Changing Attitudes: A Corporate Perspective on Refugee Employment.

With globalisation and growing social awareness, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential part of business strategy for many companies. ‘CSR’ is shorthand for the commitment that businesses make – beyond profit – to driving positive social change in areas such as human rights, labour rules and the environment, and behaving ethically. One of the most impactful ways a businesses can give back is by providing job opportunities to refugees. By hiring refugees, businesses fill critical labour gaps while also driving tangible social change by giving vulnerable people a chance to start over.

Why Refugee Employment Should Be a CSR Priority

Perhaps most at risk are refugees, who are, after all, the most desperate members of society. Having fled homelies that range from undesirable to downright dangerous – persecution, war and natural disasters – they arrive in their new land brimming with optimism, but struggling with practicalities, including finding work. For many, much-needed jobs are blocked by language barriers, unfamiliarity with the local market, and frustration over credentials that will not easily transfer from their first home.

For businesses with strong CSR focus, employing refugees also presents an opportunity for meaningful impact. Employment offers refugees a chance to regain some autonomy and dignity by being able to earn a living for themselves, and fulfil their needs. Employment is one of the fastest ways to support refugees to integrate in their new communities, enabling them to rejoin society, support their families, and make more solid plans for the future.

Furthermore, employing refugees promotes and embodies the values of CSR as practised today by a company – promoting integration, diversity and equal opportunities for all, demonstrating the firm’s approach to ethical trade and its willingness to tackle social inequalities. This is something that consumers, and even clients, increasingly expect from firms ­– and through refugee employment, companies can engage with their expectations of doing good in the world, all the while concretely improving the lives of employees.

Business Benefits of Refugee Employment

Although refugee employment falls under CSR, it also offers substantial advantages to business. Refugees come with a variety of skills, experiences and perspectives that can enrich workplace culture and help businesses achieve better results. Diverse teams are often more creative and innovative, sharing more distinct perspectives and thinking of new ways of addressing problems.

These people are typically resilient, adaptable, and hard working – and often exhibit these qualities because of their collective experiences of survival. This helps produce motivated employees who are eager to prove their worth. Increased employee morale and engagement is often a positive side benefit for those businesses that hire refugees.

What’s more, companies that invest in CSR activities such as refugee employment will signal their commitment to workers and their community, which in turn allows them to improve their reputation and brand loyalty. As consumers become more socially and ethically informed, they increasingly seek companies that share their values, and they are more likely to purchase from, invest in, and partner with companies that cater to a responsible society.

Creating a Supportive Work Environment

The key enabling factors are business environments in which employers take steps to support refugees by, for example, offering language training, providing mentoring programmes and adopting culturally-oriented programmes; this not only helps workers to comply with employment customs, but also means that they can advance along the firm’s promotion ladder.

Mentoring programs, in particular, can be especially helpful to refugees trying to understand the unique facets of the Australian labour market and culture, giving them support in everything from setting expectations of their new jobs to how to navigate their professional development. First impressions really do count Giving employers a ‘set of keys’ to unlock their resources to help refugees should also improve their confidence in engaging with this group. They will feel less alone and will have plenty of guidance at their disposal from the very start of their refugee-employment journey.

Conclusion

Actually, making a positive contribution to society as a business is the essence of corporate social responsibility. And few CSR programmes can do more long-term good than hiring refugees. Providing a job isn’t just the next step in a process of resettling refugees. It also happens to be the most urgently relevant step. It addresses immediate workforce needs for business. It contributes to the vulnerable’s social and economic integration, and their ability to contribute to the community over time.

With more businesses investing in CSR, refugee employment should be part of these initiatives, showing a commitment to doing good, increasing diversity and inclusion and making a difference for those who need it most.