Refugee jobseekers gather at fair set up to offer helping hand
More than 1,000 jobseekers attended a fair aimed at helping refugees find work.
Wednesday’s event at the Kia Oval – home of Surrey County Cricket Club – was the venue as 40 UK employers outlined work possibilities. These included groups like ISS, Marriott International and Menzies aviation.
Putting the event together were the job hiring platform Indeed; Tent UK – the national coalition of Tent Partnership for Refugees; UNHCR – the UN refugee agency; and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The gathering provided hundreds of refugee jobseekers with the opportunity to connect with major employers recruiting for open vacancies in sectors such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, energy and professional services.
Some of the organisations were able to conduct interviews for a range of roles such as sales assistant, housekeeper, chef, accountant, and mechanical engineer.
Translation services were provided in Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Pashto and Ukrainian, and jobseekers were given tips on how to create CVs and cover letters for the UK job market.
In total, some 183 job offers were made on the day and around half of attendees – 456 jobseekers – progressed to the next stage of recruitment after initial screenings. Indeed provided one-to-one support to update and upload 201 CVs.
The UK currently hosts over 600,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced people predominantly from Ukraine, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Syria.
Despite having the right to work in the UK, refugees are around 30 percent less likely to be employed than British-born people. Refugees face numerous structural barriers to employment, such as lower language skills, a lack of social and professional networks, and lack of access to childcare.
Like many European countries, the UK labour market is facing talent shortages in a number of sectors such as healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing, with over 800,000 positions currently unfilled.
Clive Meyers, Director of Business Strategy at Indeed, said: “Access to quality employment should be available to everyone, regardless of where they come from. This is our ambition at Indeed and we aim to go far beyond simply connecting employers and candidates.
“It’s paramount to work to reduce the biases and barriers that too often prevent people from accessing the opportunities that suit their skills and needs. With this job fair, we are giving hundreds of refugees fair access to employment, to ensure their economic security and opportunities for advancement.”
Jen Stobart Tent UK director said: “Securing meaningful employment is one of the most important milestones in a refugee’s integration journey and an opportunity for businesses who can fill open vacancies from a skilled, resilient, loyal, and often overlooked talent pool.”
Vicky Tennant, UNHCR’s Representative to the UK said: “After fleeing war, violence or persecution, the chance to work empowers refugees to actively contribute to society and to become part of a wider community—something they long for.”
Pictured top: Staff manning stalls were kept very busy by refugee job seekers at the Kia Oval (Picture: Andy Tyler Photography)