Immigrant employment in the EU reaches record high, study shows
Employment among immigrants rose to 68.2% in 2025, with non-EU workers posting the biggest gains and remaining gaps concentrated among women and highly educated migrants.
- Immigrant employment in the European Union reached a record high in 2025, according to a report from the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin seen by Reuters on Thursday.
- Employment rates among immigrants increased to 68.2% last year from 67.8% in 2024, according to the study by CReAM at RFBerlin, based on Eurostat data.
- Non-EU immigrant employment surged by 6.6 percentage points between 2017 and 2025, climbing from 59.4% to 66%, while European Union immigrant employment rose from 71.1% to 74.8%.
- Christian Dustmann, director of RFBerlin, said "the challenge today is no longer simply getting immigrants into work but ensuring that their skills are fully utilised," as gaps persist for non-EU women and highly educated migrants.
- Tommaso Frattini, deputy director of CReAM, noted employment figures are "close to that of the native population," yet the European Union leaves significant labour potential untapped.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Last year, the share of employed immigrants in the EU increased from 67.8 to 68.2 percent, a record employment rate for immigrants, according to the economic institute Rockwool Foundation Berlin, adding that the rate is approaching that of the native population.
More than 68% of people living in a country other than the country where they were born have a job, a record rate according to a study by the Rockwool Foundation in Berlin. Intra-European migrants are even less affected by unemployment than local populations. Access to employment is becoming more widespread for immigrant populations in Europe, even though this reality hides large disparities.
However, there is still considerable employment potential for individual groups of migrants, for example for highly qualified people or for women from non-EU countries.
The employment rate of immigrants has reached a high level in the EU countries. Especially people from non-EU countries find work more frequently, according to a study. At the same time, researchers see untapped potential.
For years, the proportion of immigrants in the European Union has been increasing, especially among people from non-EU countries. However, there are also groups with catching-up needs.
Immigrant employment in the EU reaches record high, study shows
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