The Regional Waste Management Centre in Pusztazámor is a veritable stork colony, with more than 20 pairs of storks nesting there this year. Now, the site is safer for the birds after E.ON’s replacing of the overhead lines there with underground cables. The investment also benefits the large-bodied guests of the special feeding and nesting site, the protected white storks and other birds.

Seagulls, crows, bee-eaters, kestrels, sand martins as well as numerous white storks feed and nest at the Pusztazámor Waste Treatment Plant, the country’s largest landfill. The 55-hectare facility on the outskirts of Budapest has been a harbour for birds since it opened, offering them a banquet all year long. Even the particularly rare black stork is seen occasionally there, showing how this secure food source is even more attractive than their original home in the undisturbed floodplain forests, especially during drought periods.

The landfill site’s natural characteristics were apparent from the first stork nests that appeared in its first year of operation. Today, the extensive meadows and wetlands, fish ponds and the proximity of the Danube and several canals make the Zámor deposit a unique habitat within Europe, rich in species. Last year, 24 pairs of white storks nested on the tops of utility poles and compost heaps, resulting in more than 60 chicks being raised by the pairs. The national park’s experts tag the hatchlings each summer. During the flocking period before the autumn migration, up to 200 storks stay on the site at a time, and some even spend the winter in Pusztazámor. As for the other bird species, sometimes 2-3,000 black-headed gulls feed in the area at the same time, and large flocks of rooks and jackdaws also arrive in autumn and winter.

Medium-voltage power lines there were the only thing that prevented larger birds from flying in and out. Following E.ON’s investment this spring, only underground cables are now present in the area with the greatest level of bird activity.

E.ON experts, in cooperation with the Danube-Ipoly National Park Directorate, paid special attention to the interests of birds during construction. The power lines’ cross supports were left in place to serve as nesting and perching sites for the storks. The gesture of deliberately clearing out the wires in March (before nesting) seems to have been appreciated, as the cross supports, now a safe place to brood and raise young, have been invariably occupied by pairs of storks. The development also benefits people living in the area, who will no longer experience frequent power cuts caused by the nesting activity of storks, due to branches falling on the power lines. The supply of power to the area will be more stable and reliable, also a boon for the landfill’s operation.

SPAR Hungary is installing comfortable and secure bicycle racks at newly opened stores, also focusing on this feature when modernising existing stores. Based on recommendations of the Hungarian Cyclist Club (Magyar Kerékpárosklub) on bicycle-parking facilities, 17 SPAR stores are already using the easy-to-install solution.

“SPAR Hungary implements significant investments every year, opening new stores and renewing existing ones. When planning each of the developments, we take into account a very wide range of factors, from the design of the stores to their accessibility. In recent years, we’ve seen more and more people coming shopping by bicycle. We would like to offer them a convenient and secure way to park their bikes. The Hungarian Cyclist Club contributed greatly with recommendations that we have taken into account in the design of the bicycle racks in the parking lots of stores and next to the buildings,” explained Márk Maczelka, head of communications at SPAR Hungary.

The Hungarian Cyclist Club was founded in 2002 as a non-governmental organisation and it now has more than 2000 members nationwide. Their main goal is to promote cycling in Hungary and to create a culture of bicycle use. The organisation is an important stakeholder in public life, providing professional assistance in the preparation of relevant government decisions and contributing to design works and the implementation of plans. Its working group on transport development, cycling infrastructure planning and cycle storage facilities includes transport and civil engineers with design qualifications.

“It is clear that SPAR cares about customers arriving on bicycle, as it has installed the bicycle racks at its stores and provided a systemic response to our feedback by switching to more practical and convenient, lockable supports. It is an important goal of our organisation to make our towns and cities suitable for cycling, and for this not only access but also storage is an important condition”, explained Gábor Kürti, president of the Hungarian Cyclist Club.

SPAR Hungary staff initiated an exchange of experience with experts of the Club last August. As a result of the consultation and discussions, the recommendations of the NGO were fully accepted by the company. Since then, the number of SPAR stores where customers arriving with their bicycles can find bicycle racks complying with the recommendations is steadily increasing. There are already 17 SPAR stores with the recommended bike support, and this number is going to continue to increase in the future.

The most proven rack type, recommended by cycling organisations, is the so-called support frame, also referred to professionally as the “Sheffield stand”. It is simple to install, inexpensive, yet perfectly suited to the purpose, allowing the bicycle to be quickly and conveniently positioned and securely fixed to either the frame or the wheels, and it is also supports bikes with a basket or child seat.

On 25 April 2024, for the 11th time, the winners of the Randstad Award for Hungary were announced at a gala event in the Várkert Bazaar. LEGO was named the most attractive employer, while BT and Mercedes-Benz defended their second and third place positions from last year.

Libri, the Hungarian National Bank, MOL, Novartis, Accent Hotels, Coca-Cola, Szerencsejáték Zrt., Magyar Telekom, Wizz Air, Lufthansa Systems and KÉSZ Group won special awards in their respective sectors. The best known employer was Aldi.

What do Hungarian workers want most?

According to recent Employer Brand research by Randstad, attractive wages and benefits packages will remain the top priority for Hungarian employees in 2024 in terms of job choice preferences. They also put a high value on a pleasant work atmosphere, how they experience everyday life in the workplace environment, and how they relate to their colleagues and managers. The financial stability of the employer, where the job is long term, where there is no fear of redundancy and where there is the possibility of achieving a work-life balance, is also a major factor – the value of the latter has increased compared to two years ago.

Compared to last year, the top preferences of Hungarian workers and even their ranking remained the same, however, the survey also showed that the importance of these aspects is significantly higher among Hungarian workers compared to the European average. In particular, there is a striking difference in the degree of expectation for an attractive salary and benefits package, a pleasant working atmosphere and the financial stability of the employer.

“Unfortunately, all this shows that these motivators are still not self-evident in our country, and employees have to constantly reiterate what they want when setting their expectations,” said Sándor Baja, Managing Director of Randstad.

Different needs by gender and education level

The top 5 driving factors for choosing a job are the same for both sexes, but for reasons that go back to our social context, some attributes show significant differences between the expectations of women and men. Convenience and accessibility of the workplace and the possibility to remote work/home office are more important for women than for men, and equality of opportunities is also a priority for women.

To learn more about the expectations of employees, most attractive sectors and the mobility among Hungarian employees download the Randstad Employer Brand Research Country report:

https://www.randstad.hu/workforce-insights/employer-branding/lego-bt-mercedes-benz-a-legvonzobb-hazai-munkaadok-2024/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=20240529-contentB2B-&utm_content=REBR