Key Moments
Employment rights for the displaced: Making work fair and safe
MIT OpenCourseWareKey Moments
Employment rights for displaced people, focusing on formal and digital work, require policy changes and employer education.
Key Insights
Majority of refugees face work restrictions, highlighting the need for legal access to employment.
Digital work offers potential for economic inclusion but requires careful regulation to ensure fair and safe conditions.
Formal and decent work, as defined by the ILO, includes productivity, fair wages, rights, and social protections.
Work authorization remains critical for formal employment, even in the digital economy.
Employer education is vital to counter misconceptions about refugee talent and highlight their value.
Creating an ecosystem with government, private sector, and NGOs is crucial for sustainable solutions and infrastructure development for digital work.
THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF WORK RESTRICTIONS FOR REFUGEES
A significant majority of refugees, approximately 70%, reside in regions with restrictions on their right to work. This creates a substantial barrier to economic inclusion and self-reliance. While digital work is emerging as a potential avenue, traditional employment remains more common, often lacking formal protections. The core issue is providing legal access to employment in host communities, a goal exemplified by the EU's Temporary Protection Directive for Ukrainian refugees, which allows them to work formally.
DEFINING FORMAL AND DECENT WORK IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines decent and formal work as jobs that are productive, safe, offer fair wages, rights, and social protections. These jobs are freely chosen and conducted under conditions of equity, security, and dignity. In the current challenging global context, marked by increased poverty and informality exacerbated by events like the COVID-19 pandemic, the ILO emphasizes transitioning informal workers to formal employment, even starting with basic protections against discrimination, forced labor, and child labor. Decent work is seen as a critical instrument for sustainable development and recovery.
THE PROMISE AND PITFALLS OF DIGITAL WORK FOR DISPLACED POPULATIONS
Digital work and platform employment present both opportunities and complexities. While offering flexibility in location and time, it often involves non-standard, project-based contracts without the traditional employer-employee relationship. This can lead to ambiguity regarding rights and obligations, creating a 'gray area' of informality. Countries like Jordan are investing in digital platforms for youth and refugees, aiming to create income opportunities. The ILO stresses the need for digital transformation to be sustainable and aligned with decent work principles, requiring integrated strategies involving various government sectors and addressing infrastructure gaps like connectivity and digital literacy.
STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING FORMAL AND DECENT EMPLOYMENT
Organizations like Upwardly Global play a crucial role as intermediaries, providing crucial social capital and accountability for vulnerable populations. They focus on work authorization, employer education to counter misconceptions, and supporting negotiations. Remote, through its 'Remote for Refugees' program, enables companies to hire displaced talent by handling employment agreements, payroll, and benefits, demonstrating that hiring refugees can be seamless and compliant. This approach highlights the importance of a supportive ecosystem, including clear legal frameworks and banking solutions.
ADDRESSING MISCONCEPTIONS AND BUILDING EMPLOYER CONFIDENCE
A significant hurdle is overcoming employer misconceptions about refugees, often viewed as unskilled and in need of handouts rather than as valuable talent. Targeted employer education is essential to showcase the loyalty, high retention rates, and skills that refugee populations bring. Companies like Western Union have found success by challenging their initial assumptions about the quality of work from refugee designers, discovering their capabilities exceeded expectations. Creating pathways, such as internships and mid-ternships, allows employers to assess and integrate this talent pool effectively.
THE NECESSITY OF A COLLABORATIVE ECOSYSTEM AND POLICY ADVOCACY
Creating a sustainable future for displaced workers requires a concerted effort. The 'right to remote work' is being advocated for, as it democratizes employment opportunities and bypasses some host-country restrictions. This requires collaboration between governments, the private sector, and NGOs. Countries like Tunisia face complexities with migration policies and documentation challenges for immigrants, despite economic studies showing the benefits of migration. Companies like Remote are actively engaging with governments to advocate for clearer regulations that protect all workers, especially the displaced, fostering an ecosystem that supports compliant and dignified employment.
OVERCOMING BARRIERS: DOCUMENTATION, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Practical barriers remain significant, including the need for proper documentation for legal residency and work authorization. The case of Blain, an Eritrean refugee in Ethiopia, highlights challenges in receiving international payments due to banking restrictions and identification requirements, though services like Wise offer partial solutions. Reliable internet access, digital literacy, and accessible payment systems are fundamental infrastructure needs. Addressing these requires innovative solutions, such as non-profit intermediaries or direct payment channels, to ensure financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods for displaced individuals.
Mentioned in This Episode
●Software & Apps
●Companies
●Organizations
●Books
●Concepts
●People Referenced
Common Questions
The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines decent work as productive, safe jobs offering fair wages, rights, and social protections. Formal jobs involve freely chosen work in conditions of equity, security, and dignity, with clear rights and obligations for workers and employers.
Topics
Mentioned in this video
An organizing partner of the Migration Summit 2022.
The UN Refugee Agency, mentioned as an actor that can support refugees partially at the beginning of their economic journey, alongside IOM.
Mentioned as an example of an employer offering to pay for a new house and infrastructure for a talented remote worker due to lack of infrastructure in their original city, highlighting investment in talent regardless of location.
An organizer of the Migration Summit 2022, focused on building bridges for displaced learners.
An organizing partner of the Migration Summit 2022, involved in education and workforce development.
A non-profit based in the United States that works with immigrants and refugees to help them access professional careers, including in the digital economy.
An international financial institution that provided $200 million in funding to Jordan for digital economy initiatives.
One of the organizing partners of the Migration Summit 2022.
An organization dedicated to supporting migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, led in Tunisia by Paula Pace.
The UN specialized agency for the world of work, promoting decent work conditions and developing international labor standards. They support governments, workers, and employers to bridge informal and formal work.
An institution that Remote is trying to push to support the idea of 'right to remote work' to create a more straightforward employment path for refugees.
President and CEO of Upwardly Global, a non-profit in the U.S. that helps immigrants and refugees access professional careers.
VP of Special Operations at Remote, passionate about enabling dignified work for everyone through the 'Remote for Refugees' program.
Executive Director of Namal and one of the cohorts of the Migration Summit. She is passionate about employment rights for refugees.
Deputy Chief of Mission and Senior Regional Project Manager for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with 17 years of experience in migration issues, based in Tunisia.
A country that recently received $200 million in World Bank funding to provide access to freelancing platforms and improve government digital services, aiming to create 10,000 new income opportunities over five years for youth, women, and Syrian refugees.
A neighboring country to Tunisia with a larger migrant population (12% of its total population) and a more established view of itself as an immigration country, distinct from Tunisia's focus.
A North African country where Paula Pace leads the IOM country office; primarily focused on regulating emigration and preventing irregular immigration rather than facilitating immigration or immigrant employment, facing rising social tensions.
A company that hired project-based graphic designers from the Syrian community in Jordan, initially viewing it as a humanitarian project, but discovering the high quality of work, negating the need for intermediaries.
A company whose mission is to enable companies to hire everyone everywhere. They launched the 'Remote for Refugees' program to support refugee talent.
Mentioned as an example of a company that worked with a partner in Ecuador to train Venezuelan and Colombian refugees for project-based work, though the income wasn't always enough for cost of living.
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