German Government has been working on integrating asylum seekers into the job market. To continue the success process further, the federal government, together with companies, unions, and municipalities, wants to increasingly bring refugees into work. This results from a labor market summit to which Federal Labor Minister Heil and the new Commissioner for Labor Market Integration for Refugees, Terzenbach, invited.
There are around 400,000 refugees in Germany who receive basic social benefits and are compatible with work. These include around 200,000 Ukrainians who have already completed an integration language course or will soon complete it. Federal Labor Minister Heil emphasizes that the federal government wants to use all of this potential for the labor market. “Work means integration. That’s why we’re now pulling out all the stops with the Job Turbo to get more refugees into work.” For this to succeed, businesses, social partners and refugees would have to pull together.
With the so-called job turbo, the federal government wants to integrate refugees into the job market more quickly. At the labor market summit in Berlin, representatives from the German economy, trade unions, and municipalities discussed how the project could be concretely implemented. In mid-October, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, the federal government’s new special representative for labor market integration for refugees, Daniel Terzenbach, and BA boss Andrea Nahles launched the initiative.
In a joint statement, Federal Labor Minister Heil, the Federal Employment Agency, the leading business associations, trade unions, companies, and municipal associations confirmed their willingness to support the job turbo. Everyone involved aims to get the refugees into work sustainably and by their skills and qualifications.
According to the statement, companies will increasingly employ refugees even if they still need to gain good German skills. “We need companies that hire refugees with basic knowledge of German and rely on pragmatic solutions for language acquisition,” explains Heil.
According to the statement, the job centers and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees provide support, if necessary, with practical offers for part-time qualifications and the acquisition of further German language skills. In addition, the signatories commit to working together on a welcoming culture in companies.
In the same way, refugees are also increasingly obliged to take up work. “One thing is clear: Integration requires team play,” says Heil.
Germany has also already decided to settle the asylum seekers in the country. Asylum seekers who entered the country before March 29, 2023, and have a qualification and a job offer should – if they withdraw their asylum application – be able to apply for a residence permit as a skilled worker. Until now, you had to first leave the country and then apply for a work visa from abroad. In the new scenario, it will be possible from directly inside the country.
According to the Editor in Chief visa-guru.com, these opportunities will help a lot to all refugees and asylum seekers for a better future and settlement in the Federal Republic. Still, they will have to focus on learning the German language to the best of their efforts. Companies may let them enter into their functional teams but the work environment will challenge them to perform job duties without a language barrier. More and more opportunities should be provided to learn Business or Work-related language courses which will indeed enhance the skills of the asylum seekers and refugees, says Rasib.