, British-based retailer Tesco was the second largest employer in Hungary with 18,447 employees at the time, just ahead of MÁV Magyar Államvasutak Zrt. We asked Barbara Szigeti, retail people director at Tesco Hungary, about the challenges of handling such a high head count.

“Of course, the company is affected by the challenges of the labor market, but the scale of the shortage is different in each store. Tesco stores in the northwestern part of Hungary, next to the border, are most affected.”

BBJ: Now that the Fidesz-led government has been returned to power with a two-thirds majority, do you fear it will again turn its attention to the retail sector?

Szigeti: Tesco is a strategic partner of the government. Tesco is committed to supporting the growth of the Hungarian economy and Hungarian suppliers in particular, in order to boost their export opportunities.

BBJ

BBJ: Tesco is one of the largest employers in Hungary. How badly affected by the labor crisis are you?

What types of jobs are the hardest and easiest to fill? In which geographical areas in Hungary is it hardest to find staff?

Barbara Szigeti: At the moment, Tesco has around 16,000 employees. Of course, the company is affected by the challenges of the labor market, but the scale of the shortage is different in each store. Tesco stores in the northwestern part of Hungary, next to the border, are most affected.

Mainly we are looking for skilled workforce such as bakers and fresh food counter employees. The recruitment is continuous and we are using innovative recruitment tools to attract new colleagues.

Right now, we are looking for seasonal employees in our stores at Lake Balaton to ensure that we can serve the increasing number of customers on holiday.

BBJ: Do you offer your own staff “friends and family” bonuses for finding new employees? What do you do to try and ensure staff loyalty, and cut down on turnover or churn, beyond salaries? How creative does your HR department have to be?

Szigeti: Yes, we are offering salary supplements, Cafeteria (gross HUF

16,106/month) and other benefits to our colleagues such as a 10% employee discount for purchases in our stores, Christmas and Back to School vouchers.

Tesco also tries to make employees’ monthly shifts as flexible as possible to keep work-life balance. The other focus point of our work is to provide training for our colleagues. In 2017, 2,473 people completed training, giving them professional qualifications acknowledged by the state (OKJ or other diplomas); among those, 1,675 colleagues graduated in retail and trade specification.

We have a recruitment bonus, which is available for our colleagues working in head offices, stores and distribution centers as well. Since January 2016 – the launch of the program – 1,082 employees have received the bonus. Colleagues get HUF 30,000 in Tesco vouchers if a new employee recommended by them stays at the company for at least three months.

So far Tesco has paid HUF 32 million in recruiting bonuses to our colleagues.

We also have an extra recruitment bonus during the high seasons, like Christmas or summer at Lake Balaton, when new colleagues join Tesco only for a short period of time. In this case the recruitment bonus is a HUF 10,000 Tesco voucher, provided to colleagues if the newly hired employee works at least 80 hours for Tesco. If the new employee stays longer with Tesco, the referring colleague will receive the difference between the two bonuses as well.

I would also like to emphasize that, besides focusing on pay and reward, we are continuously listening to our colleagues’ needs in order to improve their working conditions.

BBJ: There was strike action last year at several stores over salary increases.

How are relations now with the unions and employees?

BBJ: Tesco is, famously, a Britishbased company. Do you have to deal with staff concerns regarding the effects of Brexit next year?

Szigeti: No.

Mini C.V. According to her LinkedIn profile, Barbara Szigeti, took up her current role at Tesco Global Áruházak Zrt in March 2017. From June 2015 she was the managing hours manager and prior to that program manager (from August 2013) and productivity manager (from March 2012). She was made a senior project manager in July 2007 and started at the company in May 1998 as cluster HR manager. She says in her profile: “The main challenge for 2018 is to introduce different working options to react to the labor market and provide new options, especially for women on maternity leave and pensioners.”

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Special Report

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

CEE Managers Battle Lack of Loyalty, Shortage of IT and Sales Specialists

BBJ: Really, in what way?

KW: Whenever we hire young graduates, we have to educate them about simple things: how to cope with the freedom that the workplace offers them, not to abuse it, like coming in on time, not playing on the internet at work.

Klemens Wersonig, the founder and CEO of Target Executive Search, does not fit the bluster on his company’s website.

In person, the 56-year old Austrian, who founded Target Executive Search in Hungary in 1994, comes across as quietly spoken, almost diffident.

BBJ: Is that more of a problem in Hungary than in the region?

KW: Well, I’ve experienced it in Hungary and Poland. Not in Czech [Republic] and Slovakia, they are more disciplined, maybe.

BBJ: Romania? Bulgaria?

KW: Romanians are very ambitious.

I think Romania today is really the “hungry tiger” among all these countries.

They want to prove [themselves], they want to be there. They put in a lot of energy. Bulgaria is very different. It has a lot of problems with emigration and corruption.

BBJ: What about language skills?

KW: I think the language capabilities are lower in Hungary than in the region, probably the lowest.… but it is getting better. In countries like Romania, for example, traditionally the language capabilities are very, very high.

KESTER EDDY

BBJ: Are there enough graduates coming through in Hungary?

KW: No.

In contrast, his website boasts: “In CEE, almost every recruitment company calls itself a headhunting company, but just a handful really does headhunting, like Target. We are real headhunters.

Full stop.”

Somehow the mix must work: Target now employs 30 staff across seven countries in the region, a feat often attempted, but rarely achieved, by entrepreneurs working in Central and Eastern Europe since 1990.

BBJ: So what does Target Executive Search actually do?

Klemens Wersonig: Senior recruitment.

The definition in CEE I guess is a bit different from global search. It’s the recruitment for the top three levels in an organization. That’s managing director, then on the second level, sales manager, plant manager, HR manager.

On the third level, account managers, controllers, chief accountants, quality managers.

But in today’s world, it can be an IT specialist, or some specialized position. In any organization, as soon as they can’t find people, they turn to a real headhunter and say: “Please, find this person.”

BBJ: I remember you were one of the first people that alerted me to the shortage of labor in Hungary back in 2015. How have things changed since then?

KW: Well, during the last three years there’s been an increasing trend of people moving out of Hungary, to Austria, Germany. People from all ages: I have friends in their 30s, 50s, even at that age, they’ve decided to move out.

Many have moved for political reasons, they are just fed up.

BBJ: How do you see the quality of graduates in Hungary today?

KW: I would think yes, the theoretical knowledge, the book knowledge is fine. Where there is a problem is the work attitude, the work ethic, workplace behavior.

BBJ: So what’s missing?

KW: IT for sure. Demand for IT is going up. We have IT searches for young people, below 30, and for salaries of HUF 1 million, EUR 3,000 a month, and there is hardly anybody to find.

Sales people, and technical sales in particular, are also difficult.

BBJ: So, the market is getting ever tighter?

KW: Yes, definitely.

BBJ: Does that mean salaries have to go up?

KW: Yes, salaries must go up. I was recently having a conversation in the Czech Republic where salaries are already higher than Hungary, and there the general feeling, even from politicians, is to stop FDI. No more FDI! Because there is zero unemployment, so every new investor just raises salaries. In the medium and long run, this will just destroy the competitive advantage.

BBJ: I’m actually quite amazed that the government keeps announcing new investments, or expansion of existing facilities, considering the labor shortage.

KW: Yes. I’ve just heard a German automotive company here has been hiring workers from Mongolia! Companies are becoming ever more innovative and creative.

BBJ: The government says salaries rose some 13% last year. Would you agree with that?

KW: Well, as a statistical average, I guess that’s correct. Young people coming out of university earn substantially more than they did a few years ago. Young

“I’ve just heard a German automotive company here has been hiring workers from Mongolia! Companies are becoming ever more innovative and creative.” people today are very impatient. It’s like social media. They are so quick to move from one subject to another, from one relationship to another, and it’s the same in the workplace.

So, loyalty is gone. And that’s very heavy to digest for senior managers, who have [typically] been very loyal in their young days, to see young people come and go.

There’s a cultural conflict between the generations within companies.

BBJ: So, the combinations of being able to sell, and understanding technical issues are difficult – it could be railway locomotives or …

KW: Or bath fittings! We had a project to find someone able to sell bath fittings, for homes and hotels. And the guy we could hire was not even 30, on EUR 3,000 a month!

BBJ: Is that across the region? Maybe the Czechs, with their technical background, are better?

KW: I think, again, the Romanians are more sales-, more commercially [minded], but sales and technical sales are issues all over.

BBJ: You have offices from Poland to Bulgaria. Which country stands out for you?

KW: For me, Slovakia has been a great success all along.

BBJ: Can you pinpoint a few reasons why?

KW: We’ve asked ourselves what’s different about Slovakia? It’s the only euro-zone country in CEE, this makes it very easy for foreign investors. It’s location, it’s a small nation, modest, hardworking.… it’s a combination [of factors].

Special Report | 11

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Generation Z Brings ‘FleXibilitY’ and Change to Employers Millennials have been flooding the labor market around the world and as such, employers have faced the need to transform the way they look at the working environment to accommodate changing requirements.

Generation Z is further complicating the equation after Gens Y and X. CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Pew Research Center defines Generation Z as those adolescents who were born in and

after

1996,

while Generation Y was born in the period from 1981-1996 and Generation X was born between 1965-1980. Gen Z does not

only make up the majority of workforce today, according to Pew, but is also seen as a group that has revolutionized the way we regard work, chiefly due to its mobility, inclination towards greater collaboration and the fact that they are internet natives.

“As these generations are already the children of the internet, they are tech-based and mobile,” Gergely Hacsi, branch manager of HR firm Trenkwalder Hungary, tells the Budapest Business Journal. “In order to be able to communicate with and reach out to these generations, companies have had to take initiatives to reform their tools and channels, to become digital and flexible.”

Hacsi notes that this does not only include the increasing use of video interviewing, instant messaging applications and online assessment tools, but employers need to be flexible in many other senses, such as using new channels for employer branding, including a more conscious and targeted application of social media channels.

Members of Generation Z also appear to be more conscious and mindful about their career. They are more focused, determined and informed in relation to career choice and path in general compared to, say, Gen Y. As such, Hacsi has a very important message to employers in relation to these newest kids on the employee block.

Harder to Satisfy

“They experience and travel a lot, they have a lot of opportunities, something that Y Gen members did not have earlier. Z Gen

THE GENERATIONS DEFINED Born 1996Born 1981-96 Born 1965-80 Source: PEW Research Center

Baby Boomers ages 52-70

Born 1946-64

Silent ages 71-88

Born 1928-45 1920

1940

Generation age in 2016 Generation Z (Gamers) ages ≤ 19 Generation Y (Millenials) ages 20-35 Generation X ages 36-51

1960

1980

employees are harder to satisfy, it is not easy to keep them motivated, they demand a ‘friendly’ boss, require dynamism, a clear career path, inspiring working atmosphere and flexibility in working hours. These are the main challenges employers will probably face when hiring Z Gen candidates,” he says.

The attitudes of this generation have also changed a lot to their older peers. Apparently, Generation Z is not happy anymore to blindly follow direction and do what it is told without questioning. Its members appear not to be ready to put up with the world as it is; they would rather change it.

“They would like to have impact on the company or on their surroundings through

2000

2016

their work. They want to change and challenge things, dogmas and best practices; they want to explore and experience,” Hacsi explains.

At the same time, the trends are also changing, as far as their behavior is concerned.

While Generation Y and Z are on the same platforms regarding the tech world, the latter tend to use online tools quite differently.

Individuals of Generation Z “usually do not follow Y Gen practices; for example they are less represented on Facebook because their parents are already part of that and that is not ‘cool’,” Hacsi concludes.

Editor’s note: Other HR firms were contacted in preparing this article, but had been unable to get back to us by the time we went to print.

ADVERTISEMENT

NEW MANAGER TO HEAD JOB From July 1, 2018 Tímea Harnisfőger will be managing director of JOB Személyzeti Tanácsadó Kft. She straight away plans to lay special emphasis on two new business lines.

Since its foundation in 1992, JOB Személyzeti Tanácsadó Kft has been running with 100 percent Hungarian ownership. The company started operations primarily as a recruitment agency, with temporary employee leasing added later to its profile. It currently has a leased staff of nearly 300 people who – uniquely in Hungary – are all intellectual workers. Established in 2011, the RehabJob division is engaged in the integration of disadvantaged workers in the open labor market, and holds disability awareness trainings. In 2016, Ventiv Kft., a leading company in pharmaceutical recruitment and temporary staffing, joined the Group and continued operations as ‘Ventivhealth’ within the Job group. The company currently employs 30 people, and posted a sales revenue of over HUF 2 billion last year.

And another big change is ahead of the company: from July 1 Attila Dobár, the company’s managing director for nearly two decades, will be followed by Tímea Harnisfőger.

We asked her about the new position and her plans.

Tímea Harnisfőger has been working in recruitment since 2004, this within JOB between 2006 and 2010. She then, for one year, worked for a company in London that she herself founded. After returning home, her career continued on the corporate side – at a Shared Service Center (SSC) and as a regional recruitment manager. Having been on the customer side working for SAP and Citibank, she has a strong insight into what is needed on the market.

SINCE 1992

Your experience definitely helps you in the accurate assessment of customer needs. How can you capitalize on this in your managing director position?

Within SSC, I used to work in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). This business line has been nicely developing at JOB too, and I wish to lay special emphasis on it in the future. In RPO, a multinational or Hungarian-owned company hires an agency for recruitment so we basically become our customer’s ‘extended arm’.

We not only simply conduct interviews, but provide a complex endto-end recruitment process from the physical conditions (laptop, telephone) through database access to strategies and process developments. We currently have five RPO assignments – one from a manufacturing company, one from a big SSC, and three from other Hungarian-owned companies. It is particularly difficult to build these RPOs as a Hungarian company so this type of service is quite rare on the Hungarian market but we see big opportunities in this field.

A separate form of business called Jobnet will be launched to provide senior HR experts engaged in recruitment and selection with a more flexible opportunity for cooperation. What is it about?

Earlier our company dealt with recruitment and temporary staffing only but through Jobnet we will be able to perform any HR duty beyond recruitment – from organizational development through trainings to corporate diagnostics. This will rather be a professional community with freelance senior HR managers who undertake projecttype assignments. We will create a link between these managers and either those customers who have a temporary shortage of labor in HR or smaller companies that have no capacities to employ a full-time HR manager. A company with a headcount of barely 50 may need an HR expert only for one or two days a week. With a flexible and customer-focused approach, we try to meet all customer needs. +36 1 239 9922 | info@job.hu | job.hu

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Special Report

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Pressurized Temporary Staffing Market Likely to see Further Consolidation While temporary staffing agencies remain popular, their work is becoming harder.

Technical Compromises

Also, companies tend to make compromises regarding the technical skills of their new workforce just to make it sure they are the first to engage them. “Requirements of having high-school graduation or two-to-three years of work experience have had to be dropped many times,” Prohuman’s Csongor says, adding that companies would rather spend time and money on training people, even if they

ÁGNES VINKOVITS

The labor shortage has become so widespread across the entire Hungarian economy that we cannot speak about most-infected sectors anymore.

“Whether it is a family-run ice cream parlor or a flower shop, from corner shops to big multinational companies, everyone needs manpower,” Gábor Gosleth, sales director at Adecco tells the Budapest Business Journal.

Fulfilling labor needs is a growing challenge and, given that Hungarian society is aging, it is not expected to

a year, especially for physical workers,” Gosleth notes.

In such circumstances, an expanded scope of solutions is needed. Agencies recruit from a bigger geographical territory, mostly looking to attract people from the eastern part of the country to the western. Workforce mobility is an option, nonetheless it needs travel and/or accommodation to be taken care of by HR companies or their sub-contractors.

Beyond Borders

Gábor Gosleth, sales director at Adecco be solved by nature. On top of that, the actual picture might be even bleaker than it appears at first sight as, according to Csongor Juhász, CEO of Prohuman, statistics still showing the percentages of available workforce in given areas include basically unavailable people too: mothers staying home with their children as well as those who do not live at what was their home address anymore as they have found work abroad.

As such, while temporary staffing continues to be a service in demand, if they find good quality workers and have the positions, companies are quick to employ people fulltime instead of using them as temps. According to Róbert Csákvári, CEO of Work Force, a new trend is that even laborers and unskilled workers can find permanent employment more easily. “There is an everyday frustration,” he says referring to the threat of fluctuation, which is higher among temporary staff than permanent workforce.

Even wage increases do not seem to stop this trend. “Some companies raise salaries two or three times

HR experts agree that a good salary in itself is not enough to retain or even to attract workforce: among other aspects, the speed of the decision-making process is also crucial, Csákvári notes.

“If there is a candidate, we have to get them in two days, otherwise someone else takes them.”

However, as the eastern counties are also seeing an increasing number of developments absorbing workforce, available workers can often be found only beyond country borders. Most come from Ukraine, although the quality of the workforce there is far from ideal due to lack of language skills. Hungarian-speaking Ukrainians, once they decide to leave home, often opt to go a few hundreds of kilometers beyond Hungary and find an even better paying job farther west.

Also, Hungary is still more on the negative side of workforce immigration, with more candidates leaving than coming back, though the situation is not yet as bad as it is in Croatia, where 10% of the active population is reported to have left the country. “Workforce immigration is still ongoing, which is natural. The question is if we have enough well-paying jobs to attract those people back home,” Sándor Baja, CEO of

“All statistics about the labor resources show that the problem is not with the quantity but with the quality. I think the same about the public work scheme.”

Randstad says. “We haven’t experienced it yet in volumes, but if the wages keep rising, that trend might change.”

People tend to return home only if they see secure career opportunities and wages that are more or less internationally competitive.

In the recent past there have been some cases of successful recruitment among Hungarians living abroad, such as the meat company Bonafarm, which managed to bring home a huge number of butchers with the help of events organized across the Hungarian diaspora in Western Europe.

“Most manufacturing companies certainly have to spend a major part of their profits on technological developments if they want to solve their labor issues and survive in the mediumand long-term.”

run the risk of educating them for a competitor as “those workers with a reference are already in the crosshairs”. Csákvári agrees: “Employers have to be flexible. otherwise they lose competitiveness.”

Substituting human workforce with robots could somewhat ease the effects of the labor shortage; however, this type of technology is unanimously reported to be only in its infancy in Hungary. Still, “most manufacturing companies certainly have to spend a major part of their profits on technological developments if they want to solve their labor issues and survive in the medium- and long-term,” Gosleth suggests.

“Robots can do a lot of things but they do not think,” Csákvári says, pointing out that machines will never fully substitute humans anyway. A Csongor Juhász, car can be put together by a robot but CEO of Prohuman both the car and the robot have to be designed and maintained, which takes an engineer. “Several statistics show how Prohuman’s Juhász says immigration many workplaces will cease but at the from Hungary is slowing down due to the same time new ones will be created,” he wage spiral here. He also points out that concludes. many Hungarians go abroad chasing the Robots will first and most quickly big money but forget that most of that nice spread in production and agriculture, salary will go to cover accommodation where the workforce they replace will and other basic needs. “If they understand move to sectors like services and tourism, that the not even necessarily higher living Randstad’s Baja predicts. As companies standards come at a higher price, and that have created a lot of semi-skilled they might return home after five years of workplaces in the past hard work without any savings, they would rather stay at home,” he says. years, However, a survey about salaries and digitalization will definitely make a big market trends recently conducted by Hays difference one day, but not in the near seems to somewhat contradict this. It future, he says. showed that In the meantime, human resources have to be found in order to avoid the of candidates cancellation of investments and risk were planning to go abroad for better an economic slowdown. Hungary’s career opportunities. employment rate being at around only

20

60%

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www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

68-69% might, at first look, serve as a base for optimism. First and foremost, the hundreds of thousands of people in the grey economy could ease the labor tension; however, the young just coming out of school and people above 50 would also come in handy. Most temporary staffing agencies have now created pensioner departments. This trend is far too new to offer any firm conclusions, yet what is certain is that elderly people can work only in a relatively small scope of jobs, mostly at offices or in the commercial sector, meaning that they will definitely not solve the country’s manpower demand in general.

To try and quickly drive younger workers to the corporate sector, the government initiated the dual education system at the beginning of the decade, closely involving companies in the training process to provide hands-on

Special Report | 13

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TMF Group named a ‘Major Contender’ by Everest Group in Finance and Accounting Outsourcing Assessment Róbert Csákvári, CEO of Work Force though the government’s plan is to end the public work scheme

Very high scope of accounting and tax services and a high level of customer satisfaction, with customised, localised client solutions.

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Gergely Hacsi, permanent placement branch manager at Trenkwalder experience for students while also sharing some of the costs of their education. “I am optimistic,” says Gosleth about the scheme which he considers a good and useful initiative that is also welcomed by many companies.

Gergely Hacsi, permanent placement branch manager at Trenkwalder does not share Gosleth’s hopes, however. “The demand is far bigger than what dual education could ease,” he says.

and it has already created a financial incentive system to get public workers employed, it is not yet clear how those people could help the labor market in large numbers.

In the acute competition for workforce, HR agencies also have to provide more than ever, which, topped with the general economic trends and some changes from the legislative side, has somewhat cleared the market. The deposit temporary staffing agencies have to pay has been increased to HUF 10 million from HUF 3 mln, an amount that a lot of smaller companies failed to pay. While growing wages keep tightening agencies’ profit margin, that also puts the smaller operations at a temporary, yet often fatal disadvantage.

According to Randstad CEO Baja, whether an agency is small or big, only those who have the highest professional knowledge and latest digital tools can

Positioned against market success and delivery capability, TMF Group’s results include: • Very high scope: the scope of finance and accounting services provided across processes, industries, geographies and buyer sizes • High buyer satisfaction: The 2017 Assessment noted that TMF Group has presence in all major geographies and a ‘global-control-local-contact’ approach, to provide extremely customised and localised solutions.

Responsiveness and good attention to quality are some of the key strengths noted by clients.

Also regarded as strengths in the 2017 Assessment are TMF Group’s localised Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, reporting and tax platforms to meet the changing demands of local regulatory conditions.

Integration Takes Time

About other resources of the Hungarian workforce, there seems to be a consensus that integration and/or the creation of a useable workforce takes time. “All statistics about the labor resources show that the problem is not with the quantity but with the quality. I think the same about the public work scheme,” Gosleth says, adding that those public workers who could be properly trained and used have already been picked up by the corporate sector.

Hacsi goes even further, saying that sections of the missing blue-collar workforce could only be supplied by public workers if the scheme would really support the employment of those taking part in it and would use them in real jobs.

Csákvári estimates that only about one fifth of the public workers are really available for companies, but even those people have to be educated in the very basics like the concept of working hours. “Strong intentions and good strategies are needed to integrate them,” he says, adding that even

TMF Group, a leading provider of global business services, is pleased to once again be named a ‘Major Contender’

by Everest Group in its latest PEAK Matrix™ market assessment.

Sándor Baja, CEO of Randstad survive, since companies nowadays not only demand good quality candidates, but also need strategic advice for a range of issues from employer branding to wages.

Digitalizing HR processes is also becoming increasingly crucial in order to maximize efficiency, but good datamining software to ease sourcing processes often costs HUF 20 mln100 mln. As usually it is only the larger companies that can afford this, the market is predicted to see further consolidation.

Allan Harness, Global Head of Product at TMF Group commented: “This year’s findings reflect our global presence and operating model that allows us to offer accounting and tax services in local language, with a truly local understanding of all our clients’ reporting obligations. We achieve this through a global governance model that provides TMF Group clients with transparency, efficient communication and control of their operations.

Harness continued: “Accounting and tax is a major focus area for TMF Group’s growth ambitions, and with this in mind

we have recently invested in Thomson Reuters OneSource software for the delivery of tax reporting.”

Katrina Menzigian, VP Research at Everest Group added: “What sets TMF Group apart is its unique “global-control local-contact” delivery model and wide global footprint, which empowers it to connect effectively with its clients and provide both customised and localised solutions. When combined with the firm’s breadth of coverage across the finance and accounting (F&A) lifecycle, TMF Group becomes an impactful partner for clients grappling with global F&A challenges.”

The 2017 Assessment classifies 25 FAO service providers. Everest Group uses its PEAK Matrix methodology to evaluate the providers’ market success and FAO delivery capability. Providers are positioned on the matrix in one of three categories – Leaders, Major Contenders and Aspirants.

This year, TMF Group was also recognised by Everest Group as a ‘Major Contender’ and ‘Star Performer’ in its Service Provider Landscape and Multi-Country Payroll Outsourcing (MCPO) PEAK Matrix™ Assessment 2017.

For further information, please contact: Carlie Bonavia, PR & Communications Executive: Carlie.Bonavia@tmf-group.com

www.tmf-group.com

14 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

INSIDE VIEW

Equal pay for equal work in the case of a business transfer Dániel Gera

Dorottya Gindl

Attorney at Law

Associate

SCHOENHERR HETÉNYI ATTORNEYS AT LAW

SCHOENHERR HETÉNYI ATTORNEYS AT LAW

Fighting discrimination and enforcing the principle of equal treatment has a great importance in employment relationships.

Fighting the gender pay gap is an important facet of this problem, but not the only one.

NOTE: ALL ARTICLES MARKED INSIDE VIEW ARE PAID PROMOTIONAL CONTENT FOR WHICH THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Hungarian labor and anti-discrimination laws provide a solid legal basis for guaranteeing equal treatment in employment relationships. Still some situations, such as a business transfer (succession of employer), may present new challenges. We examine some of these on the basis of legal regulations and court practice.

Concept of a business transfer (succession of employer)

The concept of business transfer aims to protect employees’ rights in the case of a succession of employer. In such a case, employees are transferred to a new employer automatically and the law aims to ensure that they do not suffer any disadvantages as a result. The law prescribes that the new employer must honor the terms and conditions of transferred workers’ existing employment.

This can create two groups of employees at a given company: (i) “own” employees and (ii) transferred employees.

The question is whether differences in the compensation structure of the two groups can result in the violation of the equal treatment principle.

Principle of equal pay for equal work

Equal pay for equal work is an important principle in employment law. The Labor Code sets out some factors to help establish the equal nature of work. These are: the nature and quality of the work, working conditions, required training and experience, responsibilities and labor market conditions.

Generally, differences in employees’ compensation based on the above objective grounds, do not give rise to equal pay claims.

The Hungarian Supreme Court stated that equal pay claims must be adjudged in the framework of equal treatment disputes. This means that the violation of the equal pay principle cannot be established without the employee rendering the indication of any protected attribute (e.g. sex, age, race) and suffered disadvantage probable. In other words, if the employee cannot name any protected attribute, it is unlikely that he or she would be awarded compensation.

Equalizing benefits

As noted above, a business transfer may result in an inequality between the compensation packages of employee groups. This may especially be problematic if the two groups include workers performing similar work. The question is whether employers must, and if so to what extent, harmonize or equalize the compensation of various employee groups.

Although the difference may arise by simply applying the laws so employers could defend against discrimination claims, they may still vary them. Though it is unlikely that without any other factual ground for discrimination (e.g. sex, age, etc.) courts would award such claims, the equal pay for equal work principle requires employers to take actions to harmonize benefits.

In what timeframe would benefits need to be harmonized? Can an employer use the business transfer as ‘an excuse’ for not providing equal benefits to certain employee groups?

Though, as stated above, an employee may not place a valid claim if the difference in benefits is a result of a business transfer, if the employee also has a protected attribute, defending against such claims may become more difficult for employers as time passes.

This is the direction in which the jurisprudence of other countries and the European Court of Justice is moving: a U.K. court pointed out that a business transfer cannot be used as defense against equal pay claims years after the transfer, especially if the employer reviewed compensation structures in between.

The ECJ pointed out that the directive on business transfer does not aim solely to safeguard the interests of employees in the event of a business but seeks to ensure a fair balance between the interests of “own” and “transferred” employees within an organization.

Providing Parents With a Path Back to Work Following on from Rockzipfel and juggleHUB in Germany, WeWork and Collab & Play in the United States and Third Room in the United Kingdom, one of Hungary’s first coworking offices, Loffice is establishing a family-friendly space for those who would like to work in the same building with their small children.

Embryonic Days

VERONIKA GULYÁS

The Coworkid project is not the first of its kind in Budapest, but it certainly is the largest. So far, family-run coworking spaces such as Clusterhaus have been trying to fill this niche.

Parents who want to work often find they are stuck at home with small kids, under pressure due to a shortage of nursery spaces or the lack of flexibility from state-run institutions.

Some companies, such as IT firm Prezi, offer daycare for staff, but this is not very common in Hungary just yet. “This facility is for Prezi employees’ children above one year,” spokesman Csaba Faix tells the Budapest Business Journal. “Colleagues have to pay a certain amount each month and will be in the same building with their kids,” he explains.

In preparing their project, the Loffice team used data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) and their own analyses to see whether there is a real need for a coworking office with daycare. At the end of 2017, only

about

5%

of those employed in Hungary worked part-time, which is well below the European Union average of 19% (and a whopping 50% in the Netherlands).

A focus group analysis in September 2017 by Loffice showed flexible work helps fathers and mothers to get along on the job market. It also indicated that parents with small kids are open to learning skills related to the latest technology, they are flexible, and motivated to act against social isolation and economic stultification.

Coworking offices are gaining weight globally with the concept of flexible work spreading. But not in Hungary, where those at home with their small children – mainly women – are for the most part stuck with their laptops on the dining table if they opt for working.

The Coworkid project aims not only to provide room for them with office space plus a nursery, but also to offer recruitment agency services and technology-focused training as well, aiding the return to the job market after having a child, the website said.

“Young parents are motivated, open to learn new competences, more concentrated in their work and good at multitasking. It’s interesting to see how easily and effectively life experiences can be used in the realm of work,” Andrea Szablár, Coworkid project manager told the BBJ. “It’s important to stress that parenthood doesn’t equal full isolation from employment.”

The first such day at the end of March was a success, with more than

200

people. Panelists from international companies such as BlackRock, GE and KPMG welcomed this activity since they’re striving for manpower.

“For them a new population stratum of parents with small kids becomes available, which is important since their work potential has been untapped so far,” Szablár said.

A fully working Coworkid office with 60 seats will be launched next year but pilot days and programs are being organized at the downtown Budapest headquarters until then, with the space adjusted to meet the expectations of parents with small kids.

Comment

Employers enjoy freedom in establishing compensation systems, which is respected by courts. It is also clear that a business transfer cannot be a basis for a discrimination claim and the employer can use it as defense as an objective reason for differences. On the longer term, however it is still advisable to bring compensation packages in harmony (i) to comply with general principles, (ii) to avoid legal risks of discrimination, and (iii) to avoid wage tension within the organization.

PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYEES WORKING PART-TIME Netherlands

50% EU

19%

Hungary

5%

www.schoenherr.eu

registered

3

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Atypical Employment in Hungary Still Lagging Behind Western Europe Non-typical employment in Hungary is still uncommon, despite rising demand, and is well below levels in Western Europe.

Its spread seems unavoidable, however, given the lack of workforce.

VERONIKA GULYÁS

Companies have been struggling to hire or to keep talent amid a growing labor shortage over the past three-to-four years. One way to attract new employees or hang on to existing ones is to be flexible in terms of working hours or location wherever possible, while experts agree that atypical employment could also be boosted by government initiatives.

What is atypical employment? Anything but full-time. The range of choices is very wide, and certain ways have been present in Hungary for decades, Zsófia Németh, co-founder of Y2Y Coaching and an HR expert tells the Budapest Business Journal.

Zsófia Németh.

“Fixed-term contracts, part time employment, remote work, temporary work contracts are all atypical ways of employment; these have all been available in Hungary. Job sharing or job-rotation are another story,” Németh says.

Hungarian companies have room to develop compared to those in Western Europe. In 2016, the share of part-time workers was highest in the Netherlands

at

47%,

followed by Austria, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark, latest Eurostat data shows. In

the meantime, part-time employment was relatively rare in Central and Eastern Europe, with Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic and Slovakia standing at between 2% and 6%.

Culture to Blame?

What is behind the low ratio in Hungary?

Culture, for one. “We are an uncertaintyavoiding culture, so having a clear picture of potential next steps may seem essential,” Dorottya Nagy-Józsa associate certified coach, founder and chief executive of Y2Y Coaching tells the BBJ. “However, as we gain trust in our own abilities and understand that we are part of a global labor market, this may change.”

Another factor is state regulation. While wages are proportional to working hours, part-time workers are entitled to the same number of holidays as full-time employees, which may make CEOs raise an eyebrow.

The European Union has initiated a tender to support convergence members in introducing flexible forms of employment at companies, but the ministry responsible for labor issues had not replied to the BBJ’s questions by the time we went to press.

By gender, it is women who are more commonly employed in part-time positions. In Hungary, postpartum homestay is very generous, allowing moms to remain with their babies for three years altogether. Within this, however, the allowance gradually decreases: it is a little less than the original wage in their first, half-year period, then decreases further in the next one and a half years, while mom gets very little compared to the original amount in the last year of maternity leave.

In line with the Labor Code, companies must offer parents with children under three-years-old the possibility to return to their previous post under a part-time option.

But most of the time, when opting for the

Organization and Flexibility

Lívia, the mother of a two-year-old girl, chose to go back to her previous workplace, an engineering office, in a sixhour position. Quizzed at the playground, she tells the BBJ about the positives and negatives of the part-time job compared to a full-time position.

“At this company, I work 30 hours a week rather than six hours per day. This implies a lot of organization and flexibility from the rest of the family, since I also have to be there, say, for ten hours in the busy parts of a project,” Lívia said.

“Moreover, I can’t travel to the countryside, and if there’s a meeting I’m completely disregarded. For instance, the meeting is at 3 p.m. and I have to leave at 3:15 p.m.” she adds. “Also, working from home once a week isn’t an option, although it would technically be possible.”

Coaches recommend talking to managers about home office options.

Designing an effective meeting structure and holding people accountable in a way that they feel part of the team even if they work remotely is an existing option, Németh insists. “Beyond corporate policies, this mostly depends on the line manager.”

At many companies, the home office option

Special Report | 15 is dependent on the manager rather than the CEO. “There are teams where it is allowed, and teams where it is strictly forbidden. This is even worse than the overall prohibition,” Nagy-Józsa says.

Not Just Moms

Increasingly, men want to take part in home duties and raising a child. Amid the rise of entrepreneurship, practically any employee can pursue goals where they would benefit from being employed in a flexible way.

It’s time we leave the notion of only new moms opting for atypical employment, Németh stresses. “It would be time to think about atypical options as a natural part of how we work, not only a working-momthing. Men, Gen Ys and Xs, grandparents, wannabe-entrepreneurs are all eager to try this option,” she says.

Job hopping is a common habit of the younger generations, but one must be careful with rash generalization, Németh says. “We had no option to see Generation X or the Baby Boomers on a labor market without unemployment.” In other words, it is not surprising that Gen Y/Z employees can’t be forced to stay in an unsatisfying job when there are thousands of open opportunities on the market.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, the coaches agree. The labor shortage is so critical that the situation of employees

Dorottya Nagy-Józsa. is improving almost day by day. A lot of companies are struggling with recruitment: atypical employment is normally one of the first forms of reaction to this changed landscape, Németh and Nagy-Józsa say.

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6

hour

version of their previous job, mothers end up covering the usual eight-hour workload, and then have to leave in a hurry to pick up the kids. “This is a good deal for the companies, but it doesn’t sound fair, right?”

Németh said.

www.manatwork.hu

16 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Temp agencies

1

www.prohuman.hu

6,832 175

27,241

15,620 11,770,857

28,656

90

10

3,847 106

14,738

10,524 8,451,379

15,318

90

10

12,700

4,087 6,100,848

11,608

6,122 5,257,450

12,004

8,896

Ÿ Ÿ

9,343

89.50 10.50

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2017

✓

✓

1991 13 5,100

– Adecco Group AG (100)

Stefano longo Róbert Szeitl Anna Fodor

1134 Budapest, Váci út 45. G/7.

(1) 323-3500 (1) 323-3529 adecco@adecco.com

–

1995 27 300

Tamás Szabó (10) Trenkwalder Group AG (90)

tibor Hujber Henrietta Tóth Ildikó Horváth

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 (1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

–

1990 8 12

Zoltán Tóth (60), Péter Berta (30), Viktor Göltl (10) –

Péter Berta – –

8900 Zalaegerszeg, Ady Endre utca 2.

(92) 550-050 (92) 550-060 whc@whc.hu

1993 7 7

Videoton Holding Zrt. (100) –

attila molnár – –

8000 Székesfehérvár, Berényi út 72–100.

(22) 554-170 (22) 554-180 info@pannonjob.hu

ConstRuCtion industRy

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 432-1280 (1) 432-1281 ugyfelszolgalat@ prohuman.hu

agRiCultuRe

Sándor zakor, Béla ignácz, csongor Juhász, wojciech mora Tamás Kutassy –

sales/tRade

Profólió Projekt Tanácsadó Kft. (20) Work Service S.A. (80)

healthCaRe/phaRmaCeutiCal

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

2004 14 95

touRism

addRess phone fax email

pRoduCtion

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

it/telCo

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2017 (%)

blue-CollaR

peRmanent

tempoRaRy

total net Revenue in 2017 (huf mln)

bReakdoWn of plaCements duRation in 2017 (%)

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy WoRldWide

pRohumán 2004 mUnKaeRő Szolgáltató éS tanácSadó Kft.

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2017 no. of billed houRs in 2017

Company Website

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2017 (huf mln)

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2017 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2018

Rank

Ranked by average statistical headcount in 2017

adeCCo kft.

2

3

www.adecco.hu

tRenkWaldeR Személyzeti Szolgáltató Kft. hu.trenkwalder.com

3,411 141

13,764

90

10

79

92

21

8

12

✓

2

✓

86

✓

–

✓

–

✓

–

✓

–

WhC kft.

www.whc.hu 4

5

PannonJoB HUmán Szolgáltató éS tanácSadó Kft. www.pannonjob.hu

2,712 112

2,058

Ÿ

70

Ÿ

30

90

10

Ÿ

68

32

5

5

80

–

–

2

8

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Prohuman provides jobs for more than employees Prohuman – The leading HR service provider of Hungary • 15 Prohuman offices across the country • international background as a member of the Work Service Group, the largest HR service provider of the CEE region

www.prohuman.hu

3

www.bbj.hu

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2017 (%)

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2017

–

✓

–

–

1,319 76

5,505

Ÿ

5,650

35

65

60

40

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

1993 17 17

(100) –

Katalin Bor, Róbert göbl, zsuzsanna Szabó – –

1077 Budapest, Wesselényi utca 11.

(1) 877-0900 (1) 877-0910 info@humancentrum.hu

1,299 11

4,502

3,773 2,417,928

4,577

–

100

94

6

–

6

5.4 10

2000 12 13

László Mátyás (80), Erika Dékány (10), HSA Kft. (10) –

lászló mátyás Erika Dékány Imre Papp

4024 Debrecen, Batthyány utca 12/1.

(52) 316-242 (52) 530-965 job@hsakft.hu

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone fax email

–

2004 8 8

Róbert Csákvári (100) –

Róbert csákvári – –

1134 Budapest, Váci út 49.

(1) 354-3434 (1) 354-3435 titkarsag@work-force.hu

László Küzmös (100) –

lászló Küzmös, ákos Jáhny Krisztina Lázár –

1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 31.

(1) 766-5626 (1) 766-5618 getwork@getwork.hu

ConstRuCtion industRy

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy WoRldWide

–

agRiCultuRe

✓

sales/tRade

✓

healthCaRe/phaRmaCeutiCal

✓

touRism

4

pRoduCtion

96

it/telCo

96

offiCe/finanCe

4

White-CollaR

5,220

2004 10 10

blue-CollaR

4,945

3,498 4,119,941

peRmanent

1,705 65

tempoRaRy

6,039

1,671 3,232,026

total net Revenue in 2017 (huf mln)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2017 no. of billed houRs in 2017

bReakdoWn of plaCements duRation in 2017 (%)

Special Report | 17

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2017 (huf mln)

Company Website

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2017 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2018

Rank

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

WoRk foRCe Személyzeti tanácSadó éS Szolgáltató Kft. www.workforce.hu

1,828 70

6

6,144

70

30

90

10

10

–

90

–

–

–

–

get WoRk tRend kft. www.getwork.hu 7

8

humán CentRum kft. www.humancentrum.hu

4,048,600

hsa kft.

www.hsakft.hu 9

0.2 7.8 69.7 0.9

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+36 (1) 354 3434 // titkarsag@work-force.hu

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy WoRldWide

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone fax email

✓

2004 16 18

Grosvenor Kft. (100) –

arnold Bozi Andrea Peka Makkosné Viktória Hlavács

1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 15/D (70) 380-2890 (96) 508-001 pannonwork@ pannonwork.hu

–

1998 6 7

Volano Kft. (100) –

csaba ottó Orsolya Horvai Módné Kinga Kincső Tóth

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(88) 400-453 (88) 400-453 manatwork@manatwork.hu

–

2004 4 4

Trenkwalder Személyzeti Szolgáltató Kft. (100) –

tibor Hujber Henrietta Tóth Ildikó Horváth

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 (1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

– PCC Spólka z Graniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia (100)

istván Bojó – –

1134 Budapest, Tüzér utca 39.

(1) 789-6538 (1) 799-0926 info@profieldkolcsonzo.hu

ConstRuCtion industRy

agRiCultuRe

sales/tRade

healthCaRe/phaRmaCeutiCal

touRism

pRoduCtion

it/telCo

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2017

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2017 (%)

blue-CollaR

peRmanent

bReakdoWn of plaCements duRation in 2017 (%)

tempoRaRy

4,449

1,111 1,961,105

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

total net Revenue in 2017 (huf mln)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2017 no. of billed houRs in 2017

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2017 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2018

Rank

Company Website

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2017 (huf mln)

Special Report

18 | 3

Pannon-woRK zRt. www.pannonwork.hu

1,255 69

10

4,777

39

61

77

23

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

man at WoRk kft. www.manatwork.hu

1,177 65

11

tRenkWaldeR HUmáneRőfoRRáS Kft.

12 hu.trenkwalder.com

PRofield mUnKaeRő13 KölcSönző Kft. www.profieldkolcsonzo.hu

14

HUmánia HRS gRoUP zRt. www.humaniahrsgroup.hu

1,090 11

1,023 58

812

Ÿ

mUnKaeRő meSteR Kft. 15

782 32

gamax kft.

16

735 83

www.munkaeromester.hu

www.gamax.hu

4,647

4,137

Ÿ

5,007

80

20

90

10

5

–

95

–

–

–

–

4,714

1,263 1,960,134

3,485

Ÿ Ÿ

3,525

15

85

71

29

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

2010 1 1

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

5,903

Ÿ

Ÿ

80

20

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

2001 18 18

Individuals (100) –

zoltán márkus Henrietta Gyurkóczi Zsuzsanna Werner-Tóth

1118 Budapest, Előpatak utca 78.

(1) 248-2010 (1) 248-2016 info@humaniahrsgroup.hu

2,215

Ÿ

2,215 (min.)

✓

2010 1 1

(100) –

viktor németh Zsolt Öry Gyula Pap

✓

1990 5 5

Grosvenor Kft. (46), Márton Gáll (19), Péter Surján (13), Gábor Horváth (11), Csaba Sándor (11) –

1135 Budapest, Róbert Károly körút 82–84.

(1) 888-9200 (1) 888-9206 ceginfo@ munkaeromester.hu

géza Homonnay Balázs Címer –

1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 15/D (1) 381-1040 (1) 372-0693 recepcio@gamax.hu

Péter Vida (5), Zoltán Egerszegi (18.9), Erika Pintér (11.2), Via Pannónia Kft. (46), Gábor Csizmadia (18.9) –

gábor csizmadia, Péter vida László Pintér Bence Husi

1013 Budapest, Pauler utca 18.

(20) 328-3284 – info@dologido.hu

2,195

1,299,068

Ÿ

2,300,000

4,719

10,849

100

3

5

–

97

95

100

80

70

–

20

30

6

✓

–

2

–

✓

91

✓

✓

1

✓

–

–

✓

–

–

✓

✓

–

–

–

dologidő Kft. www.dologido.hu

17

m u n k a e rő k öz ve t ítő

k ö l c sö nző

Randstad hungaRy kft.

18

www.randstad.hu

kelly seRviCes

19 hungaRy kft. www.kellyservices.hu

2,206

4,273 1,306,203

2,298

20

80

88

12

10

9

81

–

–

–

–

–

2001 12 12

565 118

2,757

1,289 850,598

4,268

69

31

49

51

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2004 4 4,858

– Randstad Holding N.V. (100)

Sándor Baja Lívia Tóth Ágnes Szokody

1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 39.

(1) 411-2090 (1) 411-2091 info@randstad.hu

410 40

1,782

1,617 816,550

2,206

65

35

72

25

16

9

75

–

–

–

–

–

2004 1 3,623

– Kelly Services Management Sarl (100)

anikó Jónás Zsolt Szabó –

1085 Budapest, Kálvin tér 12.

(1) 301-7800 (1) 301-7880 info@kellyservices.hu

1,472

718 488,455

–

2001 5 15

MELÓ-DIÁK Holding Zrt. (100) –

Péter megyeri Gyula Serfőző Zoltán Kott

1093 Budapest, Czuczor utca 10.

(1) 456-0700 (1) 217-8606 info@starjobs.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

2007 1 252

– Hays Plc. (100)

tammy nagy-Stellini Aleksandra Keller Agnieszka Kazimierczak

1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7.

(1) 501-2400 (1) 501-2402 hungary@hays.hu

662 18

StaRJoBS magyaRoRSzág HUmánSzolgáltató Kft. www.starjobs.hu

319 11

20

1,517

7

93

55

45

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

hays hungaRy kft. www.hays-response.hu 21

314

Ÿ

2,630

Ÿ

Ÿ

–

100

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

3

www.bbj.hu

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2017 (%)

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2017

63

–

–

9

3

2

pRodukteam vállalKozáSSzeRvező kft.

122 17

738

239 510,685

1,945

20

80

30

70

✓

–

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

1995 4 4

esense human ResouRCes Szolgáltató zRt.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

2,019 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

foCus Consulting kft.

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

178

55

45

–

100

85

15

–

–

–

–

–

–

1997 1 1

Tímea Bíró (100) –

tímea Bíró – –

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

1,058 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2000 8 8

Csilla Vidó (100) –

csilla vidó – –

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

983 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

–

–

–

–

–

2001 5 5

Géza Homonnay (51), Tibor Takács (49) –

tibor takács – –

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

1990 3 3,900

– Manpower France Holding SAS (100)

ottó vég Roland Huszár Anikó Pekarik

2003 3 3

Individuals (100) –

gábor gyömbér – Szabolcs Másody

–

1994 1 1

Mónika Tóth (100) –

mónika tóth – –

– Reed Specialist Recruitment (Global) Ltd. (100)

nigel marsh – –

1051 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 12.

(1) 883-3500 (1) 883-3599 info.hungary@ reedglobal.com

Roland Varga (60), Péter Tőkés (40) –

Péter tőkés – –

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(87) 655-284 (87) 655-284 info@szemelyzet.hu

–

✓

–

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone fax email

–

2005 1 1

(100) –

zoltán Pataki Angéla Horvát Nikoletta Rumpf

2724 Újlengyel, Határ út 12.

(1) 225-7313 (1) 700-2554 eucsoport@eucsoport.hu

–

1992 2 2

László Hadi, Botond Csordás, Attila Pál, Attila Dobár (100) –

attila dobár György Thury –

1094 Budapest, Angyal utca 24.

(1) 239-9922 (1) 239-9926 info@job.hu

–

2005 21 21

Bence Vida (50), Milagroso Gerifalte Szolgáltató és Tanácsadó Kft. (50) –

tibor tóth Péter Vida Dániel Fatuska

2724 Újlengyel, Ady Endre utca 11.

(29) 385-085 (82) 423-104 info@munka-ero.hu

– DEKRA Arbeit GmbH (100)

marianna majtényi – Gábor Behina

László Szűcs (100) –

lászló Szűcs – –

Ÿ Ÿ

Individuals (100) –

dénes osztroluczky – –

ConstRuCtion industRy

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy WoRldWide

6

✓

agRiCultuRe

17

✓

sales/tRade

30

✓

healthCaRe/phaRmaCeutiCal

70

✓

touRism

85

Ÿ

pRoduCtion

15

Ÿ

it/telCo

660

2004 3 350

Ÿ

offiCe/finanCe

580

145 46,590

Ÿ

White-CollaR

146 8

1,057

blue-CollaR

579

667 336,902

Ÿ

peRmanent

1,850

433 369,528

www.eujobs.hu

tempoRaRy

989

Ÿ Ÿ

total net Revenue in 2017 (huf mln)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2017 no. of billed houRs in 2017

258

bReakdoWn of plaCements duRation in 2017 (%)

Special Report | 19

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2017 (huf mln)

eU-JoBS Kft. 22

Rank

Company Website

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2017 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2018

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

JoB Személyzeti tanácSadó Kft. www.job.hu

245 25

23

2,000

32

68

–

100

57

15

7

–

9

12

–

mUnKa-eRő KölcSönző éS Közvetítő Kft. 24

www.munka-ero.hu

Ÿ

dekRa aRbeit 25 magyaRoRSzág Kft. www.dekra-arbeit.hu

26

www.produkteam.hu

NR

www.esense.hu NR

www.focusconsulting.hu

HRcv Személyzeti

NR Szolgáltató Kft. www.hrcgroup.hu

NR

204

humán navigátoR kft. www.humannavigator.hu

15

584

98

2

93

7

7

60

33

–

–

–

–

2007

manPoweR mUnKaeRő SzeRvezéSi Kft. www.manpowergroup.hu NR

NR

műiSz Holding Kft.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

164 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

NR

peRsonnel leasing kft.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

461 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

www.muiszholding.hu

www.personnel.hu

✓

✓

–

–

✓

–

Reed magyaRoRSzág Kft. www.reedglobal.hu NR

Személyzet KölcSönző

NR éS Közvetítő Kft. www.szemelyzet.hu

Ÿ Ÿ

67

Ÿ Ÿ

332

20

80

–

100

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

2008 1 102

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

492 (2016)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

–

✓

–

–

–

–

–

2012 1 1

1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 97.

(80) 315-096 (80) 315-096 dekra@dekra-arbeit.hu 6722 Szeged, Vitéz utca 20.

(1) 267-9010 (62) 420-433 produkteam@ produkteam.hu 1134 Budapest, Kassák Lajos utca 69-71.

(1) 555-1585 (1) 555-1586 esense@esense.hu 1138 Budapest, Váci út 135-139. Building C (1) 336-2910 (1) 336-2911 info@focusconsulting.hu 1117 Budapest, Móricz Zsigmond körtér 14. 4/1.

(1) 878-0145 (1) 878-0160 info@hrcv.hu 8000 Székesfehérvár, Gyümölcs utca 26.

(22) 509-900 (22) 509-901 info@humannavigator.hu

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 (1) 266-0536 manpower@manpower.hu

1089 Budapest, Orczy út 12.

(1) 210-9283 (1) 299-0059 ginger@muisz.hu 1065 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 65.

(70) 431-9130 – cv@personnel.hu

20 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

PRESENTED CONTENT

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Building a ‘Feedback Culture’, Changing for a Digitalized Future There is little wonder that a business celebrating 25 years in Hungary should look back on its history, but Commerzbank Zrt. President-CEO Klaus Windheuser is just as keen to look to the future.

ROBIN MARSHALL

“We are convinced that digitization will change our industry, and it is already beginning to do so. Nobody can say for sure what banking will look like in the future, but we are observing the trends” Windheuser tells the Budapest Business Journal in an exclusive interview in his Danube-view office.

“We, at Commerzbank, are trying to find disruption, introducing fintech, adopting new technology, but if something doesn’t work, we stop it and start with a new idea. We are getting leaner, more agile. This is a big change for traditional banks whose model has stayed the same for decades. They need to understand how the speed has been picking up over the past few years.”

Windheuser has his own vision for what banks will become. “I think we will become technical enterprises in our backbone with advisory people at the front end if desired. Our purpose is to make life easier and more convenient for our clients. This is where we are headed.”

One possible future is that banks no longer develop everything themselves but specialize in certain areas and in others become “trusted organizations, being engaged and able to advise on a range of financial instruments, to advise our clients on what the best solutions are for them.”

It is a game for leaders, because it is all too easy to fall behind the tremendously increased speed of development. “That is where we are trying to be: a couple of paces ahead of the curve.”

Human-centered

But for all Windheuser says the future will be built on fintech and digitization, he insists it will remain human-centered.

“In complex situations, where it comes to risk assessments or to large investments, people want to see people. That will not change anytime soon.”

It is easy to forget how far we have come, and how fast. “When I started in banking

in

1990,

share positions us as a well-known bank in corporate business and on the other hand leaves nice room for growth!” Part of that growth is being driven by a trend of Hungarian corporates switching from Hungarian banks that lack an international network.

street retail bank, and therefore lacks high street visibility, is irrelevant, he argues. What matters more is the bank’s professional reputation among clients and potential staff. Windheuser confirms that nearly every corporate client faces challenges regarding labor force though.

In terms of brand building, careful attention is paid to identifying competitions such as best work place, or reliable employer, that highlight to the

the world was totally different,” Windheuser recalls. “There were two “There is good business people for one phone. IT devices were ahead. The economy is just coming in, we shared terminals, not Independent, PCs, there was no email, everything was doing well, and we are analogue. Banking today is non-stop, 24/7, International, Quick a mirror of the economy; “We see more and more Hungarian or at least offers that possibility.” businesses that want independent Hungary, too, has changed in the years we will increase our international banks. Why do corporates Commerzbank has been here. “We opened market share.” do business with us? Well, there are a representative office here in 1991, and lots of reasons but one is because of in 1993 opened as a branch offering our our international setup with branches full range of products.” Initially the market and offices in almost 50 countries and a was good, developing rapidly, but there market the approach of Commerzbank. worldwide network offering international were also “tough decades”, not least the “What do we do different? We are building access many Hungarian banks do not have. a different culture: open, flat hierarchy, a international recession that followed the And people; banking is a people business sub-prime mortgage crisis that blew up in place where you can discuss, a place with so we make sure we have best corporate the United States in late 2007. a positive ‘feedback culture’ and delegated banking team.”

Everyone felt the downturn in the responsibilities and decision-makingeconomy, and all the players in Hungary competencies.” were hit by the government’s bank levy.

The latter, he says, is particularly That was introduced in September 2010 at important.

Too many organizations are “In complex situations, a rate of 0.5%, then in 2011 set at a rate so risk averse that decisions are either where it comes to risk of not taken, or, if they are and something goes wrong, the results are covered assessment or to large up. That puts Commerzbank , with its investments, people for balance sheet totals of more than HUF quick decision-making, at a competitive 50 billion. Although it was reduced in 2017 advantage, the CEO believes. want to see people. That to 0.21%, the tax is still in existence.

“If you never make a mistake, you are not But even with the tax in place, trying,” Windheuser says. “The important will not change.” business looks promising, the CEO thing is not that we make a mistake, but says. “There is good business ahead. that we learn from it. Put it out on the table, The economy is doing well, and we are It often seems that everyone in the share the experience, discuss it, learn from a mirror of the economy; we will country is facing problems caused by the it. We have to adjust and reset, that is even increase our market share.” growing labor shortage. But Windheuser more essential in this growing digital age He says that Commerzbank has says Commerzbank is, in fact, little with very short times to market. You need targetted sustainable growth with a affected, at least in its primary banking that agility, you need people, good people, double digit CAGR growth. “Our market functions. The fact that it is not a high who feel able and want to contribute.”

0.53 %

3

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Special Report | 21

Growing Challenges and Better Care in the HR Market

ÁGNES VINKOVITS

“The market has become very candidate driven,” Tammy Nagy-Stellini, CEO of Hays Hungary tells the Budapest Business Journal; every word we heard from the biggest market players in the HR field seems to support her statement.

The intensification of Hungary’s labor shortage will come as no surprise to our regular readers, yet while for

recruiters,” Paulovics points out, referring to the process of existing colleagues getting an extra payment for attracting friends or family to work in the same company.

Recruiters have to be much more proactive. “We need to reach out to the market ourselves, identifying the right talent and approach them with the right opportunity,” Nagy-Stellini says.

“Basically, there is a growing need for higher value-added recruitment activities both from the corporate HR and agency side: deeper understanding of roles expected from recruiters, working closer with hiring managers, more flexible salary ranges, faster recruitment processes, better and more focused database management and more onsite presence needed towards recruitment companies,” she adds. Creative and innovative on-line platforms have also become increasingly widespread, along with career days, open days and gamification.

Total Recruitment

Sándor Baja, CEO of Randstad agrees.

“As I see it, ‘total recruitment’ is the solution now: job portals topped with our own databases, but social media groups are also on the rise as well as Tammy Nagy-Stellini, internet searches and recommender CEO of Hays Hungary. systems, etc.,” he says.

While IT specialists are more responsive to creative or direct searches, according to Ádám Hoffmann, managing some areas such as IT and engineering director of Exact Solutions, managers can sourcing workforce has already been still be found effectively via LinkedIn. an issue for several years, now other areas such as SSCs, technical sales and online/digital marketing are experiencing difficulties as well.

“As I see it, ‘total Fulfilling workforce demands in such circumstances requires a complex range of recruitment’ is the solution solutions. One still strengthening trend, is RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) now: job portals topped projects. Within these, the entire HR with our own databases, management of a given company is taken over by an HR agency with a global but social media groups network to provide on-site solutions.

But international tendencies can be seen are also on the rise as well in other aspects too. “More big tenders as internet searches and are won by foreign agencies instead of recommender systems, etc.”

Hungarians,” says Éva Paulovics, general manager of JobsGarden. The reason behind this is often that the client has a At the same time, the way to foreign HR manager who wants to work with an agency he or she knows. However, Generation Z is completely different, Paulovics points out. “I am 43 now and I “the efficiency of such foreign agencies is prefer pure design and content to a party doubtful as, without local knowledge, they atmosphere,” she says. “The other day we cannot rely on the recommender system, checked a website which I liked a lot but for example, which is still a top tool for

5-10% higher

than before, a good salary is only the minimum. “Many years ago, candidates needed to leave an impression whilst making an interview – now it’s the company who has to do so,” Nagy-Stellini says. Ever more companies organize site visits for applicants in last rounds. This allows them to meet employees and walk around the place of work; this is basically selling the company and the position to the applicant to get them engaged.

With employer branding, which is now inevitable for both attracting and keeping people, companies want to give a clear picture about the social principles pursued by the business such as home office opportunities, team builders, family days, dog and child friendly days.

“Some companies already look like an amusement park with a full kitchen and a very well-designed office, which also holds

Sándor Baja, CEO of Randstad agrees. bigger and bigger weight,” says Paulovics, adding that the most important thing about employer branding is still to make it genuine.

Feedback Culture

The deepening labor shortage has some positive consequences too, from a humane point of view. “Candidates always have to Continued on page 22 ‣ ‣ ‣

INSIDE VIEW

Flexibility is the key to Success During temporary employment, the worker is on the temp agency’s payroll, providing a perfect solution in case of headcount freeze. Beside recruitment, Team Leader – the agency is in charge of HR processes Temporary such as handling timesheets, holidays, sick Recruitment leave papers, salary payments and we are Services also responsible for end-to-end payroll processes. This gives more possibilities for HAYS HUNGARY clients’ HR teams to focus on strategy and internal improvements instead of wasting time with obligatory administration.

In the last couple of years, One of the most popular services is one of the main changes in “Try & Hire” where during the temporary employment, which is generally for six the labor market was that or 12 months, the user company can candidates no longer have trial candidates to ensure they hire the been selected by companies, absolutely right person for the right job, and after a preferred period of time they but job seekers have the simply take the temporary employee onto privilege to decide about their own payroll. Temporary professionals can fill both long- and short-term needs, their future employer. enabling the business to be more agile and Today there are a lot more jobs available, responsive to fluctuating workloads. and for talents this means they can be Temping a candidate before offering more eclectic about the offers they the permanent position reduces risk, take. Recruiting and retaining talented keeps the fix costs and the headcount professionals is the challenge of 2018. low, and most importantly facilitates A high demand for specific skills paired the flexibility for the business. with the longer amount of time companies In Hungary the legislation favors take to fill open roles will increase to employers and we also experience the workload of recruitment agencies. that employees are glad to have According to our experience, companies a third, professional team that are more and more open for alternative helps their employment. solutions to support their HR department.

Hays Temporary Recruitment – a division of Hays Hungary – has been created to answer the needs of our clients and enable us to provide a comprehensive www.hays.hu HR solution for white collar projects.

Eszter Kocsis

NOTE: ALL ARTICLES MARKED INSIDE VIEW ARE PAID PROMOTIONAL CONTENT FOR WHICH THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL DOES NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

If finding labor was challenging last year, it is getting close to impossible in some cases now. HR agencies have to reach out to the market to fulfill workforce needs and the competition is acute.

Yet the crisis is also bringing a more humane attitude to the labor market, the Budapest Business Journal finds.

finally our professional conclusion was that it would not work with a ‘Z’.” They can better be reached through websites like DreamJo.bs which are very cool and go beyond classical recruitment with creative job and company descriptions. “This is a matter of marketing,” Paulovics says.

In order to not only find the talent, but also reduce fluctuation which is now

Special Report

22 | 3

‣ ‣ ‣ Continued from page 21 be treated fair and square as they dictate the market now,” says Orsolya Dózsa, Grafton’s operations manager. “Anyone can become a colleague or an employee later and since bad news spreads much quicker than five or ten years ago, the way people are treated can mean a disadvantage or an advantage at anytime.”

A survey conducted by Hays last year seems to support this idea. It showed that 82% of candidates had gone through a significantly bad experience during recruitment processes and a

whopping

80%

of those people would never again apply to that company.

Ádám Hoffmann, managing director of Exact Solutions.

“Companies have to consciously build up their image also through their recruitment processes,” Tímea Harnisfőger from Job. hu agrees. Eight-round interviews should be avoided and a quick reply has to be given. Moreover, personal experiences about a company like the receptionist being kind or rude or the professional boss arriving at the interview on time or late all leave an impression and are shared with hundreds of people immediately.

“In the world of social media, it matters what people publish on their timelines,” Harnisfőger points out. “I hear it more and more often that above a certain age and experience, people don’t choose a company but they choose a boss.”

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

paying attention to this only in the current market conditions are probably at a severe competitive disadvantage.”

“Basically, there is a growing need for higher valueNeeded added recruitment activities Compromises Given the struggle for talents, the quicker often takes it all. Companies need to both from the corporate understand that while a four or five circle HR and agency side: deeper interview is organized, a candidate can get an offer from up to three other companies understanding of roles in the meantime, Nagy-Stellini warns. expected from recruiters, In addition to speeding up, companies have also become more flexible. “We working closer with hiring can definitely see compromises on managers, more flexible labor shortages,” Nagy-Stellini says.

“Companies are more open to hire 70-80% salary ranges, faster job scope matching candidates and invest recruitment processes, in training them rather than wait for the candidate fulfilling the role 100%, which better and more focused may take much longer or more often does database management not exist.”

Randstad’s Baja agrees: “Compromise and more onsite presence exists. Success depends on what type of needed towards recruitment compromise it is. Some companies are ready to employ all and sundry despite the companies.”

Also, while it used to be a very common thing in Hungary to leave rejected candidates without any type of feedback or even a reply, this cannot be done anymore. “Feedback should always be given, whether it is positive or negative.

Should this not take place, it would spoil the brand,” Nagy-Stellini stresses adding that once a bad image is created, it is very difficult to fix.

“A strong feedback culture is very much needed,” Paulovics agrees and adds that all processes have to be as transparent as possible. “There is a clear demand for glass-door policies from the side of employees,” she says and tells the story of one of the main rating companies that, when arriving to Hungary in the mid-2000s, had a very aggressive recruitment process focusing on IT-workers. People put a lot of effort into their applications, went through several rounds of interviews and spent long hours sitting and waiting and were finally rejected in a onesentence email. “They were extremely disappointed which made it very hard for the company later to recruit or rebrand itself in general.”

Exact Solutions’ Hoffmann agrees. “As for me, this has always had to be kept in mind since such news can reach future potential employees. Those who start

risk of ruining employee morale and the results, while others give in only in niceto-have skills and rather help to catch up with training.”

Paulovics adds: “Soft skills are usually taken very seriously but technical skills can be compensated by training.”

According to Harnisfőger, in sectors with the most suffocating labor shortage, it is a trend to make do with juniors instead of seniors.

However, there are still many companies not lowering the requirements, even if they cannot fill a vacancy for a

year. “For them, it is still more bearable to have a position open than tying up a team member by fixing the new colleague’s shortcomings,” Hoffmann notes.

Tímea Harnisfőger, CEO Job.hu.

Building up HR

In reaction to the labor shortage, many companies are building up their own HR department though they might never reach the capacity of a specialized agency. “Here,

40

people

keep calling people all day and we are able to offer several positions, meaning that it is also more beneficial for the candidate,” Paulovics says.

However, in some cases it is impossible to meet the expected demands, no matter how professional the HR contribution is.

“We reject assignments more and more often because we see it is unattainable, because other companies also seek the same position and offer higher wages or have a better location,” Paulovics tells the BBJ. “In such cases, we speak openly at the very beginning.”

Apparently, finding talents is a growing challenge and as such has an increasing price. “Recruitment companies have to use more resources, tools and efforts to ensure the roles are filled successfully,” NagyStellini says.

Most HR agencies expect to grow in 2018, yet they are careful about saying by how much. As Randstad’s Baja says, Orsolya Dózsa, Grafton “the first quarter has been an absolute operations manager. record. The rest we will see.”

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“

Our largest European talent database of available candidates enables us to find you a right employee on both Permanent or Temporary basis. ” Rita Cséke , Director – Central Europe

RR686 - The Book of List Design - April 2018_AW2.indd 1

Get in touch 0036 1 883 3500 info.hungary@reedglobal.com reedglobal.hu Reed Specialist Recruitment - Hungary

12/04/2018 13:53

3

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Special Report | 23

Recruitment agencies

1,190

newdesign_hirdetes_252x155.ai

2,630

1

30

30

40

2018. 04. 03.

10

50

1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 39.

(1) 411-2090 (1) 411-2091 info@randstad.hu

✓

2007 1 252

– Hays Plc. (100)

tammy nagy-stellini Aleksandra Keller Agnieszka Kazimierczak

1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7.

(1) 501-2400 (1) 501-2402 hungary@hays.hu

laW

sándor baja Lívia Tóth Ágnes Szokody

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

addRess pHone fax email

11:56

your business is as unique C

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

as the candidates we place.

human forward.

2

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

www.hays.hu

– Randstad Holding N.V. (100)

ssC/bsC

40

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

Hays HungaRy kft.

2004 4 4,858

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

–

Ÿ Ÿ

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

it/teleCom

60

sales/tRade/maRketing

23

touRism

1,921 91

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

www.randstad.hu

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

banking and finanCe

17

Randstad HungaRy kft.

1

industRy speCialization in 2017 guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

10

otHeR

20

middle management

30

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2017 (%)

top management

otHeR

40

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2017 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2018

plaCement fRom database

4,268

adveRtising

1,511

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2017 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

total net Revenue in 2017 (Huf mln)

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2017 (Huf mln)

Rank

Ranked by net revenue from recruitment in 2017 (HUF mln)

Tamás Szabó (10) Trenkwalder Group AG (90)

tibor Hujber Henrietta Tóth Ildikó Horváth

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 (1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

✓

2001 1 1

(100) –

zsuzsanna gárdus, éva paulovics – –

1037 Budapest, Montevideo utca 16/B (1) 439-2940 (1) 439-2963 office@jobsgarden.hu

laW ✓

1995 27 300

ssC/bsC

1134 Budapest, Váci út 45. G/7.

(1) 323-3500 (1) 323-3529 adecco@adecco.com

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

stefano longo Róbert Szeitl Anna Fodor

it/teleCom

– Adecco Group AG (100)

sales/tRade/maRketing

1991 13 5,100

touRism

35

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

50

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

banking and finanCe

15

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

industRy speCialization in 2017 guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

15

otHeR

15

middle management

15

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2017 (%)

top management

otHeR

55

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2017 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2018

plaCement fRom database

15,318

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2017 (%)

adveRtising

568

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

diReCt seaRCH

total net Revenue in 2017 (Huf mln)

Rank

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2017 (Huf mln)

Special Report

24 | 3

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone fax email

adeCCo kft. www.adecco.hu 3

4

tRenkWaldeR személyzeti szolgÁltató kft. hu.trenkwalder.com

537

13,764

35

25

35

886 31

5

1,562 34

5

482 26

5

30

3 months 1–6 weeks

65

3 months 1–8 weeks

70

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

JobsgaRden kft. www.jobsgarden.hu 5

473

713

50

20

25

5

25

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

HR solutions are like good suit.

There’s no such thing as one‑size‑fits‑all.

So whether you need temporary, temp‑to‑hire or direct hire help – even payroll services – we’ve got you covered. Talk to us, tell us what you’re looking for and let us tailor something that’s just your style.

@AdeccoMagyarország Adecco Hungary #adeccohungary

ADC HR Solutions Ad 252x158 1-180405.indd 1

adecco@adecco.hu www.adecco.hu +36 1 / 325 35 00

2018. 04. 05. 17:18

3

www.bbj.hu

423

432

30

25

35

10

407 21

20

377 18

–

286 24

10

10

5

7

348

380

50

10

20

10

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone fax email

–

1996 1 35

– Grafton Group (100)

orsolya dózsa Norbert Fekete –

1053 Budapest, Károlyi utca 12.

(1) 235-2600 (1) 235-2601 info@grafton.hu

–

2007 2 2

Gábor Béres (100) –

Ádám Hoffmann – Annamária Miklós

1052 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 5.

(1) 200-2823 – hr@exactsolutions.hu

5

2007 1 1

Beáta Fürjész (50), Gabriella Ruff Berzéthyné (50) –

beáta fürjész – –

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13-14.

(1) 354-2060 (1) 354-2061 info@karrierhungaria.hu

– Reed Specialist Recruitment (Global) Ltd. (100)

nigel marsh – –

1051 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 12.

(1) 883-3500 (1) 883-3599 info.hungary@ reedglobal.com

laW

ssC/bsC

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

it/teleCom

sales/tRade/maRketing

touRism

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

65

3–4 months 2–8 weeks

55

3–6 months 1–4 weeks

50

3–6 months 2–6 weeks

30

60

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2008 1 102

40

50

3 months 4–8 weeks

15

20

–

–

45

–

15

–

2015 1 4

Prohumán 2004 Kft. (100) –

norbert borbély-tóth Attila Kovács –

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 783-0000 (1) 783-0000 enloyd@enloyd.hu

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

✓

–

2009 2 36

– CPL Resources Plc. (100)

dorottya sámson Pavol Nagy –

1062 Budapest, Teréz körút 55. A/2 (1) 501-5460 (1) 501-5466 budapest@cpljobs.hu

30

exaCt solutions személyzeti tanÁCsadó kft. www.exactsolutions.hu

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

6

www.grafton.hu

banking and finanCe

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

gRafton ReCRuitment kft.

Special Report | 25

industRy speCialization in 2017

otHeR

middle management

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2017 (%)

top management

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2017 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2018

otHeR

plaCement fRom database

adveRtising

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2017 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

total net Revenue in 2017 (Huf mln)

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2017 (Huf mln)

Rank

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

35

20

10

20

–

–

–

20

15

20

35

–

–

20

40

kaRRieR HungÁRia kft. www.karrierhungaria.hu

310

8

348

40

30

30

15

35

15

15

–

10

5

–

50

Reed magyaRoRszÁg kft. www.reedglobal.hu 9

10

enloyd kft. www.enloyd.hu

263

332(1)

35

25

35

5

295 20

245

245

70

10

12

8

175 10

13

25

62

3–6 months 2–8 weeks

Cpl Jobs kft. www.cpljobs.hu 11

kelly seRviCes

12 HungaRy kft. www.kellyservices.hu

13

iseeQ kft.

www.iseeq.hu

235

4,464

15

30

45

10

291 15

224

2,206

60

20

20

–

362 26

12

23

65

3–6 months 2–8 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

✓

–

2004 1 3,623

– Kelly Services Management Sarl (100)

anikó Jónás Zsolt Szabó –

1085 Budapest, Kálvin tér 12.

(1) 301-7800 (1) 301-7880 info@kellyservices.hu

213

213

60

–

30

10

121 9

12

38

50

3 months 0–4 weeks

✓

–

–

✓

✓

✓

–

–

2012 1 1

Corporate (100) –

balázs bondici, tamás püski – Timea Izso

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13–14.

– – hello@iseeq.hu

GROWING COMPANIES IN HUNGARY FOR 22 YEARS. LET’S GROW TOGETHER.

grafton.hu

www.bbj.hu

✓

✓

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone fax email

péter tokár, eszter tokár, barbara Csele Hajnalka Bánovics Ferenc Keresztúri

1132 Budapest, Váci út 18.

(1) 279-0706 (1) 466-0549 info@tesk.hu

laW

–

ssC/bsC

✓

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

✓

it/teleCom

–

sales/tRade/maRketing

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

14

touRism

✓

Eszter Tokár (75), Renáta Horváth (25) –

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

✓

2002 1 1

banking and finanCe

85

3–6 months 1–3 weeks

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

esto-tesk Munkaerő-közvetítő kft. www.tesk.hu

industRy speCialization in 2017

otHeR

middle management

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2017 (%)

top management

otHeR

plaCement fRom database

adveRtising

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2017 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2018

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2017 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

Company Website

total net Revenue in 2017 (Huf mln)

Special Report net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2017 (Huf mln)

Rank

26 | 3

210

250

10

10

30

50

698 30

198

5,220

60

10

25

5

180 16

12

38

50

3–9 months 2–8 weeks

20

40

–

8

30

–

–

2

2004 10 10

László Küzmös (100) –

lászló küzmös, Ákos Jáhny Krisztina Lázár –

1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 31.

(1) 766-5626 (1) 766-5618 getwork@getwork.hu

165

2,760

40

15

40

5

134 9

15

25

60

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

✓

✓

–

–

✓

–

✓

–

2007 1 1,500

(100) –

andrea Jamniczky – –

1103 Budapest, Kőér utca 2/A (1) 235-3010 (1) 266-6438 office@bdo.hu

20

228 16

40

3–6 months 1–4 weeks

✓

1990 8 12

Zoltán Tóth (60), Péter Berta (30), Viktor Göltl (10) –

péter berta – –

8900 Zalaegerszeg, Ady Endre utca 2.

(92) 550-050 (92) 550-060 whc@whc.hu

10

138 13

40

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

✓

1997 1 1

Tímea Bíró (100) –

tímea bíró – –

1138 Budapest, Váci út 135-139.

Building C (1) 336-2910 (1) 336-2911 info@focusconsulting.hu

5

123 10

32

3–12 months 1–4 weeks

✓

2005 1 1

Györgyi Marton (50) AM-PLUS Consulting AG (50)

györgyi marton – –

2

23

75

3–6 months 2–5 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

–

✓

–

–

1993 17 17

(100) –

katalin bor, Róbert göbl, zsuzsanna szabó – –

1036 Budapest, Lajos utca 93-99.

Building D (1) 391-0228 (1) 391-0229 office@tredis.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

3–6 months 2–8 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1993 7 7

Videoton Holding Zrt. (100) –

attila molnár – –

8000 Székesfehérvár, Berényi út 72–100.

(22) 554-170 (22) 554-180 info@pannonjob.hu

80

3–6 months 3–6 weeks

✓

1992 2 2

László Hadi, Botond Csordás, Attila Pál, Attila Dobár (100) –

attila dobár György Thury –

1094 Budapest, Angyal utca 24.

(1) 239-9922 (1) 239-9926 info@job.hu

90

3–6 months 1–4 weeks

–

2011 1 1

Anett Jusztin (100) –

anett Jusztin – –

1023 Budapest, Ürömi utca 42-44.

(30) 532-6320 – hr@pearlhunt.hu

85

3–6 months 2–8 weeks

–

1998 6 7

Volano Kft. (100) –

Csaba ottó Orsolya Horvai Módné Kinga Kincső Tóth

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(88) 400-453 (88) 400-453 manatwork@ manatwork.hu

20

20

–

20

20

10

–

10

2005 1 1

Péter Bogdanovits (60), Anikó Pethő (40) –

péter bogdanovits, anikó Pethő – –

20

30

5

15

5

15

5

5

1995 4 4

László Szűcs (100) –

lászló szűcs – –

5

10

get WoRk tRend kft. www.getwork.hu 15

bdo magyaRoRszÁg (HR személyzeti tanÁCsadÁs) 16

www.bdo.hu

WHC kft.

www.whc.hu 158

17

12,004

30

20

30

10

50

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

foCus Consulting kft. www.focusconsulting.hu

151

18

tRedis Consulting kft.

19 www.tredis.hu

HumÁn CentRum kft.

20 www.humancentrum.hu

21

pannonJob HumÁn szolgÁltató és tanÁCsadó kft.

147

178

147

50

60

15

15

25

20

20

19

40

49

145

5,650

10

10

Ÿ

132

9,343

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

80

5

140 8

–

77 8

5

345 8

20

50

30

3–6 months 2–5 weeks

5

35

60

1–6 months 1–8 weeks

50

30

www.pannonjob.hu

32

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1077 Budapest, Wesselényi utca 11.

(1) 877-0900 (1) 877-0910 info@humancentrum.hu

Job személyzeti tanÁCsadó kft. www.job.hu 22

122

peaRl Hunt kft.

23 www.pearlhunt.hu

119

2,000

119

100

10

–

5

–

–

–

20

10

✓

–

✓

–

–

–

✓

–

✓

100

✓

–

✓

–

man at WoRk kft. www.manatwork.hu 24

78

aaRenson Consulting 25 kft. www.aarenson.hu

25

pRodukteam vállalkozásszervező kft. www.produkteam.hu

5,007

15

30

50

77

77

80

5

10

5

120 10

77

1,945

10

40

30

20

140 15

5

10

–

70

–

5

10

–

15

1143 Budapest, Gizella út 42-44.

(1) 225-1079 (1) 201-4408 office@aarenson.hu 6722 Szeged, Vitéz utca 20.

(1) 267-9010 (62) 420-433 produkteam@produkteam.hu

3

www.bbj.hu

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

Gabriella Ruff Berzéthyné (50), Beáta Fürjész (50) –

gabriella Ruff berzéthyné – –

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13–14.

(1) 354-2060 (1) 354-2061 –

Péter Vida (5), Zoltán Egerszegi (18.9), Erika Pintér (11.2), Via Pannónia Kft. (46), Gábor Csizmadia (18.9) –

gábor Csizmadia, péter vida László Pintér Bence Husi

1013 Budapest, Pauler utca 18.

(20) 328-3284 – info@dologido.hu

laW –

2012 1 1

ssC/bsC

4024 Debrecen, Batthyány utca 12/1.

(52) 316-242 (52) 530-965 job@hsakft.hu

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

lászló mátyás Erika Dékány Imre Papp

it/teleCom

László Mátyás (80), Erika Dékány (10), HSA Kft. (10) –

sales/tRade/maRketing

2000 13 14

touRism

40

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

40

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

banking and finanCe

20

Special Report | 27

industRy speCialization in 2017 guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

10

otHeR

20

middle management

30

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2017 (%)

top management

otHeR

40

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2017 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2018

plaCement fRom database

4,577

adveRtising

75

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2017 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

total net Revenue in 2017 (Huf mln)

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2017 (Huf mln)

Rank

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone fax email

Hsa kft.

www.hsakft.hu 27

142 5

10

58 4

kaRRieR Rent kft.

–

74

28

76

20

40

30

10

20

Ÿ

1–6 weeks

70

3–6 months 2–6 weeks

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

2001 12 12

–

70

–

–

–

30

–

–

2000 1 1

Eszter Mező (90), other (10) –

eszter Mező – –

2800 Tatabánya, Szent Borbála tér 6.

(34) 511-734 (34) 511-735 thr@t-hr.hu

–

1993 1 1

Lászlóné Dorozsmai (25), Réka Dorozsmai-Gallasz (50) Udo M. Chisteé (25)

Réka dorozsmaigallasz – –

1065 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 53.

(1) 316-2800 – ahc.budapest@ ahc-international.hu

2002 1 1

Renáta Restás (100) –

Renáta Restás – –

2000 Szentendre, Sztaravodai út 43. E/15.

(1) 786-5666 (1) 786-5666 info@pbs-job.hu

Ÿ

Krisztina Varga (100) –

krisztina varga – –

1072 Budapest, Rákóczi út 42.

EMKE Building (20) 982-3628 – workplus@workplus.hu

– DEKRA Arbeit GmbH (100)

marianna majtényi – Gábor Behina

1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 97.

(80) 315-096 (80) 315-096 dekra@dekra-arbeit.hu 1117 Budapest, Móricz Zsigmond körtér 14. 4/1.

(1) 878-0145 (1) 878-0160 info@hrcv.hu

15

25

–

10

10

–

40

29

DologiDő kft.

65

2,298

41

25

25

9

132 6

3

54

43

3 months 4–8 weeks

30

t-HR kft.

61

61

30

20

40

10

70 5

20

70

10

3–12 months 1–6 weeks

40

40

20

3–6 months 1–6 weeks

18

28

54

3 months 1-4 weeks

5

40

–

30

10

5

10

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

2004 4 195

✓

2000 8 8

Csilla Vidó (100) –

Csilla vidó – –

– Manpower France Holding SAS (100)

ottó vég Roland Huszár Anikó Pekarik

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 (1) 266-0536 manpower@ manpower.hu

www.dologido.hu

www.t-hr.hu

aHC inteRnational kft.

31

44

44

75

10

10

5

36 4

pbs inteRnational kft.

44

44

50

25

25

–

54 6

40

40

20

3–6 months 1–4 weeks

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

www.ahc-international.hu

31

www.pbs-job.hu

WoRkplus kft.

33 www.workplus.hu

dekRa aRbeit

NR magyaRoRszÁg kft. www.dekra-arbeit.hu

HRCv személyzeti NR szolgÁltató kft. www.hrcgroup.hu

30

56

20

20

50 4

Ÿ

660

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

1,058 (2016)

20

40

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

–

10

60

10

–

20

–

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1989 1

ManPower Munkaerő szeRvezési kft. www.manpowergroup.hu NR

select HuMánerőforrás

NR kft. www.select.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

1990 3 3,900

Ÿ

46

10

20

40

30

Ÿ Ÿ

20

50

30

3–6 months 2–6 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1994 1 1

MELÓ-DIÁK Holding Zrt. (100) –

noémi krisztina Csaposs zsoldisné – –

1093 Budapest, Lónyay utca 34.

(1) 456-0700 (1) 217-8606 office@select.hu

Ÿ

6,144

35

15

45

5

93 7

5

10

85

3 months 1–10 weeks

4

76

–

3

6

–

5

6

2004 8 8

Róbert Csákvári (100) –

Róbert Csákvári – –

1134 Budapest, Váci út 49.

(1) 354-3434 (1) 354-3435 titkarsag@work-force.hu

WoRk foRCe személyzeti tanÁCsadó és szolgÁltató kft. www.workforce.hu NR

Ÿ= would not disclose, NR = not ranked, NA = not applicable

This list was compiled from responses to questionnaires received by April 18, 2018 and publicly available data. Data is based on companies’ own data revelations. To the best of the Budapest Business Journal’s knowledge, the information is accurate as of press time. While every effort is made to ensure accuracy and thoroughness, omissions and typographical errors may occur. Additions or corrections to the list should be sent on letterhead to the research department, Budapest Business Journal, 1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13–14. or faxed to (1) 398-0345. The research department can be contacted at research@bbj.hu

notes: (1) Data of business year July 1, 2016-June 30, 2017.

28 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Hungary Places Third in “Glass Ceiling Index 2018” Hungary has been placed third in the 2018 “Glass Ceiling Index”, which surveyed the percentage share of female management in 41 OECD and EU member countries’.

BRIDGET DALEY

The index, which is part of a larger study conducted by leading U.K.-based technology career and research platform Honeypot, measured the percentage of females holding senior, legislative and management positions.

According to the survey, some 40.5% of Hungary’s senior and managerial roles belong to women, meaning only Latvia and the United States finished ahead

with 44.4% and 43.5%, respectively, of senior/managerial positions occupied by women.

The lowest rates of female managers in the

41

countries

were found in South Korea, Japan and Turkey, with 10.7%, 11.5%, and 13%, respectively.

“Gender parity in the workplace is not just an ethical or moral issue, but also an economic one: McKinsey found that USD 12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. As tech recruitment specialists, we are often confronted with the gender imbalances of the industry, which are fully exposed in this study,” Emma Tracey, co-founder at Honeypot, points out.

The larger study carried out by Honeypot, the 2018 “Women in Tech Index”, compares gender pay gaps in both the workforce and the tech industry in EU and OECD member nations.

Honeypot says the index “analyses 22 factors including wage, pay gap and inequality data to determine the best nations for women in the technology field”, using data from the World Economic Forum.

Enriching the Debate

The tech platform released a statement on April 12 explaining that the “lack of

women in senior roles [has] been highlighted as a major aspect of gender disparity in the workplace, [and] Honeypot wanted to enrich the debate by releasing this data”.

Hungary’s high rank in female management is somewhat of a surprise, though. Data from the same study has Hungary tied for last place for both rates of women in parliament and rates of women in ministerial positions. For the former, Hungary is tied with Japan at 9.9%, and for the latter it is tied with Slovakia at 0%.

However, surprises could be found elsewhere as well, with Honeypot explaining that “with between 25-30% of female managers, The Netherlands, Germany and Austria all appear within the bottom 15 for women in managerial positions, despite offering some of the highest average wages for women”.

Further regarding the discrepancies in low wage gaps and high percentages of women in the managerial workforce, the Glass Ceiling Index does not include the gender wage gap among management positions.

However, in a 2017 report, Eurostat reported a 33.7% wage disparity between male and female managers in Hungary, the largest gender pay gap in the EU at the time. Honeypot’s study

PERCENTAGE OF SENIOR FEMALE MANAGERS

USA

44.4% Latvia Hungary

40.5%

43.5%

Source: Honeypot

puts Hungary’s 2018 gender pay gap for the entire workforce

at

11.76%

(ranking the country 28th out of 41).

Including the managerial pay gap in the index would seemingly be more constructive in analyzing workforce gender equality, or lack thereof.

“The World Economic Forum reported in 2017 that economic gender equality will not be reached for another 170 years, but that equality for women in the labor force would add USD 28 tln to the global economy by 2025,” Tracey says, emphasizing the exigency for female equality in the workplace.

PROMOTION

HR challenges of the ever-changing working environment

Digital Success Begins With a Cultural Change Digital technologies have dramatically impacted the culture around work and working: Today’s workers have a new focus on purpose, mission and work-life integration.

Executives can give their company a competitive advantage and attract top talents by having a strong workplace culture already in place that supports digital implementation. Many studies show that highly engaged companies can hire more easily, deliver stronger customer service, have the lowest voluntary turnover rates and are more profitable over the long run.

Culture is just as important as strategy when it comes to creating a productive, successful enterprise. If organizations do not actively work to create a culture that supports their broader goals, strategy or vision, they leave their employees without any way to execute on those goals. As an innovator itself, Microsoft is and has always been keen to research the relationship between IT and corporate efficiency and we recently asked 20,000 employees from 21 countries, including Hungarian workers, how they utilize digital technologies and culture and how these aspects affect their performance.

Results show that it is important that employees have the opportunity and the incentive to use new solutions, the widest possible access to tools and IT solutions, and that technical progress, innovation and adaptation is a priority at a given company.

“By nurturing an environment where impromptu conversations can happen, it goes along with a notable impact on employee productivity,” highlights Microsoft international client, TalkTalk Media. But our research shows another highly important aspect of digitalization: Cultural change. In order to increase efficiency and productivity, it is not enough to replace the tools and transform workflows, there is also a need for an intermediate step: Corporate culture needs to be adapted in accordance with the changing hardware and software environment.

According to our study, only 16% of European employees work in a firm with a strong corporate culture, and about the same amount of people (17.1%) feel that a

the average in other parts of Europe.

Nevertheless, as of today only 11.4% of European employees feel very productive in their work, meaning the challenge employers are facing is huge.

The research also revealed that productivity, innovation and empowerment are key features when it comes to successful digitalization. In strong digital working cultures, 4% of the employees consider themselves more productive, and a whopping 20% more efficient. The difference is even more significant when it comes to innovation: The number of employees, who feel innovative, doubles from 15 to 30% versus those in a weak digital culture, while the number of non-innovators is reduced to only 3%. On top of this, four times as many employees feel empowered in a strong digital culture than in a weak one, which means they are Boglárka Szentpétery, able to do their jobs to the very best of Microsoft’s HR director. their ability.

The numbers clearly show that digital transformation is happening and it’s digital culture is present at the workplace. not a question of “why?” anymore, but As far as Hungary is concerned, 13.1% of rather how technology enables growth the people working in advanced digital and empowers employees. Innovation, culture regard their work as highly however, never happens by chance. innovative, which is only slightly lower In an era of the digital workforce, an than the 16.9% European average. Also, enterprise’s culture must expand to 16.2% of Hungarian workers experience include its digital workplace practices. an advanced corporate culture at their Culture, engagement, and employee workplace and 17.8% work in a strong retention have emerged as top digital culture, roughly the same as challenges for business leaders.

4

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Photo: Gabriella Kiss

Dylan Does Budapest in Style

This Easter, we invited 14-year-old Dylan to visit us in Budapest.

My partner and her sister planned an itinerary for him. I wasn’t allowed to contribute, probably no bad thing.

DAVID HOLZER

It’s a difficult age, 14. You’ve put away childish things but you’re not yet old enough to explore on your own or with a gang of mates. I remember being dragged round museums and art galleries when all I wanted to do was skulk off to the nearest amusement arcade, record or clothes shop.

For those of you below a certain age, records were what we used to call vinyl.

I would imagine Dylan is pretty much a boy of today. He is clothes and technology mad. Like you, perhaps, I am not sure if the time our young spend glued to their screens does them any good. But there are positive benefits for adults.

After five hours in the Lukács Thermal Baths Dylan was bright pink, thoroughly exhausted but beaming from ear to ear. “That was the best part of my trip,” he told me.

There was no chance of Dylan being homesick. He “Facetimed” his family every day and Snapchatted his friends at night, managing to play his part in what sounded like a riveting teenage triangle drama. I came to see Dylan’s screen as a pacifier, which was fine with me. I also got into taking trout-mouth selfies at historical monuments.

The big difference between Dylan and me when I was 14 is his awareness of brands. To him, they’re like sports or pop stars. We ate at Starbucks every morning.

Dylan was delighted that Starbucks in Budapest is much cheaper than it is in the United Kingdom, though he was intrigued

to discover that you have to push the door to get in, rather than open it outwards.

Starbucks Comparisons

My attempts to get Dylan to comment on the difference between a Hungarian Starbucks waffle with chocolate sauce and mango juice were a waste of time though.

It seems they’re exactly the same wherever you are in the world.

As soon as Dylan was fortified by however many thousand calories there are in waffles and mango juice, we set out to “do Budapest”, as they say.

One of the great things about Budapest is that it’s possible to rent an inexpensive, centrally located apartment for nowhere near as much as it would cost in London.

Our one-bedroom apartment on Ó utca was EUR 370 for three nights and we could walk everywhere we needed to.

During the four days Dylan was with us, we schlepped up to Heroes’ Square where he took photos of statues for a school photography project. We walked over to the Budapest Eye, down to the Chain Bridge, over to Buda and along the Várkert Bazár, where we hung out at the Easter fair and Dylan had his first lángos – fried dough with garlic paste, sour cream and grated cheese. He was more impressed by his Zing Burger, which he decided was the best he had ever had.

We took the funicular railway up to the castle. It takes about two minutes and offers beautiful views across the river to the Parliament building. Dylan was snapping away with his iPhone all the way up so, no doubt, the pictures were all over his social media feeds.

He was also impressed with the entire district around the castle, including Matthias

Church. I must admit I was surprised at how large the Castle District actually is. I was also surprised at how interested Dylan was. When I was his age I would have been looking for an escape route.

Happily for me, our next stop was Budapest’s amazing Pinball or, if you’re Hungarian, Flipper Museum.

Pinball Wizardry

Dylan had never played a pinball machine.

I, on the other hand – with my “supple wrist…. crazy flipper fingers”, to quote “Pinball Wizard” by The Who – was very familiar with pinball machines by the time I was Dylan’s age.

Much of my own youth was misspent in amusement arcades or the smoky back ADVERTISEMENT

rooms of cafes, playing machines that sometimes dated back to the 1950s. So, for me, the Pinball Museum was pure heaven.

Tucked away behind a scruffy door down a nondescript side street about 500 meters from the WestEnd shopping center, the Pinball Museum looks like some kind of vault. Once you’re inside, you’re dazzled by a barrage of flashing, colored lights and assaulted by a cacophony of Tourette’s like pings, bleeps, crashes, boings, rat-tat-tats, shrieks, rattles, groans and snatches of music.

I found machines I am sure I played on back in the 1970s, with fantastic images of mermaids, space creatures, hot rods and bizarre planets. The museum has a superb collection of machines that were produced as movie tie-ins, including “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Star Wars” and just about every 1970s and ’80s classic you can think of. It also has rock and roll themed machines that naturally includes a “Tommy” machine inspired by the 1975 movie based on The Who’s pinball-themed rock opera.

Entrance to the Pinball Museum is HUF 3,000 forints, HUF 2,000 if you’re under 26 or over 62. All the machines are free and you can stay as long as you like. If you hang on to the wristband they give you when you go in, you apparently receive a HUF 500 discount on your next visit.

Dylan pronounced the place “amazing” and even bought a bright orange retrostyled Budapest Pinball Museum t-shirt.

But, for him, the best was yet to come.

After five hours in the Lukács Thermal Baths Dylan was bright pink, thoroughly exhausted but beaming from ear to ear. “That was the best part of my trip,” he told me.

“Better than Starbucks?” I asked.

He hesitated only a few seconds before nodding.

Find out more about the Budapest Pinball Museum at www.flippermuzeum.hu and Lukács Thermal Baths at www.en.lukacsfurdo.hu.

30 | 4

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

Hungary Increasingly a Wine Tourism Destination The VinCE Budapest Wine Show (“wine show” actually being the best way to describe the vinous jamboree) moved into a new venue at the Várkert Bazár and was as buzzing as usual with an exciting line-up of masterclasses spread over three days from April 5-7.

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ROBIN MARSHALL

As part of the “Secrets and Legends of Hungarian Wine” masterclass, in which I also participated, Tokaj expert Gergely Somogyi, who is publisher of the highly informative English language website Tokaj Today, introduced a barrel sample of a red wine made by the Basilicus winery

from the Purscin grape. It grew in the Tokaj region up until it was wiped out by the phylloxera louse around the turn of the 20th century.

Basilicus’ winemaker András Kanczler planted 1,200 Purcsin vines in Tarcal’s Mestervölgy vineyard in 2013 and made the first red wine from these in 2017. It was fermented with commercial yeast in a 500liter simple plastic vat under a plastic film cover to keep the carbon dioxide above the cap and thus retain most of the primary aromas through preventing oxidation.

This was then transferred to a steel tank and is as such unoaked. It had the gross lees racked off multiple times but has only clarified once so far, though is set to be micro-filtered once just prior to bottling, explained Somogyi.

It will go into 0.5-liter Burgundy-style bottles in a few weeks’ time and will be released in May or June. Just 250 liters of the wine have been produced, but this is a rarity well worth having. The wine is light in tannin but vibrant and spicy, and was nicely compared to Italian grape Dolcetto, which comes from Piemonte, by one audience member. The wine is a welcome new/old addition to the Tokaj palette, although it will have to be sold as a Zemplén wine.

Red Standout

Kanczler wanted to try Purcsin because it used to be one of the few important red grapes in the Tokaj region. It was probably used widely for the small quantities of red wines Tokaj growers used to produce for local consumption, opined Somogyi.

He also noted that a book entitled “Magyarország Borászati Térképe”, which the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture published in 1884 when it knew that phylloxera was coming and realized the need for replanting, recommended nine white grapes and seven reds for planting in Tokaj. Purcsin is the only local red it recommended, and it was my take-away from VinCE Budapest 2018.

The following week, Budapest played host to the 10th International Wine Tourism Conference (IWINETC) on April 10-11, which brought together 307 international industry professionals representing 29 different countries. Wine

tourism appears to be growing rapidly in Hungary with tour operators, such as Taste Hungary and Wine a’More growing rapidly.

Incidentally, Taste Hungary scooped the Best Wine Tour Operator award at VinCE Budapest. I also have to declare an interest in working as a guide for the outfit, and it is striking to see how impressed and seduced (mainly American) visitors are

by Hungarian wine country – a landscape laced with a heady blend of tradition and modernity, for want of sounding like a line out of a marketing manual.

While Hungary and its wine regions still have a long way to go to rival the likes of France, Italy and Spain when it comes to the delivery of wine and all the things that go with it, things are getting better all the time. On my last trip to Tokaj, I was taken aback by a new statue of Christ in Tarcal.

Whether you believe in Him or not, the views of the countryside are impressive – as they are from the Terézia Chapel, which itself was reopened only a couple of years back. A few more fine-dining restaurants wouldn’t go amiss, Tokaj!

High Class Residents

Up in Eger, the Szépasszony-völgy (the name translates as “valley of the beautiful woman”) is starting to become a valley of beautiful wine as more highclass residents, such as St. Andrea and Tibor Gál move in – realizing the vast potential of this much-maligned circle of cellars. What was once a place to avoid for genuine wine enthusiasts due to its shoddy wines is fast becoming a place to embrace. For example, Csaba Demeter’s cellar is as cool as the mercurial man himself. Eger has it all as a wine tourism destination, with thermal resorts, both red and white wine made to a good level, and a baroque beauty of a town – with the bullish and ever better Bikavér (Bull’s Blood) leading its charge.

The backbone of Bikavér is provided by the Kékfrankos grape, whose single varietal wines will be poured by producers from Eger and 14 other regions at the Winelovers Kékfrankos Április Grand tasting at Danubius Hotel Gellért on Saturday (April 21), from 2 p.m.

More than 50 wineries will be pouring from more than 100 wines. A Top Ten list compiled from the results of a blind tasting involving a number of experts placed Etyeki Kúria’s Kékfrankos 2015 in first place, from Sopron, followed by two from Villány: Günzer Zoltán, Kékfrankos Prémium 2012, and Csányi Pincészet, Teleki Selection Villányi Kékfrankos 2015, in second and third place respectively.

Another Csányi Teleki Selection Villányi Kékfrankos claimed tenth spot.

“Kékfrankos is one of our most important varieties, and more than 50% of all the Kékfrankos in the world can be found in Hungary [the grape is called Blaufränkisch in Austria]. It’s not just fruitiness and spiciness that it captures, but it also shows the place of growth very well; now is the time to put more emphasis on the latter,” said Kristian Kielmayer, a member of the panel.

The jury also tasted 13 Bikavérs and the excellent value Tüske Pince Szekszárdi Bikavér 2016 (expect to pay around HUF 2,000), which is light and airy with juicy pomegranate and spicy notes, came in first.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 20 – May 3, 2018

PRESENTED CONTENT

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A Dancer’s Life: Amazons and Horses and Havasi will combine its dancers with the virtuoso pianist and composer with the rock starlike persona and embark on a tour taking in Ljubljana, Gdansk, Vienna and Krakow.

Around all of that, ExperiDance will have its usual roster of shows at its home venue, the RaM Colosseum in Budapest, and at an increasing number of venues around the countryside. And then, next spring, there comes a two-month tour of France with the Empress Elisabethinspired production “Stormy – the Legend of Sissi”, encompassing 25 shows.

Choreographer and co-founder of ExperiDance Sándor Román knows he is facing an extremely busy 12-month period, but even so he is thinking longer-term, and determined to set an example to artistic creatives, whatever their chosen specialization.

Balancing Workloads

ROBIN MARSHALL

“Art has started to become a factory,” Román says in an exclusive interview with the Budapest Business Journal. “All over the United States and Europe we see a kind of art factory.” Art has become a commodity, something “to be put on the shelf” he says.

Artistic endeavors are increasingly seen solely from the point of view of whether they will make money. Risk taking has been pushed to one side. And matters are not helped by the high pace at which we, the audience, lead our lives. Román says things need to be stripped back.

“Everybody is running, nobody is listening; it is really hard to catch and find people. But we are all human. We have to find what is the pure point of being human.

You need to find a human message, find something touchable, something people feel is missing.”

The need is real, and present, he insists. “There is nothing new because the creatives do not have enough time, and time is money. The business world has reached very deeply into art and ‘killed’ the creatives.” To be clear, Román is not against business per se. But he feels that in the arts too many decisions are taken from a business perspective, instead of an artistic one. Rather than trying to communicate a human message, people are trying to sell an artistic product.

“Art and business have to live side-byside, and not one under the other,” he explains. “Now business is on top, pushing down on the arts. Business needs to support the artistic world, like the great patrons did in the Renaissance.” The message, Román says, is that the arts need sponsors, not dictators. “Creatives have to take creative risks, they have to believe in themselves. This is also my message; we need to start to believe, and not to fear.”

This, he says, is ExperiDance’s new challenge. “We have to take the time to create something that can be this new message, because we have the background, we have lots of experience.” That they most certainly do, and the repertoire will

grow this year once again, for Román is practicing what he preaches, and is creating something new.

Amazons on the Horizon

That is a show called “Amazons”, which charts the story of the progress of the fairer sex. As yet it is a work in progress, but it will have its premiere in September.

“Behind every man is a woman; without women in our lives, who can help men? We need Amazons to solve the problems of the world. Women can solve all problems; this is a very positive message we want to send.”

Román says the characters he is creating are not actual people, but they are drawn from historical events, and the challenges women have overcome throughout history.

“For example, the vote; women wanted the vote, fought for the vote, and eventually they got the vote. Or pants; they wanted pants and they got pants, but there are many, many examples.”

The dancing team Román is pulling together for “Amazons” will not be allfemale, however; as he says, men are part of this story, too. “Men are nothing without women, but women need men too.

It is women and men, this is the human message, because we are linked. We are both of us better together.”

The dancers have to be found, the dances created, the characters built, the music written, a way of seamlessly incorporating ExperiDance’s unique LED light wall needs to be found. It is a lot of work. But that is not all the dance company has coming up.

A second premier will take place in Riesa, in Saxony, Germany, in the late fall.

“We are co-producing a show with Apassionata, the biggest show with horses and dancers in Europe. So, we have to create a new show for October before starting a year-long tour around Europe.”

The show will surely be spectacular: Apassionata has built a reputation for what its website calls “the harmony between humans and animals, combined with wonderful music, spectacular light effects, opulent costumes and great choreographies – family entertainment at its best”.

Still that is not all. ExperiDance also has what Román calls the Havasi project, which

How does he balance the dancers’ workload? By paying careful attention to energy levels, as much as anything. A choreographer has to know when he can ask a dancer to go again, or when they should rest. And in between the daily exercises and rehearsals for new shows or the cleaning up of the choreography of old shows, time has to be made for study and other activities. As Román says, a dancer’s professional life is short, and not everyone can become a choreographer or leader.

“A dancer is like a high-quality athlete; everyday they must do something physical.

It doesn’t have to be dance, it could be weights, yoga, running, but something with the body. My master told me ‘The first ten years are hard. And the last’.”

It is clear ExperiDance will need more dancers, but that itself is a challenge. “It takes me four years to create an ExperiDance dancer: it also takes lots of money and time to ‘build’ a dancer to our level.” Classical dance teaching focuses so much on nailing the steps, the technique, that it removes the personality of the dancer; it is that in particular that Román is looking for.

“I need individuals, I need a lot of characters because that makes for a richer show.”

Little wonder, then, that Román is both proud and hopeful for the dance academy ExperiDance launched two years ago for younger children. He would dearly love to set up a joint program with a European arts university, and says he is open to offers.

He has spent his time in the limelight on the stage; now he wants to pass on the knowledge, that passion, that search for the human message to a newer generation.

“I spend too much time organizing. I want to spend more time in the rehearsal room.

That is my world.”

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