With its capital city Budapest regarded as the pearl of the Danube, Hungary is a thriving and up and coming move-to destination. Perhaps what holds one back from making the move is the lack of job prospects when one doesn't speak any Hungarian?
Not to worry, we’re here to bust this myth and let you know it is still possible to get an English speaking job! Since joining the EU, Hungary had an influx of international companies setting up business operations, and so we at the female factor set out on a mission to find the best companies to work for in Hungary as an expat.
Expats have a different set of criteria when looking for a job and it’s not just limited to language. The list of criteria we used to select and rank these expat-friendly companies includes:
Recruitment process
Does the company advertise jobs, accept applications and conduct interviews in English? Do they also provide help with necessary bureaucratic documentation to ease the process?
International culture
Does the company celebrate and promote its international culture? What does the ratio of expat/ international to native employees look like?
Company language
Does the company use English as their working language? Or is internal communication and documents also available in English or more languages?
Flexible working location
Are remote working options available to accommodate expats who may wish to visit home more often and work from there?
Company mission and vision statement
Does the company have any diversity related goals? Is their company vision statement centred around diversity? Do they celebrate and prioritise diversity as their mission?
Here is the list of the top 10 expat-friendly companies to work for in Hungary:
1. Publicis Groupe Hungary
Marketing/ Promotion
Founded in 1926, Publicis Groupe is the third largest communications group in the world, attributing their powerful blend of creativity and technology to their success. They believe that diversity goes hand in hand with inspiration, opportunity and freedom. With over 260 colleagues from around the world, they have a very diverse team. They celebrate this by hosting various team events and encourage their teams to learn a little bit of each other’s native language at their ‘thirsty Thursdays’ events. They’re extremely open to recruiting from around the world and employees are fully supported with the bureaucracy process and will help you get the working visa that you need.
2. Puzl CowOrKing
Coworking office provider
Founded in 2015 originally creating custom-made 300kg wooden desks, this startup turned its own journey of struggling to find a suitable office space into their main line of business. They offer coworking space exclusively to IT companies and have been voted the best coworking space in the CEE twice. They’re growing rapidly and have had a 50% increase in growth each year. Working at Puzl CowOrking one can expect to have no fancy titles, team leaders instead of bosses and a great deal of freedom within your team and setting your work.
3. Schneider Electric
Consumer Goods/ Electronics
Operating in the energy sector, Schneider Electric is driving digital transformation by integrating world leading process and energy technologies. Diversity is something that is taken seriously at Schneider Electric and they have the awards to prove it. This includes the 2022 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and also the Financial Times Diversity Leader 2022. With currently 42% of Schneider Electric employees being women, they are also particularly friendly for women.
4. Prezi
Software
Founded in Budapest in 2009, Prezi makes virtual presentation tools. As the hybrid workplace emerged so did their latest product Prezi Video, the first and only tool that creates professional video presentations which work in live video conferences or recorded, shareable videos. With a product that is used in every country of the world, Prezi also offers an international vibe internally with over 300 employees worldwide. Whilst having offices in Berlin, Budapest, Riga and San Francisco, they regard themselves as a virtual first company. That means employees have the flexibility to work remotely and for their European offices- they’ll hire anyone situated within Europe. At Prezi, employees are free to organise their own day, including their working hours and location.
5. SAP
Information Technology
SAP is a cloud company with an aim to future proof their customers’ businesses and build systems that provide a foundation for growth and innovation. Their mission is to make the world run better and improve people’s lives, which translates into the lives of their employees too. Their culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being and flexible working models helps ensure everyone, regardless of their background, feels included and can function at their best. They realise the strength their team’s individual capabilities and qualities bring to their business and in return invests in their employees to ensure the acceleration of their own individual career goals.
6. Bosch
Consumer Services
Present in Hungary with their products since 1898, Bosch is one of Hungary’s largest foreign industrial employers with over 15,500 associates and 8 subsidiaries. In addition to their manufacturing, commercial and development business, Bosch has a network of sales and service operations that covers the entire country. As a global company, they feature many ways of working with an option of both a global corporate culture or a start-up spirit, all types of people find a place that suits them at Bosch. With a focus on employee growth and developing the ‘whole you’ rather than the ‘9-5 you’, multiple career paths and a vast range of free or company funded training courses are available at Bosch, which makes working there truly be #likeaBosch.
7. Wise
Investment Banking
Launched in 2011, with the vision to make international money transfers cheap, fair and simple; today Wise offers a multi-currency account to help customers and businesses manage their money across the globe in over 50 currencies. With an international reach comes an international team, with employees from over 90 nationalities. Not only offering a very cool office space in Budapest, there is also the option to work remotely or even abroad for up to 3 months a year with an additional 6 week sabbatical leave and generous expenditure after 4 years at the company. As well as a monthly cultural celebration where they get together to learn from each other’s culture, they have various other internal communities that celebrate diversity such as WiseWomen, Disability at Wise, BlackWisers and Wise Parents and Carers.
8. TCS
Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services are global leaders in IT services, digital and business solutions. They operate on a global scale with a diverse talent base of 556,986 associates, including 36% women, representing 156 nationalities across 46 countries. They focus on providing holistic long term careers based on continuous learning, ranging from paid courses to free language courses, a great initiative for expat employees who want to learn some Hungarian. They have also won the Global Top Employer award by the Top Employers Institute, one of eight organisations worldwide to achieve this status.
9. Grundfos
Water Solutions
Grundfos is a global water technology company committed to pioneering solutions to the world’s water and climate challenges and improving people’s quality of life. With offices in 55 countries and over 19,000 employees, a career at Grundfos can take you to many different countries if you wish to. Welcoming difference, Grundfos’ internal culture celebrates its diverse nationalities and cultural heritages. Teams have flexibility in their set up and colleagues have the room to plan their own week. DEI goals play a key role at Grundfos and they have set five themes to drive themselves towards an even more diverse workplace. They include; leadership commitment, inclusive culture, advancement and recruiting of women, early career development and reduced work capacity/ special needs representation.
10. Liferay
Software
Founded by a few software engineers, a stay at home mum and a to-be attorney surrounded by mismatched, donated furniture in a local church they have grown to over 1200 employees in 19 locations around the world. Their aim is to create useful technology that benefits their clients and allows them to reach their full potential. Employees at Liferay benefit from a fully flexible schedule, 5 days off to volunteer at charities they’re passionate about and a flexible approach to work style that includes 60% daily work, 20% helping each other and 20% learning time with near zero administration. They also won the Kincentric “Best Employer” prize in 2020.
Ready to find an expat-friendly job in Hungary? Check out these hand-picked opportunities here.
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