The Hungarian government is imposing stricter restrictions on employment opportunities for guest workers; effective today, staffing agencies will no longer be able to use the expedited procedure to recruit workers from the Philippines, Georgia, and Armenia, government spokesperson Vanda Szondi announced Friday morning at a press conference. Those who are already in Hungary may request an extension of their work permits; already submitted applications will be considered pending and will be processed.The Tisza Party originally promised to end the recruitment of guest workers at the beginning of the week, as of 1 June. The party’s program stated that “as of 1 June, 2026, we will suspend the recruitment of guest workers from outside Europe, and we will help Hungarians who have been pushed out of the labor market to find work and earn higher wages.” However, the ban did not take effect on 1 June: Vanda Szondi previously stated that they were still working on setting up the system, and that their goal was to ensure that Hungarian workers could find jobs in large industrial companies, while allowing foreigners to continue to work in sectors where the employment of guest workers is essential.There are currently 24 categories under which foreigners can work in Hungary, and these are scattered across various ministries, which is why at present there is no precise data on how many foreign workers are employed in the country. This is a complex situation, so it won’t be resolved overnight, the government spokesperson added, but a review is currently underway.In response to a question from G7, employment organizations, recruitment firms, and experts noted that several domestic sectors would be severely impacted if they were unable to hire new guest workers. Due to the promised ban on recruiting guest workers, several companies began early recruitment in the first half of the year in non-EU countries, Hrportal.hu reported previously.According to data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH), there were 4.62 million people employed in April in Hungary, which means that there were approximately 100,000 fewer people working than two years earlier, in April 2024.For more quick, accurate and impartial news from and about Hungary, subscribe to the Telex English newsletter!Állítsd be a Telexet megbízható forrásnak!Latest