Skill, Determination, and Hope: Refugees' Impact on the Australian Economy

The composition of Australia’s economy changes quickly and, as a consequence, so does the nature of the labour shortage faced by many industries. Healthcare, construction – across the country, employers are struggling to find the staff they need, with the right qualifications. The voices we hear in the debate about labour shortages tend not to be refugees’.

Employing refugees means putting to work some of a country’s most skilled, experienced and dedicated workers, crucial to tackling critical skill shortages. Refugees become both workforce members and contributors to the broader economy’s prospects. They are much more than just survivors. They are workers, innovators and future leaders who have the ability to have a significant impact on Australia’s future prosperity.

Addressing Skill Shortages

In the context of Australia’s ageing population, and the lowering birth rate, this is exacerbated by needing labour in a range of key industries - from healthcare to construction to engineering to IT. The shortfall is real, significant and growing. This is where refugees have the capacity to deliver real and necessary value.

In fact, many refugees come to Australia with impressive educational qualifications and a long history of professional experience. Before arriving in this country, they might have been doctors, engineers, school teachers or skilled tradespeople, among other things. Businesses across Australia actually need the skills that refugees can provide. But too often refugees are not being given the opportunity to exert them – partly because of language issues, partly because their foreign qualifications are not recognised, and partly because they often lack local work experience.

In doing so, employers unlock a critical skill pipeline that can cultivate emerging talent and help alleviate skill shortages in key growth industries. Refugees are motivated and willing to work; it just requires a bit of patience and understanding to open up opportunities in the Australian job market.

Economic Benefits of Refugee Employment

These benefits go beyond the simple fact that refugees fill immediate job vacancies. Unlike those unemployed, refugees are active participants in the economy. When employed, they pay taxes, spend money on goods and services, and make purchases, boosting the local economy.

Second, refugees come with a strong work ethic and determination to succeed. Having survived extraordinary dangers to cross the Mediterranean, they want to repay their debt and pull their weight. High levels of productivity and loyalty are gained by employers who hire refugees.

We know that refugees who are able to work, over time, contribute more to the economy than those who remain on the welfare rolls. Relevant work helps improve the economic status of refugees and, in turn, bolsters the economy.

Innovation and Diversity in the Workplace

For example, refugees tend to bring new creativity to the workplace – not only in brainstorming and new thinking, but also in corporate innovation. Teams that are diverse tend to generate more innovative solutions, and to see problems in new ways. Industries that rely on being creative and flexible, such as technology and engineering, benefit the most from having a diverse workforce.

Besides their technical skills, refugees can be ­– as one commentator put it in 2013 in The Guardian – ‘resilient, adaptable, industrious, resourceful and innovative’, all of which make them indispensable to the fast-moving business world. Hiring refugees enriches any team of workers and gives a workplace an eye towards the future.

A Pathway to Hope and Opportunity

For refugees, paid work is not mere employment but rather a start to rebuild their lives and to establish some security. It is also a source of dignity and enables refugees to support themselves and their families, as well as contribute to the community that has received them. This path to independence for those who have fled persecution and arrived in Australia is an essential one – for lives to move forward and lead to a successful integration into Australian society.

Giving refugees jobs enables them to make a contribution, while at the same time helping local businesses address an institutional impediment to their own growth – their acute need for labour – and providing opportunity to people who have known little of it, while undergoing great hardship.

Conclusion

Refugees represent a significant and yet untapped resource for Australia’s workforce. This is because refugees outnumber citizens in many professions and some have extensive work experience. Additionally, they are generally well-educated and bring with them a determination and a hope for the future. By addressing some of the barriers that prevent refugees from finding employment, businesses can fill workforce skill shortages to Australia’s prosperity.

Using refugees is not just a socially compassionate choice, but one that will prove mutually beneficial to the individual as well as the nation. As more employers recognise the human capital that refugees can bring to the workforce, Australia will be more ideally placed to meet its future labour needs as well as develop a more inclusive and prosperous economy.