Hungary: Flexibility or security for Europe’s labour market?

From time to time magic words appear to describe specific notions. Flexicurity is one of these, a fusion of flexibility and security, and the current trend in European employment policy is to speak of it as often as possible.

Employment Week's 14th edition was organised in Brussels on the 5th and 6th of June 2007. Public institutions (from both the ministries and European municipalities) from Member States as well as different companies and NGOs attended to present their work and projects. Most had international backing and for the most part financed with EU funds, Equal being the most popular source of funding. Hungary, represented by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, made their presence at the event felt with their own stand for the 5th consecutive year since 2002.

Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for Employment highlighted that an increasing competition on the labour market as well as the relationship of trust between employers and employees must be preserved. David Arkless Vice President of the international employment service provider Manpower shared his view that European societies should change their habits and employ more of their aging population. This is said to be one of the preconditions if we are to successfully compete with the developing economies of China and India.

Hungary is just about to introduce a new government programme called Start Extra in July that gives tax breaks to companies who employ people over the age of 50. Another scheme, Start Plus, also will give tax breaks but this time to parents with small children. These two schemes reflect a distinctive feature of Hungary's approach to employment – the necessity to close the generation gap under the slogan Young and old are both needed.

But what is flexicurity? The word describes an optimal situation on the labour market where flexibility – that is required from both employers and employees, the former by considering the needs of the employee and the latter by adapting to changing conditions – is combined with security. These seemingly contradory notions can work together. Mr Gábor Csizmár, state secretary of the Hungarian employment ministry, expressed this view in a Hungarian seminar on employment issues held on the 7th of June in the building of the European Economic and Social Committee. He said that first of all some of the traditional barriers to employment have to be brought down and gave the example of what is meant by security. The security of the actual workplace is not the issue, but the security of employment in general. In other words the security of knowing more or less ? for sure that she/he will be able to find a suitable job.