The employment program for Ukrainians in Germany failed – Bild.

The employment program for Ukrainians in Germany has failed, reports Bild. According to an audit by the German Court of Auditors, approximately 720,000 Ukrainians are currently receiving social assistance in Germany, including about half a million able-bodied individuals. The monthly expenditure on them amounts to approximately 539 million euros. Over the past year, the government launched an initiative called Job Turbo, concerning the employment of Ukrainian refugees, simplifying general rules and requirements for German language proficiency.

However, this program did not yield results. In 2023, only 20% of the graduates of integration courses received a job offer from employment centers, yet none of them were successfully employed. This year, 40% of graduates received vacancies, but less than 1% managed to start working. Employment centers, without verification, agreed with individuals who refused vacancies, considering them 'unacceptable' for themselves.

Among other issues were long queues for integration courses and frequent refusals that were supposedly related to health problems but often lacked documentary confirmation. Moreover, after completing the courses, graduates needed to contact employment centers every six weeks. However, in 2023, the average wait Time for an appointment was six months, and this year it is 115 days.

"The German government is deceiving itself again. Rather than saving through the 'turbo employment' program, the costs of aid to Ukrainian citizens are only rapidly increasing. 'Turbo employment' turned out to be a failure. Two years after the start of the war, less than a third of Ukrainians work in Germany. This indicates their inability. Hubertus Heil, who is no longer the labor minister, should have long become the minister of nutrition," said Bundestag member Kai Whittaker.

Let us recall that the German government began massively denying entry to Ukrainian citizens to the country starting from 2024. Since the beginning of this year, the country has turned away 5935 Ukrainians. Thus, they have become the largest group of foreigners whom Germany has not allowed across the border. Syrian citizens are in second place among foreigners who have failed border control, receiving 4708 refusals. Afghan nationals are in third place, having been denied entry 2396 times.