Jobs in Hungary pay very little, there is no financial security or freedom, and people in the commercial and public sector are vulnerable and not respected. Another growing issue is that their workplace is neither challenging nor fulfilling. Those who hold more financial freedom often work without much affection to their responsibilities. Hungarian companies do not offer creative tasks at the workplace, instead employees work mechanically for near to nothing. Typically, the creative jobs are done in the more developed countries’ offices of Europe. This situation has created a loop of mistrust towards the more developed countries regarding the current situation. As a result, young people and skilled professionals are leaving the country to find better opportunities.

The ‘Future of Work’ Communities for Change (C4C) program offered a new narrative, bringing new solutions to develop a conscious working environment, where employees are empowered to develop themselves to the full potential of their intellectual capabilities. 16 participants, recruited from different sectors, joined the ‘Future of Work’ C4C, developing new ideas and solutions around shifting the education system, self-organizing coalition of freelancers and entrepreneurs, and new capacity-building programs for leaders who want to work differently.

In Budapest, participants chose 3 pathways to focus their energy on: 

• schooling, the early development of children and the way they are working together
• creating a self-organized team of freelancers and entrepreneurs who can help each other in a meaningful way to achieve wellbeing in their work life
• building capacity and purpose-driven leadership that wants to work in a better way

”A key insight was understanding that maybe it’s when you are so experienced that you see things in black and white, you just don’t realize you can do things in another way. We are maybe too blind to see that in fact it is easy to start doing things differently.”

“The great highlights during the journey itself happened in both the self-reflective journaling exercise and also in building trust by sharing food together. These activities really helped to shift the dynamic, individually and collectively.”