Europe struggles to convert Ukraine migration into labor boon
Send a link to a friend
[July 21, 2023]
By Maria Martinez, Gergely Szakacs and Karol Badohal
BERLIN/WARSAW (Reuters) - European countries have not fully seized on
the opportunity to plug workforce gaps presented by the arrival of
millions of Ukrainian refugees, even though many of those fleeing the
war are highly educated or have desperately needed skills.
The flood of people over the border following Russia's February 2022
invasion should have been a boon for countries in the European Union's
east, where acute labor shortages have long dragged on economic growth
and fuelled inflation.
But obstacles ranging from lack of childcare facilities to reluctance to
recognize non-European academic and vocational qualifications has left
vacancies unfilled and the - mostly female - new arrivals frustrated.
Many are stuck in jobs below their skill and education levels and
without the longer-term career prospects they are seeking.
Svetlana Chuhil sought a conditional license to work in Poland as an
orthopedics doctor and physiotherapist shortly after fleeing with her
two children. More than a year later, she was told her application
required a key document that was stuck behind enemy lines in Ukraine.
A month after arriving in Poland, the 37-year-old, who holds degrees in
orthopedics, physiotherapy and organizational management, took an
internship at a social welfare centre paying 1,400 zlotys ($353.15) a
month - then roughly half the local minimum wage.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Jul/21/images/ads/current/businessdirectory_dailycover_2023.png)
Poland has one of the European Union's most highly-regulated labor
markets, according to an October survey by consultancy Deloitte.
"I couldn't be hired as a doctor or physiotherapist without having my
degrees recognized," Chuhil told Reuters.
After the internship, she took up two non-medical jobs, but struggled to
reconcile a demanding work schedule with looking after her daughters.
Faced with high rents in the western Polish town of Zgorzelec, in
December she moved across the border to Goerlitz in eastern Germany,
where the government will pay for accommodation until she finishes a
German language course and can find a job.
Since January, she has been volunteering at a centre in the city which
offers psychological help to Ukrainian refugee women and children.
NOT A MISSED OPPORTUNITY - YET
The OECD think tank estimates that successfully integrating this latest
group of refugees could expand Europe's workforce by half a percentage
point and help alleviate labor shortages cited as a big factor in
stubbornly high inflation.
But 17 months after the invasion, many are still employed on short-term
or part-time contracts rather than in sustainable forms of employment,
said Ave Lauren, migration policy analyst at the Paris-based OECD.
"I do not think the opportunity has been missed yet. What these
countries need to do now is a second layer of labor market integration,"
Lauren added, highlighting the need for training, upskilling and
qualification recognition.
In Germany, Europe's biggest economy, which United Nations data shows is
hosting the most refugees from Ukraine, the number of open vacancies has
risen to its highest level since the end of World War Two.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/072123PIX/news_q38.jpg)
Maria, a refugee from Mykolaiv in
Ukraine, decorates gingerbread Oktoberfest hearts at the 'Zuckersucht'
bakery in Aschheim near Munich, Germany, May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Lukas
Barth/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Sep/05/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_090519.png)
Even so, fewer than one in five refugees have found employment so
far, as Berlin focuses on language courses that should help refugees
find longer-term employment better aligned with their skills.
"There's always a trade-off between rapid and sustainable labor
market integration," said Thomas Liebig, chief economist for the
OECD's international migration department.
Oksana Krotova holds a master's degree in philology and worked as a
hotel manager in Kyiv before the invasion. She now works as a hotel
receptionist in Berlin.
"Nobody needs a hotel in a city in war," Krotova said.
Since January, the 34-year-old, who has no children, has combined a
30-hour-per-week contract with a second language course that has
helped her reach fluency in German.
Aware of the difficulties in getting her degree recognized, Krotova
wants to study business administration in Germany, where - like more
than 40% of her fellow refugees in a recent survey - she now
anticipates staying for some years.
Researchers from Minor, a migration policy think tank, said the
large-scale inflow of refugees from Ukraine is seen as a great
opportunity in Germany. There has been a "reality check", however,
researcher Ildiko Pallman said, as their integration into jobs at a
similar level to those they held at home is mostly not possible
without speaking the local language.
And changing to a better job later isn't easy. "If you already work
40 hours a week and have no time for a language course, then it is
very often the case that people get stuck," Minor researcher Gizem
Uensal said.
While the refugees' fate is partly tied to the unknowable course of
the Ukraine war, the EU's temporary protection scheme for Ukraine
refugees is at present due to expire in March 2024.
"The closer we come to that, we need to have a strategy in place. It
is too late to think about it next spring," the OECD's Lauren said.
This puts employers who want to hire refugees in a difficult
situation, as they don't know if Ukrainian refugees will be able to
stay.
"We need clear regulations quickly so that all those who have fled
Ukraine for war reasons can stay in the long term," said Enzo Weber,
labor market expert at the German Institute for Employment Research
(IAB).
"That would remove a considerable hurdle not only for refugees, but
also for employers."
($1 = 3.9643 zlotys)
(Additional reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by Catherine
Evans)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png) |