Budapest’s public transportation operator, BKV, claims that wage gaps between women and men are minimal, and in some categories, the figures are even more favorable for women.
Data published for 2025 show that the average hourly wage gap is -6.8%, and the median hourly wage gap is -7.3%, which, according to the methodology used, indicates better figures for women.
The company announced that it has joined the campaign run by Amnesty International Hungary again this year to reduce the gender pay gap.
BKV is publishing, for the sixth consecutive year, indicators calculated using the methodology employed in the United Kingdom to analyze gender pay gaps.
Bonuses at similar levels
BKV data show that the proportion of employees who received bonuses is nearly identical: At the same time, the average bonus gap is -9.4%, and the median gap is -4.2%, which again indicates more favorable figures for women.
- 68.2% for men;
- 67.5% for women.
Men remain in the majority in the higher pay segments
Even though the reported pay gaps are small, the distribution across the four pay segments shows that men are in the majority in all income categories.
In the highest pay segment, women account for 29.4% of the total, and in the next segment down, only 16.2%. In the two lower segments, the share of women is 8.8% and 22.9%, respectively.
Pay system introduced in 2018
BKV attributes these results in part to the job evaluation and pay system based on the HAY model, introduced in 2018.
According to the company, this system allows all employees, regardless of gender, to have access to predictable and competitive salaries.
Women, present for over a century in Budapest’s public transport
The company notes that women’s access to certain professions in Budapest’s public transport system already has a history of over 110 years. The first women worked as attendants on vehicles during World War I, when they took over the positions left vacant by men who had gone to the front.
Later, women began working as tram conductors, and then as trolleybus drivers. In the subway, BKV has employed women since the launch of underground transit in Budapest in 1970, and here their share among drivers remains the highest to this day. Women have been working as bus drivers at BKV since 1979.
Currently, nearly one in five people among all BKV employees is a woman. They hold positions ranging from vehicle operation to administrative and technical roles, including in human resources, vehicle and infrastructure engineering, IT, legal, dispatch, and the lost and found department.
Share on:
