Job Markets' Challenges for Migrants
“Auslander Raus!” or “Foreigners out!”. A video featuring a group of Germans singing a xenophobic version of “L’amour toujours” von Gigi D’Agostino went viral on German social media.[1] At the same time, anti-migration discourse is growing in Germany, and among its arguments is that Foreigners often move to the country and live off social security. Does this argument hold any truth? Research and my experience as a developer of services for the immigrant community say the opposite. Migrants generally wish to return to the job market but face extreme obstacles. Bureaucracy, discrimination, mismatch between skills and opportunities and language barriers are some of the challenges. In this short article, we will analyse a few of the bureaucratic and societal issues faced by immigrants who wish to rejoin the job market and how organisations such as Disrupt Development are essential to mitigate these issues.
Immigrants often cite the circular issue of bureaucracy as a reason why they cannot return to the job market. Why is it circular? Many countries demand an immigrant to have a job offer to receive a work visa, and the companies demand a visa to offer a job offer. In Germany, where I have seen the issue first-hand, refugees and asylum seekers often do not have permission to work, and the process of obtaining such authorisation is long and exhausting. An article published by the MDR Thüringen[2] explains that asylum seekers are not allowed to work on the first three months of their arrival, and after that, they may or may not receive a work permit. Those with children under 18 are banned from working for six months. The article claims that this ban aims to make people more straightforward to reach and lead to a quicker asylum process. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Asylum claims can stretch for an undetermined period of time. For some whose claims are denied, there is an opportunity to work, but the permission available only lasts six months, making it hard for the refugee to find a job willing to renew every six months. For Juliane Kemnitz from the Thüringen Refugee Council[3], the biggest obstacles to refugees working are the continued "restrictive access to the labour market," the work bans at the beginning of their stay and, above all, the "difficulties in recognising educational qualifications or work experience." A possible solution could be simpler policies and less bureaucracy. So, even if there is a desire to return to the job market, navigating complicated procedures in a foreign language is almost impossible. And this is just one example of one country. The problem is systemic, especially when the immigrant is seen as a potential threat to the host country’s security instead of a vulnerable person looking for better conditions of living. The same complicated bureaucratic issues also happen to economic migrants when they receive short-term work permissions and are expected to renew yearly. However, they are told that there are no appointments or when students can only work under specific conditions. The issue is everywhere.
Another common issue is the recognition of education. The European Court of Auditors published research about the subject. It concluded “that the recognition of professional qualifications in the EU is an essential mechanism, but used sparsely and inconsistently for exercising the right to pursue a profession in another member state. The application of the directive still has shortcomings and the information provided to citizens is not always reliable.”[5]. In this case, the focus was on people migrating inside the European Union, for those outside, it is even more challenging. As seen in the image above, the lack of recognition of foreign education is the most cited issue among migrants in the EU. In an event I participated in the Colombian Embassy in 2022, one of the most common questions was, “How can I return to the area of work I trained in?”. Groups such as “La Red” are focused on supporting Latin American immigrants to thrive in Germany. They have a project called LaRA Plus Anerkennungsberatung[6] that gives orientation on how to proceed through the long and complicated process. I talked to members of the organisation, and we identified common difficulties in the process. One is Germany being a federative country, meaning states have power over local legislation, and often, the rules are contradictory. Second, these rules may change irregularly. Lastly, some rules are seen more as guidelines and give some room for interpretation from the responsible officer. There are also websites and online resources that are looking to try to facilitate this engagement; nonetheless, it does not substitute leaner and more straightforward processes. The irony is that Germany always reiterates the need for skilled workers in areas such as engineering and health care. What good does it bring to convince people to come to the country, but once they are here, to limit their ability to join the workforce fully?
Hidden Bias is the last issue to be discussed in this essay. I heard (and lived) numerous reports of hiring discrimination. I will start with my personal experience. I applied for years to hundreds of job positions, without ever hearing back. The moment I married and changed my last name to a German-sounding one, I immediately got my first opportunity. A survey done by YouGov that was commissioned by the jobs platform Indeed showed sad but strong results:
“The responses were quite stark. Around half of respondents felt they had experienced discrimination in the jobs market and hiring process, with a full 40% saying they felt this discrimination sometimes or often. Women in particular felt they were discriminated against, around half of all female respondents, as opposed to the third of men who felt the same. Reasons for the perceived discrimination were most likely to be their "foreign-sounding" names, their citizenship, having being born in other countries and their religion. In particular, those for whom German wasn't their mother tongue, and who attained education and qualifications outside Germany felt they were considered less capable than those perceived as "native" Germans.”[7]
Although there is a shortage of professionals, companies are still using traditional hiring practices. At this point, Disrupt Development is particularly strong. We break down misconceptions and foster opportunities by interfering in traditional hiring mentalities and pathways. This aligns with the survey. When asked how this could be mitigated, the interviewee stated that “solutions such as interviews with formal questions and standardized assessments for everyone, and an application process without names or pictures” were positive. Another recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that Germany is still an interesting destination for skilled workers. However, few make the leap due to the fear of growing discrimination[8]. “The survey tracked the careers of nearly 30,000 highly qualified people who said they would be interested in Germany as an employment destination. A year later, the study showed that only around 5% actually made the move. Of those who did make it, more than half said they had faced discrimination when it came to renting or buying housing.”[9].
I personally supported dozens of immigrants from different ways of life and was often bombarded with long rants about how frustrating it was to wish to work but be unable to convince the Department of Immigration that it was the correct route. I heard women crying about how their long path for education was lost because they could not pursue the careers they trained for, and to support their families, they had to take entry-level positions, being underpaid and overworked. Many of these women already came from countries where education was hard for them to obtain, making the situation even more painful. These are some frustrations I still carry with me; they hurt harder because I also lived them first-hand. Being an immigrant from the global south in Germany, I have been through numerous rejections, discrimination, and unfairness hidden behind arguments of “just not a fit”. Biases are common, even inside development agencies, which made me join Disrupt Development. Organisations like Disrupt Development are essential allies in supporting immigrants’ journeys, including the journey back into the job market, by advocating for policy changes that directly address systemic barriers. Our work is especially relevant in tackling the “circular” problem of work permits: by pushing for streamlined visa policies and advocating for simpler, uniform procedures, Disrupt Development could alleviate some of the most frustrating bureaucratic hurdles. In addition, it is possible to foster change in the recognition of foreign qualifications, which remains a critical obstacle. In countries where differing state regulations and shifting rules create confusion, organisations like Disrupt Development advocate for clearer, standardised pathways, helping immigrants pursue careers they’re trained for. Through policy reform and targeted advocacy, Disrupt Development aims to dismantle these barriers so immigrants can finally access the job market on fairer terms, benefiting individuals and society alike
[1] tagesschau.de, “‘Ausländer Raus’-Parolen Bei Kerb in Friedrichsdorf-Burgholzhausen,” tagesschau.de, October 14, 2024, https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/regional/hessen/hr-auslaender-raus-rassistische-parolen-bei-kerb-in-burgholzhausen-100.html.
[2] Robert Tailback, “Wann Dürfen Flüchtlinge Arbeiten - Und Wann Nicht? Ein Überblick | MDR.DE,” www.mdr.de, March 8, 2024, https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/fluechtlinge-arbeiten-job-100.html.
[3] Robert Tailback, “Wann Dürfen Flüchtlinge Arbeiten”
[4] Eurostat, “File: Foreign-Born People Who Have Faced Obstacles Fig 3.Png - Statistics Explained,” Europa.eu, 2023, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Foreign-born_people_who_have_faced_obstacles_Fig_3.png.
[5] European Court of Auditors, “Special Report 10/2024: The Recognition of Professional Qualifications in the EU,” European Court of Auditors, 2024, https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/publications/SR-2024-10&od=1.
[6] La Red. “LaRA plus Anerkennungsberatung – La Red.” La Red, October 17, 2024. https://la-red.eu/portfolio/lara-plus.
[7] Frey Lindsay, “In Germany, People with Migration Background Feel Significant Discrimination in the Jobs Market,” Forbes, August 24, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/freylindsay/2021/08/24/in-germany-people-with-migration-background-feel-significant-discrimination-in-the-jobs-market/.
[8] Deutsche Welle, “Germany Tempts Foreign Workers, despite Discrimination – DW – 01/31/2024,” dw.com, January 31, 2024, https://www.dw.com/en/germany-top-choice-for-foreign-workers-despite-discrimination/a-68134320.
[9] Deutsche Welle, “Germany Tempts Foreign Workers”
