Over 80% of Ukrainian refugees in Netherlands find jobs; Most in Amsterdam or The Hague
Over 80 percent of Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands have found work, NOS reports based on data from benefits agency UWV. Ukrainian people primarily work in the hospitality industry and through employment agencies, and mostly in the Amsterdam and The Hague area.
There are currently about 55,0000 adult Ukrainian refugees in the Netherlands. The UWV has received 46,000 reports from employers who have hired a refugee from Ukraine. That is 83 percent of Ukrainian refugees registered in the Netherlands. The actual working percentage may be a bit lower because it could be that a refugee has more than one job.
The integration of Ukrainians into the labor market is much faster than with other asylum seekers. According to experts, this is due to Ukrainians’ special refugee status. Unlike people from, for example, Afghanistan or Syria, they don’t have to go through the asylum process and wait for permits to start working.
“The discussion about removing obstacles to starting working has been an issue in Dutch politics for some time,” Jaco Dagevos, a researcher at the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP), said to NOS. “Now we can see in practice that it is actually effective.” He thinks the government would work on a policy allowing all asylum seekers to start working as soon as their applications are in.
Anastasia, a 26-year-old from Ukraine, works as a waitress in Amsterdam. She arrived in the Netherlands on July 1, she told NOS. “I wanted to fight in the war, I had shooting training, but my eyes were too bad,” she explained. She used to be an accountant and earned a good living, but could find no other work in her hometown of Odessa after her employers fled the war.
“At a certain point, I became afraid that I would no longer be able to support myself, but especially my parents. That is why I came to the Netherlands,” she said. Because she receives free lodging and food from her host family, she can send more money home to her parents. “Many people came here for the money so they can support those left behind.”
