2026. The cost of living remains high, the pace of change in the labor market is accelerating, and artificial intelligence is beginning to influence professional roles and responsibilities more visibly.

In this context, wherewework conducted an opinion survey across five Central and Eastern European countries (Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece, and Hungary) to understand how employees relate to their salaries, how secure they feel professionally, and how they perceive the impact of AI on their work.

Here is what the results revealed:

62% of Hungarian Employees Say Their Purchasing Power Has Declined – “Just Pay Us More” Attitude Is Growing Stronger

Hungarian employees strongly sense growing financial and existential uncertainty: 62% report declining purchasing power, 52% are dissatisfied with their salary, while 43% do not feel secure in their current position over the next 12 months. At the same time, the survey also shows that most respondents in Hungary do not see AI as a threat to job security, but rather as a technology that can improve work efficiency.

The latest regional survey by the employer transparency and employee feedback-based career platform wherewework examined the financial situation, salary satisfaction, job security, job-switching intentions, and attitudes toward AI among employees across five markets: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Moldova. Conducted in April 2026, the research aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of how employees in the region perceive their current labor market situation in an economically uncertain and rapidly evolving technological environment.

The Hungarian results indicate that a significant share of employees feel their salaries are no longer keeping pace with rising living costs. According to the survey, 47% of respondents believe they are not fairly compensated for the work they do, while 52% consider their salary to be below market level. Nearly 40% of respondents said they would need at least an 11–20% salary increase to consider their compensation fairer, while another 29% would expect a 21–30% increase. The findings suggest that most respondents are not necessarily expecting extraordinary salary growth, but rather want their income to once again keep pace with everyday living costs and the inflationary impact of recent years.

The research also shows that a significant portion of respondents experienced worsening financial conditions and declining purchasing power over the past 12 months. According to the survey, nearly one-third of respondents said their salary is only enough to cover basic expenses or not even that while another 40% can maintain an acceptable standard of living only through careful spending. The biggest source of financial pressure is the rising cost of living: 36% said salaries have failed to keep pace with inflation, while 27% identified increasing everyday expenses as their main concern. The responses also highlight a strong sense of economic uncertainty, with nearly one in five respondents naming it as their primary source of financial stress. Open-ended responses frequently reflected the feeling that increasing workloads and responsibilities are not accompanied by meaningful financial progress.

The survey also strongly highlights the issue of regional salary disparities and the growing importance of flexibility. Currently, 19% of respondents consider flexible working arrangements or remote work the most important benefit, the highest share among all listed options. Based on open-ended responses, this is no longer viewed merely as a matter of convenience, but increasingly as a tool for economic adaptation: several respondents noted that in Eastern Hungary or rural areas, significantly lower salaries are available for the same work, even though living costs are becoming less differentiated across regions of the country. Several respondents specifically mentioned that the same position in Budapest or Western Hungary could offer salaries up to 50% higher, making hybrid work and flexibility increasingly a financial and quality-of-life issue.

Alongside growing financial uncertainty, Hungarian employees appear to have a surprisingly pragmatic attitude toward AI. According to the survey, 26% of respondents believe AI will help them work more efficiently, while another 23% expect the technology to transform part of their responsibilities. In contrast, only 12% feel that AI could make their current role more vulnerable. The findings suggest that most employees do not perceive the technology as a direct existential threat, but rather as a tool that can improve productivity or reshape certain aspects of daily work.

Job-switching intentions also remain high: 26% of respondents are actively looking for a new job, while another 36% would consider changing jobs if they received the right offer. The strongest motivation for changing jobs is clearly higher salary, with 57% naming it as their primary factor. At the same time, one of the strongest HR and employer branding messages emerging from the research is that Hungarian employees are increasingly vocal about the fact that benefits alone are no longer enough. Specifically, 14% of respondents stated that benefits are less important to them than salary itself the highest ratio across the entire regional study.

“The research clearly shows that Hungarian employees today are much more sensitive to the real value of salaries and the rising cost of living. From the perspective of employer transparency, this is an important signal, as employees are becoming increasingly open about what they consider real value in a workplace: predictable compensation, flexibility, and long-term stability. We believe that this type of feedback can not only provide employers with a more accurate understanding of employee expectations, but also contribute to creating a more transparent and balanced labor market environment” – said Costin Tudor, CEO of the wherewework Group.

The study found that employees across the surveyed markets expressed many similar concerns regarding salaries, living costs, and workplace uncertainty, although Hungary stood out in several aspects within the regional comparison. Nearly one in five Hungarian respondents (19%) currently consider flexible work arrangements the most important benefit, a higher ratio than in Romania (13%), Bulgaria (12%), Greece (15%), or Moldova (11%). At the same time, AI-related anxiety was lower in Hungary than in several other markets surveyed: while 12% of Hungarian respondents felt their role had become more vulnerable because of AI, the figure reached 18% in Bulgaria and 17% in Romania.

The full study, with detailed data on salary satisfaction, professional security, and employees’ perceptions of the impact of AI across the five countries analyzed, is available in the complete report: HERE.

The results show a labor market shaped less by dramatic fears and more by pragmatic expectations. Employees are asking for salaries that reflect the real cost of living, flexibility that supports both financial and personal balance, and a clearer sense of stability in a changing work environment. For employers, the challenge is no longer only to offer benefits or adapt to new technologies, but to understand what employees now define as real workplace value: predictable compensation, transparency, flexibility, and trust.