Switzerland reports slow progress in integrating Ukrainian women in workforce

Professional integration of female Ukrainian refugees is progressing slowly Keystone-SDA

The labour integration of Ukrainian women refugees with protection status S is progressing more slowly than expected in Switzerland. This was the conclusion of a federal government study in which experts and refugee women were interviewed.

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Many Ukrainian women with a tertiary education have training or work experience in professions that are partially regulated or structured differently in Switzerland. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) announced on Thursday that this applies above all to the education, social and healthcare sectors.

In many cases, Ukrainian women have unfamiliar career paths, for example if their professional experience does not correspond to their field of study. It is difficult for them to find suitable entry-level jobs in related professions, it added. Furthermore, prior knowledge of the national languages is rather low.

The study shows that the motivation to work is high among refugees from Ukraine, but is dampened by the return orientation of the S status. The great uncertainty about the future makes it difficult for many to set a professional course, SECO wrote. Women also feel burdened by childcare duties.

In practice, access to and funding for support programmes is also proving difficult. The experts surveyed in the study see great potential for improvements in information and coordination.

According to SECO, there are currently around 67,000 Ukrainians with S protection status living in Switzerland. It is estimated that 65-70% have a tertiary degree, of which around two thirds are women, often with school-age children. However, the employment rate of Ukrainian refugees was 30% as of mid-February, as the State Secretariat for Migration told the Keystone-SDA news agency in response to an enquiry.

As part of the study, the experiences of 33 professionals and 34 refugees from the cantons of Aargau, Basel-City, St. Gallen and Vaud were analysed.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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