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A Steady Rise in Employment Numbers
Back in 2014, just 1 percent of newly approved refugees had a job within three months of getting their permit. By 2021, that number had climbed to 6 percent. Fast forward to 2024, and one in eight refugees — roughly 12 to 13 percent — was already working within that same three-month window. That is more than double the 2021 figure, and it tells a story of real, meaningful change.
Most of these early jobs fall in the hospitality and retail sectors. Many refugees take on on-call or agency-based work, which offers flexibility for both the worker and the employer. It is not always a perfect start, but it is a start — and that matters.
Rule Changes Made a Real Difference
For years, asylum seekers were only allowed to work a maximum of 24 weeks per year while their application was still being processed. In practice, this made things difficult for everyone involved. Employers were hesitant to invest in someone they could only hire for part of the year, and refugees struggled to gain a foothold in society.
In 2023, the Council of State removed that annual cap. Now, once an asylum seeker has been in the country for six months, they can apply for a work permit without a time restriction hanging over them. That single change has opened doors that were previously hard to push open.
The longer-term numbers are equally encouraging. Among those who received refugee status in 2021, nearly 33 percent were employed three years later. Looking back at the 2014 group, 19 percent had work after three years — but by the seven-year mark, more than half were in paid employment. The trend, across every timeframe, points in the same direction.
