The current state of Technology in Hungary

Software development in Hungary contributes significantly to the country’s economy, representing about 6% of GDP. Hungary also has a large share of outsourcing within the region, with 80,100 specialists employed in the IT sector. There is a constant influx of fresh Hungarian developers in the country as about 3,000 IT students graduate annually on average in Hungary, and about 70 institutions offer IT and computing programs in Hungary, with 6 of their universities have been listed in the QS World University Rankings. Systems integration (SI) and application development represent approximately a quarter of the market, while the public, finance, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors make up around two-thirds of market revenues.

View roles in Hungary

In terms of outsourcing, Hungary is the ideal location given a number of factors. To start with, there are many well-established software development companies in Hungary that liaise with Ericsson, Philip Morris, T-Mobile, Kodak Alaris, Microsoft, Avon, McDonalds, T-Mobile

When outsourcing any services to offshore locations, it’s essential to coordinate the workflow, and that is where time zones play an important role. Considerable differences in time zones make it difficult to coordinate with the outsourcing companies. Thus, Hungary is perfectly located in a time zone that is easy to coordinate with most European countries. Those in the US will not face difficulty coordinating with software development companies in Hungary. Since the country is a member of the EU, labour rights fully comply with European standards. Importantly, this simplifies the process of hiring a Hungarian development team. Additionally, many IT professionals in Hungary speak English as well.

With regard to labour costs, compared to neighbouring countries, Hungary’s salaries are relatively high. With compliant labour standards, developers typically have positive working conditions as well. Often, these high salaries mean business owners can get a lower price for services. On the other side, In Western Europe and North America, high-quality backend and frontend software development rates start at $50/hour, even at a basic level. They can go as high as a few hundred dollars if you look for experienced developers.

An interesting factor to consider is that attrition rates are low in Hungary. Low attrition rates indicate that employees tend to stick around longer in one company, while a high attrition rate means that staff is often leaving and being replaced.

A look back on the history of technology in Hungary