Germany plans to simplify employment for Ukrainians: they will be hired without knowing language

The German Association of Towns and Municipalities has called for accelerating the integration of Ukrainians into the labor market by allowing them to secure jobs without knowing the German language, Tagesschau reports.

Of the 1.2 million Ukrainians who fled to Germany because of the war, only 25% were employed at the beginning of February.

"There is still too much bureaucracy regarding labor market integration. There should be an opportunity to start working without first completing language and integration courses," said the association's chairman, André Berghegger.

Integration measures and language learning should be carried out in parallel with the start of work, he said.

The head of the association also noted that the entire system of integration courses for Ukrainians is stagnating.

In October of last year, 129,000 Ukrainians attended integration courses, according to data from the Federal Employment Agency. Of these, 95,000 completed the courses in February-March, and the rest will complete them by September 2024.

"We must be prepared for the fact that refugees from Ukraine will continue to arrive. Also, it is not currently expected that the majority of Ukrainians will return to their homeland soon. Therefore, we need sustainable integration structures for this group," said Berghegger.

Language skills are an important factor for employment, but not critical, Tagesschau said. For example, in Poland, 50% of Ukrainians who do not know Polish have a job. Among those who know Polish, 80% of Ukrainians are employed.