Of the 125,000 Ukrainians seeking protection in Baden-Württemberg (as of the end of 2023), around one in five people (22 percent) of working age are now in employment. Around four out of five Ukrainian employees are subject to social security contributions, although the proportion of women is slightly lower than that of men. On average, 10 percent of all companies in Baden-Württemberg report contact with a person who has fled from Ukraine (previous year: 7 percent). Around 40 percent of companies with at least one contact request reported a subsequent employment relationship (previous year: 29 percent). Companies with vacancies are four times more likely to employ Ukrainian refugees than companies without vacancies. In particular, companies with vacancies that require a low level of qualification are more likely to employ a refugee from Ukraine.
Interview: How to retain skilled workers from abroad? - DEKRA Academy Stuttgart
When individuals leave the company, it is usually for reasons that employers can do little about. Sometimes these are personal reasons, such as homesickness or the partner who has moved on finds a job in another region, sometimes they move to areas with better earning opportunities, such as from the skilled trades to industry.
In other areas, many international workers return to their home country or move on to other countries. Prof. Dr. Bernhard Boockmann was commissioned by the Federal Employment Agency to survey skilled workers who have left Germany again. “A large proportion of emigration is due to labor market-related reasons, such as the loss of a job or - in the case of international students - the end of their education. There are also family reasons and often economic reasons, such as high rents. A small proportion of emigrants also cited experiences of discrimination as a reason. For most of them, several of the reasons mentioned apply,” he summarizes.
Overall, the different types of courses offer heterogeneous groups of participants good opportunities to further develop their linguistic and social integration. On the other hand, job-related German language support only partially achieves the desired effects in terms of labour market integration in the period of up to 30 months after the start of a vocational language course. During the language acquisition phase, vocational language courses, which are usually full-time programmes, can only be combined with gainful employment to a limited extent. Even after completing the course, former participants are less likely to be employed than comparable non-participants during the observation period.
March 14, 2024: Event "Racism versus immigration of skilled workers - How can we attract and retain international skilled workers?" organized by the Böblingen district council
Contexts and causes of the emigration of foreign skilled workers from Germany (in German).
