Unlocking Potential: How Refugees Can Transform the Workforce

Yesterday was World Refugee Day, according to?its UN organisers, it was a moment to “celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country”. At a time where negative narratives about refugees and asylum seekers surround us, it is certainly a strong reminder of the extraordinary challenge that more than 100 million people globally have and are facing.

On this day last year, I was lucky enough to represent Adecco with a number of amazing colleagues at an event in partnership with Linkedin, Microsoft and Barclays where we spent time with over 50 refugees giving advice on their CVs, job searches and tips on preparing for interviews. Simply amazed would be an understatement when describing the strength of talent in the room that day but also genuinely heartbroken to hear the volume of rejection that they have faced. One candidate who I felt had a brilliant CV and presented incredibly well in person had been rejected from over 300 organisations.

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As quoted by the Refugee Council, Refugees face a unique set of barriers to landing a job, (re)starting their careers in the UK and applying their many skills and experiences to the UK labour market. For refugees, a job is about more than simply making a living and gaining financial independence. It’s a chance to make friends, be a part of the community and fully contribute to UK society – all with a new sense of purpose and identity.

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When I was a teenager in Australia, I bunked off school to march through the streets of Sydney for hours with thousands of others shouting 'free the refugees' after Australia saw the 10th year of mandatory detention to anyone entering the country without a visa. This ignited a fire in me that led me to doing my work experience in a language and skills centre for refugees where I was blown away by the experiences that young people (not much older than me at the time) had been through but also their excitement for their futures. They wanted to study, build successful careers and provide for their families, all at a time where most of my friends and I were just hanging out for our next beach day. These memories have always stuck with me, where I learned lessons in compassion, resilience, humanity and community.

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These days, I am proud to say that I am still able to connect in a small way with plight of refugees in my current role at Adecco, where I feel incredibly satisfied to work with an organisation that has such a strong sense of purpose. At the beginning of this year, our Global CEO, Denis Machuel announced that we were extending our commitment by pledging to support 85,000 refugees into employment over the next 4 years. He proudly shared ‘The Adecco Group has a long history of supporting refugees secure work and rebuild their lives. We recognise that meaningful work is not just about income; it's also about fostering integration and creating a sense of belonging in society.’

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As we work towards our goals, in the UK, we have established some fantastic meaningful partnerships with organisations such as Tent Partnership for Refugees , Breaking Barriers and the REN Refugee Employment Network . As part of these partnerships, some of my colleagues and I have been lucky enough to mentor a group of highly skilled refugees from Afghanistan. Their optimism for the future is to be admired especially considering the significant challenges they have been faced with securing accommodation, employment, healthcare and education for their families in the UK. Through some of these experiences, I wanted to share some thoughts on tapping into this vastly growing talent pool:

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-????????? Remote working - London is losing talent due to high living costs and commuting challenges. Consider whether all roles need to be office-based or hybrid. Embracing fully remote positions expands your talent pool. Many asylum seekers are placed in remote communities upon arrival in the UK, making relocation difficult until refugee status is granted and a job is secured.

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-????????? Check your bias – if you think someone’s experience and education is exclusively outside of the UK means that their English won’t be strong enough, you are so wrong. Of all the candidates I have met so far, language has in no shape or form been a barrier. For some it is and will be but not all. Do not let bias creep into your screening process before giving someone a chance to share their experience in person.

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-????????? Reframe your interview questions – think of ways to encourage the candidates you are interviewing to share their experience in a different way and showcase their full skill set that you may find will be an additional bonus if you are to offer them employment. Directly comparable experience might not always be possible so review your questions to ensure you are not inadvertently screening out good potential talent for your organisation by being too specific and not open to equivalency.

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-????????? Stop telling people they are overqualified! Don’t make assumptions, Refugees bring unique perspectives and resilience to your team, again check your bias.

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-????????? Reference checks – similar to the remote working point, some organisations are a stickler for references, in some cases 5-10 years and covering any gaps. Understand that finding referees can be challenging for refugees. Seek alternative ways to assess suitability.

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-????????? You can teach the skill, you can’t teach the will – I have never felt the ‘will’ more strongly than from the refugees I have met so far. Attitude, willingness to learn, commitment, loyalty and resilience are words that spring to mind that you will benefit from injecting into your team when hiring someone who is a refugee.

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-????????? Support and Well-Being: Don’t assume you will know what their challenges will be but do ask what support they think they might need to be at their best at work. Signpost as early as possible to mental health support and any other financial or well-being benefits that your organisation might have to show your commitment to their overall health and happiness at work.

My hope is that more leaders, managers and organisations seek to actively employ candidates from this vastly untapped talent pool. In the face of adversity, Refugees have so much to offer an organisation are able to demonstrate resilience, determination and unwavering hope. By embracing some of the changes suggested above, fostering meaningful partnerships and advocating for refugee employment, you can ultimately transform lives and build a stronger and more compassionate workforce.

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For further insights on this topic, you can read Adecco’s latest blog - ‘How Can Refugee Talent Enhance Business Growth’ ( https://www.adecco.co.uk/client-blog/2024/june/how-refugee-talent-enhances-business-growth) where you can learn about how refugees are helping to alleviate talent shortages in critical sectors, tackle the UK's ageing workforce issue and bolster the nation's economy.