The proportion of refugees from Ukraine among all employees in Germany has tripled in two years: from 0.2 percent in 2022 to 0.6 percent at the end of 2024. That corresponds to around 242,000 people. Around 165,000 were employed and subject to social insurance contributions, while around 41,000 worked in mini-jobs. This was reported by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).
Employment by company size
More than two-thirds of Ukrainians work in companies with 10 to 249 employees. This proportion is above the average for all employees in this size category (54 percent). However, the increase is evident in all company sizes – including large companies.
Contacts with employers and “job turbo”
In the last twelve months, 14 percent of companies reported having had contact with applicants from Ukraine; among companies looking for personnel, the figure was 79 percent. Forty-one percent hired at least one person from this group – extrapolated, that was around 124,000 companies.
According to the IAB, it is still unclear what role the so-called Job Turbo plays in this. The “Job Turbo” (https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/k/job-turbo) is an initiative launched in fall 2023 by the German federal government, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and the Federal Employment Agency. The aim is to help people find work more quickly after completing integration courses, with accompanying language and training opportunities and close support from job centers. According to the IAB, around 9 percent of companies were aware of the program at the end of 2024, with the figure rising to 19 percent among large companies.
More information:
IAB – Beschäftigtenanteil ukrainischer Geflüchtete
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