How Employers Can Help the Refugees

One of my colleagues called the 1-3 finish of the Ute football season a “travesty”. I’ll admit it, it was tough for me to take. I’m obviously a Ute fan--unless I’m working in Utah County, and then I bleed blue. I’ve gotta say, there’s something intriguing about the Cougars as well. However, when I read the news about the turmoil and torture in parts of the world, displacing millions, then I see real travesty. Imagine turmoil so extreme that it drives one to abandon way of life, climate, career and culture.

Refugees usually move to camps near their country borders. Many are given simple assignments and responsibilities but there is very little commerce and/or careers in these camps. Some of the fortunate and determined find themselves in developed countries throughout the world. The UNHCR estimates that there are around 21.3 million refugees in the world and the United States takes in only 70,000 refugees a year. It takes refugees resettling to the United States 18-24 months of screening before they are cleared.

As of 2016, the Utah Refugee Services Office (RSO) estimate that there are over 69,000 refugees living in Utah (? of 1% of the population). This last fiscal year we received around 1,200 refugees. We receive refugees from 12 different countries however, the top 3 with the greatest resettlement are: (1) Iraq, (2) Somalia and (3) Congo. The (RSO) estimates that the majority of our refugees remain in Salt Lake County, except for a few hundred in Cache Valley, Ogden and the Heber Valley. These people bring colorful culture and depth to our somewhat homogenous society which is celebrated in cultural festivals throughout the year culminating at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on World Refugee Day every year in June.

The newly-arrived refugees assigned to Utah are resettled by two resettlement agencies--Catholic Community Services and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Although there are supportive services available for refugees upon resettlement the short timeframe often leaves them in situations where they have to take low wage employment and are susceptible to entering into a cycle of poverty.In order to avoid this, our goals as a society should be tot have our refugee neighbors share their talents and become contributors to society as soon as possible.

What can local companies do?

Interest in refugees has skyrocketed recently. With the the job market we have today, it is to our advantage to reach out to our refugee neighbors to help them help us. (a concept I learned from the movie “Jerry McGuire”) Maybe you can begin by assigning someone in your HR department to visit the website Serve Refugees and download the “Serve Refugees” app. Then consider the following:

Be a friend to refugees. There are so many ways to help - get involved in education or boys and girls programs for starters but the greatest need of a refugee is to have authentic friends. Everything is new to them and helping them navigate within our community will make the most difference. A task as simple as how we clean our clothes here is probably quite foreign to them. The Salt Lake City Mayor’s office enables volunteers to work directly with refugees through their Know Your Neighbor program.  

Support a short-term training program. Refugees arriving in Utah can seem completely lost and need direction finding work. Those who receive short term job training will progress 10x faster that those that receive no training. A recent study showed that “[there is] a persistent difference in the economic outcomes and a general satisfaction of livelihood in refugees who participated in some sort of living-wage skill training after arrival in the US. Our research indicates that those who took part in skill programs were able to earn a living-wage in an average of 13 months of program completion. There is a big difference in employment outcomes for refugees who are unable to participate in skill training. It took these participants on average 14 years post-arrival to reach a living-wage."    Moving into the Fast Lane-by Faith Nibbs in the Forced Migration Upward Mobility Project, April 2006

The difference training makes is staggering. In that light, the RSO has partnered with SLCC with initial funding from TIFIE Humanitarian and has created short term training programs in 2017 in the four fields of warehouse, manufacturing, welding and contruction to be build self-sufficiency and independence with refugees. Not only does this training include skills training and certification, it also addresses english and soft skills training such as dependability, follow through, self starting,etc. The RSO then holds job fairs and provides post training support for refugees and employers.

If your organization can use resources in these areas I encourage you to get involved and maybe even help fund some of these programs. The payback is worth it!  Contact the RSO for more information

See their value. Refugees bring talent, loyalty, hard work and most of all gratitude to the table. Many had careers in their respective countries in fields such as accounting, medicine, trades, etc. which they were forced to abandon. They typically have to settle for lower level jobs to begin with. There are many gems in the refugee community but it takes some nurturing on your part. They also have a different viewpoint that could be tapped to expand your company’s vision.

Hire and support refugees. You most likely have refugees working for you or maybe you have and your experience wasn’t good. I encourage you to be open to continue to hire and engage refugees keeping in mind that different cultures and mindsets they may have will take effort on your part to integrate into the company’s core values. There are resources available to guide and assist. For example, the RSO is there to help. Email Mario Kljajo at [email protected] if you have any questions about hiring refugees or participating in employment related events at Utah Refugee Education and Training Center.

Organizations like Tifie.org Humanitarian are committed to partnering with the Utah RSO and other organizations to create independent refugee communities through local enterprise.  Imagine what could happen as our business community contributes collaborative ingenuity, commitment and other resources to create a refugee community of contributors instead of distractors. It is in our best interest be involved in their development as they become a significant talent resource for our local business community. I invite your organization to take an active role in our refugee community development.  #refugeestotherescue #serverefugees

About Ron Zarbock: Ron has been with Spherion for more than eight years and owns offices in Utah that provide staffing services along the Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back– from Logan to Nephi, Heber City to Tooele. He is also the director of Tifie Humanitarian, a nonprofit organization committed to finding and creating jobs for those in need. Additionally, Ron is an active member of the local chambers of commerce, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) chapter, the Wasatch Employers Network, the Utah Manufacturers Association, and other community organizations.