Tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine are waiting to be integrated into the labor market. But the job centers don’t have enough staff to place them quickly. That’s why they cooperate with temporary employment agencies.
Last October, the federal government announced a “job turbo” – with the aim of integrating refugees more quickly into the German labor market. At the moment it is mainly about people who have fled Russia’s war against Ukraine. Most of them have now completed a German course.
The job centers generally have too few staff to quickly bring so many refugees into the job market. That’s why they pay external service providers – including temporary employment agencies – who can ensure quick placement work. Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) deliberately brought the temporary employment industry on board in order to quickly get this group of people out of receiving citizens’ benefits and into employment – even if there are still language deficiencies.
Years of cooperation in mediation
Peter Blersch is Germany Managing Director of the Adecco Group. The company is a big player in the temporary employment industry – in Germany and worldwide. From day one of the “job turbo,” says Blersch, the company offered itself as a partner to the federal government and the Federal Employment Agency. This also includes a voluntary commitment to accommodate at least ten thousand refugees in the labor market by the end of 2025.
According to Blersch, Adecco works very closely with the regional job centers in Germany in order to bring as many Ukrainians as possible into employment with the respective customer companies locally. A partnership-based collaboration with the job centers has existed for years, for example in the placement of long-term unemployed or in the area of qualification. Now the cooperation has been intensified again.
Springboard into the job market
The case of Viktoriia Pechenieva shows that labor market integration works through temporary employment agencies. The young woman fled the Ukrainian city of Kherson and now lives in Nuremberg. She speaks good English, but hardly any German. Three months ago she applied for a job advertisement from a shipping service provider. The 23-year-old says she got the job. The people there are nice and she gets paid the same as the permanent employees. The shipping service provider’s job offer went through the Adecco Group. The Ukrainian woman was hired by the temporary employment agency subject to social security contributions and referred to the shipping service provider for a limited period of time.
The range of companies with which large personnel service providers work significantly increases the job opportunities for refugees. Especially if – like Viktoriia Pechenieva – they have little knowledge of German and communicate in English. Last year, Adecco helped more than 6,000 people with refugee backgrounds find jobs, says Germany boss Blersch.
Viktoriia Pechenieva fled Ukraine. She hopes for good opportunities on the German job market.
Pay according to collective agreement
According to Blersch, temporary workers are permanently employed by the Adecco Group – i.e. subject to social security contributions. Employees would also be paid during non-hiring periods, in accordance with the collective agreement applicable to the temporary employment industry. In the lowest salary group, hourly earnings are 13.50 euros.
According to the managing director, industry-related allowances are added for longer periods of employment. Customer companies from the automotive, logistics and industrial production sectors in particular are hiring temporarily – across all qualification levels, says Blersch.
Around ten percent take temporary employment
The Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg also emphasizes the important role of the temporary employment industry in the labor market integration of Ukrainian refugees. According to employment statistics from the BA, almost ten percent of all Ukrainian refugees who are subject to social insurance contributions got a job through temporary work. It was created for the period between the start of the Ukraine war at the end of February 2022 and the end of June 2023.
The CEO of the Federal Employment Agency, Andrea Nahles (SPD), explains that the temporary employment industry is being very cooperative, especially when it comes to implementing the “job turbo”. It has a disproportionate share of the employment of Ukrainian refugees and can serve as a good bridge into the German labor market.
Young Ukrainian woman can get started
For Viktoriia Pechenieva, entering the job market through the temporary employment agency was worth it. After just three months of temporary employment with the shipping service provider, they offered her the prospect of a permanent position. The 23-year-old is confident that she will make progress in the German job market – especially since she also has a bachelor’s degree in management from Kherson State University.