Reducing barriers to employment for refugees
Ben Saxon, our talent acquisition advisor, discusses how we’re working to remove the barriers that prevent refugee employment.
The world is facing a refugee crisis. Refugees are people who have fled due to war, violence, conflict or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country. In 2011 The Arab Spring uprisings created a wave of conflicts across the middle east contributing to an estimated 45 and 70 million refugees worldwide today.
The unemployment rate among refugees in the UK is at least 18% - a huge difference from the UK’s which is now just 3.8%! This is despite many of this group being tertiary educated professionals in their home countries. With this large and skilled talent pool going unnoticed, we decided to get involved to find hidden talent in the UK and even the playing field.
By partnering with social enterprise Transitions London, we’re pleased to finally be able to access this community. Transitions London has been successful in bringing refugees to the attention of employers within the engineering, architectural and business services industry since 2010 and has brought 55% of candidates back into skilled jobs.
We aim to replicate the success of historic Transitions clients, like the London Mayor’s Office and Network Rail, through the Returner placements – six month opportunities to work in a suitable role at Mott MacDonald.
If the fit is right, we’ll offer a full-time permanent role for the candidate. Having these new employees will plug a hole in our talent pipeline, improve retention, improve employee engagement and in some cases meet project commitments. The skills and diverse ideas that refugees bring to the business are too important to miss out on.
Find out more about Transitions at https://transitions-london.co.uk/