Half of Ukrainians who left for Germany at the beginning of the war are already working
Half of Ukrainians who arrived in Germany between 24 February and 31 August 2022 were employed by the end of September 2025, according to DW. These figures are contained in an analysis by the Labour Market Research Institute of the Federal Employment Agency and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, published on 17 February.
Researchers note that the rate of employment among Ukrainians in Germany is higher than among previous waves of migrants. Ukrainian refugees reached an employment rate of 50 per cent about two and a half years earlier than, for example, refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015. At that time, it took about six years to reach this level. Experts attribute the faster result to the higher level of education of Ukrainians, the absence of a mandatory asylum procedure, and the opportunity to immediately enter the labour market.
At the same time, the employment rate among Ukrainians is significantly lower than the average in Germany. In June 2025, the national average was around 68 per cent. Among the reasons, analysts cite psychological trauma related to war and forced migration, as well as the structure of the Ukrainian refugee wave. A significant proportion are women who are raising children without a partner due to restrictions on men of conscription age leaving Ukraine. In particular, in September 2025, only 21 per cent of Ukrainian women raising children under the age of three without a partner were employed.
Due to partial employment among some refugees from Ukraine, the proportion of recipients of Bürgergeld state support remains high. In the first half of 2025, 41 per cent of employed Ukrainians lived in households that received additional payments, and this figure was particularly high in families with children. It is noted separately that in 2023, the proportion of self-employed Ukrainians in Germany was around 5.3 per cent.
The analysis is based on a survey and social security data of 1,943 women and 803 men aged 18–64 who arrived in Germany in the first six months after the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. Employment data is taken into account as of 30 September 2025.
