Labour Market Access and Labour Opportunities for Refugees. Examples from Freiburg

Abstract

After a huge influx of refugees into Europe and Germany in particular in the course of 2015, various employer organisations saw amongst these newcomers a huge potential for the labour market and hoped that this might bring with it a lasting solution to the nationwide lack of skilled professionals under discussion in various circles. The growing need for qualified and specialised employees facilitates access to the German labour market for refugees in multiple ways. The city of Freiburg established several initiatives to empower refugees and support employers through the complex bureaucratic process. This chapter gives an overview of the activities and challenges in the field of labour market access for refugees and illustrates best practices.

FormalPara Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, the reader should be able to

• understand challenges and obstacles that foreigners face when entering into the German labour market;

• understand the complex process of recognition of foreign certificates;

• have an overview of the process of integration from the arrival to a self-sustained living;

• know about the best-practice projects that Freiburg has initiated;

• get ideas for involving companies, projects, volunteers, and other stakeholders in the integration process.

1 Introduction

In 2016, a relatively large number of refugees from various countries (a vast majority of whom arriving from war-torn Syria in 2015) were allocated to the city of Freiburg for resettlement. A cross section of the new arrivals consists of highly trained and qualified individuals such as physicians, engineers, architects, as well as high-school graduates. To meet the challenge of successfully integrating these new residents and to support them through the process of resettlement in the city, in June of 2016, Freiburg founded the Office of Migration and Integration (hereafter OMI).¹

OMI offers a variety of support services to migrants, refugees, and asylees during their asylum-seeking and integration procedures and processes. This is carried out at various stages and in combined cooperation and support of the office’s departments, which are housed together in one building complex. They include the following five departments:

• Department I, Administration;

• Department II, Integration;

• Department III, Housing and Care-Taking;

• Department IV, Disbursement of Financial Benefits for Asylum-Seekers;

• Department V, Aliens and Citizenship Rights.

The Integration Department develops and controls the integration process for refugees and serves as a think tank. The overall task of the Office for Migration and Integration is to fast-track and clarify any concerns that refugees and migrants may have and by less elaborate means and minimal complications.

Besides the bureaucratic steps required of them at the moment of arrival and thereafter, refugees need support in creating individual perspective, as well as support to plan their lives, in order for them to become comfortable in their new environment and community. Securing job is a key factor in this process.

In the Integration Department of the OMI, the area of labour market integration aims to promote the job-seeking interests of refugees by providing opportunities to easy access to the labour market. It also seeks to improve the unique situations that refugees face with regard to starting work and gaining access to the labour market.² Special regulations and restrictions prevent some people with refugee backgrounds from accessing the labour market, whilst some industries still do face clear deficits of skilled workers. These deficits can prove to be a key aid for refugees when finding work.³ Both the political and economic sectors hope to see restrictions eased in this area for refugees and migrants. The current legal situation surrounding labour market opportunities for refugees still has much room for improvement.

The task of the labour market integration team focuses on making the process of integration into the labour market easier for all stakeholders involved—including refugees, companies, and responsible institutions. In order to accomplish that, the team coordinates and manages the Joint Competence Centre for Refugees (see Sect. 4) and refugee integration measures financed by the federal government (see Sect. 5) and supports existing projects from the labour market integration area, in cases of problems that might arise whilst implementing or developing them. Furthermore, it provides guidelines and fact sheets for volunteers and stakeholders related to the topic of labour market access for refugees.⁴

2 Labour Market Access for Refugees: Regulations and Challenges

Whilst the large influx of refugees was occurring in 2015, numerous individuals from the economic, political and social sectors began dealing through individual projects with the topic of labour market access for refugees. In the case of Freiburg, around 40 initiatives and institutions are working in this area, offering courses to prepare refugees for work, old peoples caretaking training, educational services and counselling on trades and business-related professions. Most of the projects are financed by public funds provided to promote refugee labour market integration programmes.

One primary issue with which a majority of the projects were confronted throughout 2016 was the difficulty of working through the rather strict bureaucratic regulations and processes that regulate labour market access for refugees. An individual’s residency status is a key factor determining their labour market access. For example, anyone with a residence permit is equal to a German citizen when looking for work. There is no need to apply for a work permit. Refugees from specific nations who are likely to remain in the country (as evidenced in a minimum of 50% asylum applications approval rate)⁵ receive residence permit after completing the asylum process. This implied that in 2016, only individuals from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea and Somalia were able to obtain residence permits and subsequently easier access to the German labour market. Either all other refugees are therefore still undergoing the asylum process and have a so-called temporary residence permit, or their application was rejected and are issued short-term permits with limited extensions only. In other words, these individuals have access to work on the condition that permission is given by the Aliens and Citizenship Rights office.

In general, all newly arrived refugees are prohibited from working for the first 3 months.⁶ Individuals still going through the asylum process (with temporary residence permit) and individuals with a short-term permit receive so-called asylum applicant services to provide their livelihood. Therefore, they may only retain part of these funds if they pursue employment. In addition, the so-called priority test still applies to each job offered to a refugee. This means that the employer must first review whether there is a potential suitable applicant for the position who does have German or EU citizenship or residence permit.⁷ The priority test was suspended for most agency districts in Germany for 3 years—as the case is with the Freiburg Labour Agency Office—thus making labour market access for refugees at least somewhat easier.⁸ This makes it simpler for companies and smaller businesses to hire refugees. This is crucial as some industries in the Freiburg region are facing a severe shortage of skilled labour.⁹ Across Germany, these industries include restaurants, care, and healthcare in particular.

Some setbacks to observe here are the following: the majority of businesses in Freiburg and the surrounding area are small or mid-sized and do not have their own human resources/HR department. Instead, the owners of these businesses often handle personnel matters themselves.¹⁰ Furthermore, it is rather complicated for such companies to hire employees with uncertain residency status, and the lack of legal security brought about by temporary residency statuses and work permits or the risk of an applicant being deported because they do not have sufficient likelihood to remain in the country poses further challenges to this set of individuals.¹¹

Many companies also criticise the newly hired refugees’ lack of knowledge in the areas of math and English and may in some cases offer them tutoring services themselves. This lack of skills is primarily due to the fact that many refugees did not receive extensive schooling in their countries of origin. The concerns of regional small business, therefore, are sufficient (pre-)qualification, legal security and eventual deportation of refugees although already engaged in an employment.

3 Recognition of International Professional Certificates

Another key aspect for successful labour market integration of refugees is the recognition of international professional certificates and of professional experience. Since many professions are regulated in Germany, an official recognition process is a requirement.¹² The process uses certificates, testing documents and/or other proof of qualification to determine whether and to what extent the applicant’s skills entitle them to carry out a certain profession. If the applicant’s qualifications are not sufficient, follow-up qualification measures are offered by the responsible professional organisation (Chamber of Trade, Industry and Trade Association, Medical Association) (such as a test or adaptation course). These “compensatory measures” must be successfully completed to be allowed to work in a regulated profession.

This recognition of international professional certificates is a key process and part of the path into the German labour market. Both refugees and employers benefit from equivalence testing. This allows the employee’s skills and qualifications to be clarified for both sides so that their duties can be adjusted accordingly. Employers are better able to estimate what work they can assign to the refugee and which areas should be carried out only under supervision.

The recognition process also helps both sides even in non-regulated professions. Refugees can better assess their own position in the labour market access; employers receive information on the employee’s knowledge base and can initiate any further necessary qualification measures such as math or English classes.

3.1 The Recognition Process

In order to undergo a recognition process, the refugee must have learned a profession or completed a diploma abroad and must desire to continue working in this area in Germany. If the individual has any certificates or documents, these can be recognised. There are different regulations for different professions.

Regulated professions include, for example, doctors, nurses, attorneys, teachers and engineers. In regulated professions, the refugee’s international certificates must be recognised; otherwise, they cannot work in the profession in Germany.¹³ Non-regulated professions include dual training professions such as electricians, retail specialists, opticians and chefs. All documents and certificates are sent to the responsible office and reviewed there. In general, the applicant receives an answer after 3 months. The review of certificates costs between 100 and 600 euros. Advising offices are available across Germany to help refugees through the recognition process free of charge.¹⁴

4 Competence Centre for Refugees

To facilitate the integration process into the labour market for companies wringing their hands looking for personnel, and the many actors and projects involved, and to provide a central point of contact for refugees, the city of Freiburg has become the first community to establish a Joint Competence Centre for Refugees, in conjunction with the Bertelsmann Foundation.

The founding of the Competence Centre, which began work at the end of March 2017, enabled the city to combine counselling and support services in one office for refugees and in relation to issues pertaining to labour market integration. At the centre of the Competence Centre are specialists from institutions that are involved in the labour market integration in Freiburg—paramount amongst them are two leading institutions, the Freiburg Labour Agency¹⁵ and the Job Centre Freiburg,¹⁶ assigned with the task of advising and helping refugees in the area of labour market integration¹⁷—and employees of the Project Alliance Baden (Projektverbund Baden), which represents the major NGOs in the region of Baden. The Integration Department of the Office for Migration and Integration as an integral part of the Competence Centre for Refugees has the task of coordinating the affairs of the Centre.¹⁸

The Department of Aliens and Citizenship Rights (Foreign Nationals Office)¹⁹ and Asylum Seeker Services²⁰ in the Office of Migration and Integration has been housed in the same building since the end of March 2017. This enables timely clarification of individual cases with the other offices and even more quickly by shortening channels of communication. Concentrating various relevant offices under one roof offers refugees the advantage of having a central contact point on the issues such as work, training and benefits to secure their livelihoods. Guidance seekers can learn here more about language courses, qualification measures, internships, the recognition of professional certificates obtained abroad, and labour and educational opportunities. Personal or telephone handovers between the specialists involved ensure that various counselling services integrate and overlap with one another and accelerate the transfer of responsibilities between the respective institutions involved. In the medium term, establishing the Competence Centre should reduce or eliminate any duplicate structures, optimise interface management between the individual offices involved and make the qualification and job-seeking process for refugees as efficient and successful as possible, in both job and training.

When establishing the Competence Centre for Refugees, the city of Freiburg received support from the Bertelsmann Foundation as part of the foundation´s programme, Arrived – Now What? Refugee Integration in Communities,²¹ as one of multiple pilot cities in Germany in the area of communal labour market integration for refugees.²² The experiences and project results from the pilot locations were evaluated and made accessible to other communities in Germany. Regular exchange within networks plays a key role. Concretely, the Bertelsmann Foundation supports the process by providing professional moderation for various meetings, at which all the offices involved in the Competence Centre are represented and which served to develop a joint concept paper with coordinated information on job and leadership by all institutions involved (Federal Labour Agency, Job Centre, Office for Migration and Integration, and Project Alliance Baden).²³ The concept, which was approved by all parties involved, was then reviewed by the Migration Committee and, overall, by the Local Council of the city of Freiburg. The next step of the process, which will be coordinated by the Integration Department of the Office for Migration and Integration in the lead position, will initially focus on promoting a joint labour culture and networking with external cooperative partners. Employee workshops should serve to make the goals and focal areas of the Competence Centre transparent for all participants, to help the partners involved understand each other’s different areas of duty and responsibility and to help them agree on future forms of cooperation. Regular service discussions, which will be coordinated by the Integration Department of the Office of Migration and Integration and in which representatives from all offices involved in the Competence Centre will take part, are intended to ensure ongoing talks and offer the opportunity for consultation on current questions together and thus further strengthening cooperation. At the same time, primary and volunteer offices active in the area of refugee²⁴ labour market integration in Freiburg will be able to learn about the concept behind the Competence Centre and the areas in which the partners involved are working and determine future forms of cooperation together.

Last but not least, it conducts public relations work; the local official journal, which Freiburg households receive free of charge, ran a story on the opening of the Competence Centre by the city’s mayor. In all its work, the Competence Centre perceives itself as a learning organisation undergoing a continual development and optimisation process that reacts flexibly to changing framework conditions.

5 Labour Opportunities for Refugees

Besides the formal aspect of authorisations, refugees also often face cultural and linguistic hurdles when entering the German labour market. To get a feel of the labour culture and tradition in Germany, the city of Freiburg offered so-called work opportunities for refugee integration programmes for refugees. For example, 70 space work opportunities were created in 2016, specifically designed to give refugees a glimpse into work procedures.

The primary purpose of the work opportunities was to collect work experience in a German company with the lowest possible threshold and with supervision and to improve language skills. Many participants, however, were disillusioned with the low pay: the work opportunities were compensated at a symbolic 1.05 euros per hour. The dropout rate was accordingly high. For many participants, fully paid work represents the opportunity to live an independent life and is of primary concern. Therefore, it was difficult for the coordination team to explain the long-term beneficial impact of the work opportunities and convince participants of their advantages in future job searches. Furthermore, the companies that participated were in a difficult situation and had a tough time integrating refugees with poor language skills and little work experience into their existing teams. For many employees, the new colleagues were more of a liability since it took a long time to get them started at the place of work, and explaining the work processes and conventions was difficult.

In effect, the programme retooled in 2017, and a new programme was created, Refugee Integration Measures (RIM), under which companies and institutions that take in refugees receive a flat-rate fee per head of 250 euros per month for supervision and support. In addition, the group of participants was limited using strict criteria so that the goal of the programme of early introduction to the labour market is attained. It is possible for newly arrived refugees still undergoing the asylum process to be involved in such programmes after the end of the 3-month employment prohibition. They are paid at 80 cents per hour. In general, an RIM lasts 6 months and includes up to 20 h of work per week. Participants must also be enrolled in a parallel language or integration course at the same time without interruption, which must be completed if possible in addition to the programme. The primary advantage of taking part in a RIM is that, after successfully completing the programmes, the participants can show 6 months of work experience in a German company, shall have ideally improved their language skills and have come into contact with the German labour landscape. The asylum process can take months for many. Refugee integration measures and language or integration courses are one way to bridge this time period.

In addition to the federal labour programmes and community services that help to provide labour market access to refugees, additional qualification measures or internship training programmes serve as good foundation for refugees entering the employment market. A networking meeting takes place regularly for offices and others working in the area of labour market integration for refugees in Freiburg. These meetings are held by the Integration Department of the Office for Migration and Integration every 6 months so that participating offices and project managers can discuss existing services, challenges and any open spaces. For example, the many services offered include preparatory qualification courses for caretaking for the elderly (the nursing industry has been facing personnel shortages for years already), services to obtain a secondary school diploma in combination with a company internship, or preparation for medical specialist knowledge and patient communication tests.

It must be noted that many young refugees have had little schooling in their home countries, some as less as 4 years. Because of this, they lack the basic knowledge in subjects like math and English and, of course, lack the German language skills necessary to work successfully in companies. The refugees must be brought up to a level that allows them to participate in professional school training in order to receive their education. The project to obtain a secondary school diploma is optimally suited for this need. However, it is currently limited to refugees under the age of 20. Ideally, it should be expanded to allow older refugees to participate.

6 Outlook/Conclusion

A series of factors are important for ensuring success in the working world: communication with colleagues and supervisors must function seamlessly, professional skills must be appropriate for the work assigned and vice versa, and employees need basic traits like reliability, punctuality and a friendly demeanour. All of these factors are unique challenges for refugees, whose residency status and future might be uncertain and who are forced to deal with new and different social conditions and norms and an entirely unfamiliar language. However, employers must also adjust accordingly: since refugees do not necessarily become aware of job postings through the usual channels like online portals or newspapers, alternative recruiting methods must be established, which refugees can take advantage of. Employers also need to budget more time for initial training and introduction into the workplace and must be ready to explain regulations like those on working hours, vacation, taxes and the social security system. Last but not least, long-time employees must be prepared to accept their new colleagues and sensitised about any initial difficulties they may have.

Mentors are an ideal aid for successful integration. These may be volunteers or work colleagues who closely supervise and encourage refugees in a kind of sponsor relationship.

Furthermore, targeted and job-specific promotion of language skills and other necessary specialist skills like math is indispensable. For example, employees working in the construction industry or carpentry must learn the length measurements used in Germany from scratch. Ensuring that such support measures are available without restriction is a key factor in their success. If support measures are only available to a sub-group of refugees, in the worst case scenario, talented and motivated people may be prevented from successfully participating in the labour market. This will ultimately restrict the options open to companies looking for employees. Unfortunately, many support programmes available in Germany today depend on a refugee’s residency status and/or country of origin. Business representatives must increase their efforts to change this fact. Their goal should be to give all refugees an opportunity for further education and training and to help create long-term prospects for remaining in the country for anyone with a fixed workplace or training spot. This approach would be beneficial to the economy, to humanity and to society.

Integration must be interactive in order to be successful. Different individuals and offices take different roles. Politicians must create an underlying framework that allows anyone integrating into our society to successfully use and apply all the opportunities and chances they receive for successful integration. Society must be patient and willing to accept them and must offer explanations and help to each individual whenever necessary throughout the integration process. The economy must leave familiar pathways to create new options for access and development.

First and foremost, refugees need the security to plan their futures. Only when they know they will be able to remain in the country in the long-term can they become comfortable in their new country; only then does it pay off to truly make a new start, from the refugee’s perspective. Children must have every opportunity to participate in society and get an education, right from the start. As a country facing major demographic shifts, Germany should take a keen interest in creating such long-term perspectives and support programmes.

Questions

• 1. How can refugees access the labour market in Germany?

• 2. How are their skills and qualifications measured?

• 3. Which institutions need to cooperate in order to support refugees’ integration into the labour market?

• 4. What are the main obstacles for entering the labour market as a refugee in Germany?

• 5. What is the role of companies in the issue of labour market access for refugees?