Female Refugees from 2015 Mostly Without Jobs

Only a minority of the refugee women who arrived in Austria in 2015 are employed. In 2023, 38 percent worked at least 90 days, compared to 78 percent of their male counterparts, according to a report commissioned by the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF) on the employment trajectories of various immigrant groups. In contrast, regularly immigrated individuals from EU countries and third countries find work relatively quickly in this country.

Figures on Afghans and Syrians

Comparing refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, and Somalia, the former integrated into the workforce better. After eight years, 69 percent of Afghans who came to the country in 2015 (83 percent of men, 36 percent of women) are employed. Among Syrians and Somalis, it is 63 percent (77 to 78 percent of men, 33 percent of women). The situation is different for EU citizens and regularly immigrated people from third countries: the former are 75 percent employed in the first year. Among third-country nationals who immigrated in 2022, it was also 74 percent after one year.

The study also shows that refugees are mostly not available to the labor market in the year after immigration. For those who came to the country in 2015, this is partly due to the duration of the asylum procedures. Additionally, refugees needed seven to twelve years to reach two-thirds of the average income.

Some Stayed, Some Left

59 percent of asylum seekers who came to Austria in 2015 remained in the country. In contrast, 70 percent of those who applied for asylum in 2022 had left the country again the following year - among them, especially individuals with little prospect of a positive asylum decision.

The success of labor market integration also depended on the place of residence: In the west, asylum seekers and those entitled to subsidiary protection were more successful than in the east of Austria. Those who lived in the west or the center of Austria at the beginning of their stay in 2015 and remained there had an employment rate of over 80 percent in 2023. Those who moved from there to the east, particularly to Vienna, had an employment rate of over 59 to 62 percent.

EU Citizens with High Mobility

Two-thirds of regularly immigrated third-country nationals were still in the country four to five years after arriving in Austria. EU citizens showed high mobility: After three to four years, half had left Austria again.

"Those who live with us must become part of us," said Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP), who presented the report on Friday together with study author and migration expert Rainer Münz, as quoted in a press release. She sees work in this sense as an opportunity "to practice the German learned and to come into contact with people."

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.