For Refugees, Finding Work In Europe An Uphill Battle

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News: World
Sat, 02/13/2016 - 4:10am

VIENNA (AP) — Antonio Piani appears to have beaten the odds stacked against refugees finding work in Europe, but the hotel where he works was set up specifically to employ people like him. The 40-year-old says the janitor's job is his first permanent position since leaving Iran more than 11 years ago — a disheartening message for the hundreds of thousands of new arrivals seeking work in Austria, Germany, Sweden and the few other prosperous EU countries willing to take them. Biases in hiring, lack of documents from passports to diplomas, and legal status needed to obtain a job, provide significant hurdles to refugees looking for employment. In Austria, fears are being magnified by rising unemployment, and the more than 30,000 new arrivals looking for jobs this year have helped hoist the xenophobic Freedom Party to topping popularity polls. Thirty percent of Afghans questioned by the Austrian Employment Office in a recent informal survey of 898 refugees granted asylum never attended school. Near the other end of the scale, 68 percent of Syrians — the largest group — either held a university degree, a high-school diploma or a trade qualification, as did 90 percent of Iranians. Johannes Kopf, who heads the Austrian employment office, sees "optimistic results" for job seekers from Iran, Syria and Iraq and "depressing results" for Afghans. Even as refugee numbers continued to climb last year, the national employment office announced that it had cut its classes to 15,000 from 23,000 in 2014. Shafak speaks of acquaintances happy to do nothing but collect generous Austrian financial support of about 600 euros (nearly $700) a month — substantially more than twice the average salary back home. Piani, the janitor, whistles cheerily as he changes a light bulb, then moves on to the next hotel room to do some minor plumbing. Across town from the NGO-run center where the two young people have just told their stor

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Topics:  vienna ap     antonio piani   europe   germany   sweden   biases   in austria   freedom party   austrian employment office   syrians   iranians   johannes kopf   iraq   shafak   piani   ngo-run   eu   iran   austria   afghans   austrian   syria   percent   job   results   hotel   year   janitor   people   arrivals   

 

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