In 2025, employee mobility is no longer a trend, it is reality. HR leaders in Hungary are facing increasing pressure. Talent is scarce, expectations are shifting, and companies that once relied on loyalty are learning that loyalty must be earned and nurtured.

Retention today isn’t just about keeping positions filled. It’s about keeping people engaged, aligned, and emotionally connected to their organization’s purpose. According to fresh data from employers across Hungary, that connection is weakening.

This article highlights three strategic blind spots revealed in the regional wherewework survey and what HR teams can do now to build more resilient, people-first companies.

Mistake #1: Treating compensation as just a cost

In the wherewework survey, 43.0% of employers in Hungary say that salary and benefits are their main motivational lever. That shows awareness, but implementation remains inconsistent.

Only 10.1% of companies have recently increased their benefits budget, and 13.3% have introduced new benefits. Meanwhile, 25.3% of employers offer no benefits at all beyond salary. This leaves many employees without the recognition and support they need to feel valued.

If compensation is treated as a static expense instead of a signal of appreciation, retention starts to erode from day one.

Mistake #2: Underestimating professional development

Just 29.1% of employers in Hungary say they include training and development in their employee offer. That means over 70% are not integrating growth into their retention strategy.

Employees are no longer looking only for stability. They want growth, learning, and a clear path forward. Without it, long-term commitment fades.

And it’s showing: 74% of employees in Hungary are open to changing jobs, and 29% are actively looking. Development isn’t a perk. It’s a minimum expectation.

Mistake #3: Listening without structure

15.8% of employers in Hungary say they rely on informal feedback to understand what employees need. While this can be insightful, it is rarely consistent, measurable, or scalable.

Without structured feedback systems, companies may miss the early signs of disengagement, not due to a lack of care, but due to a lack of tools.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with salary and benefits remains high, and readiness to leave is climbing. The signs are there. The real question is whether companies are listening closely enough.

The insights in this article are grounded in data from the Regional Survey: Salaries & Benefits – Balancing Expectations and Offers, conducted between April and June 2025 across Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, and Republic of Moldova. With a total of 9,888 responses, including 990 employers and 8,898 employees, the study offers a deep, comparative look at how compensation and benefits are perceived and misaligned across the region.

Solutions That Work: Tools for HR Leaders from wherewework

At wherewework, we believe retention isn’t guesswork. It’s strategy, built on data. The platform provides HR teams with specialized tools designed to bridge the gap between perception and reality:

1. Employer Branding

Build trust both internally and externally with authentic reputation management. Anonymous employee reviews offer honest insights into company culture, allowing recruitment and retention to be based on truth, not assumptions.

2. HR Analytics Dashboard

See what matters before it escalates. This tool helps HR leaders track internal sentiment, detect early signs of disengagement, and measure the impact of policy decisions.

3. Salary Benchmarking Tool

Provides up-to-date salary ranges for specific roles and industries, helping companies stay competitive and reduce offer rejections due to misaligned expectations.

These tools aren’t just practical, they’re essential for companies that want to build sustainable, people-centered strategies.

Final Thought

Retention is no longer a reactive HR function. It’s a proactive business imperative. The data shows Hungarian employers know where the pain points are: unsatisfying salaries, lack of growth, and unheard employee feedback.

The good news? These are all fixable problems for those who are willing to treat retention as strategy, not a checkbox.

In 2025, talent won’t wait. They are informed, mobile, and aware of their worth. HR’s role is not just to stop them from leaving, but to give them a reason to stay.