Foreword by the Editor

eportings of shortage. Complaints from enterprises of labour shortage have become more frequent and the number of vacancies reported to the employment service as well as the shortage recorded in the enterprise surveys have been increasing in Hungary since 2013. Hungary is one of leading countries in Europe at present in terms of complaints about shortage. Nevertheless, reportings of labour shortage should be treated with caution, since complaints are driven by interests. It is of no consequence for enterprises if they report recruitment intentions that do not materialise later. The type of questions such as “How many persons are lacking at your company?” do not specify the wage levels firms are willing to pay for the lacking people. Reportings of shortage are oversensitive: their values change to an extremely large extent as a result of minor changes in labour demand. Growing recruitment difficulties are accompanied by a faster labour turnover; complaints multiply and appear at several points of the vacancy chain. In spite of these distortions, complaints about recruitment difficulties remain an important social fact.