The programme is expected to support the placement of at least 77,000 people in jobs, including 50,000 or more disadvantaged Hungarians, Nagy said.

The government aims to tap Hungary’s 300,000-strong labour market reserve, he added. The European Union-funded scheme targets jobseekers and inactive Hungarians over 30 with subsidies for wages, the cost of commuting or accommodations, and training.

The government aims to increase the employment rate in the 20-64 age group to 85% by 2030 from the current 81%, Nagy said.

Hungary, he said, had one of the highest employment rates and lowest jobless rates in the EU, but the government wanted to improve these indicators further.

He said the aim was to get the economically inactive to enter the job market, adding that guest workers could be brought in once the existing labour reserves were exhausted.

Nagy said 40,000 jobseekers from the 300,000-strong reserve could be brought into the labour force in the short term, while another 50,000 had a good chance of finding jobs if they received training.

Around 60,000 of the economically inactive could be motivated to work, and 150,000 are in need of more complex assistance and training, the minister said.

From Hungary Matters: Gov’t Official: HUF 150 Bn Employment Scheme Launched

A 150 billion forint (EUR 390m) employment support scheme aimed to help job-seekers over the age of 30 is available from Thursday, the state secretary in charge of employment policy said.

Sándor Czomba told public television M1 that the scheme is expected to reach out to 77,000 people, to support 50,000, and to involve 23,000 in training.

There are 120,000 inactive Hungarians who could hold a job, and the number of registered jobseekers is around 230,000, he added.

The scheme has five elements: wage subsidy available up to a monthly 250,000 forints, accommodation subsidy up to a monthly 186,000 forints, travel subsidy for commuting, training subsidy, and services to assist people to become mentally prepared to return to work after a lengthy period of unemployment.

The target group are the long-term unemployed, people living in underdeveloped regions, those aged over 50 and those that hold only primary education, he said.

Subsidies will be available for six months for disadvantaged people and four months for those without a disadvantage.

Czomba said the employment rate among 20 to 60 year-olds in Hungary is 81%, which is the seventh best in the European Union.

The aim is to increase it to 85%, to be in the top three in the EU, he added.

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