99 percent of the grants awarded, a total of about 50 billion Ft, have come to the accounts of companies facing difficulties due to the Coronavirus. So far, companies that have had to at least partially suspend their activities in the event of a pandemic have asked for help in retaining their 117,000 employees in the Sector Wage Support Program, and Sandor Bodo, Minister of State responsible for employment policy at the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, MTI said Wednesday.
In order to speed up the payments, he explained, the granted grants reach the companies in the form of an advance. In parallel with the emergency measures in place from Monday, support has been expanded to include additional sectors. (Here we wrote more about expanding the program and the sectors involved >>) So the government made it possible to protect the jobs of another 100,000 workers. In their case, you can apply for wage support as early as March’s wages, until the end of the month, the foreign minister has indicated.
Under the program, half of the subsidized employee’s salary is compensated up to one and a half times the current minimum wage. The state also waives contributions, so it covers about two-thirds of wages in order to keep companies up and running, keep jobs, and retain skilled professionals.
According to the Secretary of State, 44 percent of firms are small, 31 percent are micro, 19 percent are medium, and 6 percent are large. Nearly 60 percent of beneficiaries work in the hospitality sector, and more than 14 percent in the accommodation services sector. Most of the employees in the capital’s counties of Pest, Győr-Moson-Sopron and Veszprém have come forward for support.
