Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Refugees integrating ‘faster than expected’ into Germany’s labour market

According to experts, the integration of refugees into the workforce in Germany is progressing quickly.

Published: 6 August 2019 16:49 CEST

Refugees integrating 'faster than expected' into Germany’s labour market

Refugees working at the Siemens plant in Leipzig. Photo: DPA

The Institute for Employment Research (IAB) has revealed that around 400,000 refugees have jobs in Germany – something which researcher Herbert Brücker, of the IAB, says has exceeded expectations.

As part of the research, Brücker compared the integration of the recent influx of refugees to those fleeing the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

He said the IAB was “quite satisfied” with the numbers, especially since the starting conditions for refugees in 2015 were “particularly difficult”, in part because German is harder to learn for those coming from an Arabic-speaking background.

Currently about 36 percent of refugees between the ages of 15 and 64 are in the workforce or employed, which equals about 380,000 to 400,000 people, said Brücker, who heads the Migration, Integration and International Labour Market Research Department at IAB.

“I expect that in autumn about 40 percent of refugees of working age will be employed,” Brücker told the Editorial Network Germany.

“This would make integration into the labour market about a year quicker than we had noticed with earlier refugee movements to Germany”.

READ ALSO: 'Germany's future depends on immigration and integration': Merkel

However, it should be noted that many refugees are employed as temporary workers with relatively low wages. “In addition, there is a high proportion of refugees in the gastronomy, security, cleaning, construction and care sectors,” said Brücker.

About 50 percent of refugees with jobs are employed as skilled workers, Brücker reported.

“This is a surprisingly high figure when you consider that only every fifth refugee has completed a vocational qualification or a university degree before they fled their country,” he said.

About eight percent of the refugees are in jobs classified as 'specialist' such as doctors, according to researchers.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions.

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds.

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local.

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with.

Url copied to clipboard!