The German government has launched a drive to get more Ukrainian and other refugees into the nation’s work force as their fluency in the German language improves. The authorities seek to address a national shortage of skilled labour amidst concerns about the rise in migration numbers.
Germany has taken in more than a million Ukrainians since last year’s Russian invasion, while also experiencing a large influx of refugees and migrants from elsewhere.
Unlike others, Ukrainians refugees are automatically granted residency status in Germany and the other 26 EU member countries.
Germany’s Labour Minister Hubertus Heil told media in Berlin that 132,000 Ukrainians are currently gainfully employed. While this marked “a success”, it was “far from sufficient”. It was now time “to enter a new phase,” he declared.
Estimating the number of Ukrainians and others who have recently completed or are about to complete integration courses that include language training, the minister indicated that the German labour market would soon be able to draw on the skills of “about 400,000 people” already in the system and German language fluent.
The government’s so-called “job turbo” drive calls on job training centres to step up efforts to find suitable work for refugees. Officials would be required to meet refugees at least every six weeks to help them find suitable work openings and to address potential obstacles.
Minister Heil made it clear that “we expect them to make efforts and offers must be accepted.” Jobless benefits could be reduced should people refuse work. In a bid to get businesses involved, he plans a meeting with employers’ organisations and others in the coming month.
If refugees want to realise their long-term prospects of remaining in Germany, he said, “now it’s time to get to work,” and the authorities are ready to help.
On this score, the government intends speeding up recognition of foreign job qualifications and has appointed a “special envoy” at the Federal Labour Agency, to oversee the push to integrate refugees into the labour market.
Ukrainians leave Poland for Germany
Meanwhile, there is growing recognition that where Ukrainian refugees opt to live is affecting labour markets across Europe at a time when many EU countries are desperate for workers in the face of demographic declines resulting from low birthrates.
Poland has seen an exodus of Ukrainian refugees from its workforce as they move on to Germany. They are drawn there by higher wages and government benefits, according to research carried out by the EWL employment agency in association with Warsaw University’s Centre for East European Studies,
In the first months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland hosted more Ukrainian refugees than any other country. Now, EU statistics indicate that 1.1 million Ukrainian citizens were registered in Germany at the end of June, compared to 975,000 in Poland, This represents a decrease of more than 350,000 in Poland since August 2022, while the total in Germany has grown by more than 410,000.
The study, entitled “From Poland to Germany: New Trends in Ukrainian Refugee Migration”, was published last month. It points out that 150,000 of the 350,000 who left Poland went to Germany.
The study says Ukrainians already in Germany played a significant role in bringing about the migration shift, insofar as they helped and encouraged displaced Ukrainians to make the step. They cited higher wages, higher social benefits for refugees and better medical services among the most telling reasons for choosing Germany.
Those interviewed for the study highlighted the German language classes organised by the government for refugees as an added inducement in helping Ukrainian newcomers to adjust and find their way in the workforce. Participants noted that the Polish government does not offer free language training to refugees.
The study was based on interviews with 400 Ukrainian refugees who first fled to Poland before moving on to Germany. Jan Malicki, director of the Centre for East European studies, said the number was sufficient on which to base conclusions but cautioned that the biggest unknown remains just how many people will opt to return to Ukraine after the war, given the conditions and destruction they will have to face.
