A Labour Market with Potential: Ukrainian Professional Women between Qualification and Integration: Qualified and Overlooked: What Our Conference Reveal

Jun 2
4 min read

On 1 June 2026, the Safavi Impact Institute and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce brought together policymakers, employers and researchers to confront a question that rarely makes headlines: why are so many highly qualified Ukrainian women in Austria working well below their level of training?

Nearly half of the Ukrainian women the Safavi Impact Institute works with are employed. That sounds like progress. But look more closely and a different picture emerges only 31 per cent are working in their actual field — despite the fact that more than 80 per cent hold university degrees and most have years of professional experience behind them.

That gap was the starting point for the conference. It was also its throughline.

Behind the Numbers

Integration Minister Claudia Bauer opened the event alongside Francesco Reza Safavi, the Institute's co-founder.

"Ukrainians are the most diligent group among refugees learning German," Bauer noted. "Women who are employed pick up the language faster." Safavi set out the Institute's position plainly: "We believe deeply in the potential of Ukrainian women in Austria. Integration, done well, creates real value — for everyone."

The conference made clear that good intentions and hard work, while necessary, are not enough on their own. To understand why, the Institute presented the findings of a study it had been conducting since 2023 — three years of direct work with more than 500 clients, systematically documented and analysed.

The Language Gap Nobody Talks About

Eight in ten of the women surveyed arrived in Austria with no German at all. After a year and a half to two years of intensive study, most reach B2 or even C1. And yet nearly two-thirds say their German still falls short of what their professional life demands.

This is not a personal failing; it is a structural one. Language courses teach grammar and everyday vocabulary. They do not teach you how to hold your ground in a fast-moving team meeting, navigate the unspoken norms of an Austrian office, or discuss your field with the precision it requires. Women who entered a German-speaking workplace early consistently developed stronger language skills than those who studied only in classrooms. The workplace, as it turns out, is the best language course there is.

The Network Problem

40 per cent of the Institute's clients have sent more than 50 job applications and heard almost nothing back. This is rarely about outright rejection. It is more often about invisibility. A significant share of skilled positions in Austria is never publicly advertised, they are filled through personal connections. Without a local network, those positions simply do not exist. And Ukrainian job titles, which often have no direct Austrian equivalent, tend to fall through the cracks of automated screening systems before a human ever sees them.

Oleksandra Demianenko, political scientist and former university lecturer, now working on international democracy projects in Vienna, described the experience from the inside: her qualifications are read not as expertise, but as something that does not quite fit any familiar category. She is working in Austria, but not really of its labour market. Her story is far from unique.

The second panel offered a counterpoint. Stephan Bartl, who runs a Viennese IT company, recounted hiring an experienced Ukrainian project manager two years ago even though her German was still a work in progress. He based the decision on a direct conversation and a practical task, not a certificate. She settled in quickly and brought perspectives the team had not had before. His takeaway for other employers: a short skills-based conversation or a brief trial period tells you far more than a CV filter ever could.

The Doctor Paradox

The situation of Ukrainian doctors is perhaps the starkest illustration of what is at stake. The Institute currently supports 32 female physicians, with completed medical degrees, specialist training and years of clinical practice. Austria, meanwhile, is facing acute shortages of doctors.

The path to practicing medicine here costs between 3,000 and 4,000 euros in fees alone, before language courses or living costs. It takes years. Marharyta Kholodova, a neurologist who took part in the panel, broke down what that path looks like: because her degree is from outside the EU, she must pass 13 separate specialist examinations, plus a medical German proficiency test at C1 level. In Germany, the same license requires three exams. Kholodova has already reached C1 in two years and started the recognition process and still has no clear end in sight. The implications are straightforward: streamlining and funding recognition procedures in shortage professions like medicine, nursing and engineering is not a gesture of goodwill. It is a sound economic decision. The Institute's full report sets out specific recommendations.

What Support Actually Looks Like

For organisations working with this group, the conference pointed to a clear conclusion: there are not enough one-off programmes. Сoordinated support works the best. Maryana Voronovych, the Institute's Project and Communications Manager, describes it this way:

"Our approach goes beyond individual courses. We start with the person — their skills and ambitions, their life situation, their mental state, their motivation. Together we map where they are, set realistic goals and walk the path with them: language, career strategy, job search, networking. And we never lose sight of what this person can contribute to the Austrian economy. The goal is a win-win — for the woman, and for the labour market."

38 percent of the clients who have received support from the Institute, found employment afterwards.

The Economic Case

By the end of the day, one point had broad agreement: Austria needs skilled workers, and the talent is already here. The question is no longer whether these women have something to offer. The question is whether the conditions exist for that offer to be taken up.

A woman working in her field pays taxes, reduces pressure on social services and fills gaps the country urgently needs filled. This is not a story about generosity or humanitarian obligation. It is a story about a country making good use of what it already has. The potential is here. The women are here. What is still missing are the bridges between them.