It’s a bid to stem a brain drain that saw 31,500 Hungarians leave the country last year
The Hungarian government is so concerned about the number of young Hungarians leaving the country that it is offering to fly them home and pay them to stay.
“Come home, young person!” is a new program aimed at persuading Hungarians living abroad to return to their home country.
A Hungarian government event in London on June 28 to promote the program touted its promise of a free return flight, a 100,000 forint monthly allowance (about $350) for a year, and the possibility of a job close to family, Hungary Today reports.
Szabolcs Pakozdi, managing director of Hungary’s job placement office, stressed to the audience that participants were not obligated to work in the country for a specific period of time.
The Hungarian Central Statistics Office estimates that 31,500 Hungarians left the country in 2014, a 46% increase over 2013, Reuters reports.
In total, there are thought to be 350,000 Hungarians working abroad, most of them young singles. Many profess to be uncomfortable with the country’s abrupt political shift to the right under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In response, former street artist Gergo Kovacs ran a successful crowdfunding campaign the first week of July to put up enormous posters around the country.
“If you come to Hungary,” read one, “Could you please bring a sane Prime Minister?”
Source: Time.com