7,495 people from the Ukraine currently have a registered main residence in Upper Austria (as of May 18). A little more than 4100 of them are between 18 and 64 years old.
“This is an opportunity for the job market in Upper Austria. Our goal is to integrate as many Ukrainian refugees as quickly as possible into the job market,” says Social Provincial Councilor Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (VP). So far, this has been successful with almost 900 people from Ukraine. “Since they arrived in Austria, we have been supporting them in their arrival on the job market and are setting up special initiatives for this,” says Iris Schmidt, deputy Manager of the Labor Market Service (AMS) Upper Austria. According to AMS figures, as of May 20, 232 Ukrainians worked in the catering industry, 203 worked in the production of goods, and 184 worked in agriculture and forestry, mostly as harvest workers.
The numbers are not that high in all sectors. Only four refugees who have previously received a work permit are currently working in health and social services. But that should now change as quickly as possible, because there is a desperate search for additional employees in Upper Austria, especially in the care sector. Many refugees have even completed appropriate training. “A lot of Ukrainians have professional experience in this field. These qualifications must now be quickly recognized in accordance with the legal requirements,” says Schmidt.
It is precisely with these federal requirements that Hattmannsdorfer would like a simplification: “I am convinced that the nostrification of nursing training could work much more simply.” Corresponding talks with the federal government have already taken place, he says.
Source: Nachrichten
