Language is crucial for job opportunities Good knowledge of German important for migrants
Berlin · A new study from the Cologne Institute of the German Economy shows that German language skills and level of education are key for migrants when it comes to success on the German labor market.
Migrants with a very good knowledge of German have equal or even better chances for good jobs and high salaries on the German employment market than locals. This is the result of an as yet unpublished study by the Cologne Institute of the German Economy (IW), which was made available to our editorial team. According to the study, immigrants in Germany "with the same language level in German and the same level of education" as natives earn the same high wages, writes the author of the study, Wido Geis-Thöne on the basis of extensive data analyses. It also becomes clear from the evaluation that the higher unemployment of immigrants is at a minimum due significantly to their lower language proficiency", says Geis-Thöne. "Language acquisition is the key to successful integration into the German job market".
In order to assess the importance of language skills for migrant wage levels and unemployment, the Institute evaluated data compilations. As a result, the study’s author Geis-Thöne notes that the relative disadvantage of the migrant background in terms of pay and career opportunities compared to native applicants completely disappears when the German language skills are perfect and the educational level is high. Without language skills, however, the hourly wage for first-generation immigrants would be on average around 1.50 euros lower than for natives of the same qualification level.
In order to integrate immigrants and refugees more quickly into the job market, the quality of integration courses should in particular be further improved and access made possible for all immigrants, including those who have been living in Germany for some time.
Orig. text: mrs
Translation: ck
