Berlin, 05/05/2025 In a joint collaboration, the Federal Employment Agency (BA) and the German Association for Human Resource Management (DGFP) recently surveyed companies on the integration of refugees into the labor market. The results have revealed that the potential offered by refugees for the German labour market is gaining increasing recognition and importance.
The Federal Employment Agency and the DGFP first conducted a survey on this topic a year ago. The survey was then repeated at the beginning of 2025 with the aim of shedding light on developments in a year-on-year comparison.
The positive developments highlighted by the two surveys show that much has changed. The level of willingness among companies to integrate refugees into the labor market is high. Experiences with integrating refugees into the labor market among companies have largely been positive to date, with many viewing labor market integration as an opportunity to source much-needed skilled workers and professionals to fill job vacancies.
Challenges such as language skills, qualifications and legal uncertainties remain, however. In particular, companies highlighted the complicated procedures associated with hiring and employing refugees.
The key takeaways:
- Companies are becoming more experienced with refugees: While in 2024 approximately 50 percent of the companies surveyed reported that they had previous experience with this target group within the last 12 months, in 2025 this figure had shot up to more than 66 percent.
- Willingness among companies to hire refugees remains high: In the first survey, approximately 56 percent of companies said that they had hired applicants with a refugee background for a role within the past 12 months, with this figure rising slightly to 57 percent in 2025 despite the challenging economic situation.
- Companies report largely positive experiences: In 2025, around 55 percent of the companies surveyed reported that their experiences in employing refugees had been positive to date (51 percent in 2024), with only six percent reporting negative experiences.
- The integration of refugees is viewed as an opportunity: Almost 70 percent of the companies surveyed saw the integration of refugees as an effective solution to combat the shortage of labor and skilled workers.
- Companies also reported on challenges: Language skills (90%), cooperation with public authorities (59.6%), complex official procedures (54.3%), cultural differences (49%) and high supervisory costs (40.4%) were cited as the main obstacles.
- Challenges are considered surmountable: Only around 5% of the companies surveyed said that the difficulties could not be overcome.
Daniel Terzenbach, Chair of the Regions at the Federal Employment Agency and member of the Executive Board of the DGFP, believes that progress has been made:
“A comparison of the two surveys reveals that more and more companies are having increasingly positive experiences with refugees. At the same time, the benefit refugees offer when it comes to preventing labour shortages and skills gaps is becoming clearer.
Nevertheless, challenges remain. By working closely together, taking a pragmatic approach, and employing transparent and binding action, major changes can be achieved, however. The experience gained from the Job Turbo program demonstrates that the tripartite collaboration between companies, public administration, and refugees and their communities has a key role to play in this regard.”
Ralf Steuer, Director of the DGFP, also views the results of the survey as a positive step forward: “The trajectory is clear: more and more companies view employing refugees as a strategic opportunity – not only for covering their needs for skilled workers and professionals, but also as an expression of lived diversity. At the same time, the survey has revealed that integration remains a challenging process, requiring clear legal frameworks and targeted support. As the largest professional association for HR in Germany, the DGFP will continue to support companies by passing on good practical solutions and building sustainable bridges to the labor market.”
The complete survey with all the details and evaluations is available to download free of charge (available in German).
About the survey
Since October 2023, the German Association for Human Resource Management (DGFP) and the Federal Employment Agency have worked together in various projects on the topic of integrating refugees. At the beginning of 2024, they completed a joint survey to assess experiences among German companies on the topic of labour market integration and the employment of people with a refugee background for the first time. The survey was conducted as part of the Job Turbo program – an initiative headed by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to facilitate the quick and long-term integration of refugees into the labor market.
The survey was conducted again at the beginning of 2025 with the aim of revealing the year-on-year developments and gaining new impetus for successful integration. From February to March 2025, HR managers at 314 German companies took part in the survey on the employment of refugees.
About the German Association for Human Resource Management (DGFP)
The German Association for Human Resource Management (DGFP) has been a center of competence and a careers network for HR enthusiasts since 1952. Members of the network include DAX companies as well as small and medium-sized businesses, leading scientific organisations and consultancies, and key players from the world of human resources management. Together with its members and partners, the association acts as the voice for human resources management in the political and social arena. The numerous in-person discussions that take place between HR professionals at approximately 100 discussion groups throughout Germany and its many different events are at the heart of the work undertaken by the association. Further information is available at www.dgfp.de