By Anita Komuves and Krisztina Fenyo
DUNAKESZI, Hungary (Reuters) – Nikoletta Horvath was working as a greeter in an upscale Budapest restaurant when the coronavirus pandemic hit Hungary and a national lockdown forced her employer to close down.
But after barely two weeks unemployed the boisterous 27-year-old, who spent time around horses during her childhood, found work at a stables north of the city.
Horvath got the job through Plan B, a platform set up last month by communications and events company Friends Club Hungary to match up those laid off due to the epidemic with vacancies in sectors still hiring staff.
“My schedule and my entire life were turned upside down. I used to go to work very late, now I come to the stable at 6 am,” Horvath said. “This is a huge test of how resilient I am.”
Friends Club Hungary co-founder Gyorgy Sallai launched Plan B as a free service after getting calls from friends and business partners who were made redundant or forced to sack employees.
After he found work for some, inquiries snowballed to hundreds per day and he began asking companies to send him their open positions. Plan B now has a database of around 18,000 job seekers and 8,000 vacancies.
Sallai estimates that hundreds have found jobs in sectors ranging from agricultural to logistics, food processing and the military.
“We are not an HR company… (so) we can be more flexible now than regular HR firms who are bound by contracts,” he said
“We might not be able to offer dream jobs. But people who register with us are willing to make compromises because they need to make a living.”
(Reporting by Anita Komuves and Balazs Kaufmann; editing by John Stonestreet)
