Whereas only 16% of Ukrainian refugees were employed in Germany during the summer of 2022 – following the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion – this figure has increased to 51% after three years. According to Andreas Ette, head of the study at the Federal Institute for Demographic Research, many individuals secured employment upon completing integration and language courses. In addition to an improved employment situation, job satisfaction levels among Ukrainians have also risen. Data from 2023 indicate that the percentage of respondents aged 20 to 50 who reported being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their work grew from 87% to 94%.
However, there is increasing public concern in Germany regarding the growing number of young men arriving from Ukraine. Following Ukraine’s decision to permit men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country, Switzerland recorded a notable increase in applications for temporary protection (type S), with cases rising from three at the end of August to 185 by mid-October – representing approximately 33% of all new applications in that period. A comparable trend was observed in Poland, where weekly arrivals of Ukrainians in the 18-22 age group rose from 19 in mid-August to over 1,000 by mid-September. The Polish Border Guard clarified that these figures do not reflect returns to Ukraine or multiple crossings by the same individuals.