Germany: 10 years on from the great 'wave', the integration of refugees into the labour market is largely working

Germany: 10 years on from the great ‘wave’, the integration of refugees into the labour market is largely working

A decade on from Angela Merkel's 'Wir schaffen das' ('we can do this') speech on 31 August 2015, in the face of a sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany, researchers and media outlets are conducting more studies on how well the migrants who arrived in Germany during that period have integrated into the labour market. The findings suggest integration is largely succeeding, despite a tougher economic and political climate.

The German Institute for Employment Research (IAB) recently delved into national statistics to present a detailed map of the professional integration of refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016 (around 1.2 million people, 29% of whom were women).

A high employment rate

In 2024, the employment rate for refugees was 64%. If we add the self-employed (5%), we get an employment rate of around 70%, exactly the same as for the German population as a whole. Male refugees from the eight most common countries of origin of asylum seekers – Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Somalia and Nigeria – even have a higher employment rate (76%) than the average for the German male population,…

Thomas Schnee

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