What do companies gain from membership in your organisation, and what are the services that you are most proud of?

The Confederation of Hungarian Employers and Industrialists (MGYOSZ), founded in 1902, has the mission of representing the interests of Hungarian economical actors. Our Confederation represents over 60% of industry, trade, and services in the private sector, in terms of the amount of invested capita, turnover and number of employees. MGYOSZ brings together 6,000 mid-sized and large companies, as well as nearly 60 professional, regional and county-based organisations. As the largest organisation of Hungarian employers, our top priority is to represent the interests of companies in negotiations with the government and labour unions. It is for this purpose that we take part in the work of the main Hungarian consultation forums. MGYOSZ continuously represents employers in the following areas: economic policies promoting competitiveness and development, international relations, research, innovation, education, as well as social and labour affairs. We often organise professional events for our member companies and associations to enable employers to meet with the main representatives of Hungary’s economic and political scene.”

What is the ‘hottest topic’ in 2017 from an economic standpoint?

Currently, the lack of skilled workers, and what to do about it are the most pressing issues in the Hungarian economy. According to our estimates, Hungary has a shortage of tens of thousands of skilled workers. An important component of countering this shortage is the transformation of the vocational training system. To this end, we are organising a series of nationwide events to take place in the autumn, where we will listen to the concerns of stakeholders and summarise our findings. Our aim is to find an effective solution to this serious problem with the involvement of stakeholders.

What key skills and qualities does a mid-sized business need to grow into a large company?

In my opinion, only mid-sized businesses that lay a great emphasis on research and development, and invest a significant part of their company’s profits into RDI, can grow into large companies. In a country the size of Hungary, a business cannot achieve sufficient growth just by producing for the domestic markets, which means expanding into the export market is normally essential for becoming a large company. Successful large companies also focus heavily on recruiting high-quality workforce, retaining and motivating employees with the right skills, and selecting managers. In addition, they use professional corporate governance systems to improve their efficiency, and – at the end of the day – their competitiveness as well.

According to MGYOSZ’s analysis, what does a company that is eligible for going public look like?

In a recent study, we have reviewed companies with over 20 employees, a majority Hungarian ownership, and a certain minimum turnover. We concluded that currently, there are over 200 companies in our country that would be able to meet the criteria for going public. Together, these companies generate a turnover of over HUF 1,000 billion and a profit of 8 to 10% in proportion to their revenues. What all these companies have in common is having a higher and steadier than average growth rate and a lower than average level of indebtedness.