Deconstructing Attitudes towards Immigrant Workers among Hungarian Employees and Higher Education Students

To preserve economic and social sustainability, countries impacted by international migration must prepare for the challenges that influx will bring to their societies, whether it be to their labor markets or their local, regional and national cultures. In essence, all areas of public life may be affected. Therefore, the exploration and recognition of the factors influencing integration, as well as the correlations behind attitudes of acceptance or rejection of the integration of immigrants, are essential. The present study contributes to the results in this field by revealing the beliefs behind the differences between groups accepting and rejecting immigrants, using a questionnaire database. Our survey sample consists of 444 Hungarian university students and 170 employees. The primary method of data analysis is binary logistic regression, completed by bivariate analyses. Our findings confirm that a positive, accepting attitude towards immigrants is more probable if an image is formed of them as being hardworking and that the work they do contributes to the economic development of the host country. Moreover, the integration of such individuals should not be seen as resulting in any unfavorable change in criminal statistics, working conditions, unemployment or discrimination. Additionally, the acceptance of immigrants as colleagues might be facilitated—in addition to their higher qualifications—by domestic (i.e., Hungarian) employees being better informed about immigration, and if immigrants occupy positions in which domestic employees are not willing to work.