2023-11-24 16:30:50
Wage development
Written by Rainer Ackermann
Not only inflation, but also the dynamics of wage growth are falling systematically.
For the month of September, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) calculated an increase in gross wages of an average of 14% compared to the previous year. This means that there has already been a loss of almost four percentage points compared to the peak of wage dynamics in May. The percentage decline is also reflected in the absolute figures: in the ninth month, the statisticians calculated gross wages for full-time employees to average 558,000 forints per month. That’s not more than what was determined in July, but there is a lack of 10-20,000 forints in the spring months.
Median bei 450.000 Forint
The ICT sector is currently at the forefront again at KSH, where average gross wages are expected to reach 890,000 forints. The financial sector has caught up closely, with the energy sector following with an average gross of 750,000 forints. Researchers, university lecturers, engineers, employees in administration and health care as well as in the manufacturing sector are also paid above the standard of the national economy.
The KSH calculated the median wage for September at 450,000 forints gross. Real wages rose by 1.7% after inflation fell to 12.2%. Analysts point to the fact that employees only notice this trend reversal in real life once the next wage increase has occurred. As is well known, the minimum wage will increase by 15% from December, and the guaranteed minimum wage for skilled workers will increase by 10%. The economics department is urging companies in the competitive sphere to reflect this dynamic according to their possibilities.
Does everyone pay 10% more?
In 2022, real wages rose by an average of 5%, but in the second half of the year they were already declining – so the exact opposite trend is currently unfolding. Realistically speaking, the purchasing power of wages is now a tenth more modest than it was a year and a half ago, in the context of the parliamentary elections. If real wages are to rise by 4-5% in 2024, as the Minister of Economic Affairs would like, companies would have to raise wages of at least 10% based on the average inflation expected at 6%.
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