'Digital Nomadism' in Hungary: new Labour Market Trends Research now available in English
Digitalisation has now permeated virtually every sphere of economic and social life - an integral part of the way businesses operate and people interact with one another. While Hungary performs relatively well (above the EU average) in some aspects critical for the digital ecosystem (such as digital infrastructure), it is lagging behind in others. More specifically, Hungary is still significantly below the EU average in terms of the digital readiness of employees and small businesses. The ratio of those with high-level and more advanced digital skills is also low.
Background & context
Shortages in the ICT sector are now one of the main obstacles ahead of the development of the digital economy in Hungary, leading to bottlenecks for multinational enterprises operating in the Hungarian market. What is more, the proportion of vacancies requiring a high level of digital readiness in the labour market is projected to increase further in demand in the coming years; while on the supply side, the number of skilled workers in digital falls short of market expectations.
As a side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses both within and outside of the ICT sector allowed employees to work remotely from their homes: a watershed moment for 'digital nomads'. This trend continued as the country started emerging from the pandemic, with a number of professionals choosing to telework for either financial or personal reasons. This added an extra layer to the shortage of digital talents in Hungary.
New research in Hungary looks at digital nomadism
The Hungarian research was conducted Századvég for the Governmental Information Technology Development Agency in the framework of the project GINOP-3.1.1-VEKOP-15 "Encouraging and supporting cooperation between educational institutions and ICT enterprises", in short "Programme your future!". Its aim? To explore the extent to which teleworking (including working as a digital nomad), has become widespread amongst Hungarian IT experts; and evaluate its impact on the ICT labour market - especially in view of employers' home office practices in the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another goal of the research was to establish the degree to which the high availability of jobs for foreign employers from home is adding to the shortage on the Hungarian labour market.
Taking stock of the past, looking to the future: research outcomes
The review of international literature and the primary research carried out within the framework of the research study, have shown that a variety of teleworking forms and arrangements (home office, digital nomadism, etc) have become increasingly widespread. At the same time, traditional office work is declining - in Hungary but also all over the world.
Looking ahead, these trends are expected to increase further: confirmed both by respondents’ expectations and stated future plans, with 93% of respondents saying they would work entirely remotely in an ideal world and only 3% preferring to work exclusively in an office environment. The spread of teleworking and digital nomadism also entails another risk in the near future: that an increasing proportion of Hungarian IT experts may choose to work abroad; thereby aggravating the ICT shortage even more.
Download the research today, translated for the first time in English by the Hungarian National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs for the Digital Skills & Jobs Platform.
Image credits: panophotograph
