Empathy Meets Expertise: The Importance of Skill Matching for Refugee Employment

Matching jobs to skills is arguably the most critical pathway to successful refugee employment. Due to a lack of job matching or because their foreign qualifications are not always transferable, refugees often have a wealth of experience, skills and qualifications from their jobs back home that are not leveraged in their new contexts. Skill matching not only promotes refugees’ ability to work but also ensures that employers can benefit from their talents and skills.

Why Skill Matching Is Critical

Skill matching is the process of figuring out which job positions in a local labour market best suit a refugee’s qualifications, skills and experience. It is likewise the process of figuring out which refugees’ qualifications, skills and experience are most suited to positional job demands. Skill matching is critical because it allows employers and employees to bring the most out of what refugees have to offer. Failing to ensure refugees are placed appropriately can mean that they end up overqualified for the work they perform – such as being given retail or service roles instead of using their professional qualifications to work as doctors, engineers or teachers – or, on the other hand, being no more qualified than anyone else starting at the bottom.

For example, say a refugee was a doctor or an engineer before fleeing home but is unable to use these skills or does not find immediate matching work, or at least a sector of work in which to use their skills and education. Consequently, this person might end up working at a much lower level than their prior skill set would qualify them for. Thus, such individuals would be classified as underemployed.

Good skill-matching is one way to help solve this problem by matching refugees with occupations that are a good fit with their qualifications and equipping their employers to support them to succeed in that role. This is good for the refugee too; the person who gets the job has been allocated in a way that aligns with their skills and potential. Equally, it is advantageous for the employer, who gets access to a highly skilled, motivated worker.

The Role of Organisations in Skill Matching

Placing refugees into well-suited jobs can be a challenge that benefits from specialised organisations. These employment-focused organisations are an important part of the solution. They work closely with the refugees to help identify the skills, experience and career aspirations of the refugees, and place these refugees into jobs that are well-matched to their qualifications, skills and career aspirations. These organisations work hand in hand with businesses to determine the employment needs of the business and how a refugee can utilise and contribute his skills to benefit the employer, and ultimately help the refugee flourish professionally.

In addition to jobs, they also frequently provide language training, skills assessments, mentorship and other programming, all of which can help to provide refugees the supports necessary to succeed in employment. Peer mentorship can be a useful tool for refugees to better understand workplace culture, receive support on navigating their career and establish relationships with individuals who can provide professional connections.

The Benefits of Skill Matching for Employers

Skill-matching programmes allow employers to reap the benefits of an immigrant workforce assured by the community organiser – that is, of hiring people with desirable experience and talent; people who have just as much desire to give back to their new communities as to work for their new employers. Skill-matching programmes support business and employment goals. Employers can hire refugees whose skills are congruent with business needs, thereby addressing skill needs. Many businesses have been struggling to fill the gaps, as seen through labour shortages.

Beyond that, refugees can bring a strong work ethic, resilience and adaptability to the workplace – all traits shown to aid workers in navigating an ever-changing landscape of jobs. By tapping into the skills and pathways of refugees, companies can build stronger, more innovative, and diverse work intentions.

Supporting Refugees in Professional Development

Finding a job where a person can use his or her skills is an initial step, but building skills and moving up in a job is more important. For example, an employer in the IT industry who is hiring a web developer won’t be satisfied with just placing a few resumes of refugees on a desk. They will expect to provide the refugee additional support by facilitating a combination of various training programmes, courses, conferences and local support groups. If a refugee needs to improve their writing skills, the employer can provide courses to advance English-language competency. Through these kinds of programs, refugees will be able to not only grow their career path but also ensure that the workforce is up-to-date on the latest skills. This can benefit the employers as well: if employees have continued opportunities to develop professionally and grow their careers within the firm, they will be more prone to staying at the company.

Conclusion

Proper skill matching is essential. It entails matching the refugees’ qualifications and experience to the right job opportunities. This serves to give the refugees full opportunity to use their talents, while also providing employers with the right kind of skills and motivation at work. As the potential of refugee employment to support business growth is better understood, proper skill matching will be a vital component of securing refugees smart work that helps to establish them in a career in their new home.

This is why we should all be trying to put in place a model of contracting between business, refugee employment organisations and refugees themselves. A model that is win-win for refugees, who can make a meaningful contribution to their new community, and for businesses, who can deliver a high-quality, efficient service for their clients. And a model that ultimately creates a better future for the refugees and their families.