ifo Researcher Poutvaara in Favor of Easing Germany’s Work Ban for Refugees

A lack of language skills followed by a lack of training are still the biggest barriers to employment. Here, too, there is a need for reform: refugees must have the equivalence of their qualifications checked; however, as this is the responsibility of Germany’s federal states, procedures vary widely from region to region. For example, Bavaria alone has seven agencies responsible for this. Added to that, there is inconsistency as to the documents required, the costs, and also the results of the review. Since the competent authorities are often overworked, the statutory deadline of four months for the review is sometimes exceeded. “The recognition offices for foreign qualifications urgently need more staff. In addition, responsibilities should be pooled and digitalized,” Poutvaara said.

Community service makes sense for refugees who are neither working nor attending a language course and who are neither in education or training nor attending an integration course, Poutvaara continued. It could help refugees integrate into society and learn the language.