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This article examines how employees in the private sector in Hungary succeeded in grouping together to form a “socio-professional category” recognised by the state. At the end of the 19th century, the industrial revolution and the development of written culture led to a sizeable increase in the number of employees, who mobilised to achieve social recognition for their social category. Nevertheless, there was opposition among the employee associations concerning the criteria used to define this social category. Whereas the liberals militated in favour of obtaining a status comparable to that of civil servants, the social-democrats considered the employees as members of the “working class” struggling against the “bourgeoisie”. The revolution of 1918 and the establishment of the Republic brought the social-democrats to power. Their efforts to incorporate all employees into a single social class failed, however. In the end, the new state allowed private-sector employees to form a “corps”, granting them a status similar to that of civil servants. The role played by the social-democrats in this process explains why Hungarian employees, unlike their German counterparts between the wars, did not give massive support to the extreme right, but rather remained faithful to the forces on the Left.