Well meant is not always well done.

The largest German butcher Tönnies has just felt it.

Three employees of the company recently stood at the Polish-Ukrainian border for a good hour and a half and handed out leaflets offering a job, living space and the onward journey to Germany.

Even if, according to their own statements, they were quickly chased away by activists without having acquired a single person, their actions made waves.

Critics accused the company of wanting to exploit refugees.

Britta Beeger

Editor in Business.

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Jonas Jansen

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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"Sorry, maybe we were too hasty here.

We have therefore stopped the offer for the time being," the company announced on Thursday.

Basically, there is no need for new employees, on the contrary, there is even a hiring freeze.

However, company boss Clemens Tönnies recently accompanied an aid convoy to southern Poland and heard on the spot that many refugees wanted to find a job quickly, earn money and use it to rebuild their houses when the war was over.

In short: you just wanted to help.

Negative example 24-hour care

Irrespective of the company's intentions, the Tönnies case highlights a question that is likely to play an important role in the coming weeks and months: How can the Ukrainian refugees be placed in jobs that match their qualifications?

Or the other way round: How can we prevent those who stay from ending up in helper jobs?

A topic that also concerns the Federal Employment Agency.

For sustainable integration, it is important that Ukrainians who are considered to be well qualified are hired "on the basis of their qualifications and skills," said CEO Daniel Terzenbach at the monthly press conference on Thursday.

They should not only be placed in helper jobs or in positions "that are close to the limit of what we want in the labor market from an ethical and moral point of view".

As an example, he named the so-called 24-hour care, where women from Eastern Europe in particular look after people in their homes - often around the clock and at low wages.

According to Terzenbach, the employment agencies should now contact the refugees as early as possible and inform them about the German labor market - also via social media such as Facebook and Telegram.

The first questionable offers were already appearing there, he said.

In some cases it says that premiums have to be paid for placement in work or childcare.

Together with Deutsche Bahn, the Federal Employment Agency also wants to set up initial counseling centers at train stations.

Accelerate the recognition of professional qualifications

According to Terzenbach, it is also crucial to speed up the recognition of professional qualifications - both in regulated professions such as care, where different rules apply from state to state, as well as in industry and trade.

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil from the SPD announced on Wednesday after a meeting with trade unions and employers, among others, that he would discuss this topic together with Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) and representatives of the federal states.

A new analysis by migration researcher Herbert Brücker from the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) shows that every second Ukrainian who has been living in Germany for a long time has a university degree.

However, many of them do not work in the appropriate positions: Only 30 percent perform complex specialist and expert activities, while another 31 percent are helpers and trainees.

So far, the consequences of the war in Ukraine have hardly been reflected in the official labor market data.

The number of unemployed fell further in March: by 66,000 to 2.362 million.

Seasonally adjusted, i.e. taking into account the seasonal fluctuations, it decreased by 18,000.

How things will continue in the coming weeks will depend primarily on whether there will be a gas supply stop.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he has signed a decree according to which European customers must pay for Russian gas via ruble accounts at Russian banks from this Friday.

Otherwise the contracts would be stopped.

In such a case, the effects on the German economy are likely to be serious, and short-time work will increase sharply again.

This also poses financial problems for the Federal Employment Agency: After two years of the pandemic, your coffers are empty, and the federal budget only provides for a loan for this year, but no subsidy.