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From Natalie Stolle
After eight years, only around a third of the refugees who arrived in 2015 have entered the Saxon labor market. The placement of Ukrainian war refugees in jobs, with a current employment rate of 19.3 percent, is also slow. The Free State wants to change this.
The federal government's "Job Turbo" initiative, which was launched in October 2023, is designed to make it easier for refugees from Ukraine and other countries of origin to enter the job market. Refugees are supported in three stages - learning German, qualifying for a job and developing into a skilled worker. The municipal job centers are in constant contact with the applicants.
On Wednesday, Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping and Thomas Kralinski, State Secretary at the Saxon Ministry of Economic Affairs (both SPD), explained how the project is progressing in the Free State. At the end of January 2024, 10,394 people from eight countries of origin and 12,278 Ukrainians were registered as unemployed.
The fact that only one in five war refugees from Ukraine is working is not due to a lack of will, says Michaela Ungethüm, Managing Director of the state employment agency in Chemnitz. A survey of 19,000 Ukrainians revealed that 93 percent want to work. Ungethüm explains this with the growing prospect of staying. The refugees had hoped to return to their home country immediately after fleeing and were not looking for work in Germany. That is now changing.
Language barriers and long waiting times
For everyone, whether from Ukraine or other countries, a lack of language skills is the biggest hurdle. Dietrich Enk, President of the Saxony Business Association, confirms this from his own company. "We want to be a country of immigration and attractive for immigration, but it was incredibly difficult to help a Somali employee get his German driver's license," says Enk. He also describes the fact that the Saxons themselves speak little English as "elitist".
In order to teach refugees basic German language skills, they should take part in language and integration courses. The employment agency offers the courses to all refugees. However, of the 29,500 Ukrainian refugees who could work, only 7,200 had taken part by January 2024.
Social Minister Petra Köpping emphasized that a language course alone is not enough. Language skills could be practiced in connection with the job. The SPD politician called for the knowledge and skills that refugees bring with them to be assessed as early as the initial reception stage. A procedure that was also used in 2015 during the large influx of refugees.
But government services are also to become faster. Köpping cites the example of the shortening of the work ban from nine to three months, which was decided in November 2023. "This is something I have experienced time and again as Minister of Integration: The motivation when people come to us is greatest at the beginning," says Köpping. She therefore calls for professional recognition to be accelerated.
Entrepreneurs have a duty to hire refugees
Thomas Kralinski is delighted with the job turbo, as it allows refugees and companies to come into contact more quickly. "There's an African saying that it takes a whole village to raise a child. It's similar with labor market integration," says Kralinski. He believes entrepreneurs have a duty to hire refugees, even if their language skills are still a little rough.
"It is necessary that we make it clear to small and medium-sized companies that integration into work is really wanted," says Enk. He sees another hurdle: "The fact that refugees with a toleration permit are allowed to work, but can still be deported". That also needs to change.
