Why Germany's refugees are fuelling election debate on economy
At the same time, Europe's biggest economy needs more people to help plug labour shortages still posing a big obstacle to growth, and many experts say migration is crucial to sustaining the workforce and compensating for an ageing population.
HOW HAS MIGRATION AFFECTED GERMANY'S POPULATION?
Germany's net population rose by over 3.5 million between 2014 and 2024, driven entirely by migration. During this period, the number of German citizens fell by two million to 71.6 million. By contrast, the foreign population grew to 13.1 million from around 7.5 million, Statistics Office data showed.
Since 2022, Germany has taken in over two million refugees. Of those, about 1.2 million are from war-torn Ukraine. Most of the others are from Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan, data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) showed.
MIGRANTS: BOON OR BURDEN TO THE ECONOMY AND LABOUR MARKET?
Employment growth in Germany is now entirely reliant on foreign workers. A recent analysis by the Federal Labour Agency found that without migrants, Germany would have suffered a net loss of 209,000 jobs between September 2023 and September 2024. In the state of Bavaria, for example, the workforce hit a record 6.03 million last year, largely due to labour from abroad.
At the same time, among the 4.01 million employable benefit recipients in June 2024, 47% were foreign nationals. Ukrainians and Syrians made up more than 1.2 million of recipients by October 2024.
Over the past decade, federal government spending on jobless benefits has increased, rising significantly from 2020 and touching 29.7 billion euros ($30.8 billion) in 2024, the labour ministry said, citing a weaker economy and refugee arrivals.
HAS GERMANY'S LABOUR MARKET BENEFITED FROM THE REFUGEE INFLUX IN THE PAST DECADE?
Germany's hopes that refugees would address the skilled labour shortage have twice been dashed, first with mostly Syrian war refugees in 2015-16 and again with those from Ukraine in 2022, Wido Geis-Thoene of economic institute IW Cologne said.
The unemployment rate among people from asylum-origin countries is also significantly higher than that of foreigners overall, according to the Federal Labour Agency.
According to Germany's Institute for Employment Research, 54% of refugees who have been in the country for six years are employed. Of these, two-thirds work full-time, and 70% hold skilled jobs.
For Ukrainian nationals, employment rose by 45% year-on-year as of October 2024, bringing their employment rate to 31.4%.
WHAT MEASURES HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO IMPROVE REFUGEE EMPLOYMENT?
The labour ministry introduced a programme in 2024 aimed at accelerating job placement. The target group is employable refugees from Ukraine and the main asylum-origin countries who have recently completed a German integration course and receive citizens' allowances. More than 600,000 additional counselling sessions took place last year through the programme.
New regulations governing refugee employment took effect in February last year, allowing refugees in reception centres to work after six months instead of nine and pushing immigration authorities to grant work permits for refugees more quickly.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES FOR REFUGEES TO ENTER GERMANY'S LABOUR MARKET?
Refugees face challenges including recognition of foreign qualifications, language barriers and difficulties related to trauma from conflict in their homelands. An uncertain residence status can further hinder job placement.
Women, especially mothers, encounter additional obstacles as caregiving responsibilities limit the time for language learning and skill development. A 2024 OECD study showed that only 42% of immigrant mothers with young children were employed in Germany in 2019, compared with 73% of native-born mothers.
If immigrants with foreign university degrees had the same access to high-skilled jobs as native-born workers, Germany would have over 600,000 more people in such roles, the OECD study showed.
($1 = 0.9639 euros)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Man Utd chief was convinced transfer would 'send shiver down the spine of rivals'
Ed Woodward signed his fair share of flops during his ill-fated reign as Manchester United executive vice-chairman, but was left red-faced by one in particular after his failed spell Ed Woodward believed that Manchester United's 2015 acquisition of Bastian Schweinsteiger would "send shivers down the spines of rivals," only for the player to turn out to be a sensational flop. Woodward joined the board of directors of Old Trafford as an executive vice-chairman in 2012, before assuming David Gill's role of CEO the following year. And while the now 53-year-old aimed to hit the ground running with regards to welcoming fresh faces to the Red Devils squad, many of his transfers completely missed the mark. For instance, Woodward was at the helm when Paul Pogba' returned to United from Juventus in August 2016 in a mammoth deal. O f course, Pogba came through the youth system at United in 2011 before joining the Serie A stalwarts for a reported £1.5million the following year. But four years later, realising the error of their ways, the Red Devils board opted to bring him back to Old Trafford for a then-world-record fee of £89m. However, Pogba then returned to Juventus once more in 2022 on a free transfer, failing to recuperate even a fraction of the fee that they had spent bringing their academy graduate back to the northwest of England six years earlier. Pogba was just one of many expensive signings during Woodward's time at the club that failed to live up to expectations. Woodward was also at the helm when Schweinsteiger arrived from Bayern Munich in a £6.5m deal back in 2015, a move which on paper looked like a steal for the 13-time Premier League winners. After progressing through the Bavarian youth system in 2002, Schweinsteiger spent 13 years with Bayern, lifting eight Bundesliga titles, nine domestic cups and a Champions League. He also managed 121 caps for Germany and lifted the 2014 World Cup, before being named team captain following Philipp Lahm's retirement from international football. Given his wealth of experience at the highest levels, Woodward went as far as claiming that Schweinsteiger would leave rivals quaking in their boots when coming up against the midfield maestro shortly after his arrival in England. He was quoted as saying at the time: "It's fantastic to see a player like that come to Manchester United. "He's our first ever German, and what a German – he's won absolutely everything and comes here with fantastic experience. When people see Bastian on the team sheet, that's going to send some shivers down the spine." However, the reality is that Woodward may have set unreasonable expectations on the star, given how his tenure with the Premier League giants actually played out. During his maiden season with United, Schweinsteiger spent more than 130 days sidelined through injury. And when Jose Mourinho took the reins of the club from Louis van Gaal in the spring of 2016, he made it clear that Schweinsteiger was not part of his plans going forward, demoting the player to training with the U23 set-up in a move he faced heavy criticism for and that he has since admitted was a big mistake. Schweinsteiger played for United just 35 times over the course of his two-year stint with the club before he moved on to MLS outfit Chicago Fire in 2017. There, he scored eight goals and created 11 assists in 92 outings before retiring in 2019. Woodward, meanwhile, announced in 2021 that he would be resigning from his position at Manchester United. He parted ways with the club on February 1, 2022, but has since returned to work, having been appointed to the board of trustees for Bloomsbury Football Foundation last year.
Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Direct trains from UK to top European city with €4 beers set to start soon
A deal has been signed for an expansion on rail travel from the UK to a popular European destination - making it easier than ever for people to go on city breaks For those looking for a quick city break - there's a new European destination that will now be easily accessible via train. Britain and Germany have just signed a landmark deal that will "fundamentally change how millions of people travel". Named The Kensington Treaty, the agreement will hopefully be in place in the early 2030s and marks a shift in relations between the two nations. It was sealed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's on his first official visit to the UK on July 17. One of the key elements of the deal - as outlined in the UK goverments Plan for Change is the commitment to provide a long-distance direct passenger rail service between the two capitals according to The Times. It's expected travel time from London to Frankfurt is likely to take about five hours and London to Geneva is expected to take five hours and 20 minutes. Eurostar and other train operators had an eye on expanding the number of destinations served by the Channel Tunnel since the original service was launched in the 1990s. It also allows there to be easy travel to other German cities including Frankfurt. The joint UK-Germany transport taskforce will now explore the infrastructure, border and security needs to be able to create the route. As well as looking into the commercial and technical requirements such as safety standards and what is needed from rail operators to make the direct service happen. Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: 'We're pioneering a new era of European rail connectivity and are determined to put Britain at the heart of a better-connected continent. "The Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie - in just a matter of years, rail passengers in the UK could be able to visit these iconic sights direct from the comfort of a train, thanks to a direct connection linking London and Berlin." "This landmark agreement - part of a new treaty the Prime Minister will sign with Chancellor Merz today - has the potential to fundamentally change how millions of people travel between our two countries, offering a faster, more convenient and significantly greener alternative to flying.'" It comes after Eurostar has since announced plans to launch direct services to Frankfurt and Geneva in the early 2030s, as well as working on a direct route to Berlin.
Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
Why Zelensky reversed his anti-corruption overhaul
On Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a law to gut Ukraine's anti-corruption agencies. On Thursday he backtracked, and said he would put forward new legislation to restore their independence. The original legislation would have stripped both the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Nabu) and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (Sapo) of their independence, bringing them under direct executive control. The official reason for the legislation was to cleanse Ukraine's investigative bodies of Russian influence. A spy, apparently, was suspected in their ranks. But treason has become the calling card for the consolidation of power in Ukraine. Earlier this year, Petro Poroshenko – President Zelensky's main declared challenger in the next election – was sanctioned for high treason, effectively barring him from running for high office. Ukrainians have had enough. With Donald Trump warming to his Ukrainian counterpart after their bust-up in the Oval Office, the 'rally-around-the-flag' effect that recently buoyed Zelensky – after months of sagging poll numbers – has now dissipated. The legislative coup provoked the largest demonstration since Russia's invasion in 2022. Many read it as creeping authoritarianism, marked by increasingly staccato punctuation. Even in international media that reliably lionises Zelensky, stories are beginning to percolate about the monopolisation of power, the use of lawfare to sideline political opponents, the harassment of civil society and a growing crackdown on dissent. Yet Tuesday's institutional hijacking was an escalation, considering what is at stake. Nabu and Sapo were originally established as a condition for western support after Russia's invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014. Donors needed assurances that funds would not be siphoned off, viewing accountability as essential for maintaining domestic backing for their aid packages. The IMF predicated its bailout programmes on Ukraine's anti-corruption commitments, and western capitals have repeatedly linked continued support to efforts to root out graft. At a time when European governments are struggling to cover the shortfall left by President Trump's withdrawal of US aid, the implications for international support could be severe. Before this week's legislation, Ukraine's anti-corruption community was under pressure. Earlier in July, Ukrainian authorities raidedthe home of the country's leading anti-corruption campaigner without a warrant, accusing him of draft evasion and fraud. Then, on the eve of the vote, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) – long seen as a tool for political enforcement – carried out 70 raids on Nabu and Sapo staff. They ransacked their offices and arrested a lead investigator. But as Ukrainians know – and western diplomats will privately concede – the problems within Nabu run deeper. The agency has long been accused of operating under the influence of the presidential administration and Zelensky's éminence grise, chief of staff Andriy Yermak. Nabu has been variously criticised for ineffectiveness, for steering clear of presidential allies, or conversely, for being used as a tool of political persecution. It begs the question what changed. The threads lead back to the case of Oleksiy Chernyshov, a former deputy prime minister, a close ally of the president, who was charged with corruption last month. Nabu had long been accused of toothlessness when it came to investigating those close to power. But the consequence of baring its teeth has been its defanging. For some time, Chernyshov's case was rumoured to have been quietly manoeuvred out of investigation by the pliant head of Nabu, Semen Kryvonos. Last year, a court issued a warrant to search Chernyshov's residence in connection with alleged corruption in 'Big Construction' – Zelensky's flagship infrastructure programme, known locally as the 'Great Theft'. But the search was never executed, reportedly at Kryvonos' request. Kryvonos himself owed his previous post to the backing of both Chernyshov and Yermak. The inner circle, it seemed, would remain safe under his tenure at the agency – a role he was appointed to despite having no background in anti-corruption. It was only after internal pressure within Nabu eventually forced Kryvonos to act on Chernyshov. It confirmed what many had long suspected – that the President's office exercised quiet control over the institution. The moment that control looked in doubt, its independence was shut down. For western partners, the balancing act of funding Ukraine while withholding public criticism has collapsed. The G7 ambassadors have released a statement confirming they had met with Nabu and now 'have serious concerns and intend to discuss these developments with government leaders'. Corruption has long stymied Ukraine. It was the thrust behind the Maidan protests: the call to expel the oligarchs that controlled the country without accountability. It made Ukraine vulnerable to invasion in 2014 in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. It propelled Zelensky himself to political power as an outsider who could sweep away graft. Still, more Ukrainians now see corruption as a greater threat to the country's development than Russian aggression. Many of Ukraine's western partners have justified their support as a defence of democracy against corrupt autocracy. Even with Zelensky's backtracking, with the dismemberment of Ukraine's independent institutions, many will now legitimately ask: whom, and what, are they funding?
