The Institute for Economic and Enterprise Research - in collaboration with the Hungarian Ministry for National Economy - conducted a research on the expected demand of labour and short-term business expectations of 7550 enterprises this year.

Results show recession made a strong negative mark on the labour market during 2009. The turning-point in economic growth did not mean a turning-point in the labour market: employment rates continuously dropped during 2009 and there was only a slight increase in Q2 2010. Indicators show that business climate and anticipations of enterprises are continuously increasing since the second half of 2009 and by now they reached their pre-recession value. However, the tendency that anticipations for the near future are deteriorating reveals that the positive tendencies are very fragile and the way out of the recession might take a long time.

The results of our labour market prognosis show that anticipations of enterprises are more sanguine than last year. Export-oriented, wholly foreign-owned enterprises in the service industry are the most optimistic. The demand for labour of skilled workers and graduated professionals has increased compared to last year and a continuous demand can be anticipated for the next year as well.