Budapest Business Journal 2708

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BUSINESS JOURNAL BUDAPEST

VOL. 27. NUMBER 8

APRIL 26 – MAY 9, 2019

SPECIAL REPORT

Human Resources

BUSINESS

Hungary Building a Fairytale With AmCham Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó tells AmCham members he continues to rely on their support and suggestions at a business lunch.  6 NEWS

German Firms Expect Slightly Slower Growth While German companies still view the current business environment as favorable, they expect a slower growth rate for 2019 than in 2018, according to the yearly survey published by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce .  5 SOCIALITE

A Conversation With Brazilian Musical Royalty David Holzer talks with Bebel Gilberto, a woman who has has music in her blood. Her mother was a singer, her father invented bossa nova, and her uncle wrote a novel set in Budapest, without visiting the city. 29

Repatriation Game Changer

S PEC

RE IAL

POR

T

Melanie Seymour, CEO of BlackRock, talks about the HR challenges of building an operation from scratch, recruiting from the Four Seasons hotel, and plugging into the Hungarian experience.  12

THE RIGHT PEOPLE, FOR TO THE RIGHT PLACES, IN THE RIGHT TIME! Innovative and complex recruitment solutions specialized to your company.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

THE EDITOR SAYS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robin Marshall EDITORIAL STAFF: Zsófia Czifra, Kester Eddy, Bence

Gaál, David Holzer, Levente Hörömpöli-Tóth, Christian Keszthelyi, Gary J. Morrell, Robert Smyth, Zsófia Végh, Zalán Zubor.

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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 2018-2019: HUF 20,900+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.

Our friends from the German-speaking business community have just published the 25th annual business climate survey, a not insignificant period of time over which to test the economic health of a country.

Indeed, so respected is the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) survey, and so important Germany’s position as Hungary’s leading trade partner – the more than 2,500 German firms present here employ in excess of 200,000 people – that Minister of Finance Mihály Varga, present for the launch joked that “there is an old Hungarian saying: ‘The sure sign of spring approaching is the publication of DUIHK’s conjuncture report’.”

It is doubtful that this year’s survey will have surprised many. Confidence is somewhat down from last year, but since 2018 was the best on record, that is only to be expected, as DUIHK president Dale Martin noted.

Areas of concern continue to include lack of labor and perceived corruption (both identified by 70% of respondents) and the lack of transparency of state tenders (64%). On a more positive note, asked if they would invest again, 82% said “yes”. Indeed, Hungary is the second most attractive investment destination in the region, behind Slovakia only.

The ever tightening labor market is causing problems for companies of all nationalities, of course. Many see digitalization as a way out. At a conference organized by the Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce together with SwissCham Hungary and in cooperation with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the Danish

Business Club and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, a speaker from Big Four advisory firm KPMG cited one of its own studies in which a some 99% of CEOs report that they preparing for digitalization challenges.

Some of those will clearly involve the disappearance of low-skilled jobs. The same conference produced the sobering statistic that 30 jobs are replaced by robots every minute, according to the World Economic Forum. The KPMG advisor added that, by 2027, about ten million jobs might be lost to robots in the United States alone.

Digitalization, it threats and it promises, was also to the fore at the recent annual American Chamber of Commerce conference on the subject, which this year took AI as its theme. There was yet another potentially chilling stat to come out from that event, this time from the Bank of England, which estimates that 66% of jobs in the United Kingdom are now at risk from automation.

As I wrote in my editorial in our last issue, we may not know what the future will look like, but we do know it will be digital. Everyone agrees that some routine jobs are going to go the way of the dinosaurs, but new jobs will be created too. It will be up to governments to manage the changes, and the uncertainties that will come with them.

The reality, though, is that it will be businesses, and in particular their HR departments, that will have to find workable solutions. We can but wish them luck.

Robin Marshall Editor-in-chief

Photo: MTI/Attila Balázs

Photo: Fortepan.hu/Pál Vojnich

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

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AI AND BOTS A SOLUTION TO LABOR WOES, BUT AT A COST

THEN & NOW

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VISIT US ONLINE: WWW.BBJ.HU

To the right, women in Nyíregyháza (230 km east of Budapest) paint eggs on April 22.

The eggs are later either given to visiting men who “sprinkle” the women with water in one of Hungaryʼs oldest Easter traditions, or are hidden for an egg hunt. In the black and white photo to the left, children are pictured on just such an egg hunt in 1937.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9

News///macroscope

Industry Seems Resilient to Deteriorating Global Trends

Following a relatively slow start to the year, Hungary’s industry had come to life again by the second month of 2019.

Based on the promising data, most analysts now put their annual growth forecasts at between 4.5% and 5.5%.

Inflation in EU Member States (March 2019) March 2018-March 2019: 12-month change in consumer prices

up by

60%

in mining and quarrying, which carries much less weight. The output of energy industry declined by 5.2%, mainly as a result of milder weather compared with the previous year. (According to the Hungarian Meteorological Service, the February 2019 average temperature was 3.8ºC higher than the February 2018 average.

In its detailed report, the KSH said that the manufacture of transport equipment (representing 31% of manufacturing output) grew by 10% year-on-year. The manufacture of motor vehicles went up by 15.1%, while the manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles rose by 4%.

Romania

Hungary

The Netherlands

Bulgaria

Slovakia

Latvia

Lithuania

Czech Republic

* February 2019 Data

Luxembourg

Estonia

Belgium

Sweden

Great Britain*

Poland

Austria

Slovenia

EU-28

Germany

Malta

Euro area

France

Spain

Denmark

Finland

Italy

Cyprus

Croatia

Ireland

Greece

Having performed above expectations, Hungary’s industrial production increased by 5.9% in February on a year-on-year basis, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in its second estimate of the data on April 12. The working day adjusted index was equal to the non-adjusted one.

Industrial output, according to both the seasonally and working-day adjusted index, was above the previous month’s level by 1%.

The acceleration in the second month of the year came after a relatively weak January, when industrial output rose by only 4.4%, slowing down from 5.4% in December.

According to the KSH data, the volume of industrial exports grew by 7.7% yearon-year in February. Within export sales in manufacturing, the 38% representing transport equipment exports went up by 12.5%, while in the manufacturing of computer, electronic and optical products (accounting for 14% weight), the volume rose by 12.2%. In February, industrial domestic sales increased by 3.8%, within which domestic sales in manufacturing were 7.6% higher compared to the same month of the previous year.

Within the industry sector, production grew by 6.5% in manufacturing (which has a decisive weight of 95%), and was

Portugal

ZSÓFIA CZIFRA

Source:

Significant Groups

The manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products (accounting for 11% of manufacturing) increased by 11.4%.

Of the two most significant groups, the manufacture of communication equipment rose by 17.3%, while the manufacture of consumer electronics went up by 24%.

The manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products (responsible for almost 10% of manufacturing) grew by 5.4% compared to the same month of the previous year. Of its representative groups, the processing and preserving meat and the production of meat products (having the largest weight at 26%) increased by 1.1%, while the manufacture of beverages, which has the second largest weight,

rose by

19.7%.

Decreases were recorded in three groups, of which the manufacture of tobacco products fell most, by 22%.

As for geographical spread, industrial production grew in every region of the country, KSH said. The highest growth was reported in the Budapest region (10.7%), whereas in all others volume increases of between 0.7% and 10.6% were measured.

The February data suggests a greaterthan-expected resilience against a deteriorating outlook on Hungary’s export markets, national news agency MTI wrote, citing various analysts. K&H Bank’s Dávid Németh attributed the growth in

February mainly to the manufacturing of cars and electronic goods. While industry is showing a rather volatile performance, it has basically been accelerating since last September, which tendency goes against the slowing pace of the European economy.

“This is mainly due to the new capacities added to the sector, the capacities of which are not only balancing the recessing international environment but were able to give it a boost too,” Németh opined.

As for a full-year growth, Németh expects that industrial performance will rise at somewhere between 4% and 5%. The strong start to the year makes the latter more likely, the analyst added.

Auto Acceleration

Gergely Suppan, of Takarékbank, attributed the acceleration in vehicle manufacturing to the fact that the Audi plant in Győr likely made up for the output lost due to the strike in January. New capacities, the production of new vehicle models and robust domestic demand might further boost industrial performance this year; however, the decreasing economic performance in Europe, the slowing of the Chinese and global economies, and uncertainties connected to Brexit all pose great risk to the growth, Suppan warned. Analysts at Takarékbank now forecast a notable 5.5% annual growth rate after the 3.6% registered for 2018.

Erste Bank senior analyst Orsolya Nyeste said that industrial performance was again a positive surprise, and the

strong start to the year shows that the sector is resilient to the deteriorating global performance and the slowing economies in Hungary’s main export markets. She expects moderate growth for the following months and puts the annual growth rate at between 4.5% and 5%.

Hungary’s industrial performance was also outstanding when measured against member states in the European Union: according to the latest Eurostat data, the industrial output of the Eurozone was down by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February from the same period of last year, and was stagnating. Hungary ranked third in the second month of the year, following the 6.8% increase in Poland and 6.6% growth in Bulgaria.

Numbers to Watch in the Coming Weeks KSH will publish data on the Hungarian labor market on April 29, and the following day, earnings statistics will also come to light. Retail trade figures for March will be published on May 6, and industrial output data for March will be released on May 8. A day later, the KSH will come out with the consumer price index for April.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Prologis Completes Latest Phase of Harbor Park of a further 13,600 sqm in one further phase.

Prologis has completed a 10,600 sqm speculative facility at Prologis Park BudapestHarbor, located 12 km to the south of central Budapest. The company says it has a Hungarian portfolio approaching 600,000 sqm with close to 100% occupancy.

Strong Fundamentals

GARY J. MORRELL

The total CEE Prologis portfolio consists of 4.2 million sqm of space in Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the company is aiming for BREEAM accreditation for all its developments.

Prologis Park Budapest-Harbor DC Building 12 has been submitted for BREEAM “Very Good” accreditation.

Prologis says the complex is the first Building Information Modelingdesigned logistics center in CEE. The system is a 3D model-based process that allows architectural, engineering and construction professionals to more efficiently plan, design, construct and manage buildings and infrastructure.

According to Rita Lippai, project manager for Prologis Hungary, the complex includes such features as: high-graded insulated wall panels and roof systems that, together with

Prologis Park Budapest Harbor. gas fired heaters, can cut heating costs by 30%; energy efficient LED lighting and large skylights that can reduce electricity costs

by

46%

compared to standard lighting; and a smart metering system that helps optimize water, gas and electricity consumption in the building. The new facility has a ten meter clear height, and 14 docks and the logistics park provides electric vehicle charging points.

“Sustainable development and energyefficient property management are now more than just ‘nice to have’ [features]; many of our customers expect them. There is a greater focus on ‘smart building’ solutions, such as lighting upgrades

[to LED] or real time utility metering systems,” says László Kemenes, country manager at Prologis Hungary.

Logistics developers are developing increasingly sophisticated industrial complexes in reaction to developing tenant requirements such as automized warehouses and a growing concern with the working environment in tight labor markets.

All the major industrial park developers and operators are seeking third-party sustainability accreditation from bodies such as BREEAM and LEED as tenants are looking to save on utility costs and developers need to comply with tighter international environmental regulations.

The newly completed Building 12 has the potential for development

“Speculative developments represent confidence in a given market and strong fundamentals stimulate that form of new supply,” explains Kemenes.

“The increasing number of these developments has been driven by low vacancy and strong demand throughout the CEE region, and they are useful in balancing supply with the volume of given demand on the market. A more disciplined approach to speculative development has contributed to a better-paced increase in new supply that is more easily absorbed by demand,” he adds.

Prologis has a policy of development and acquisition throughout the region.

The company purchased the Harbor Park Logistics Center from a consortium of Crow Holdings, Lehman Brothers, Heitman International and Wallis Real Estate for a reported EUR 70 million in 2005.

The low availability of contiguous industrial space in the Budapest area and rising demand has resulted in a record low vacancy rate

of

2.4%

in a market with an estimated total stock of more than two million sqm according to Cushman & Wakefield.

“We have some promising discussions and hope to conclude the first deal soon and expect to be fully let in the coming months. We have additional development land in Prologis Park Budapest-Harbor for another building […]. In addition, we have earmarked land options for the extension of all our other parks in the Budapest area,” Kemenes concludes.

Low Vacancy Continues in Budapest Office Market Total supply in the Budapest office market has reached around 3.63 million sqm according to the Budapest Research Forum, consisting of CBRE, Colliers International, Cushman & Wakefield, Eston International, JLL and Robertson Hungary.

GARY J. MORRELL

Of that total figure, a little more than three million sqm is defined as Class “A” with the remainder Class “B” space and almost 610,000 sqm described as owneroccupied space.

There were no new buildings delivered in the first quarter of the year and vacancy has fallen further to close to 7%, one of the lowest levels yet recorded in the market. In line with previous quarters, the lowest vacancy was recorded in non-central Pest at 3.5%,

while the periphery continued to suffer from the highest vacancy rate at 37%.

Net absorption in the first quarter amounted to 20,000 sqm while total demand was 80,000 sqm. New leases

represented

45%

of total leasing activity while renewals represented a 36% share according to the BRF. The strongest occupational activity was recorded in the Váci Corridor, which attracted over 35% of total demand. This was followed by Central Pest with 17% and South Buda with 14%.

Record Lows

“The Budapest office market delivered strong fundamentals in Q1 as the vacancy rate continued to break record lows. Due to the lack of available units, the market has started absorbing Class ‘B’ office space,” comments Cushman & Wakefield. Prime rents increased to EUR 24.5 per sqm per month in the central business district and EUR 16 in the Váci Corridor.

The largest new deal in the quarter was a 3,500 sqm mid-March letting to IWG Hungary, establishing the first Spaces co-working office in Hungary at

a 2,000 sqm re­f urbished stand-alone loft building and 19,500 sqm of new space.

The largest prelease was a 1,550 sqm deal at the 14,000 sqm Nordic Light Trio, also in the Váci Corridor, concluded by Skanska. This forms the third phase of the development.

An estimated 138,000 sqm is expected to be handed over in 2019 according to Cushman & Wakefield.

the

21,500 sqm

GTC White House in Váci út.

Completed in 2018, the complex is now fully leased. This has been achieved within nine months of the official opening according to Bori Gedai, deputy country manager at GTC Hungary. The LEED “Platinum” certified project is built on the site of former elevator factory and includes

GTC White House

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

German Firms Expect Slightly Slower Growth While German companies still view the current business environment as favorable, they expect a slower growth rate for 2019 than in 2018, according to the yearly survey published by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK).

BENCE GAÁL

This year marked the 25th anniversary of the report compiled by the chamber.

DUIHK president Dale A. Martin noted: “Apart from gathering information for ourselves, we provide firms our insight as well, and give politics a feedback about how foreign countries, especially Germany view the domestic situation.”

According to Dirk Wölfer, the author and project leader of the business climate report, such surveys are now conducted in no fewer than

15

countries

across Europe by German chambers.

Martin said that since 2018 was the best year for the Hungarian economy since the fall of communism, the fact that most firms consider the outlook for 2019 slightly worse was to be expected. He singled out that the change is due to “... many uncertainty factors in the world economy that project rather more difficult economic circumstances.”

Still, there is no need to panic; “It’s good news that, despite the less sunny economic prospects, more companies are planning to increase headcount and the level of investment than decreasing the number of employees or investment.”

Indeed, according to the survey itself, about 35% of firms are planning to bring more people in, compared to 11% looking to decrease headcount. The tendencies for investment volume are clear as well, with 39% planning an increase, while only 17% are considering decreases.

Yet, there is a marked change in the DUIHK investor’s mood index, with a pronounced fall, albeit to a still respectable +15 points, from last year’s +28 on a scale that runs from -50 to +50. According to the chamber, this predicts GDP growth of 3% for 2019, somewhat below the government’s expectations.

Labor Worries

Wölfer pointed out another negative if unsurprising factor: “Some 70% of firms are unhappy with the labor market.” The situation is not unique to Hungary, however, as Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia are in the same position, the survey’s

author added. Similarly, 70% are unhappy with corruption in the country, and 64% are dissatisfied with the transparency of state tenders. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Hungary ranks 64th in the globe, behind regional peers like Poland (36th), Czech Republic (38th), Slovakia (57th), Croatia (60th), and even Romania (61st), but ahead of Bulgaria (77th).

On a more positive note, Wölfer added that the enthusiasm among those companies that already invested in the country remains unbroken,

with

82%

saying they would do so again.

The report also revealed that Hungary is the second most attractive investment destination in the region, behind only

“There is an old Hungarian saying, ‘The sure sign of spring approaching is the publication of DUIHK’s conjuncture report’.”

Slovakia. On a list of 20 countries, incorporating states ranging from Estonia to Albania, Hungary is in ninth place, just in front of Romania.

The 2019 survey also included for the first time an assessment of how Brexit might affect businesses in Hungary. About 58% of respondents thought that Brexit will “very likely” or “rather likely” not affect their companies.

The most worrying potential aspects were an increase in shipping costs and an increase in customs, with 49% thinking that these factors will likely affect their businesses in both cases. Answers were collected up to March 8, at which time it still seemed that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union imminently. The report notes that some 1.8% of exports from Hungary went to the United Kingdom, with 3.7% of imports originating from the country.

Hungary’s Minister of Finance Mihály Varga was present for the unveiling of the survey. “There is an old Hungarian saying, ‘The sure sign of spring approaching is the publication of DUIHK’s conjuncture report’,” he joked.

Important Feedback

“The report helps us greatly. It has always been an important feedback for every government in the past 25 years.[….] The relationship has become more efficient in the last few years. 2018 was an especially good year for the Hungarian economy [.…] the 5% growth shows that companies find regulations stable and good. Regulatory policies are good,” Varga reflected.

He noted that companies laud the government’s growth programs. “In terms of economic growth, we are almost on the podium in the EU: only Poland, Malta, and Ireland are ahead of us.”

The survey’s participants seem to channel Varga’s positive view of the government’s policies, with the number of respondents satisfied with the tax burden and the tax system clearly surpassing negative replies. The views on the predictability of economic policies were also positive, for the second year in a row.

Regarding the Fourth Orbán government’s debt policy, the minister stressed that the aim is to keep decreasing state debt until it reaches

“Apart from gathering information for ourselves, we provide firms our insight as well, and give politics a feedback about how foreign countries, especially Germany view the domestic situation.” the 50% level determined in the constitution. He also praised Germany, identifying the country as Hungary’s “most important trade partner” last year, noting that more than

2,500 firms

are present in Hungary, employing more than 200,000 people.

Of the variance of the GDP growth predictions of DUIHK and the government, Varga said “There is no significant difference. We also think that growth will be smaller [than in 2018], yet a 4% rate will be there.”

While noting the tightness of the labor market, Varga said that the family protection measures introduced by the government earlier this year are beneficial for workers and the labor market too.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Business

Hungary Building a Fairytale With AmCham

Contribution Cut

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó has told AmCham members he continues to rely on their support and suggestions at a business lunch.

Noting that it was “absolutely a good thing that salaries are growing”, he said the government would cut employer contributions to help the country stay competitive. “Social tax is going to be continuously cut; the next time will be July 1, from 19.5% to 17.5%,” he announced.

The bureaucracy around training subsidies has been eased, he said, and the amount increased from EUR 3,000 to EUR 4,000 per person, and the minimum number of participants reduced

from

50 to 25.

ROBIN MARSHALL

Szijjártó has been a regular visitor to the chamber, and was in a typically upbeat and relaxed mood, calling his audience “my friends” at one point.

The minister was characteristically fast talking, and peppered his speech, largely delivered without reference to notes, with statistics. Old assumptions had been overturned, he insisted.

Trade between Germany and the V4 countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) was 70% more last year than trade between Germany and France.

“Growth rates in this region are much higher than the EU average,” he noted.

“We can regard it as an insult when we are told by our Western European friends that we only take.”

That growth is no longer based solely on cheap manufacturing jobs. “The added value, technological level and share of

“Cooperation for a More Competitive Hungary” recommendation package, which had arrived with perfect timing to have elements incorporated into the joint presentation the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency and the foreign and trade ministry would make to the Competitiveness Council and the cabinet.

“With Róbert [Ésik, president of HIPA], I do not have the intention to reinvent hot water or the wheel. We rely on your ideas and opinions too.”

Péter Szijjártó R&D element of the jobs you create is much higher than in recent years.”

Salary Growth

“The average salary paid by you on jobs created while investing in Hungary though HIPA increased by 40% in one year, from HUF 304,000 in 2017 to HUF 425,000 last year.”

For an economy as open as Hungary, success is determined primarily by exports and FDI, he argued.

“Since 2014, export activities have broken national records every year,” he said. That trend continued, with the 2017 record of EUR 100 billion topped in 2018 at EUR 105 bln.

FDI was similarly positive. In 2014 HIPA successfully concluded

60

investment

projects. Four years later the total was 98 projects. “The pace is still accelerating.”

A new category of cash incentive has been introduced, under which the number of jobs created by a new investment is not the prime consideration, so much as their nature, the idea being to encourage technology-driven investments. The incentive level would be set at 75% of the regional maximum, he said.

During his speech, the minister mentioned the chamber’s latest

An agreement with the EU meant R&D subsidies can now be offered in Budapest as well as the rest of the country, with the minimum number of jobs created reduced from 250 to 200.

On the reform of vocational training, the minister said Hungary was looking at “the Austrian model as the benchmark, as it allows much tighter cooperation between companies and school, and opens the possibility of so-called student contracts, meaning those involved in a dual education program can also receive a salary.

This will make the dual education system even more popular.”

But Szijjártó was keen to ensure his audience knew he appreciated the contributions their companies have made to Hungary’s growing economy.

“We are very proud, of course, of the [FDI] figures, but without you they would be only a fairytale,” he told members. “That is why I hope for your continued support and trust in the country.”

AmCham’s board meet the foreign minister’s delegation before the lunch. Photos by Lázár Todoroff/AmCham.

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Business

App Helps Users Travel ‘Like Locals’ Like Locals is a startup offering travelers authentic tips by locals, achieving an online community of more than 5,000 people and 30 locals in Barcelona, Budapest, and London about a week after the launch of its app.

BENCE GAÁL

Co-founders Gabriella Csányi (the daughter of Hungarian billionaire businessman and OTP Bank CEO Sándor Csányi) and Constantinos Los, both avid travelers, came up with the idea of Like Locals after encountering difficulties while traveling.

“We both experienced the frustrations that come with planning, researching, and booking these trips. We would spend hours, if not days, online trying to scout the best recommendations from our local friends and booking ‘local experiences’ that turned out to be tourist traps,” Csányi told the Budapest Business Journal. When the two met at the LSE, they were full of ideas of solving such issues, not only for themselves.

S TA R T U P S P O T L I G H T

would send complete ‘city guides’ to our travelers,” she added.

“These guides were essentially walking trails, full of hidden gems and lesserknown locations complete with a lot of interesting stories, facts, and other useful information.”

After this experience, Like Locals took a pivot and turned it into their core product, named “Footprints”.

Despite the recent launch, Like Locals already has 90 “footprints” to chose from across the three cities.

“We both experienced the frustrations that come with planning, researching, and booking these trips. We would spend hours, if not days, online trying to scout the best recommendations from our local friends and booking ‘local experiences’ that turned out to be tourist traps.”

“In the first three days on the market we can proudly say that more than

“We are grateful for our partners for the support and cooperation, especially Amistat Hostels and DNB,” Csányi notes.

Apart from Csányi (CEO) and Los (COO), the core team of the startup comprises business developer and sales expert Ijaz Khan, bringing experience from working at Tutorful, one of the largest online educational platforms in the United Kingdom, and recent addition Laura Brazay, responsible for planning and executing upcoming marketing campaigns.

What will the future bring? “We have just introduced the means to connect to our community, and now we are ready to learn from them and improve our value proposition. [….] We will be testing several hypotheses in the upcoming months with our early adopters,” Csányi explains.

While there is already a short-list of cities for expansion, the company says it wants to listen to their users first.

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Change with yo lives ur 1%!

500

‘footprints’

have been completed and that we reached fifth place on the Hungarian AppStore’s travel category,” Csányi noted.

New Gen Target

Gabriella Csányi “Initially, our aim was to connect likeminded locals and travelers. However, after we developed our MVP and tested it with beta testers we quickly learned that [...] locals lacked the time to respond or meet-up quickly enough and instead they

The app specifically targets the new generation preferring authenticity when traveling. “The travel industry is filled with startups trying to find the ‘secret sauce’ that will cater to the Millennials’ needs,” Csányi tells the BBJ. “We are confident that we’re well-placed to address the desires of Gen Y travelers who seek authentic, affordable, and easily accessible digital travel solutions. Our app bridges the gap between local knowledge and traveling, by crafting locally sourced itineraries that are provided to users for free.”

Travelers also get perks for using the app, offered by local businesses and accommodations. The startup obtained more than

50 pledges

from businesses to take part in a three-month trial, cooperating to improve the product and see how users react to the offers.

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Asset Classes: Bonds

Credit ratings scale

of the Treasury) and Corporate Bonds account for 57% of the whole market, with mortgage related securities, municipal bonds, and other more exotic bonds accounting for the balance. Hence, we will focus on treasuries and corporates for the remainder of this article.

A useful tool for determining the likelihood of government or corporate default is a credit rating. The three major rating agencies are Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch: Each investor who decides to invest in bonds as an asset class should construct his or her own bond portfolio, with the appropriate degree of risk/return relationship. (Usually this would be in conjunction with investing in other asset classes as well.)

The next chart provides a sample of various maturities of corporate bonds, to illustrate available of risk/return relationships.

So how often do bonds default?

According to S&P’s 2017 Annual Global Corporate Default Study, higher grade and shorter-term bonds default quite seldom.

Only 2% of investment grade bonds (e.g. credit rating of Baa3/BBB- and higher) are expected to default under a ten year time horizon.

Yields, meanwhile fluctuate over time. Since the end of the last financial crises, yields on Aaa bonds have fluctuated between 3-5% and Baa

In their latest in a series of articles on various asset classes, Les Nemethy and Sergey Glekov turn their attention to bonds.

We often hear comments about how little interest banks pay, or the low yield on certain treasuries. In our business of Mergers & Acquisitions, we have seen quite a few business owners who want to sell their businesses, but hesitate to do so, because they do not know how to generate a decent return on their proceeds.

The good news is that through a diversified medium-risk bond portfolio, it should be possible to generate a return of 6-8% per annum. Rather than you working, let your money work for you!

Part I of this series provided an overview of asset classes; Part II dealt with the size and liquidity of the various public markets in which these asset classes trade. This article zeroes in on bonds, one of the most important asset classes.

On the U.S. bond market, Treasury Securities (a government debt instrument issued by the United States Department

Investment Grade

Junk

Moody’s

S&P

Fitch

Meaning

Aaa

AAA

AAA

Prime

Aa1

AA+

AA+

Aa2

AA

AA

Aa3

AA-

AAA+

A1

A+

A2

A

A

A3

A-

A-

Baa1

BBB+

BBB+

Baa2

BBB

BBB

Baa3

BBB-

BBB-

Ba1

BB+

BB+

Ba2

BB

BB

Ba3

BB-

BB-

B1

B+

B+

B2

B

B

B3

B-

B-

Coupon

Maturity

S&P Rating

Upper Medium Grade

Lower Medium Grade

Non Investment Grade Speculative

Highly Speculative

Caa1

CCC+

CCC+

Substantial Risks

Caa2

CCC

CCC

Extremely Speculative

Caa3

CCC-

CCC-

Ca

CC

CC+

In Default w/Little Prospect for Recovery

C

CC CC-

D

D

In Default

DDD Source: Learnbonds.com

bonds between 4-7%. We are not suggesting an investment in bonds is for everyone. For example, it takes a fair amount of resources to build a balanced portfolio when bonds are typically sold in denominations of

Selected corporate bond yields as at April 17, 2019 Issuer

High Grade

Yield

Category

Microsoft Corp

4.500

02/06/2057

AAA

3.853

Prime

Berkshire Hathaway Fin Corp

5.750

01/15/2040

AA

4.065

High Grade

Apple Inc

4.650

02/23/2046

AA+

3.943

High Grade

Cargill Inc

6.125

04/19/2034

A

4.651

Upper Medium Grade

Boeing Company

7.875

04/15/2043

A

4.520

Upper Medium Grade

AT&T Inc

5.300

08/15/2058

BBB

5.942

Lower Medium Grade

Delta Air Lines Inc

4.250

01/30/2025

BBB+

3.835

Lower Medium Grade

Dell Inc

6.500

04/15/2038

BB-

6.414

Speculative

Netflix Inc

4.875

04/15/2028

BB-

5.756

Speculative

Frontier Communications Corp

8.500

04/01/2026

B

9.784

Highly Speculative

Mattel Inc

5.450

11/01/2041

B+

7.978

Highly Speculative

Tesla Inc

5.300

08/15/2025

(Moody’s Caa1)

8.318

Substantial Risk

Bombardier

7.450

05/01/2034

(Moody’s Caa1)

7.088

Substantial Risk Source: Finra – Bonds

USD 100,000. However, we trust we have illustrated the principle that a 6-7% overall yield even in today’s low yield market should be achievable with relatively modest risk, and that bonds of various types should be seriously considered by most investors.

Disclaimer: This article is intended for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon for investment advice. It is important to do your own investigation and analysis before making any investments based on your own personal circumstances.

Les Nemethy is CEO of EuroPhoenix (www.europhoenix. com), a Central European corporate finance firm, author of Business Exit Planning (www. businessexitplanningbook.com) and a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.

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Special Report Human Resources

What are the latest HR trends in the Hungarian market, and how are companies trying to get around the labor crisis gripping the region?

Could AI be Hungary’s Secret Fast Track?

10

Digital Talent Conference Shows how to Attract new Generations

11

HR ‘Game Changer’ has a Higher Purpose for Hungary

12

TechEmbassy Brings IT Talents, Employers Together 15 Recruitment Market Talk: Expertise Still Trumps Tech

19

Temping Never Goes out of Style

24

10 | 3

Special Report

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Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Automation can bring higher addedvalue jobs to the country and ease the labor shortage.

SMEs need to apply more of that cutting-edge tech, though, which is a prerequisite for Hungary to gain on competitiveness, speakers at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hungary’s Artificial Intelligence conference agreed.

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

AmCham launched its first conference on Digitalization with local and international experts

in

2018

with the aim of discussing digital trends, the most pressing challenges, potential competitive edges and how all of these impact the business community in Hungary. This year’s second edition chose artificial intelligence as its central topic.

The establishment of the AI Coalition in November 2018 was one of the key measures taken to ensure Hungarian businesses get ready systematically for the disruption this new technology will bring.

Six working groups have the mission to identify specific needs and potential directions for development from cloud

Photos by Lázár Todoroff/AmCham.

Could AI be Hungary’s Secret Fast Track?

platforms to smart hospitals to chat bots in government services. Huge efforts are made to channel this knowledge to the right places as the country’s long-term competitiveness depends on it.

“Hungary ranks among the EU countries with the fastest access to mobile broadband and in terms of digital infrastructure in general, but we lag behind when it comes to applying cutting-edge tech in day-to-day business operation,” stressed László György, State Secretary for Economic Development and Regulation at the Ministry for Innovation and Technology.

“The AI Coalition therefore can’t aim for anything less than to forge partnerships between key stakeholders and generate highquality pilot programs which are set to propel Hungary to the front in the global digital race.”

New Microsoft Hungary CEO Christopher Mattheisen outlined why democratizing AI is important and how it could unleash unprecedented development.

The cloud allows access to information from anywhere, which is of immense value; on the other hand, Internet of Things hardware such as sensors have become very cheap, and that has lowered the barrier of entry for a vast number of players in the tech arena.

All that is boosted by real-time analysis and the application of data that will enable machines to improve themselves without human interaction.

Leave None Behind

Large corporations already benefit from the latest AI-based solutions in Hungary.

Waberers’ cloud-based AI tech has resulted in huge efficiency gains in its logistics operations, whereas Praktiker’s self-learning system has tripled its online sales. However, SMEs should not be left behind, either.

“Democratizing AI means building tools that help you have your customized, deeplearning systems up and running by a few clicks, whether it’s about chat bots or a smart supply chain management system. Hyper-scale clouds are key as they can level the playing field between the behemoths and the smaller players,” Mattheisen said.

“Given the circumstances, actually we have reached the point where it is fair to talk about rather Augmented Intelligence.”

Ultimately, rather than being scared, companies should embrace AI as it allows them to provide better services.

Hungary, in particular, has a lot to gain.

By introducing AI in as many sectors as possible, more higher added-value jobs could be created. Widespread automation would also help overcome the chronic labor shortage the country is faced with. The global AI arms race is in full swing, but that doesn’t mean smaller countries are helpless.

“Singapore and Estonia stepped up successfully to meet the challenges of the digital era. There’s no reason Hungary can’t do the same,” Mattheisen concluded.

People Still Needed

Workers should have a little faith, too, that their contribution will remain important, although, for instance, the Bank of England estimates that

66% of jobs

in the United Kingdom are now at risk from automation. True enough, repetitive

tasks will be carried out by machines and efficiency is set to improve. But jobs will also be created along the way.

“Anything that can be quantified, will be done by AI; however, solutions will continue to come from people,” noted Ildikó Taksz, lead partner of financial services at Big Four firm KPMG. “The future should belong to a sort of blended AI where humans and robots can complement each other’s work.”

“Anything that can be quantified, will be done

by AI; however, solutions will continue to come from people. The future should belong to a sort of blended AI where humans and robots can complement each other’s work.”

Artificial intelligence also embodies the highest level of automation. As opposed to rule-based or data-based systems, selflearning algorithms can teach themselves various tasks, and thus improve without human intervention. It provides the benefit of maximum flexibility since no human bias is at play and no prior knowledge about the solution is needed.

Steps are urgently needed to properly gear up in the local corporate world as digital disruption is flooding the entire economy. It started with music, then continued with movies, TV and entertainment.

In a few years’ time, all current “safe havens” will be subject to digital disruption, and Europe needs to ask the question how it plans to keep up in spite of strict regulations that tend to typically penalize American big tech.

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Digital Talent Conference Shows how to Attract new Generations

at the Adecco Group. Elaborating on the same problem, he said that due to candidate scarcity, people need feedback in time to prevent them from moving on.

Spiller also pointed out, “While robots may take over lots of routine jobs, they can open up more creative positions for employees.” He argued that successful recruitment largely depends on getting out to the field, even sitting down with candidates for a beer.

A joint chamber Digital Talent Conference has shed light on the issue of attracting and keeping the right people in the right roles in a rapidly digitalizing business environment.

“While we are trying to herd them [digital talents] into structures, they do not like it, as they have a different, more grandiose mindset. The future of companies is not hierarchical and bureaucratic, but self-driven.”

KPMG’s Róbert Mántó speaking at the Digital Talent Conference.

BENCE GAÁL

The April 16 event was organized by the Netherlands-Hungarian Chamber of Commerce (Dutcham) together with SwissCham Hungary and in cooperation with the British Chamber of Commerce in Hungary, the Danish Business Club and the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Hungary.

HR transformation head Róbert Mántó, of principal sponsor KPMG, explained that the four industrial revolutions have brought the digital frontier closer than ever.

“The virtual and physical worlds are not so far away from each other anymore,” he said. “In every minute,

30 jobs

are replaced by robots they said at the last World Economic Forum,” he added.

Special Report | 11

He noted that the number is probably a conservative estimate; by 2027, about ten million jobs might be lost to robots in the United States alone.

“Robots work all day, hand in no notices, and overtime is self-explanatory,” he pointed out. Indeed, citing figures from a KPMG study, Mántó said that some 99% of CEOs report that they preparing for digitalization challenges.

“HR needs to find the role of each generation in the new world. I would start thinking about how I can put employees into higher-value services,” he concluded.

Telenor’s chief human resources officer Judit Endrei-Kiss talked about the challenges of digitalization in the telecommunications world. She considers all employees working in fields like IT, business intelligence and

online channels digital talents. Yet the latest generation of need a new approach.

No Herding

“They can think digitally and in digital opportunities, these solutions are present for them in every second of every day,” she noted. “While we are trying to herd them into structures, they do not like it, as they have a different, more grandiose mindset.

The future of companies is not hierarchical and bureaucratic, but self-driven.”

How to find these people? According to Endrei-Kiss, not by putting up an ad on a job portal. “Digital talents cannot be motivated by traditional HR tools like long-term incentives.”

The next presenter was László Adrián Spiller, leading IT recruitment advisor

This need for a personal connection was also emphasized by István Lám, co-founder and CEO of Swiss-Hungarian encryption specialist startup Tresorit, which gained international attention by announcing an

USDcontest 50,000

for hackers around the globe to crack their encryption. Nobody succeeded.

“Our office turns into a clubhouse every weekend. We have a daily BBQ on the rooftop, and this was not initiated by the management, it came from below. Still, the management supports and finances it,” he noted. “We call it an update of informal systems.”

Tresorit employees have access to a giant coffee machine, and even a beer cooler every day. The catch? All of these facilities are in one large community room, prompting interactions and making friends with fellow colleagues. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the core of Tresorit’s team has stayed together even several years after the 2011 launch.

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HR ‘Game Changer’ has a Higher Purpose for Hungary

Melanie Seymour (right) receiving her BBJ Expat CEO runners’ up certificate from editor-in-chief Robin Marshall.

Melanie Seymour talks about the HR challenges of building an operation from scratch, recruiting from the Four Seasons hotel, and plugging into the Hungarian experience.

ROBIN MARSHALL

For a business publication such as ours, BlackRock is always going to be a fascinating company. Whether it is as the world’s largest asset manager (with USD 5.98 trillion in assets under management as of December 2018), or because of the more than 500 people it employs in its pioneering Budapest hub. But what makes it really interesting is

the concept developed here for bring Hungarian emigres back home.

BlackRock Budapest boss Melanie Seymour, a runner-up in this year’s Expat CEO of the Year awards, says the latter comes from a determination to give something back, and to prove the naysayers wrong.

“I am very competitive,” she tells the Budapest Business Journal in an exclusive interview.

“I wanted my next role to really be something I could look to as having impact,” she recalls.

“There is a whole piece through BlackRock that is about so much more than purpose, that it isn’t just that we’re a big financial services company. What is our purpose in the business world, in the world more generally, and how are we demonstrating that? Coming to Hungary, there was always this element that this can’t be about BlackRock using the country, if you like, as a conduit for its next stage of growth, but what do we give back and what do we do to help Hungary?”

As she prepared for taking on the role, she realized she already mentored three Hungarian women in the United Kingdom.

“So I started talking to Hungarians I knew in London, and initially it was purely for me to understand Hungary more and start to delve into the culture.”

Within a few weeks she began to notice there was a common theme that came through. Hungarians seemed to

love traveling, had built some great experiences, but the ultimate aim was to go back to Hungary. What was remarkable, she says, was that this was as true of young students as it was those in their 50s.

Career Opportunities

So she started to explore why people didn’t simply go back; Hungary, after all, is not so far away.

“Again, the theme that came through was all around having a career opportunity that matched what they could have abroad.

This wasn’t about salaries; it was, we have had a great education, we’re intelligent, ambitious people and when we look at Hungary, we can’t see that we can achieve those ambitions.”

Career opportunities and proper utilization of skills and knowledge were the key, Seymour said. Obviously, Hungarians want to earn a good wage, but it wasn’t the driving consideration. “There’s a big quality of life piece to it as well.”

That career versus home equation became stretched by trigger points: starting a family, ageing parents, friends beginning to go back.

“There were these very human events and you could see there was this real quandary; there was this life event that was happening that means I really wish I could go home, but also I have a professional life and I have to compromise on my professional ambitions if I make that personal decision to go back.”

Seymour has built up the BlackRock operation from scratch. She had started coming out to Budapest from early November 2016, but by the New Year, the move was permanent.

“The theme that came through was all around having a career opportunity that matched what they could have abroad. This wasn’t about salaries; it was, we have had a great education, we’re intelligent, ambitious people and when we look at Hungary, we can’t see that we can achieve those ambitions.”

“I arrived on January 3 [2017] with a laptop and BlackRock business cards. We had no office, I had no home; I lived and worked in the Four Seasons. So it really was a startup, but it wasn’t too shabby,” she says with a laugh.

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“The first two people we employed, both Hungarians, actually had their interviews on the sofa in the foyer of the Four Seasons.”

Those first employees started on March 1, 2017. Today the staff payroll numbers 510, and it is projected to rise to

around

650

by yearend. There is space in BlackRock’s purpose built offices in the GTC White House in District XIII for 850.

“We look at allocation strategies all the time, but the plan is that is where we will get to.”

Pioneering Approach

The Budapest office is described as a technology and innovation hub, a pioneering concept that aims to bring innovative thought processes to just about everything BlackRock does.

But one challenge Seymour and her HR director faced was explaining what BlackRock did in the first place, and then encouraging people to apply for roles.

It forced them to look again at how job positions are described and find a new approach, something that is being taken up across the company.

The team built relatively quickly, especially once a certain critical mass had been achieved and word of mouth began to spread, but even before then Seymour says she was worried she might be missing out on a talent pool.

Recalling her earlier conversations with Hungarians in London, she challenged

BlackRock to put on an event in London, with the help of the Hungarian Embassy, reaching out to Hungarians expats. Held in

January

2017,

before there were any real positions to offer, it exceeded all expectations in attracting 120 people. A seed had been planted.

“Once I was here and started embedding myself more in the business environment and then really understanding some of the bigger challenges around talent – and going back to that higher purpose of how do you help Hungary? – you really could see that ‘Do you know what, this could be a game changer’.”

Talking to the likes of AmCham and the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency, she began to understand this could, and should, be bigger. “If we made this just about BlackRock, that’s not really solving the problem, so why not get other companies involved.”

Initially, a joint event was organized in London with Morgan Stanley and Citi. That, too, was oversubscribed.

And so it began to snowball. If it worked in London, why not in other cities with big Hungarian populations such as Frankfurt and Munich?

Events were held, and were not just oversubscribed, people were travelling long distances to attend them. Seymour says BlackRock had found its higher purpose in Hungary.

In November of last year, the experiment hopped across the pond,

after the Hungarian consulate in New York contacted Seymour to say there was interest from Hungarians

“I arrived on January 3 [2017] with a laptop and BlackRock business cards. We had no office, I had no home; I lived and worked in the Four Seasons. So it really was a startup, but it wasn’t too shabby. The first two people we employed, both Hungarians, actually had their interviews on the sofa in the foyer of the Four Seasons.” there too. Even Hungarians who had lived 20 years in the Big Apple, and loved their time there, were looking for a career that could bring them back.

Life of its Own

Other companies are now doing their own events. BP, ExxonMobil and Jaguar Land Rover recently held one in London.

Seymour says she is delighted.

Special Report | 13 “This was never ‘mine’, but it really can’t be mine now. I haven’t the bandwidth to keep organizing it. One of the things that was sad for me was that, when you get that 100-odd people, there will always be many who aren’t the right fit for the roles we offer. And when they are not right for us, they might not be right for other financial firms either, but they are really good Hungarians who should be coming back home.”

That other industries are offering careers that can tempt Hungarians back is a big tick in the box for making a difference, Seymour says, and not only professionally.

“So many people told me that trying to help bring back Hungarians was a stupid idea because Hungarians just don’t want to come back. On a personal level, as I am so competitive, I have to say it’s great that a lot of those people that told me not to do it are now doing it themselves.”

BlackRock alone has employed

54 expat

Hungarians as a result of these events, but the work does not stop there.

Some returnees have been gone a long time, long enough that how you navigate the bureaucracy of the Hungarian system has completely changed. Working with an organization called Hazaköltöztünk (“We Moved Back Home”), it has organized orientation events and networking opportunities for what it calls “InPats”, people who “lived and worked abroad, then decided to return back to Hungary”.

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Time to Train Your Mind for Change Today’s labor market is changing at such a fast pace that even conservative estimates predict the elimination of half of today’s jobs in the next 20-25 years.

Rather than focusing on mastering a certain skill or deepening their expertise, fresh graduates and those already on the job market are better off learning to adapt if they wish to keep their jobs or secure new ones in the future.

lists

250

hard and soft skills, including adaptation to change).

The willingness to adapt to changes at this point is not among the core competencies firms are looking for, Megyeri adds. They do say that it is important but they hardly measure it and there is no real emphasis on that, she adds.

ZSÓFIA VÉGH

What is the single most important skill that you need to safely navigate the labor market of the future? A knack for technology?

Excellent interpersonal skills? A true willingness to work in a team? To land a job, all of these are crucial but they are not what you are expected to possess in the first place.

A hint: think of the way the world is changing. Some experts predict that 40% of the world’s jobs will be replaced by robots in

15 years.

The fact that technology has a huge impact on the labor market is nothing new; it is rather the pace at which it is doing so that is unprecedented. So little wonder that the number one skill that would help you secure a position, regardless of what you were trained to do, is the ability to adapt to change, quickly.

There will be skills where one simply can’t compete with a machine; technology will analyze data much faster than a person, chief HR officer of Telekom Zsuzsanna Friedl said at the company’s recent MOST Forum. But there will also

It is important that people are conscious of what they want to work in and train themselves, she adds. But rather than focusing on lexical knowledge, the emphasis should be building soft skills and technology skills. Due to the fastchanging needs of the labor market, employees will be trained to master certain expertise by companies rather than the educational system, she adds.

The question is whether it is possible to measure one’s ability to adapt to changes.

Today, it can be tested at the level of attitude using personality tests, Megyeri explains. Once someone is hired, you can trace whether they can adapt to people and technology or acquire knowledge rapidly. At Zyntern, job seekers can add to a list of skills their ability to adapt to changes (the platform

Training for the Trained

Mirtill Megyeri, co-founder of Zyntern. be tasks that machines can’t deal with and therefore the value of those skills will increase: creativity is one, she added.

But what’s truly relevant in a corporate environment, according to the expert, is how employees will be capable of embracing the mindset of looking critically at current structures and procedures, and how they can bring new ideas and add constructive suggestions. This is a huge challenge at a large company, which is why you need employees who are able to look at the big picture rather than focusing only on a smaller task.

“They should know where it all starts and ends and take responsibility for the procedure as a whole,” Friedl says. “It is

crucial to create this mindset and recruit people who possess these skills,” she adds.

Survival of the Fittest

“Throughout evolution it was those fitting the best who survived,” Mirtill Megyeri, co-founder of Zyntern, an internship and fresh graduate career platform tells the Budapest Business Journal.

The same principle applies today: those able to adapt to changing requirements, devices, etc. will be in demand. So in the future it will become an even more dominant trend that firms are seeking candidates with basic competencies such as the ability to learn, a knack for technology or cyclical thinking, says Megyeri.

Adapting to changes quickly may soon move higher up an employer’s list of priorities, but today companies are glad if they can find people to fill vacancies.

In a job market that has turned into a sellers’ market, they can hardly pick. But people who wish to change careers may, ironically, have a hard time doing so, as many advanced and adult training courses require some previous expertise.

“Most people attending our courses have some financial expertise and they come mostly to deepen their knowledge,” László Murvai, vice president at SALDO Financial Consulting and Informatics Zrt. tells the BBJ. This is also due to the restrictive nature of most OKJ training that requires one to have some background in the field, Murvai explains.

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An enthusiastic group of young IT professionals based in Budapest called TechEmbassy has created a vision to establish opportunities for young IT talent to help them gain a competitive edge, learning and improving throughout their career paths.

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

The group organizes events throughout the year to create innovative challenges, build community and to provide a platform for talents to meet like-minded people and get to know to relevant market players. TechEmbassy talks to the Budapest Business Journal about how it is trying to fill a hole in the labor market.

Bence T. Gedai, founder and CEO of TechEmbassy.

Sixty contestants in three-member teams attended the 3rd ChaosStack on March 30 in Budapest, tasked with solving six high-level IT challenges in 11 hours. More than half of them came from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, another third from ELTE.

Some

70%

of the participants were university students finishing their studies in three years.

Organizers of the event series say they are trying to offer an alternative solution for the difficulties the labor market seems to face today.

“We believe that both employees and employers are lost in the labor market, that is why we tried to position ourselves as a guiding compass. We wanted to supply both young talents and companies that try to attract them with practical information,” says Bence T. Gedai, founder and CEO of TechEmbassy.

“We also noticed that the generation gap might require us to involve new platforms, with different features, so that the communication can evolve between the parties,” he adds.

Job opportunities in the IT field are in plentiful supply, and the room for growth in the near future is even bigger.

“Obviously the labor shortage is a huge problem, that is why we consider attracting talents with satisfying competencies and also keeping and further educating them is extremely important,” the TechEmbassy founder tells the BBJ.

Tables Turned

The tables appear to have turned and today it is the companies that have to make efforts to recruit the best employees, and not vice versa.

“The world has changed a lot recently, and now the applicants monitor the employers. It is important that the brand established by companies is not only appealing, but transparent, real, and sustainable,” Gedai says.

When the newly qualified young talent hits the labor market, they often do not know what to expect, or how to navigate it.

“We see that the young talents’ lack of knowledge of the labor market is one of the biggest problems. The only thing they get to face through their university studies is the enormous need for developers. They see how much demand there is for them, but they are not provided with information about what makes a great developer, because there are only a few relevant sources,” explains Gedai.

TechEmbassy therefore tries to be the bridge between the talent pool and companies fishing for the best candidates.

“At our events we create opportunities for young professionals to put their professional knowledge to the test, push beyond the limits of their comfort zones, get to know the leading partners, and have fun while doing so. These events are also opportunities for our partners to have a quick interview with possible candidates, to get to know more about their abilities while presenting their solutions to the tasks,” Gedai adds.

TechEmbassy’s largest event, JunctionX Budapest, is well-known by developers Europe-wide and will be held for the second time this year. The organizers expect

400

creative developers

from the international labor market and will present them to ten industrial partners, and help them with creative ideas, current business solutions, and networking opportunities in this 48-hour competition.

ChaosStack is a competition series independent of programming languages but measures the general problem-solving skills of developers.

The contestants are not divided according to areas of expertise — the competition is a model of real-life programming work so participants may get tasks from backend, AI, frontend, computer vision or architecture planning as well. The actual tasks are provided by sponsor-mentors, companies like OTP, Bosch, EPAM, Semilab, Cogito, Continental, Greenfox, or Docler.

INSIDE VIEW

Foreign Employees in Hungary: a Aolution to Workforce Shortage?

Dániel Gera

Dorottya Gindl

Counsel

Associate

SCHOENHERR HETÉNYI ATTORNEYS AT LAW

SCHOENHERR HETÉNYI ATTORNEYS AT LAW

Nowadays, lots of businesses struggle to fill vacant positions due to a general workforce shortage. Could importing foreign workers be a solution?

Below we look at some of the administrative and legal aspects of employing foreigners.

the competent government office before entering into employment.

The law distinguishes between different types of work permits, e.g. a work permit issued with or without labor market examination, work permit for seasonal workers, etc.

In the case of a work permit with labor market examination, the authority examines the labor market to foster the employment of registered job-seekers. This means that third-country nationals may only be employed if the authority (i) has not found a suitable registered job-seeker for the advertised position and (ii) the thirdcountry national meets the conditions required by the employer. There are some exceptional cases where the work permit may be issued without this examination.

Seasonal workers employed in the agricultural sector may request a seasonal work permit. The duration of their employment must not exceed 180 days within a period of 12 months.

The Hungarian economy has been suffering from a labor shortage for several years now, posing challenges to employers across various sectors.

According to a recent report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, there were more than 80,000 vacant positions between October and December 2018.

According to some experts, the workforce shortage already impacts the economy’s growth potential. As a skilled workforce greatly contributes to the competitiveness of not only individual enterprises but the economy as a whole, both the government and enterprises are Exemptions The law determines several exemptions, trying to mitigate its impact.

Employing workers from “third-countries” when third-country nationals may be employed without a permit. (countries outside the EU/EEA) has long This is the case, for example, with citizens been considered a solution for filling vacant positions. An increasing number of of neighboring third-countries (Ukraine and Serbia) if they have a residence in their enterprises consider hiring third-country nationals or even foreign agency workers. home country. They may be employed in professions determined yearly by a Is it really a viable option? Below we briefly ministerial decree. The current list includes: summarize how third-country nationals software developers, architects, nurses, may be employed in Hungary. shop salespersons, carpenters, etc.

Basic concepts and permits Though, as mentioned above, Ukrainian Third-country nationals may be employed and Serbian workers may under certain in Hungary on the basis of appropriate circumstances be employed without a permits which allow them to stay (residence permit, they still need to have permits permits) and work (work permits). for their residence in Hungary and their Employment contracts with third-country employers have a notification obligation nationals may only be concluded for the towards the competent labor authority. period for which the worker has a permit, This notification only serves statistical so these are mostly fixed-term contracts. and information purposes, and is not a There are generally two types of condition of establishing employment. permits: the single permit which Conclusion combines work and residency permits, In summary, the employment of thirdand the work permit. There is a specific country nationals could potentially be permit for seasonal workers. a solution to alleviate the workforce A single permit allows third-country nationals to reside in Hungary and enter into shortage; though it is linked with several administrative tasks both for the employer employment. Before applying for a single and employee, the relevant procedures can permit, the third-country national and the be completed relatively smoothly and in employer must conclude a preliminary certain cases there are exemptions from agreement with the contents prescribed by permitting requirement. With this in mind, law. Upon receipt of the permit, the parties the employment of foreigners may spread must establish employment based on increasingly in the following years. the preliminary agreement. The duration of such employment may generally not exceed two years.

In the case of third-country nationals who are entitled to reside in Hungary, based on a valid visa or on some other legal basis, their employer must normally www.schoenherr.eu obtain a work permit for them from

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

TechEmbassy Brings IT Talents, Employers Together

Special Report | 15

16 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Blue- and White-collar Employees Harder to Find While some sectors appear to carry the right amount of talent supply, others face a serious labor shortage in Hungary, as with other countries in the region. In industries where the lack of talent is most scarce, employers are forced into a bidding war.

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Although the fundamentals of the tight labor market are a hot topic across the region, that is not always the case across the whole of Europe.

“The Mediterranean region rather suffers from a labor surplus, while the DACH [Germany, Austria and Switzerland] region and CEE have difficulties in finding sufficient workforce,” Tamara Tóth, branch ADVERTISEMENT

In manufacturing, blue-collar staff are increasingly hard to find in Hungary. manager of Cpl Jobs Hungary, tells the Budapest Business Journal.

Employers trying to recruit the best talent face several challenges, which can range for the lack of skills to the lack of actual manpower.

“The biggest challenges for employers continues to be the hiring and retaining of employees, particularly white-collar positions within the engineering and IT fields,” says György Bucsku, team manager at Hays.

“Finding the right talent in engineering and IT has been a problem for more than a decade. In the meantime, the labor market has become even more international and companies are competing on a cross-border level for professionals,” adds Tóth of Cpl.

However, it is not only the IT sector that sees a labor shortage; there are issues around some blue-collar positions too.

“The biggest shortage of candidates is in the manufacturing industry where the number of open positions has

increased by

27%,

making up 30% of the total vacant positions in Hungary,” says Bucsku of Hays.

Tóth of Cpl agrees that probably the most-recently affected sector in terms of labor shortage is manufacturing.

Manufacturing Shortfall

“When it comes to blue-collar workforce, the labor shortage is clearly visible

and even hinders growth and potential investments. Due to the lack of available workforce, companies have started to attract workers from each other by bidding above each other since money is the most important motivational factor among this population,” Tóth says.

Tóth adds that this situation on the one hand leads to the significant increase in salaries, while on the other hand it tends to promote a decrease in the length of average employment.

“The employees are less trained and experienced, causing further operational risks for manufacturing and logistics activities, making production slower and increasing the risk of accidents,” says Tóth.

Following the trends of the previous years, Hungary’s employment rate has been seeing a year-on-year increase of 1-1.5%.

“According to available statistics, the average gross salary in Hungary increased

by

10-12%

throughout the year. It was also observed that in some white-collar positions the salary increase reached 15%,” says Bucsku.

“Due to accelerating competition amongst employers for the best candidates, many companies have had to increase salaries throughout the year in order to retain workers and expand the success of their recruitment. However, rapidly growing wage costs are often compensated for by reduced costs from automation,” he adds.

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www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Although the recruitment industry appears to be a slow adapter of the latest technological innovations, openness to such tools can be a game-changer in a sector that digitization has uprooted, significantly changing how the predominantly human-to-human business is done.

Industry insiders tell the Budapest Business Journal how IT has changed their everyday business.

CHRISTIAN KESZTHELYI

Digitalization has changed recruitment down to its core, radically changing processes, making the recruiters’ job swifter.

“When it comes to sourcing and identifying potential candidates to approach, most of the recruiters’ efforts happen online. As a consequence sometimes we have to make ourselves remember that, after all, this is a humanto-human business and you have to be able to see beyond the screen,” Tamara Tóth, branch manager of Cpl Jobs Hungary, tells the BBJ. This approach of remembering to take time meeting candidates is echoed by György Bucsku, team manager at Hays.

“Even if social media, artificial intelligence and other new technologies are becoming more popular and important, the biggest value of the better agencies will remain meeting with candidates and advising clients,” Bucsku agrees.

Global Market

Recruitment is a global market of high visibility, which is at the center of new ideas and IT development.

“Major players like Microsoft and Salesforce are as much as in the center of these activities as startups and university projects. Besides the well-known ATS [applicant tracking system] solutions, there are tools for video interviews, interview self-booking, chatbots, automated message generating systems,

etc. Social media has been in the focus of recruitment for a couple of years now,” Tóth remarks.

Using the latest technology is a gamechanger. “If a company wants to be competitive, they have to invest in tools, such as automated candidate sourcing and candidate qualifying from external and internal databases can save a lot of time for the recruiters, especially in IT and engineering positions,” says Bucsku .

Although he admits that AI-powered solutions are not very common in Hungary yet, some innovative IT companies or big, multinational companies have already started using bots.

Such autonomous programs or software can be applied either to make appointments or to give information to users in the form of a chat.

“There are several solutions available starting from robots or chatbots,” Tóth says.

“You can do prescreening questions with the support of AI and rank the profiles. There are also technologies which rank the relevance of all the applicants based on key words and their profiles. Other solutions send sourcing messages to certain databases. They help in identification of profiles, evaluation and streamlining the selection process.

However, when it comes to actual engagement of potential applicants, there is still room for improvement in technology,” she adds.

See also Recruitment Market Talk: Expertise Still Trumps Tech, p19.

AI and bots help, but recruitment is still a human-to-human business.

INSIDE VIEW

Motivation of Employees by Stocks Judit Jancsa-Pék Senior advisor, Partner LeitnerLeitner

At the time of total re-legislation of the cafeteria taxation, employers are actively seeking new instruments for the remuneration of their employees.

Stock option plans now get even a higher emphasize than earlier, especially considering the potential high values that are not limited, and the long-term loyalty effect that is becoming ever more important in this fluctuating and demand-driven employment market.

Firms may award selected employees (including the employees of a Hungarian subsidiary, branch or representative office) by granting stock options. Exercising the rights deriving from such options, the employees may get stocks of the parent company or other publicly traded stocks. If the employees are entitled to the stock issued by the company group of the employer, it can significantly increase not only their loyalty but also their performance as, directly or indirectly, it is also reflected in the value of the stocks.

Taxation of stock options is linked to the period from when the private person gets the value. This is usually not when the offer is made, or at the granting of the stock option itself, but a little latter, as such plans usual require a grace period from the employees. At that time, the participants can purchase shares at a discounted rate or maybe even free-of-charge. The tax base will need to be determined as the fair market value at the time of acquiring the securities minus the purchase price of the securities (if any) and the costs associated with it.

The tax liability for the income deriving from the securities shall be determined based on the relationship between the parties concerned and the circumstances under which the income was obtained. In an employment stock option plan, it is generally an

employment relation even if the provider is a foreign parent company.

This means that the stock vesting is taxed as employment income in Hungary, with 15% personal income tax, 19.5% social tax and 18.5% employment contributions.

If the provider is a Hungarian company, the employer is obliged to withhold and pay the tax; however, if the stocks are granted by a foreign entity, the private person will have the liability to pay the tax on the income. Considering the fact that the individual does not get money but stocks, taxes are usually covered by selling a minor part of the securities (i.e. net accounting). The employee has to report the taxes only in the annual personal income tax declaration

by May 20 of the following year.

Hungarian legislation, however, gives the possibility for the Hungarian employer to take over the payment of the social tax from its employee; the private person then remains liable to pay and declare the social security contributions only.

The advantage is that the private person can achieve additional income from the stocks, like dividend income if he or she keeps them, or capital gains if sold. These both generate 15% personal income tax, but no social security taxes over a threshold which is usually reached in a stock option situation.

The Hungarian tax legislation also provides for an Approved Employee Security Benefit Program (“MRP” in Hungarian) with a more preferential taxation. In such a program, the securities income of the private individual is not taxable within the determined compulsory deposit period. During this period, at least by the end of the second consecutive year, the shares should be deposited.

After the deposit period, income up to HUF 1 million should be taxed as capital gain (i.e. 15% personal income tax only over the social security threshold); taking the income earlier would generate employment taxation again. This preferential taxation, however, is subjected to more conditions determined by law.

LeitnerLeitner is one of the most influential tax consulting, accounting and auditing companies in Central Europe. We have comprehensive knowledge on the legal and tax environment of the region. With the help of our other experts we can provide high quality advise on taxation aspects of special income from investments, stocks and other capital transactions, entrepreneurship, and much more.

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

Despite IT Aides, Humans Still Rule Recruitment

Special Report | 17

18 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Measuring the Immeasurable?

are certain elements that could only be assigned a figure forcibly.

“You would see examples for it in Hungary as well but I don’t think it is right,” coach Edit Wiesner, tells the Budapest Business Journal.

“Trying to assign a figure to every point would require massive follow-up, surveying, etc. and it would not even be possible,” she says. If a coachee learns to look at an issue in a different way, it might be translated into figures but the mayor impact is happening on the “sidelines”, Wiesner says.

According to the expert, who is one of the pioneers of the profession in Hungary and has coached top executives of OTP Bank, Heineken Hungária and DM Hungária, a significant part of the world has already moved away from this measurement mindset and treats coaching rather as a means to improve corporate culture.

In the past 20 years, during which coaching has been developing more intensely, this mindset of cultural development has gained traction.

A constant challenge for companies and their leaders is how they can improve efficiency, performance and, eventually, the bottom line. When traditional methods are exhausted or something already in practice doesn’t seem to work as it used to, many turn to less tangible aids that may have an indirect impact on the above. One of these is coaching.

“It is not the balance sheet alone that counts, but factors such employee branding or retention are also ‘side-products’ of executive coaching.”

“It is not the balance sheet alone that counts, but factors such employee branding or retention are also ‘sideproducts’ of executive coaching.”

ZSÓFIA VÉGH

Coaching aims to target the person, oftentimes the leaders of a firm, to help them find new ways to tackle a problem. It does so mostly by exploring alternatives with which a CEO can approach a subject by opening them up the new methods or strengthening certain skills that will result in better leadership.

“Given my background in television, my focus is on communication”, says Márta Holló, coach, editor and television news anchor. “I also did an MBA to get a better understanding of what skills and knowledge a good expert needs to move ahead.”

“People generally reach out to me when they get stuck, in the field of communication,” she says. It is not necessarily day-to-day communication, but when, for example, a leader realizes that in order to move ahead and be

Generation Gaps

Márta Holló. able to manage a bigger team, they need to make some changes.

Coaching helps us to see ourselves from the outside. “During our consultations, we are going through situations – sometimes current issues – and put some of these on the table allowing the coachee to find a solution,” Holló explains.

“I may help them in preparing for presentations, or with daily communications skills, but overall, in what ways one can become a more successful leader.”

There are many branches of coaching, some of which might give specific recommendations on a subject, but in general it aims aimed at enhancing the qualities and thinking of a person such that they would translate into better performance.

Hard to Quantify Because of this, the success of coaching is not easy to quantify. And, despite what many might assume, measurement may not be necessary any way. There

Mindset varies by generation as well. An older-generation leader’s response to bad figures may be the dismissal of employees.

On paper this works, as the balance is redressed, but in the longer run the workers who stayed may decide to leave as well.

Gen X leaders like to work independently and improve their skills by involving outside help/coaches. Gen Z employees get informed and cooperate differently; they might have more demand for thinking together and a more agile way of working.

Leaders with experience abroad tend to be more open-minded than those who were trained in the more traditional Hungarian corporate environment and would not give feedback or would dismiss an employee when there is a problem, Wiesner says.

“I always tell my clients I am willing to give some advice as long as I have insight into the problem, that is, I can talk from my own experience. But it is they who see what is going on inside a company and are faced with colleagues,” Wiesner says.

“One can give advice, but it is the person being coached who is faced with the corporate culture and in-built practices and can take action as much as the culture allows for it.”

Holló adds: “Clients arrive with a variety of primary goals – but there is no case when only business issues are laid on the table.” Private life issues also arise even if the session starts with a business problem, and vice versa, she explains.

“At the end of the day, the aim is to have positive changes regardless of what aspect we are talking about.”

3

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Special Report | 19

Recruitment Market Talk: Expertise Still Trumps Tech Personalized messages are necessary to stick out from the crowd and to reach the right candidates on the labor market. AI and other automated tools can help boost recruitment efficiency, but that sort of tech is still at a premature stage.

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

A combination of 5% GDP growth and record low unemployment of 3.6% keep demand high for recruitment agency services as employers find it increasingly difficult to hire ideal candidates. Add in the unfavorable demographics in Hungary, and the situation looks even worse.

“Our services were sought more than ever in the past year, but the real challenge was whether headhunting companies were enabled by their own resources and technological preparedness to grab these superb market opportunities,” Sándor Baja, managing director of Randstad, tells the Budapest Business Journal.

“There are ever more vacancies out there, and it is increasingly tough to find candidates,” agrees Éva Paulovics, general manager of Jobsgarden.

“The most wanted age group is the one with

0-5 years

of experience, and for this segment a lot higher wages are demanded,” she says.

“The mid-senior and executive level, in turn, didn’t see a similar increase either in terms of open positions, or regarding wage hike.”

Hays puts particular emphasis on innovative thinking when it comes to meeting client needs. As managing director Tammy Nagy-Stellini tells the BBJ, it has had to be very creative to reach out and penetrate the market.

Investing in Tech

“Candidates are given many opportunities and we need to ensure we provide our candidates with the right opportunity at the right time,” she says.” As a company we have been investing in new technologies to keep abreast of the market and we continue to provide consultation to both candidates and clients, ensuring we develop lifelong partnerships.”

Indeed, creativity simply must be part of the toolkit for recruitment heavyweights. This attitude also applies to adapting conventional recruitment

Tammy Nagy-Stellini, of Hays. methods to new communications channels. According to György G. Palásti, managing director of Grafton, many agencies use social media platforms with success. Yet, it is far from rare to see young professionals making major blunders due to the lack of proper training.

“Given the nature of these new communications channels, such flaws are more spectacular and harder to manage.

The old truth still holds, namely that novel recruitment methods don’t replace HR expertise,” he says.

Stellini believes that recruitment methods have changed, and will continue to do so, to reflect the needs of the market.

“However, even if social media, AI and other new technologies become more and more popular, face-to-face communication and the power of personal meetings will never fall out of date; they will live in parallel with the newest communication channels,” she notes.

Standing Out

Jobsgarden says it has detected the most substantial changes in the field of sourcing.

Social media helps, but it’s also hard to benefit from it.

“You need to stick out of the crowd, your message meant for active and passive job seekers must emerge somehow from the noise,” Paulovics explains. Ads have become personalized as well. Most businesses strive to follow up on these changes, but the speed at which they succeed and the applied technologies differ.

Among those technologies, artificial intelligence is advancing worldwide and is set to disrupt the art of HR as we know it, experts agree. Every element of it will be measurable from recruitment to performance management to employee behavior.

No wonder LinkedIn has recently acquired employment engagement platform Glint. Amy and Andrew, inventions by X.ai can schedule meetings directly with candidates, whereas personal recruitment assistants Mya and Olivia will replying to questions by using naturallanguage recognition.

“The most wanted age group is the one with 0-5 years of experience, and for this segment a lot higher wages are demanded. The mid-senior and executive level, in turn, didn’t see a similar increase either in terms of open positions, or regarding wage hike.”

Randstad confirms that testing and introducing AI-based projects is under way and their use is inevitable. However, it would be premature to provide any overall assessment of them.

Complex Decisions

Grafton’s managing director agrees that AI will alter our lives at a slower pace and its impact will also be more limited than expected. On reason is that people decide to change their workplace on the basis of a much more complex set of aspects than, say, when they buy a television.

“Whereas software outperforms humans at playing chess, it can map professional and personal values and expectations only partially,” says Palásti.

György G. Palásti, of Grafton.

“Just as we experience in the field of customer service, the majority of people still expect instant and customized answers from their service provider. It’s hardly an overstatement that everybody wants to be a premium or private bank customer,” he says. Therefore, on today’s applicant-driven labor market, it is no accident that not only senior executives but also experienced professionals desire to have their own headhunter.

“For them, automated systems messages, video recordings with nobody on the other end of the line or a chat bot won’t be attractive at all,” he says.

Jobsgarden’s experience shows that AI is not yet widespread in Hungary when it comes to recruitment. Only certain automated solutions have started to gain recognition such as automated tests, application management schemes or video interviews. The latter certainly provides flexibility timewise for both parties.

At Hays, this technology is considered as a legitimate tool with some limitations. As Nagy-Stellini notes, to access a candidate, video interviews with preset questions will never be able to replace the human factor, which plays a key role in matching the candidate to the client and providing the consulting approach to both parties.

Randstad also has mixed experience in this regard. “We used it in many countries with success. In Hungary, entry level applicants didn’t like it in spite of its advantages. We’re still waiting for the moment the market is ready to embrace it,” concludes Baja.

His thoughts are supported by a recent Deloitte survey that found

72%

of companies

are aware the usefulness of video interviews, yet less than a third are ready to use them.

20 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Recruitment agencies yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

– Hays Plc. (100)

tammy nagy-stellini Aleksandra Keller Agnieszka Kazimierczak

1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7.

(1) 501-2400 hungary@hays.hu

✓

1995 28 300

– Trenkwalder Group AG (100)

balázs g. nagy Henrietta Tóth András Csizmadia

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

1991 13 5,300

– Adecco Group AG (100)

florin godean Róbert Szeitl Anna Fodor

1134 Budapest, Váci út 45. G/7.

(1) 323-3500 adecco@adecco.hu

laW ✓

2007 1 257

ssC/bsC

1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 39.

(1) 411-2090 info@randstad.hu

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

sándor baja Lívia Tóth Ágnes Szokody

it/teleCom

– Randstad Holding N.V. (100)

sales/tRade/maRketing

2004 4 4,826

touRism

75

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

18

industRy speCialization in 2018 banking and finanCe

7

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

10

otHeR

20

middle management

20

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2018 (%)

top management

otHeR

50

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2018 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2019

plaCement fRom database

4,966

adveRtising

1,746

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2018 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

total net Revenue in 2018 (Huf mln)

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2018 (Huf mln)

Rank

Ranked by net revenue from recruitment in 2018 (HUF mln)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Randstad HungaRy kft.

1

www.randstad.hu

1,753 106

3-6 months 1-6 weeks

Ÿ

3-6 months 1-6 weeks

✓

Hays HungaRy kft.

2

3

www.hays.hu

1,132

tRenkWaldeR személyzeti szolgáltató kft.

http://hu.trenkwalder.com

3,009

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

602

15,043

35

25

35

5

1592 33

500

16,231

55

15

15

15

627 23

Ÿ

Ÿ

5

30

65

3 months 1-8 weeks

15

50

35

3 months 1-6 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone email

www.adecco.hu 4

newdesign_hirdetes_252x155.ai

1

2018. 04. 03.

11:56

your business is as unique C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

as the candidates we place.

human forward.

adeCCo kft.

3

www.bbj.hu

plaCement fRom database

otHeR

top management

middle management

otHeR

banking and finanCe

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

touRism

sales/tRade/maRketing

it/teleCom

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

ssC/bsC

laW

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

449

451

45

15

35

5

407 26

10

30

60

3 months 1-6 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1996 1 535

– GI Group (100)

györgy g. palásti Norbert Fekete Zsolt Pető

1053 Budapest, Károlyi utca 12.

(1) 235-2600 info@grafton.hu

435

729

60

20

15

5

350 28

10

20

70

3-6 hónap 1-6 hét

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2001 1 1

(100) –

zsuzsa gárdus, éva paulovics – –

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

329

340

45

30

25

–

270 24

15

35

50

3-6 months 2-6 weeks

15

15

–

10

5

–

50

5

2007 1 1

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

beáta fürjész – –

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13-14.

(1) 354-2060 info@karrierhungaria.hu

290

290

50

10

20

20

318 14

10

35

55

3-6 months 1-4 weeks

10

5

–

10

30

5

40

–

2007 1 1

Gábor Béres (100) –

gábor béres Ádám Hoffmann Annamária Miklós

1053 Budapest, Ferenciek tere 5.

(1) 200-2823 hr@exactsolutions.hu

250

250

25

10

60

5

880 22

5

15

80

3–6 months 3–8 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

2002 1 1

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

péter tokár Hajnalka Bánovics Kata Trajtler

1132 Budapest, Váci út 18.

(1) 279-0706 info@tesk.hu

10

30

60

3-6 months 1-6 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

0

2008 1 102

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

nigel marsh – –

1051 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 12.

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

10

40

50

3-6 months 1-6 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

1997 1 1

Tímea Bíró (100) –

tímea bíró – –

1138 Budapest, Váci út 135-139.

(1) 336-2910 info@focusconsulting.hu

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

adveRtising

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2018 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2019

diReCt seaRCH

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2018 (%)

total net Revenue in 2018 (Huf mln)

Company Website

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2018 (%)

industRy speCialization in 2018

gRafton ReCRuitment kft.

5

www.grafton.hu

JobsgaRden kft.

6

www.jobsgarden.hu

Special Report | 21

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2018 (Huf mln)

Rank

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone email

kaRRieR HungáRia kft. www.karrierhungaria.hu 7

exaCt solutions személyzeti tanáCsadó kft. www.exactsolutions.hu 8

Esto-tEsk MunkaErőközvEtítő kft. www.tesk.hu 9

Reed magyaRoRszág kft. www.reedglobal.com

10

238

336

35

25

35

5

233 18

237

262

45

15

35

5

197 13

foCus Consulting kft. www.focusconsulting.hu 11

WE KNOW WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOUR BUSINESS Workforce solutions for every organization. ertekesites@kellyservices.hu

l kellyservices.hu l +36 1 301 7800

www.bbj.hu

13

iseeQ kft.

www.iseeq.hu

–

laW

✓

ssC/bsC

✓

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

✓

it/teleCom

–

sales/tRade/maRketing

–

touRism

✓

(100) –

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

✓

2007 1 1,500

banking and finanCe

60

3–6 months 1–3 weeks

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

otHeR

middle management

industRy speCialization in 2018

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

12

www.bdo.hu

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2018 (%)

top management

otHeR

plaCement fRom database

adveRtising

bdo magyaRoRszág (HR személyzeti tanáCsadás)

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2018 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2019

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2018 (%)

diReCt seaRCH

Company Website

total net Revenue in 2018 (Huf mln)

Special Report net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2018 (Huf mln)

Rank

22 | 3

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone email

andrea Jamniczky, szabolcs Jordán – –

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

225

3,455

55

10

30

5

156 11

219

219

40

–

50

10

134 10

25

35

40

3 months 2-4 weeks

15

5

–

20

60

–

–

–

2012 1 1

Corporate (100) –

balázs bondici, tamás püski – Timea Izso

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13–14.

(70) 775-2575 hello@iseeq.hu

186

6,785

70

10

20

–

142 7

10

20

70

3-12 hónap –

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

–

–

2004 10 10

László Küzmös (100) –

lászló küzmös, ákos Jáhny Lázár Krisztina –

1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 31.

(1) 766-5626 getwork@getwork.hu

2004 14 98

Profólió Projekt Tanácsadó Kft. (19.78) Work Service S.A. (80.22)

sándor zakor, béla ignácz, Csongor Juhász, Jacek lorek Tamás Kutassy –

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 432-1280 prohuman@ prohuman.hu

25

15

get WoRk tRend kft. www.getwork.hu 14

pRoHumán 2004 MunkaErő szolgáltató és tanáCsadó kft.

15

www.prohuman.hu

183

34,434

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

190 16

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

157

4,538(1)

35

188 10

20

30

50

3-6 months 2-6 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

✓

–

2009 2 36

– CPL Resources Plc. (100)

tamara tóth Pavol Nagy –

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

154

11,463

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

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 info@pannonjob.hu

148

6,350

10

55

30

5

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

3-5 months 2-4 weeks

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

1993 17 17

(100) –

katalin bor, Róbert göbl, zsuzsanna szabó – –

1077 Budapest, Wesselényi utca 11.

(1) 877-0900 info@humancentrum.hu

143

15,272

30

20

30

–

311 16

5

30

65

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 whc@whc.hu

130

2,603

55

15

20

10

236 25

15

25

60

2-5 months 2-8 weeks

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

Ÿ Ÿ

– Kelly Services Management Sarl (100)

péter kóthay Zsolt Szabó –

1085 Budapest, Kálvin tér 12.

(1) 301-7800 info@kellyservices.hu

129

129

45

30

25

–

100 4

10

20

70

3-6 months 2-6 weeks

10

20

–

10

20

–

30

10

2012 1 1

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

gabriella Ruff berzéthyné – –

1075 Budapest, Madách Imre út 13–14.

(1) 354-2060 –

3-6 months 1-4 weeks

10

40

–

20

20

5

–

5

2005 1 1

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

péter bogdanovits – –

1143 Budapest, Gizella út 42-44.

(1) 225-1079 office@aarenson.hu

–

9

2

26

40

5

18

–

2002 1 1

Renáta Restás (100) –

Renáta Restás – –

2016 Leányfalu, Körte utca 4.

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

–

75

–

15

5

–

5

–

1998 6 7

Volano Kft. (100) –

Csaba ottó Orsolya Horvai Módné –

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(88) 400-453 info@manatwork.hu

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Cpl Jobs kft. www.cpljobs.hu 16

17

pannonJob Humán szolgáltató és tanáCsadó kft.

30

30

5

www.pannonjob.hu 18

Humán CentRum kft. www.humancentrum.hu

WHC kft.

www.whc.hu 19

kelly seRviCes HungaRy kft. www.kellyservices.hu 20

2004

kaRRieR Rent kft.

– 21

22

aaRenson Consulting kft.

115

115

70

10

20

–

117 10

30

50

20

23

pbs inteRnational kft.

107

107

40

20

30

10

163 6

18

60

22

106

7,399

10

68

21

1

445 6

5

10

85

www.aarenson.hu

www.pbs-job.hu

3 months

Ÿ

man at WoRk kft. www.manatwork.hu

24

1-6 months 1-8 weeks

3

www.bbj.hu

total net Revenue in 2018 (Huf mln)

diReCt seaRCH

adveRtising

plaCement fRom database

otHeR

top management

middle management

otHeR

banking and finanCe

pRoduCtion/engineeRing

touRism

sales/tRade/maRketing

it/teleCom

pHaRmaCeutiCal/CHemiCal

ssC/bsC

laW

yeaR establisHed no. of offiCes in HungaRy WoRldWide

oWneRsHip (%) HungaRian non-HungaRian

25

t-HR kft.

101

112

50

20

30

–

100 6

20

40

40

3-12 months 1-3 weeks

–

65

–

5

5

15

10

–

2000 1 1

Borbála Invest Kft. (100) –

Eszter Mező – –

2800 Tatabánya, Szent Borbála tér 6.

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

26

Job személyzeti tanáCsadó kft.

99

1,916

30

25

40

5

82 10

10

30

60

3-6 months 2-5 weeks

15

5

–

20

15

25

15

5

1992 2 2

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

tímea Harnisfőger György Thury –

1094 Budapest, Angyal utca 24.

(1) 239-9922 info@job.hu

gábor Csizmadia, péter vida László Pintér Mátyás Stankovics

1013 Budapest, Pauler utca 18.

(20) 242-2138 info@viapan.hu

www.t-hr.hu

www.job.hu

guaRantee peRiod ReCRuitment time

Company Website

net Revenue fRom ReCRuitment in 2018 (Huf mln)

peRCentage of Candidates plaCed in 2018 (%)

Special Report | 23

Rank

bReakdoWn by seaRCH metHods in 2018 (%)

no. of Candidates plaCed in 2018 no. of employees in seaRCH and Consulting on maRCH 1, 2019

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

industRy speCialization in 2018

viapan DologiDő kft. www.dologido.hu, www.viapan.hu 26

99

3,221

41

25

25

9

Ÿ Ÿ

3

54

43

83

6,928

30

10

40

20

157 5

40

40

20

5

15

–

–

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess pHone email

3 months 4–6 weeks

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

2001 12 12

Via Pannónia Kft. (46), Zoltán Egerszegi (19), Gábor Csizmadia (19), Erika Pintér (11), Péter Vida (5) –

Ÿ

–

30

–

25

15

5

25

–

2000 13 14

László Mátyás (89), Erika Dékány (11) –

lászló mátyás Erika Dékány Imre Papp

4024 Debrecen, Batthyány utca 12/1.

(52) 446-991 debrecen@hsakft.hu

László SzűcsTrömbőczki (100) –

lászló szűcströmbőczki – –

6722 Szeged, Vitéz utca 20.

(1) 267-9010 produkteam@ produkteam.hu

Hsa kft.

www.hsakft.hu 28

29

pRodukteam vállalkozásszErvEző kft.

80

2,323

20

30

40

10

120 15

78

78

100

–

–

–

77 8

www.produkteam.hu 30

peaRl Hunt kft. www.pearlhunt.hu

31

aHC inteRnational kft.

51

51

40

20

35

32

seleCt HuMánErőforrás kft.

16

Ÿ

20

20

50

NR

dekRa aRbeit magyaRoRszág kft.

Ÿ

NR

enloyd kft.

Ÿ

www.ahc-international.hu

www.select.hu

www.dekra-arbeit.hu

www.enloyd.hu

HRCv személyzeti NR szolgáltató kft. www.hrcgroup.hu

Ÿ

80

1-6 months 1-8 weeks

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

1995 4 4

100

3-6 months 2-4 weeks

–

10

–

–

90

–

–

–

2011 1 1

Anett Jusztin (100) –

anett Jusztin – –

1023 Budapest, Ürömi utca 42-44.

(30) 532-6320 hr@pearlhunt.hu

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

10

3-6 months 2-6 weeks

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

1992 1 1

45

5

3-6 months 1-6 weeks

20

20

10

10

10

–

10

20

1994 1 1

Noémi Csaposs (100) –

noémi Csaposs – –

1093 Budapest, Lónyay utca 34.

(1) 456-0700 office@select.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

2004 4 195

– DEKRA Arbeit GmbH (100)

Radoslav sekerka – –

1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 97.

(80) 315-096 dekra@dekra-arbeit.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

3 months 4–8 weeks

✓

✓

–

–

✓

–

✓

–

2015 1 4

0 ANTAL SP. Z O. O. (100)

artur piotr skiba – –

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 783-0000 enloyd@enloyd.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

✓

2000 8 8

Csilla Vidó (100) –

Csilla vidó – –

1117 Budapest, Móricz Zsigmond körtér 14. 4/1.

(1) 878-0145 info@hrcv.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Manpower Munkaerő Szervezési Kft. (100) –

ottó vég Roland Huszár –

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 manpower@ manpower.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

–

1990 3 3,900

– Manpower France Holding SAS (100)

ottó vég Roland Huszár –

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 manpower@ manpower.hu

Ÿ

3–12 months 1–4 weeks

✓

2005 1 1

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

györgyi marton – –

1036 Budapest, Lajos utca 93-99. building D (1) 391-0228 office@tredis.hu

Ÿ

3–6 months 1–4 weeks

Krisztina Varga (100) –

krisztina varga – –

1072 Budapest, Rákóczi út 42.

EMKE épület (20) 982-3628 krisztina@ workplus.consulting

5

41 3

20

70

10

29 2

50

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

1-6 weeks

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

manpoWeR business solutions kft. www.manpowergroup.hu NR

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

2007

ManpowEr MunkaErő szeRvezési kft. www.manpowergroup.hu NR

Ÿ

tRedis Consulting kft.

NR www.tredis.hu

WoRkplus kft.

NR

www.workplus.consulting

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

–

–

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

1989 1

Ÿ

24 | 3

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Market Talk: Temping Never Goes out of Style Clients expect a growing number of services from temp agencies, a phenomenon that is soon set to evolve into outsourcing when it comes to mass recruitment.

Employers will need to pay handsome wages to secure staff for determined periods, however.

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

Not surprisingly, temp agencies have been super busy in the past year, and they can count on more of the same. The permanent labor shortage has been a key factor driving dynamic growth in the sector. As Csongor Juhász, managing director of Prohumán 2004 says, its solutions have been in bigger demand than ever.

“Not only existing partners showed an elevated interest for our services, but even companies that had not used this form of employment before became customers.”

Typically, businesses in the field of manufacturing are most in need of temporary workers. In the case of many of them it is a policy to have a certain portion, often

around

10-25%

of total headcount, employed on a flexible basis, Gábor Goszleth, sales director at Adecco, says of one of the main reasons behind strong market demand. But a great number of other companies are also hiring, which requires constant recruitment.

“This can be managed by relying on temp manpower, which also allows you to add tested staff to the internal team or to compensate for fluctuations,” he explains.

More Complex

The whole sector is becoming more complex too. “Recruitment alone won’t do; main clients, especially, expect us to take over the largest possible number of tasks such as onboarding, training, health and safety tasks, as well as making travel and accommodation-related arrangements,” Goszleth adds.

“This is an evolving process; therefore, high volume temp work services could turn into outsourcing within the next few years.”

Balázs G. Nagy, of Trenkwalder.

Trenkwalder’s managing director, Balázs G. Nagy agrees that receiving a complex set of services is increasingly important for their clientele. That includes digital and other accessory service support.

“Soaring wages makes it tough to keep costs down, therefore industry solutions are getting popular for companies,” the expert says. “Businesses are starting to realize that they don’t necessarily need to get new people on board, but rather boost the efficiency of the existing workforce.”

What about previously rather inactive groups of the labor market? Could they come to the rescue of temp agencies and their clients?

Róbert Csákvári, managing director of Work Force, believes reintegrating pensioners and public workers into the labor market is gaining in importance.

“Students are very much welcome for seasonal work, and companies are ever more open to employing motivated workers from across the border,” he says.

More Foreigners

Speaking of foreigners, their number has tripled in the past two years, according to the data of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Their presence has grown visible, primarily at large multinational companies in western Hungary and in northern Transdanubia. Shared service centers and manufacturing businesses tend to employ them in particularly large numbers.

The latter bet on Ukrainian and Serbian workers mostly, but Goszleth believes that this won’t be a permanent phenomenon. Many employers have problems with such workers as their conflict resolution skills tend to leave much to be desired. On the

other hand, many simply use Hungary as a spring board, and once they find better paid work further to the West, off they go in droves.

“For this very reason, certain mother companies oblige their subsidiaries to employ Hungarians only or get existing

“Recruitment alone won’t do; main clients, especially, expect us to take over the largest possible number of tasks such as onboarding, training, health and safety tasks, as well as making travel and accommodationrelated arrangements. This is an evolving process; therefore, high volume temp work services could turn into outsourcing within the next few years.”

Serbian or Ukrainian staff replaced by locals since this kind of uncertainty carries enormous business risks,” says Goszleth.

“Imagine what happens if

50-100 workers

are gone overnight from manufacturing.

That’s a lot of penalties right there.”

Csákvári stresses, in turn, that many foreign workers are truly motivated, and if this is the case, even

the fluctuation is not a major challenge.

Putting them on payroll can also be accelerated by temp agencies.

Full Admin

“We are managing the full admin process, including payroll services and registration with the authorities, travel arrangements and finding accommodation.

To facilitate the onboarding process and integration, we are providing a bilingual native interpreter as a dedicated point of contact supporting them on a daily basis.”

Csákvári says.

The question remains what actually motivates people to sign on for temp jobs.

The experts agree that the bean bags and office foosball table combo alone won’t seal the deal.

“Offering an employee a wellbeing package is now considered a very basic thing. It is corporate credibility and support from the management that will strengthen commitment and stop fluctuation. It matters a lot as well to what extent an employer keeps the promises it made beforehand,” says Csákvári.

Trenkwalder’s managing director stresses the importance of decent payment. “There is no way around it, you need pay up. At the same time workers are ever more confident, you can’t lure them over by ‘tricks’,” says Nagy. “It’s also good to know that fluctuation has seasonal dynamics, therefore it makes sense to fill in vacancies in September.”

In Adecco’s experience, dangling very high wages and bonuses is the only way to attract people for work over a determined period.

“This can go up to 50% more wages compared to that paid for work performed under an undetermined contract,” adds Goszleth. Money talks, as always.

3

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Special Report | 25

Temp agencies yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy offiCes WoRldWide (inCluding offiCes in hungaRy)

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

2004 14 98

Profólió Projekt Tanácsadó Kft. (19.78) Work Service S.A. (80.22)

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

1991 13 5,300

– Adecco Group AG (100)

florin godean Róbert Szeitl Anna Fodor

1134 Budapest, Váci út 45. G/7.

(1) 323-3500 adecco@adecco.hu

–

–

1995 28 300

– Trenkwalder Group AG (100)

Balázs g. nagy Henrietta Tóth András Csizmadia

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

2

8

–

1990 8 12

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

Péter Berta – –

8900 Zalaegerszeg, Ady Endre utca 2.

(92) 550-050 whc@whc.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

1993 7 7

Videoton Holding Zrt. (100) –

attila Molnár – –

8000 Székesfehérvár, Berényi út 72–100.

(22) 554-170 info@pannonjob.hu

ConstRuCtion industRy

agRiCultuRe

sales/tRade

healthCaRe/ phaRmaCeutiCal

touRism

pRoduCtion

it/telCo

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2018

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2018 (%)

blue-CollaR

peRmanent

bReakdoWn of plaCement in 2018 (%)

tempoRaRy

total net Revenue in 2018 (huf mln)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2018 no. of billed houRs in 2018

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2018 (huf mln)

Company Website

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2018 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2019

Rank

Ranked by average statistical headcount in 2018

pRohumán 2004 Munkaerő Szolgáltató éS tanácSadó kft.

1

www.prohuman.hu

7,290 185

32,610

17,860 13,588,690

34,434

90

10

3,771 91

15,718

10,922 8,770,995

16,231

90

10

3,375 133

13,698

4,000 5,871,503

15,043

90

10

92

8

2,919 131

14,803

6,755 6,151,600

15,272

70

30

90

10

5

5

80

–

–

10,891

Ÿ Ÿ

11,463

Ÿ

Ÿ

68

32

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

89.50 10.50

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone email

Sándor zakor, Béla Ignácz, csongor Juhász, Jacek lorek Tamás Kutassy –

1146 Budapest, Hungária körút 140-144.

(1) 432-1280 prohuman@ prohuman.hu

adeCCo kft. www.adecco.hu 2

3

tRenkWaldeR SzeMélyzetI Szolgáltató kft.

http://hu.trenkwalder.com

79

21

11.46 2.28 86.11

–

0.05 0.09

WhC kft.

www.whc.hu 4

5

PannonJoB HuMán Szolgáltató éS tanácSadó kft. www.pannonjob.hu

2,196

Ÿ

employees

Special Report

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

95

5

✓

✓

✓

–

–

✓

–

–

1,752 18

6,845

5,305 2,928,013

6,928

20

80

80

20

8

–

76

4

–

5

6

1

2000 14 15

László Mátyás (89), Erika Dékány (11) –

lászló Mátyás Erika Dékány Imre Papp

4024 Debrecen, Batthyány utca 12/1.

(52) 446-991 debrecen@hsakft.hu

8

1,529 58

6,195

4,039 2,367,067

6,307

73

27

91

9

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

2003 10 10

Róbert Csákvári (100) –

róbert csákvári – Andrea Bartha

1134 Budapest, Váci út 49.

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

Pannon-Work zrt.

9

1,484 184

6,766

Grosvenor Kft. (100) –

Péter laczi Andrea Peka Makkosné Viktória Hlavács

1114 Budapest, Bartók Béla út 15/D (1) 381-1048 budapest@ pannonwork.hu

10

1,387 69

6,650

4,162 2,387,112

humán CentRum kft.

11

1,232

6,202

Ÿ

ConstRuCtion industRy

agRiCultuRe

sales/tRade

healthCaRe/ phaRmaCeutiCal

touRism

pRoduCtion

it/telCo

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2018

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

97

blue-CollaR

3

László Küzmös (100) –

peRmanent

6,785

2004 10 10

tempoRaRy

6,600

5,199 4,530,912

Company Website

total net Revenue in 2018 (huf mln)

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

Rank

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy offiCes WoRldWide (inCluding offiCes in hungaRy)

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2018 (%)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2018 no. of billed houRs in 2018

bReakdoWn of plaCement in 2018 (%)

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2018 (huf mln)

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2018 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2019

26 | 3

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone email

lászló küzmös, ákos Jáhny Lázár Krisztina –

1023 Budapest, Árpád fejedelem útja 31.

(1) 766-5626 getwork@getwork.hu

get WoRk tRend kft. www.getwork.hu

6

2,046 54

hsa kft.

www.hsakft.hu 7

Work force SzeMélyzetI tanácSadó éS Szolgáltató kft. www.workforce.hu

www.pannonwork.hu

1,334

Ÿ

7,135

35

65

75

25

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

2004 16 18

7,399

80

20

90

10

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

1998 6 7

Volano Kft. (100) –

csaba ottó Orsolya Horvai Módné –

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(88) 400-453 info@manatwork.hu

–

1993 17 17

(100) –

katalin Bor, róbert göbl, zsuzsanna Szabó – –

1077 Budapest, Wesselényi utca 11.

(1) 877-0900 info@ humancentrum.hu

Ÿ

2010 1 1

– PCC Spólka z Graniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia (100)

István Bojó – –

1134 Budapest, Tüzér utca 39.

(1) 789-6538 info@ profieldkolcsonzo.hu

–

2004 4 4

Trenkwalder Személyzeti Szolgáltató Kft. (100) –

Balázs g. nagy Henrietta Tóth András Csizmadia

1132 Budapest, Váci út 22–24.

(1) 354-0933 infohungary@ trenkwalder.com

Ÿ

2001 18 18

Individuals (100) –

zoltán Márkus Henrietta Gyurkóczi Zsuzsanna Werner-Tóth

1118 Budapest, Előpatak utca 78.

(1) 248-2010 info@ humaniahrsgroup.hu

man at WoRk kft. www.manatwork.hu

www.humancentrum.hu

ProfIeld Munkaerő12 kölcSönző kft. www.profieldkolcsonzo.hu

tRenkWaldeR HuMánerőforráS kft.

13

http://hu.trenkwalder.com

HuMánIa HrS grouP zrt.

14 www.humaniahrsgroup.hu

Ÿ

1,059 49

891 2

742

Ÿ

4,050,100

3,954

Ÿ Ÿ

4,408

1,005 1,626,312

3,543

Ÿ Ÿ

6,350

3,986

4,445

4,099

30

14

100

Ÿ

70

86

–

Ÿ

65

87

100

80

35

13

–

20

15

Ÿ

8

Ÿ

60

Ÿ

2

Ÿ

5.60 2.53 91.40 0.48

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

10

Ÿ

–

Ÿ

5

Ÿ

–

Ÿ

–

Ÿ

–

Ÿ

3

www.bbj.hu

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2018 (%)

80

90

10

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

✓

543 129

3,220

934 760,862

4,966

75

25

29

71

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2004 4 4,826

– Randstad Holding N.V. (100)

Sándor Baja Lívia Tóth Ágnes Szokody

1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 39.

(1) 411-2090 info@randstad.hu

538 36

2,061

502 972,706

2,603

65

35

90

10

15

5

80

–

–

–

–

–

2004

Ÿ Ÿ

– Kelly Services Management Sarl (100)

Péter kóthay Zsolt Szabó –

1085 Budapest, Kálvin tér 12.

(1) 301-7800 info@kellyservices.hu

340 16

1,395

Ÿ

1,445

7

93

35

65

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

–

2001 5 10

MELÓ-DIÁK Holding Zrt. (100) –

Péter Megyeri Gyula Serfőző Zoltán Kott

2724 Újlengyel, Kossuth utca 138.

(1) 456-0700 info@starjobs.hu

1,349

Ÿ Ÿ

1,467

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

13

5

65

10

–

7

–

–

Ÿ Ÿ

(100) –

zoltán Pataki – Nikoletta Rumpf

2724 Újlengyel, Határ út 12.

(1) 225-7313 eucsoport@ eucsoport.hu

1,733

376 313,568

–

1992 2 2

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

tímea Harnisfőger György Thury –

1094 Budapest, Angyal utca 24.

(1) 239-9922 info@job.hu

578

733 238,107

–

2005 12 12

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 info@munka-ero.hu

ConstRuCtion industRy

agRiCultuRe

sales/tRade

healthCaRe/ phaRmaCeutiCal

touRism

pRoduCtion

it/telCo

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2018

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

20

blue-CollaR

3,221

peRmanent

3,707 1,085,317

tempoRaRy

2,917

Via Pannónia Kft. (46), Zoltán Egerszegi (19), Gábor Csizmadia (19), Erika Pintér (11), Péter Vida (5) –

total net Revenue in 2018 (huf mln)

651 8

2001 12 12

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2018 no. of billed houRs in 2018

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy offiCes WoRldWide (inCluding offiCes in hungaRy)

bReakdoWn of plaCement in 2018 (%)

VIaPan dologIdő kft. www.dologido.hu, www.viapan.hu 15

Randstad hungaRy kft.

16

www.randstad.hu

Special Report | 27

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2018 (huf mln)

Company Website

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2018 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2019

Rank

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone email

gábor csizmadia, Péter Vida László Pintér Mátyás Stankovics

1013 Budapest, Pauler utca 18.

(20) 242-2138 info@viapan.hu

kelly seRviCes hungaRy kft. www.kellyservices.hu 17

StarJoBS MagyarorSzág HuMánSzolgáltató kft. www.starjobs.hu 18

19

eu-JoBS kft. www.eujobs.hu

236

Ÿ

JoB SzeMélyzetI 20 tanácSadó kft.

214 25

Munka-erő kölcSönző 21 éS közVetítő kft.

195 4

www.job.hu

www.munka-ero.hu

875

1,916

590

67

98

33

2

–

93

100

7

67

✓

7

✓

3

✓

–

–

15

–

8

–

–

–

2005

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Special Report

SzeMélyzet kölcSönző

23 éS közVetítő kft. www.szemelyzet.hu

24

MűISz HoldIng kft. www.muiszholding.hu

dekRa aRbeit

NR MagyarorSzág kft. www.dekra-arbeit.hu

esense human ResouRCes NR Szolgáltató zrt. www.esense.hu

bReakdoWn of type of WoRk in 2018 (%)

90

11

89

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

–

✓

118 7

608

353 198,373

611

60

40

Ÿ

Ÿ

–

13

80

–

–

7

–

–

2012 1 1

Roland Varga (60), Péter Tőkés (40) –

gergő czuppon – –

8272 Óbudavár, Fő utca 31.

(87) 655-284 info@szemelyzet.hu

80 45

99,080

152

Ÿ

Ÿ

10

90

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

2003 2 2

Individuals (100) –

attila rácz – –

1137 Budapest, Szent István körút 24.

(1) 210-9283 allas@muisz.hu

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

–

–

✓

✓

✓

2004 3 350

– DEKRA Arbeit GmbH (100)

radoslav Sekerka – –

1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 97.

(80) 315-096 dekra@dekra-arbeit.hu

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Individuals (100) –

dénes osztroluczky – –

1134 Budapest, Kassák Lajos utca 69-71.

(1) 555-1585 esense@esense.hu

80

Ÿ

ConstRuCtion industRy

agRiCultuRe

sales/tRade

healthCaRe/ phaRmaCeutiCal

touRism

pRoduCtion

it/telCo

bReakdoWn of temps supplied by seCtoRs in 2018

offiCe/finanCe

White-CollaR

10

László SzűcsTrömbőczki (100) –

blue-CollaR

2,323

1995 4 4

peRmanent

802

284 506,240

149 22

tempoRaRy

oWneRship (%) hungaRian non-hungaRian

total net Revenue in 2018 (huf mln)

yeaR established no. of offiCes in hungaRy offiCes WoRldWide (inCluding offiCes in hungaRy)

www.produkteam.hu

bReakdoWn of plaCement in 2018 (%)

total numbeR of tempoRaRy WoRkfoRCe in 2018 no. of billed houRs in 2018

pRodukteam VállalkozáSSzerVező 22 kft.

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

net Revenue fRom tempoRaRy plaCement in 2018 (huf mln)

Company Website

aveRage statistiCal headCount in 2018 no. of full-time employees on maRCh 1, 2019

Rank

28 | 3

2007

top loCal exeCutive Cfo maRketing diReCtoR

addRess phone email

lászló Szűcströmbőczki – –

6722 Szeged, Vitéz utca 20.

(1) 267-9010 produkteam@ produkteam.hu

NR

foCus Consulting kft.

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

262

Ÿ

Ÿ

–

100

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

–

–

1997 1 1

Tímea Bíró (100) –

tímea Bíró – –

1138 Budapest, Váci út 135-139.

(1) 336-2910 info@ focusconsulting.hu

NR

gamax kft.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

–

✓

✓

–

–

✓

–

✓

1990 5 5

(100) –

géza Homonnay – –

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

NR

Ÿ Ÿ

1,877

Ÿ Ÿ

3,009

Ÿ

–

100

Ÿ

2007 1 257

– Hays Plc. (100)

tammy nagy-Stellini Aleksandra Keller Agnieszka Kazimierczak

1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7.

(1) 501-2400 hungary@hays.hu

HrcV SzeMélyzetI NR Szolgáltató kft.

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

2000 8 8

Csilla Vidó (100) –

csilla Vidó – –

1117 Budapest, Móricz Zsigmond körtér 14. 4/1.

(1) 878-0145 info@hrcv.hu

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

–

–

–

–

–

2001 5 5

Pannon-Work Zrt. (51), Tibor Takács (49) –

tibor takács, géza Homonnay – –

8000 Székesfehérvár, Szörényi utca 89.

(22) 509-900 info@ humannavigator.hu

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

1990 3 3,900

– Manpower France Holding SAS (100)

ottó Vég Roland Huszár –

1133 Budapest, Váci út 76.

(1) 411-1590 manpower@ manpower.hu

Ÿ

78

Ÿ Ÿ

336

20

80

–

100

✓

✓

✓

–

✓

✓

–

–

2008 1 102

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

nigel Marsh – –

1051 Budapest, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky út 12.

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

www.focusconsulting.hu

www.gamax.hu

15

hays hungaRy kft. www.hays.hu

www.hrcgroup.hu

NR

humán navigátoR kft. www.humannavigator.hu

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

ManPoWer Munkaerő SzerVezéSI kft. www.manpowergroup.hu NR

reed MagyarorSzág kft. www.reedglobal.com

NR

18

4

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Socialite

be honest, my ideal is to sing in any language with the same emotion.”

Why did she think Brazilian music continues to be so popular? “It’s a kind of music that’s soothing, sexy. It makes people feel better, like making love or getting lost in something I can’t quite describe.”

Gilberto first played in Hungary in 2012, at the Budapest Jazz Festival. On that trip, she only had one day off in the city. This time round she was hoping to get to know Budapest better.

“Especially,” she said, “because my mother’s brother, Chico Buarque, wrote a novel called ‘Budapeste’. I think he spent some time in the city.”

Bebel Gilberto: a Conversation With Brazilian Musical Royalty Bebel Gilberto, who was due to have played a sold-out Budapest Jazz Club on April 18 ( just after this issue went to print and just before it was published) has music in her blood.

The Devil’s Respect

Actually, he didn’t. Or at least he hadn’t at the time he wrote the book. But that doesn’t matter because it makes “Budapeste” even more intriguing. It’s the story of a Brazilian ghostwriter named Jose Costa who is flying back to Rio from something called the Anonymous Writers Conference in Istanbul when a bomb scare causes the flight to be diverted to Budapest. Here, he meets a young woman named Kriska who introduces him to the Hungarian language, “the only tongue in the world that the devil respects”.

Isn’t that the best description of Hungarian you ever read? But I would add that the devil probably also respects Brazilian Portuguese. I spent three months in the country and picked up perhaps three words.

DAVID HOLZER

She’s the daughter of João Gilberto, singer, songwriter, guitarist and inventor of bossa nova music, and the singer Miucha.

Gilberto’s uncle is Chico Buarque, a singer, composer and author. More of him later.

Gilberto was born in New York City in 1966, when her father and mother were living in the States. After a rocky start to his career, her father and the genre of music he created had been taken up by U.S. jazz musicians in the early 1960s.

These included Stan Getz, who invited Gilberto senior to collaborate with him.

The album the two made together, along with fellow Brazilian legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, gave birth to “The Girl From Ipanema”, believed to be the second most recorded song ever after the Beatles’ “Yesterday”. Now 87, Gilberto senior lives in Rio de Janiero.

“I always thought I was going into music,” Bebel Gilberto told me when we spoke by phone shortly before her concert at Budapest Jazz Club. She was in Rio and I was in a not so warm Hungary. “I don’t think I had any option. I was surrounded by music, listening to it all the time.”

Aged 11, Gilberto appeared on her mother Miucha’s first solo album, made with Jobim. She performed at Carnegie groove. She went on to record with Hall with her mother and Stan Getz two American electronic music duo Thievery years later. Her own debut on record Corporation, who reimagined her track came in 1986.

“Cada Biejo” for the album “Bebel Gilberto Although Gilberto carries the torch for Remixed”. Of Thievery Corporation, the bossa nova her father invented, she has Gilberto said “David Byrne of Talking also experimented outside the genre.

Heads introduced us. They’re great “When I was little, I listened to a lot of people. We have a beautiful relationship.”

Brazilian music,” she told me. “But, just Bossa Nova Fusion after turning nine, I discovered that I In 2000, Gilberto fused electronica and really, really loved the music of Stevie bossa nova on her album “Tanto Tempo”, a Wonder and Michael Jackson. I was global club favorite that helped make her introduced to electronic music in the one of the most successful Brazilian stars early 1990s.” in the States.

Gilberto’s voice brings Towa Tei’s She’s also happy to delve into the great 1994 hit “Technova” to life, adding a American music songbook, citing jazz characteristic lightness that fits well icons Blossom Dearie and Chet Baker as with all the samples and hip-hop

“Although I can switch from one language to the other easily, my identity doesn’t switch. My music is always Brazilian music.

And, to be honest, my ideal is to sing in any language with the same emotion.”

Bebel Gilberto current inspirations. Her version of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” on 2004’s “Tudo” is quite lovely. Gilberto has also recorded with country star Rosanne Cash and Mexican-American rock and roll band Los Lobos. “All in One”, Gilberto’s 2009 album was recorded in New York, Jamaica and Bahia, Brazil with producers who included Britain’s Mark Ronson, known for his work with Amy Whitehouse and Lady Gaga among others.

I was curious as to whether, as a musician, Gilberto identified as Brazilian or American.

“Although I can switch from one language to the other easily,” she said, “my identity doesn’t switch. My music is always Brazilian music. And, to

Buarque himself is an enormously influential composer, musician, poet, playwright and novelist whose books are highly regarded internationally; “Budapeste” (2003) is thought of as the best of his novels.

In a laudatory meditation on the book in The Guardian newspaper, Robert Collins described it as shimmering “with the glint of a perfectly cut gem. It’s dreamlike, it’s witty, it’s exquisitely written, and it’s about fiction, writing, language, translation, and love… Slowly, the book hypnotizes you into seeing how the world is composed of, and experienced through, words themselves.”

I haven’t read “Budapeste” yet.

Apparently, Buarque created his own version of the city by reading a guide book.

The other Sunday, I sat staring into space in the Bambi bar on Frankel Leó utca. I’d spent the night before at Budapest Jazz Club, as it happens, but not to see Gilberto. As I chewed on cheese on toast, I was idly contemplating taking a leaf out of Buarque’s book and pretending I’d been at Gilberto’s concert. Knowing my luck, she probably wouldn’t have shown up and I would have looked ridiculous. But I hope she made it to Budapest and got to see more of the city this time.

Socialite

30 | 4

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

Kékfrankos Comes Alive as Class Begins to Show While it may sound clichéd to say that the Kékfrankos grape is coming alive, when it’s taken seriously and made well, the wines can certainly have such a lively vibrancy to them, that’s both airy and elegant. What is more, the grape is becoming a leader in the Hungarian wine movement, as opposed to the workhorse of a grape it was under the former system.

International Demand

ROBERT SMYTH

Accounting for 7,592 out of Hungary’s some 64,000 hectares of land under vine, Kékfrankos is a dependable grape in the vineyard, holding up very well in more challenging vintages when other grapes take a battering.

Despite being Hungary’s most planted grape and well distributed around the country’s red wine regions, Kékfrankos had long played something of a backseat role to the more fancied international grapes.

That is until Hungarian vintners realized that indigenous varieties are where it’s at, as well as learning from the Austrians, who have led the way with Blaufränkish, which is the Austrian name for Kékfrankos.

Austrianwine.com describes Blaufränkish as a “traditional Austrian variety [that] is a cross between Blauer Zimmettraube and Weißer Heunisch”. It notes that: “Blaufränkisch was previously widely-planted throughout the Habsburg Monarchy.” In Germany it is known as Lemberger, the name taken from the town of Limberg (in present-day Austria, and now called Maissau in Niederösterreich).

The grape itself makes medium- rather than full-bodied wines and the alcohol level rarely pushes past 13.5%, yet it lacks nothing in terms of depth and complexity when grown and vinified properly.

The grape is well placed to meet changed international demand for less alcoholic wines. It doesn’t have huge tannins; they can be rough and chunky when the wine is young, but soften into a delightfully finegrained texture after a few years.

While many Hungarian vintners are jumping on the Furmint train in the dry white category by planting and

The grape is well placed to meet changed international demand for less alcoholic wines. It doesn’t have huge tannins; they can be rough and chunky when the wine is young, but soften into a delightfully fine-grained texture after a few years. vinifying it, the same can also be said for Kékfrankos, with ever more wineries adding it to their armory.

Gyula Szabó of the Káli Kövek Winery made his first Kékfrankos in 2015, which hailed from Zánka. Káli Kövek actually

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buys in grapes from various growers and in 2017 Szabó had the opportunity to purchase grapes from two sites: one from Badacsony’s Szent György Hill (hegy) that was an “impulsive buy” according to Szabó, while the other, from Dörgicse, was the outcome of the winery’s search for Kekfrankos.

Szabó almost blended the two together but in the end decided to bottle them separately – which is a smart move as these wines nicely reflect the grape’s ability to be an articulator of terroir.

The plainly-titled Káli Kövek Kékfrankos 2017 (the one from Szent György-hegy) was harvested in the middle of September, spontaneously fermented and then aged in used barrique and five-hectoliter barrels for a year.

It has a pretty purple color of medium intensity, potpourri and silk aromas, then light and very exciting red fruit on the elegant palate. It is also great value at HUF 2,850 from Bortársaság.

The second offering, Dörgicsei Kékfrankos 2017, was picked from old vines at the end of September, and spontaneously fermented in vats, then aged in three- and five-hectoliter barrels for a year. Dörgicsei 2017 is more intense, with dried red fruit, concentrated red fruit and herbs on the nose and palate; it’s complex, yet has a nice lightness of touch, and is well worth the HUF 3,850 from Bortársaság.

Incidentally, at the Drop Shop wine bar, I also recently tasted the first Zöldveltelini (Austria’s Grüner Veltliner) that I know of from Káli Kövek and, like the pair of Kékfrankos, it was also varietally pure.

Polished Predecessors

For several years now, Szent Donát from Csopak has delighted us with Magma, which comes from grapes from the special mesoclimate and volcanic soils of the Tihany peninsula that juts out into Lake Balaton and provides prime conditions for making red wine. The Szent Donát Magma 2017 (HUF 4,150 from artizanshop.hu) lives up to its polished predecessors, yet with a welcome bit more body and substance. From 2017, St. Donát is also soon to release a fruity and floral Kékfrankos called Parcella 2017 from the vineyard directly below the winery, which has marl soils.

St. Donát’s Magma 2017 came in ninth in the Wine Lover’s Top Ten Kékfrankos blind tasting, which coincided with the grand tasting of Kékfrankos, held at Hotel Gellért on April 12.

The winning wine, Riczu Tamás Borászata’s Villányi Kékfrankos 2016, captured the deep southern region’s warmer character with black fruit with a bit of earthiness and oaky on the finish.

Also from Villány, Bock’s Kékfrankos 2017, came third. It was made by József Bock’s son Valér and pleasantly reflects his fresh and fruit-forward approach, in contrast to his father’s more oaky, tannic style.

One of my favorites in the top ten is from Vas-hegy, way out west close to the Austrian border and part of the Sopron

wine region: Imre Garger’s Kékfrankos Válogatás 2015, with its lovely grainy tannins, spicy and herby notes. It has very high alcohol (14%) for the grape, but it doesn’t stick out.

One Grape and its Offshoots Blaufränkish is the number one variety in the Mittelburgenland, where it makes many of Austria’s finest reds, and the grape is Austria’s second most planted red overall, after Zweigelt, which it parented together with the St. Laurent grape. That crossing was created by Dr. Fritz Zweigelt in 1922 at the Teaching and Research Center for Viticulture and Horticulture (LFZ) in Klosterneuburg, close to Vienna.

He was seeking to make a wine that was ready for market quicker than Kékfrankos, whose tannins take time to soften. Incidentally, Zweigelt turned out much more successful than his other crossing involving Blaufränkish, Blauburger, whose other parent is Portugieser. Blauburger does pop up as a component in some Bikavér blends, which of course have a Kéfrankos core. In Hungary, Kékfrankos is also very important for making rosé, with its natural high acidity and zesty red fruitiness making it ideal for producing the pink stuff.

www.bbj.hu

Budapest Business Journal | April 26 – may 9, 2019

PRESENTED CONTENT

Learning From the Inca’s Golden History The current exhibition of invaluable Inca gold is just the latest milestone for Zsuzsanna Oláh and JVS Group Hungary.

LEVENTE HÖRÖMPÖLI-TÓTH

The company has been behind recent highprofile exhibits such as Body, Titanic and Mummies of the World, all of which have aimed to set a new standard for educationfocused exhibitions in the country.

The latest edition of this series puts the gold heritage of the Incas on display with the support of the Peruvian government, which is making the 200th anniversary of Peru.

“We are talking about one of the most valuable gold collections of the world, and not only in the sense of weight or quality, but rather its priceless nature,” Oláh, marketing and communications director of JVS Group Hungary tells the Budapest Business Journal.

The 100 artifacts in the exhibition feature hand-made motives that can hardly be reproduced even with cutting-edge technology. According to the rmx.news website, the total value of the exhibits comes to HUF 3 billion.

Visitors have been flocking to see this unique collection since its opening on March 13 at the Komplex Event Hall (Király utca 26, in Pest’s District VI). The venue is open from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., with tickets costing from HUF 3,8004,400. Although all age groups will find something to grab their attention, interestingly it seems it is the elderly who are most fascinated.

“Under communism they learned a lot about the Inca civilization, but at the time it all seemed to be out of reach for them,” notes Oláh. “Now that they can inspect this ‘forbidden’ treasure close-up, it’s a huge thing for them.”

Golden Path

The young will also find plenty of interest. Workbooks present the Inca gold, the history of America’s European

Zsuzsanna Oláh

“We are talking about one of the most valuable gold collections of the world, and not only in the sense of weight or quality, but rather its priceless nature.” colonization and the impact of America on Europe in playful yet informative form that tells children all they need to know about the topic.

A “golden path” has even been created for the children where they are

accompanied by a little Indian who explains everything to them. Interactivity is another way to get visitors immersed in the mysteries of South American: a number of audio and visual effects complete the experience.

When you hear about Incas, Mayas or Aztecs, a rather bloody aspect of their culture often pops in mind, namely their habit of making human sacrifices.

“Indeed, this belongs to their civilization, but the exhibit builds in no way on that violent past, but rather on the artistic values of the Inca society,” Oláh explains.

Competitive Culture

A PR veteran with a diverse professional track record, she says she found peace in culture, but adds that the competition is actually fiercer than in business or politics.

“When I worked as political and business strategy advisor, I was really in the thick of it, not to mention the ten years I spent in the hotel sector as a sales executive. I reached a point in my career where I wanted things to calm down a bit, and dealing with culture is the perfect way to achieve this,” Oláh tells the BBJ. But that does not mean her role within a company organizing world class exhibitions is not without pressure (see separate story).

“You would believe that nothing beats politics and business when it comes to pressure. But actually the entertainment industry is a lot more competitive,

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Socialite | 31

Zsuzsanna Oláh Zsuzsanna Oláh started her career at the protocol section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before filling various positions in the hotel business at Intercontinental, the Marriott Group and Gerbaud in Budapest.

She left the sector as director of a four-star hotel. Later she co-founded the RedOne Event agency and became communications adviser to the Bank of China and FIFA Congress.

In 2015 she founded Felhang PR and production agency that worked for companies such as Henkel, NISZ, IKEA, TV2 and various Chinese companies. From 2017 she has been director of marketing and communications of JVS Group Hungary.

with no willingness to consult even on basic issues,” she notes.

Oláh says she finds this attitude rather counterproductive since it’s about letting Hungarian culture thrive after all. Still, being active in this segment is fully refreshing for her.

“There’s one thing I could never fall out of love with, though, and that is Chinese business,” she adds. She says she has deep-rooted business relationships with the Far Eastern country, and so she continues to act as a communications expert for the Bank of China alongside her busy culture projects.

The Inca exhibit will run till August, but she’s already preparing for the next big thing in the fall, another exhibit although she won’t divulge what it is at this stage. “All I can tell you it’s going to be extraordinary and great.”

What else would it be?

Under Pressure The organizers of the Inca exhibit have not had their task made any easier for them. A PR bomb was dropped by leading online news portal, Index.hu on the opening day. It questioned the validity of the exhibited pieces, claiming that the Peruvian museum from which they come had been known for lending falsified golden artifacts to global partners. The matter didn’t end up in court, however, after the documents evidencing the authentic origin of the objects were published by Origo. hu, another mainstream news site. Zsuzsanna Oláh suspects competitors were behind the negative campaign. “We were the first to come up with extraordinary thematic fairs, and all of a sudden all those players who had been active in concert promotion wanted a piece of the pie,” she says. “My solid track record in political and business counselling provided an invaluable basis for conflict management thanks to which the issue didn’t harm our reputation at all.”

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