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German course for refugees: Many Ukrainians are single parents, which makes the transition to work more difficult

Photo: Rainer Raffalski / FUNKE Photo Services / IMAGO

The goal of the “Job Turbo” is clear: after an integration course, refugees, many of them from Ukraine, should get into work as quickly as possible. So far, the rate of those who found a job after the course has been extremely low, at 17 percent in the fall.

A good three months after the start of the program for faster labor market integration launched by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Federal Employment Agency boss Andrea Nahles, no successes are yet visible, according to a report. As the “Rheinische Post” reports, citing the current situation report from the Federal Employment Agency (BA) on the labor market situation for refugees from January 2024, the departure rate has even worsened in some cases.

Accordingly, the transition of Ukrainian citizens from unemployment to employment among Ukrainian women in January 2024 is significantly lower at an annual average of 1.2 percent than a year ago at 1.7 percent. Among Ukrainian men it also fell from 3.4 percent in January 2023 to 2.4 percent in January 2024.

The BA special representative for the “Jobturbo”, board member Daniel Terzenbach, cited the weaker economy as a main cause, which is currently making it more difficult to hire new employees. »The overall number of unemployed increased by almost 200,000 in January compared to the previous year. “It is positive to see that unemployment does not increase noticeably among the weakest group on the labor market – including refugees without fluent German skills,” Terzenbach told the newspaper.

Many skilled workers among Ukrainians

68 percent of refugees from Ukraine are women. »One in three Ukrainian women is a single parent, and many find it very difficult to find childcare options. “That’s why their integration into the labor market is often more difficult than for male refugees,” said Terzenbach.

Heil had announced in the fall that he would bring refugees with the prospect of staying there more quickly "from the school desk of integration courses to the workplace." Therefore, after an initial phase of orientation and learning German, the "job turbo" must be initiated. This involves around 400,000 people "who are currently on citizen's benefit and have already acquired language skills." The largest group of these people are refugees from Ukraine.

According to the BA management report, people from Ukraine are also significantly better qualified than refugees from the eight most important asylum countries of origin: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and Syria. While 68 percent of refugees from these eight countries are only eligible for helper work, the BA classifies 100 percent of Ukrainians as skilled workers. But there are also problems among Ukrainians with the recognition of formal qualifications and often insufficient knowledge of German, said Terzenbach.

»We currently have around 2.4 million refugees of working age in Germany, around 840,000 of them from Ukraine. A total of 750,000 refugees are already in employment subject to social insurance contributions, around 170,000 from Ukraine alone. So things are going in the right direction,” said Terzenbach. »The job boost starts with those who don't yet have a job. There are around 500,000 people from Ukraine and a further 600,000 from the other eight largest countries of origin for asylum seekers. According to the latest figures, the rate of citizens' benefit recipients among Ukrainians was still 60 percent in October, and 40 percent among the other countries of asylum origin," said the special representative. The rates would soon fall as the job centers began to make greater contact with refugees.

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