Ukraine refugees

AMS concerned about low employment rate

The integration of Ukrainian refugees into the domestic labor market is still rather sluggish.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/eliosdnepr)

Since the end of April 2023, people displaced from Ukraine have had free access to the labor market. However, "we can be anything but satisfied" with their integration into the labor market, explains AMS board member Johannes Kopf on the occasion of the current unemployment figures.

Although the number of Ukrainians in employment has recently increased again, the employment rate is still only 30%. According to Statistics Austria, around 81,000 Ukrainian citizens were registered in Austria at the beginning of 2024.

At the end of August, around 6,000 people from Ukraine with displaced person status were registered with the AMS and 21,000 (end of July 2024) Ukrainian citizens were in dependent employment. "Still" "far too few" refugees from Ukraine had registered with the Public Employment Service as jobseekers, according to the head of the AMS. 

AMS boss Johannes Kopf

(Bild: krone.tv)

Half of displaced persons want to stay permanently
In order to better understand the situation of refugee women and men from Ukraine with regard to labor market integration, the AMS commissioned a study by the University of Innsbruck. For this, 5316 people from Ukraine and 17 experts were interviewed. Around half of those surveyed from Ukraine would like to stay in Austria permanently, twelve percent would like to stay for at least a few more years and around a quarter have not made a decision to this effect.

(Bild: P. Huber)

Over half of the men and almost two thirds of the women were not looking for a job at the time of the survey. The respondents stated that they were in training (27 percent of men, 14 percent of women), could not find work (around 20 percent) and that their training was not recognized (13 percent). 16 percent of women stated that they were not working due to caring responsibilities.

Reasons for the reluctance to integrate
According to labor market experts, the currently still temporary residence permit for Ukrainians is a "major obstacle" to integration into the labor market. In addition, strict additional income limits for the basic provision of refugees are also an inhibiting factor. Because if you earn too much - even with a part-time job - you risk losing your entitlements.