Despite possessing a high level of education and work experience, Ukrainian refugees are finding it difficult to find lasting employment in Flanders, De Standaard reports. Just less than a quarter find a job, mostly due to language difficulties.
“There are many of them, they are highly educated and they will probably be here for years to come because of the war in their country. Yet barely one in four Ukrainians in Flanders is now working” explained Joke Van Bommel from Flemish employment service VDAB. “However, their potential is enormous.”
Concretely, of the 12,111 Ukrainians registered with the VDAB, 25% are currently unemployed, while 39% have gained some work experience in Belgium, but this can be as little as one day of employment.
This represents a very low level of employment. Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Belgium has welcomed 70,000 Ukrainians. Flanders is currently home to around 20,000 Ukrainian men and women of working age, of which just more than half are registered with the VDAB. Employment among those who have not registered with VDAB is also likely to be high.
Language difficulties
VDAB assures that the percentage of Ukrainians finding employment is slowly increasing thanks to language guidance, language coaches, and internships with a language coach.
Indeed, language appears to be the biggest impediment to finding lasting employment in Flanders. Not all refugees speak English and Dutch is challenging to learn for speakers of Slavic languages.
Since May, it has been compulsory for Ukrainian refugees to register with VDAB, but this obligation is as of yet not well known. Refugees should be contacted about this obligation, but it is not known how Flemish authorities check who is actually signed up.
Given the difficulties in securing long-term employment, the living wage afforded to Ukrainian refugees may discourage them from looking for work. In Flanders, between March last year and May this year, more than 18,000 Ukrainians received these social payments, according to statistics from FPS Social Integration.
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Ukrainians often arrive in Belgium with relatively little money and Ukrainian wages are often insufficient to support a life in Belgium, especially in Brussels. The living wage provides a lifeline for many families, but can also be quite low, encouraging some refugees to look for work.
VDAB wants to match the skills of Ukrainian refugees to relevant positions and is providing them linguistic support to help them land highly-skilled jobs. Unfortunately, in many cases, highly-qualified professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, are forced to work menial jobs, at least to start.
