Over the past week, Telex.hu has published its second article regarding CATL’s investment in Debrecen – writes the city’s municipality in an indignant statement.
“The company has denied the claims made in both articles. Regarding the latest article about layoffs, CATL made it clear that there has been no group downsizing, and there are no plans to reduce the proportion of Hungarian workers,”
the city leadership wrote.
“The Municipality of Debrecen expects all companies settling in the city to employ qualified Hungarian labor whenever available.”
According to the statement, this principle has been fully observed in the creation of thousands of new jobs so far, with newly settled companies showing full cooperation. Continuing this trend is clearly in the city’s interest, as it helps grow Debrecen’s population with skilled individuals who are employed. Legislation has also provided legal guarantees for this process: foreign workers can only be employed if there are no qualified Hungarian candidates available.
“The Municipality of Debrecen expects CATL to fully comply with this regulation, as it is the foundation of future good cooperation. In the interest of ensuring this cooperation, we are initiating a comprehensive labor market inspection at the company through the Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office to clarify the situation,”
the statement continues.
The city also emphasized it is in contact with both the government office and CATL management. According to consistent reports, the company has not halted its Hungarian recruitment activities – in fact, it has requested expansion to neighboring counties, which directly contradicts the claims made in Telex.hu’s article.
They add that building a large corporation’s workforce of several thousand employees naturally involves both new hires and departures.
“Every Hungarian worker is important to Debrecen! Retaining them is both a stated goal and a realistic opportunity made possible by the new jobs, and both the government office and the municipality are providing the necessary support for filling these positions,”
the statement concludes.
The government’s position
At Thursday’s Government Info press conference, Minister Gergely Gulyás commented on the situation, stating that he had discussed the matter the previous day with company representatives at the Hajdú-Bihar County Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The company denied the reports, explaining that a few dozen employees left during their probation period due to performance issues.
CATL maintains its commitment to hiring Hungarian workers and says production will begin by the end of this year or early next year. No government support has been transferred to them yet, as this requires approval from the European Commission – the government spokesperson said.