As of: March 26, 2024, 11:06 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD).
© Jürgen Heinrich/Imago
The majority of Ukrainians seeking protection in Germany are highly qualified - but only a fifth are employed.
Labor Minister Heil is now calling on refugees in a letter to look for work.
Berlin – After Russia's attack on Ukraine, which violated international law, numerous people fled war and destruction towards the West.
Over a million Ukrainians came to Germany.
After two years of war in Ukraine, only about one in five people has a job.
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) has now written a letter calling on Ukrainians to enter the German labor market.
Heil increases pressure on Ukraine refugees: Explosive letter is intended to boost “job turbo”.
According to information from the Federal Employment Agency, around 716,000 of the Ukrainians who fled to Germany are of working age, i.e. between 15 and 65 years old.
According to a survey by the Federal Ministry of Labor, around 70 percent of them have a university degree.
Given the shortage of skilled workers in Germany, this is a stroke of luck: the German labor market needs 1.5 million immigrants every year, according to the chairwoman of the economists, Monika Schnitzer.
The lack of workers is putting a strain on the economy and the pension system.
But only 21 percent of Ukrainians living in Germany are employed, as the latest available figures from the employment agency from November show.
Germany's neighboring countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands are significantly more successful in integrating refugees into the labor market.
The Ministry of Labor's “Job Turbo” is intended to provide a remedy: The program came into effect at the beginning of the year and is intended to get those seeking protection into work more quickly.
Pressure on Ukraine refugees: Heil, employment agency and ambassadors demand “entry into the labor market”
The Federal Employment Agency, the Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev and Labor Minister Heil now called on Ukrainians to enter the German labor market - and wrote a letter directly to the refugees.
“Work is the best integration,” even if it is only “a temporary integration,” said a statement from the Federal Ministry of Labor on the platform X (formerly Twitter) last Friday (March 22).
Since the outbreak of the war, 160,000 Ukrainian citizens have already found employment in Germany, the letter says.
“You too should take up work,” was the demand.
“At work you get to know colleagues, you can improve your German and your skills and gain experience on the German job market,” the letter lists the advantages.
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Letter from the Labor Minister to Ukrainians in Germany: “You too should take up work!” – “End neediness”
The aim of the “Job-Turbo” is “to place you in work with basic German skills and to end or reduce your need for help,” the letter continues.
Among other things, the Ministry of Labor calls on refugees to become active themselves and to look for a job through job exchanges or unsolicited applications and warns: “Entering working life in Germany will not always be possible in the profession you are aiming for.” Employers are in favor of this because of the Due to the lack of work and skilled workers, the letter encourages people to increasingly focus on foreign applicants.
Why is it so difficult for Germany to integrate refugees into the labor market?
The weak economy is an obstacle that makes it difficult for those affected to find suitable jobs, said Daniel Terzenbach, the special representative for the “job turbo”, in an interview with the AFP news agency.
Child care, the duration of the recognition process and language skills also remain major challenges, emphasizes Terzenbach.
The German labor market is “much more language dependent” than that of other countries.
(bme with AFP).