Anyone who has fled to Germany and has the prospect of staying should be integrated into the labor market more quickly. This is what a plan by Labor Minister Heil provides. The CDU and FDP are skeptical.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil wants to get hundreds of thousands of refugees with the prospect of staying in work more quickly. The SPD politician announced that the focus should be on quickly placing refugees in jobs, as well as people from other countries.
This involves a potential of around 400,000 people “who are currently on citizen’s benefit and have already acquired language skills,” said the minister. “We want and will bring these people from the school desk of integration courses to the workplace more quickly.” In this context, he spoke of a “job turbo” that should now be ignited.
Minister Heil (right) informs BA boss Nahles and BA board member Terzenbach (left) about planned measures for labor market integration.
A Special Representative for the “job turbo”
Heil wants to place this task in the hands of the board of the Federal Employment Agency, Daniel Terzenbach – he is to become the federal government’s special representative for the labor market integration of refugees. The cabinet still has to approve the personnel. Terzenbach is supposed to prepare the employment agencies for the new task and hold discussions with business representatives. Terzenbach said he also wanted to find out in the municipalities whether there was sufficient childcare available so that mothers could also be brought into work.
“Work creates integration”
Germany has taken in over a million Ukrainian refugees since the war began on February 24, 2022. At that time, the federal government decided that arriving people would immediately be entitled to receive citizen’s benefit. According to BA boss Andrea Nahles, the employment rate of Ukrainians in Germany is currently 19 percent.
The job centers of the employment agency are now intended to provide even more close support to refugees of working age and, in collaboration with industry, to specifically put them into work. The German economy urgently needs workers and skilled workers. “Work also creates integration,” emphasized Heil.
On the other hand, the minister also demanded active cooperation from the refugees. Job offers must be accepted. If there is a lack of cooperation, the services could be reduced. After all, the citizen’s money also came with responsibilities.
Criticism from the CDU and FDP
The FDP described the Federal Labor Minister’s initiative as inadequate and called for the focus to be placed on career entry rather than language acquisition. “Integration and language courses are important, but even more important is having your own job, because this is where ongoing and practical integration into society is best achieved,” said FDP member of the Bundestag, Jens Teutrine, to the Editorial Network Germany (RND). Teutrine also called on job centers to place refugees in jobs for which they are overqualified.
CDU social politician Kai Whittaker criticized that the “job turbo” could not work in view of cuts in funding for the job centers. “The federal government noticed far too late that refugees urgently need to be integrated into the labor market,” the Bundestag member told the RND. “It has already cut the money for job centers and now Labor Minister Heil wants to add more tasks there. However, it is precisely in the job centers that the refugees are placed in work.”
Whittaker insisted on faster access to language courses and on finally shortening the “far too long period between arrival in Germany and the first language course – half a year is too long.” If the traffic light does not address these grievances, Labor Minister Heil’s announcements will remain “just hot air,” said Whittaker.