A Balaton trader interviewed by G7 last month described his year: work the lake to the end of August, a short break in September, then Austria for the winter. In summer 2024, Hungarian citizens were 11.5% of everyone employed in Austrian accommodation and gastronomy, the largest foreign group in the sector. Romanians were another 3.7% and only 41.3% held an Austrian passport.
So the labour market in the first week of September may not be a whole lot easier than the summer, certainly not for long.
The people who ran the terraces at Balaton or Mamaia are back in Budapest and Bucharest, and a good share already know where they will be in a few months, when the winter season starts. You have six to ten weeks before ski resorts take your options away.
Think in shifts instead of seasons
Giggle is a Budapest platform where employers post individual shifts and workers apply for them: 160,000-plus registered users, Romania since last year. We spoke to co-founder Ádám Sebestyén.
