Public Employment Services (PES) are one of the main actors to help integrate displaced people from Ukraine in the labor market. According to their last survey, the number of persons displaced from Ukraine registered at PES remains stable, with some country variations.

The results from the August PES Network survey show that the number of persons displaced from Ukraine registered at PES decreased slightly.

In the August survey, their total number amounted to over 322 000 registrations at the 27 PES that have reported on this question. Over 50 per cent of these are reported from Germany.

Most PES reported lower numbers of persons registered compared to the last questionnaire in April, reflecting the increased transition into employment. 

Romania is one exception: the adoption of a law encouraging registration with a PES within three months of obtaining temporary protection status resulted in a significant increase in registrations.

In August, close to 16600 beneficiaries of temporary protection were registered with the Romanian PES.

Figure 1. People displaced from Ukraine registered at PES.

The survey also shows that the number of persons displaced in employment keeps increasing. Figures reported by 19 PES indicate that around 1 872 000 employment contracts were concluded with people from Ukraine. It is important to note that the figures reported by some countries may include both Ukrainian citizens with and without temporary protection and persons with multiple contracts.  

New evidence confirms that those registered with PES are relatively young and with higher level of qualifications

The survey confirms that the large majority of persons registered with PES are women (more than two thirds in all countries providing gender-specific data).

While this may vary across countries, available evidence confirms that persons registered with PES tend to be younger and have higher level of education.

For instance, in Greece, 41.9% of them are in the 30-44 age group. In Germany only 15 per cent of Ukrainians registered with the PES are 55 years or older, compared to 24 % of the non-Ukrainian unemployed. A recent evaluation also shows that almost 72 % of Ukrainian refugees have a tertiary, mostly academic, educational and training qualification.  

In addition, a large proportion (85 % of working-age men and women) were employed before moving in. In Slovenia, as many as 70 % of them have higher education. In Flanders VDAB (Belgium), 49.5% had high education.

Sectors such as construction, hospitality as well as wholesale and retail trade continue being key employment sectors.

New measures are being deployed

While most countries continue to rely mostly on programmes and measures introduced in previous months, some new measures were introduced since the last survey.

For instance, in Belgium- Wallonia, a compulsory continuing vocational training for lorry drivers (“CAP” training) is now also supporting Ukrainian drivers.  In Bulgaria, a new programme for humanitarian support is under preparation.

In Slovakia, the two main projects providing assistance to the displaced persons from Ukraine were  extended until December 2023.  "We Are Helping Displaced Persons", for instance, aims to facilitate social inclusion and integration into the labour via education, mobility support, volunteering and job orientation.

In Iceland, individual placement and support services are being opened to young displaced persons from Ukraine. A course for Ukrainians interested in working in the education sector will be held, with sector specific language classes. 

In Ireland, since Spring, Ukrainians with a TPD (who are over one year on the Live Register and deemed Long Term Unemployed) are available for employment support services with the Departments Intreo Partners National Employment Service.

Some PES are also providing direct support to their Ukrainian counterpart. This summer, the Estonian PES organised study visits for three delegations from the Ukrainian PES, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine.

Background

Public Employment Services are one of the main actors to help integrate displaced people from Ukraine in the labour market. 

To facilitate sharing of information and experience, the European Network of Public Employment Services is regularly collecting information from PES.