According to Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, Ukrainians who have fled to Germany since the Russian invasion of their country in 2022 have found their way into the labor market after a slow start.
According to Heil, in September alone, 8,500 Ukrainian citizens entered the primary labor market, either through training or self-employment. This is more than twice as much as in September 2023.
“These figures show that Job Turbo is clearly working,” the minister underlined, referring to an initiative aimed at integrating refugees into the labor market.
Despite the difficult economic climate, in July 2024, about 266,000 of the 700,000 working-age Ukrainians who came to Germany were working, of whom about 213,000 had to pay social security contributions.
Of those now working, 53,000 had found small part-time jobs, despite difficulties in adapting to their new environment.
According to Andrea Nahles, head of the Federal Labor Office, the labor market is currently not very receptive to Ukrainians.
Nevertheless, the trend is moving in the right direction, Nahles says. However, one obstacle remains the confusion over the licensing procedures for the recognition of professional qualifications in Germany.
In addition to problems with the recognition of professional qualifications, language is currently a limiting factor in the placement process.
However, Nahles said that programs are already underway, for example for language acquisition at work, that is, after starting work.