Analysis of Academic Salaries in National Economy

Abstract

Hungary - as a member in the European Higher Education Area - has to keep up with the globalization process. The higher educational system is currently undergoing a transformation. The background of this transformation is to keep up with the trends present in a knowledge-based society and economy. In this process Human Resource Management (HRM) plays an integral role. OECD recommendation for the countries preparing for these changes is to study the practices in countries that already underwent this modernization process.
In the 2014-2020 time period two of the seven interventions of the Human Resource Development Operational Programme aim at the higher educational system. One of the policies is to improve the standard of higher education, the other is to increase the quantity and quality of new employees in higher educational institutions, as well as in research and development.
The salaries in the Hungarian higher educational system are still at the level of year 2008. The real value of salaries decreases year by year, which is detrimental to the quality of higher education. Competitive labour force can be trained only with quality education, quality education requires availability of financial resources and efficient human resource management, which includes the competitive salary, evaluation of performance, and performance-based pay.
The aim of this essay is to highlight the necessity of the modernization process by analysis of the academic salaries in the Hungarian higher educational system in different aspects. By the modernization of salaries in the higher educational system in the United Kingdom, we can gain insight into how salaries relate to that country's national economy.