South Korea’s Bumchun received several billion forints in state aid on the grounds that it would create jobs, but the company has now decided to get rid of dozens of temporary Hungarian workers, reportedly in order to hire Vietnamese workers instead.

Those dismissed are in a difficult situation, as the factory is in Nograd county, which has the highest unemployment rate in the country.

Around 60 Hungarian workers have been dismissed from the Salgotarjan plant of Bumchun Precision Hungary since December.

The company manufactures parts for electric car batteries and has been active in Hungary since 2020.

The dismissed workers were primarily engaged in training and were typically not the company’s own employees, but were employed through recruitment agencies.

The downsizing took place after a significant number of Vietnamese guest workers arrived at Bumchun at the end of last year, who were trained by the dismissed Hungarian workers, for example, to work as machine operators and machine loaders.

The Vietnamese workers are already working in place of the Hungarians who lost their jobs, website 24 learned from several sources.

One of those dismissed told 24 that they were offered a choice of leaving by mutual consent or unilateral termination by the employer.

The Economy Ministry ordered an inquiry. It said the cut in personnel was effected due to a temporary cut in production and both the number of employees and the level of production could return to earlier levels in the spring.

The ministry emphasised that under the current regulations the employment of foreign labour is permitted only if no Hungarians can be hired to fill the vacant positions.

In remarks to Index, state secretary for employment policy Sandor Czomba intoned that the government protects families and Hungarian jobs. He said that is why Hungarians must take priority in every case when filling available jobs.

He said what happened at Bumchun is not typical and the government will use every means at its disposal to make sure that no similar cases can occur.

An immediate inquiry is launched in every case when it is suspected that a company is hiring foreigners instead of Hungarian labour, he added.

MTI Photo: Balázs Mohai

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