Valentyna Vysotska, like one million of her compatriots, fled Ukraine for Germany when Russia invaded. After a 10-month crash course to be taught German, she discovered work at a hair salon in Berlin.
“My German isn’t great, but my boss, my colleagues, and the clients are all very understanding,” Vysotska, 54, informed Agence France-Presse (AFP).
As far as Chancellor Olaf Scholz is worried, Vysotska, a hairdresser, is an instance he wished he might see extra of.
Among the Ukrainians who’ve arrived over the past two years, solely 170,000 have since discovered work.
Scholz not too long ago pressed the newcomers to face on their toes relatively than depend on social handouts.
“We have offered them integration and German classes. Now they must find work,” mentioned the German chief.
The urgency is prompted not solely by monetary causes.
The price of welcoming newcomers is definitely heavy – between 5.5 billion-6 billion euros ($5.4 billion-$6.1 billion) have been earmarked this yr alone for Ukrainians.
But Germany can be affected by a critical manpower scarcity and may do with extra fingers on deck.
There can be a political crucial for Scholz’s authorities to realize extra integration success tales.
Immigration and integration are hot-button matters in upcoming European elections, with the far proper arguing that Europe’s greatest financial system, at present ailing, must deal with itself first.
Mindful of the truth that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) get together had entered parliament in 2017 on the again of in style anger over the inflow of one million Syrians and Iraqis within the two previous years, Scholz’s authorities is cautious about what a repeat of that fury might spell for the EU polls.
To take the sting off the far proper’s arguments, the federal government not too long ago moved to toughen guidelines for asylum seekers.
Among them is introducing a brand new fee card that gives social handouts to refugees as credit that may solely be used domestically, primarily scrapping the likelihood for migrants to ship money again to their residence international locations.
But for Ukrainian refugees particularly, the important thing to the federal government’s technique is to inject them into the job market, which is sorely missing employees.
Bureaucratic hurdles
Vysotska’s boss, Civan Ucar, recalled the aid of getting discovered the Ukrainian, who had labored 35 years as a hairdresser again in her residence nation, at a job honest.
“It is very difficult to find qualified personnel,” he mentioned, pointing to Germany’s ageing inhabitants.
Ucar shrugged off Vysotska’s imperfect German, saying it might solely enhance whereas she is at work.
“We learn German faster when we’re working because we are required to speak with our colleagues,” he mentioned.
But language is just simply considered one of many hurdles for Ukrainian job seekers.
Andreas Peikert, who runs a Berlin job middle, informed the TAZ day by day that the Ukrainians who’ve sought refuge in Germany are largely ladies and kids, however “we have too few kindergarten and school spots.”
“If a mother can’t be sure about where she can get childcare, she won’t be looking for work,” he mentioned.
A research by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation additionally discovered that Germany has way more administrative hurdles as compared with international locations like Poland or the Netherlands, the place between 60%-70% of Ukrainians are employed.
Professionals must receive equal {qualifications} in Germany to be allowed to observe, and functions must be made for levels to be accredited and acknowledged by authorities.
A excessive degree of German is usually required for white-collar work, primarily ruling out many newcomers who discover studying a brand new language from scratch troublesome in maturity.
To smoothen the method, the federal government is pushing main firms to be extra lenient on language necessities and to supply assist to new workers to enhance their {qualifications}.
But German authorities mentioned newcomers, too, must decrease their expectations and take step one.
Laying naked the desperation at inciting extra to tackle work, Employment Minister Hubertus Heil mentioned: “It’s not about finding the job of your dreams, but to enter the job market, and then climb up the ranks.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com