What is the 'right to work' challenge for refugees?

70% of refugees live in places that limit their access to legal employment, making the 'right to work' a significant challenge. This severely restricts their ability to find formal jobs and integrate into host economies.

How does Concat empower marginalized communities, especially refugee women?

Concat, a web development agency, employs consultants (refugee women from the Middle East) through a UK-registered company due to operational challenges in places like Lebanon. They work remotely, providing high-quality and affordable websites to clients globally. Part of their advocacy is shifting the narrative that working with refugees means super low salaries, proving that high-quality work is possible.

What is Appen's approach to hiring refugees and ensuring diversity in AI development?

Appen is a data partner for AI and model development, working with a global crowd of a million people to mitigate bias through diversity. They are piloting projects with organizations like Gaza Sky Geeks and Nama to provide work and training opportunities for marginalized groups, including refugees, focusing on English proficiency and critical thinking skills.

What is the Prospects Project and how does it promote refugee inclusion in the labor market?

The Prospects Project is an exploratory initiative funded by the Netherlands, involving UNHCR and ILO, operating in several countries hosting forcibly displaced people. It aims to promote inclusion of refugees in the labor market by looking at innovative ways of providing job opportunities, especially in the digital and gig economy, and advocating for necessary policy and regulatory frameworks.

What are the common barriers refugees face in accessing online work, according to research in Uganda?

Research in Uganda revealed four key barriers: a big information gap about job platforms, limited access to finance for digital tools like smartphones and laptops, and a mismatch between available education (e.g., beauty, hairdressing) and demand for digital skills. Additionally, some platforms struggled with retention due to lack of upskilling opportunities for workers.

How do companies like SOMOS prevent 'digital colonialism' and ensure fair treatment for remote workers?

Carver from SOMOS explains their approach involves structuring contracts with employee-style benefits, including mental well-being and education budgets. They offer schedules like 'four days work, five days pay' to allow time for community integration. Pay is set roughly at 8X the local living wage in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, with additional support through bursaries and co-ownership schemes, aiming for mutual alignment between employer and worker success.

What are the biggest challenges in developing and recognizing skills for refugee employment?

Challenges include the false promise that everyone can be a coder, the need for diverse entry points for varied skill levels, and often overlooked soft skills. Many refugees may lack a high level of English, critical thinking skills, familiarity with online work culture (like self-advocacy), and professional communication skills for tech roles.

How can governments be convinced to support virtual mobility and remote hiring of refugees?

Governments can be convinced by highlighting the mutual benefits: virtual mobility allows refugees to earn a livelihood without physical resettlement, and they contribute to the local economy through taxes. Advocating for legal pathways to financial services, employment, and connectivity is crucial to formalize this work and make it attractive to governments looking for tax contributions.

What specific soft skills are critical for successful work in the digital economy?

Beyond technical skills, critical soft skills for the digital economy include flexibility, problem-solving, innovation, consistency, and creativity. These require long-term training, coaching, and a shift in mindsets and attitudes, making them particularly challenging to develop.

Hiring refugees: Challenges and opportunities - Migration Summit 2023

MIT OpenCourseWare

Education4 min read93 min video

Apr 13, 2023|367 views|5

migration displacement livelihoods refugees education workforce development MIT ReACT storytelling migration summit

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Panel discusses challenges and opportunities for companies hiring refugees, focusing on digital economy integration, skills, and worker protection.

Key Insights

Research indicates refugees have lower turnover and higher retention rates, yet face significant labor market vulnerabilities.

Companies like Concat and Somos successfully hire refugees by adapting operational models and fostering inclusive work environments.

The Prospects project, a collaboration between UNHCR and ILO, aims to create inclusive and productive digital and gig economy opportunities for displaced persons.

Key challenges for refugees in the digital economy include information gaps, access to finance and technology, and the need for tailored digital skills training.

Worker protection in the platform economy is a major concern, with issues around unclear employment relationships, low average earnings, and geographic pay inequalities.

Developing and recognizing a broad range of skills, including crucial soft skills like communication, critical thinking, and self-advocacy, is vital for refugee integration.

Addressing 'digital colonialism' requires a shift towards investment in host communities, fair pay structures, ethical employment frameworks, and worker autonomy.

THE MIGRATION SUMMIT AND THE FOCUS ON DISPLACED TALENT

The Migration Summit 2023, organized by MIT react and nemal, serves as a global convening platform to build bridges between diverse communities of displaced learners, universities, companies, and policymakers. This year's theme, 'Co-creating Pathways for Learning, Livelihoods, and Dignity,' highlighted a panel specifically addressing the challenges and opportunities companies face when hiring refugees and displaced talent. The discussion aimed to understand how these challenges are overcome and to showcase the benefits of integrating refugees into the workforce, particularly in the evolving digital economy.

COMPANY-LED INITIATIVES AND INNOVATIVE HIRING MODELS

Companies like Concat, a web development agency led by marginalized communities, and Somos, a language learning marketplace, pioneer inclusive hiring practices. Concat employs refugees as consultants through a UK-registered company, enabling remote work despite challenging local conditions in Lebanon. Somos, a social enterprise, emphasizes investor buy-in and partners with organizations like Open Door Policy to train refugees for remote roles, structuring employment to offer similar legal protections to UK employees and even exploring co-ownership models. Appen, a global data partner for AI development, leverages a vast crowd workforce to mitigate bias in machine learning models and is actively piloting projects to provide work opportunities for refugees.

THE PROSPECTS PROJECT: FOSTERING DIGITAL INCLUSION

The Prospects program, funded by the Netherlands government and involving UNHCR, ILO, the World Bank, and IFC, operates in eight countries to promote the inclusion of refugees in labor markets. A key component is an exploratory project focusing on innovative job opportunities in the digital and gig economy. This initiative promotes digital transformation that is inclusive, addressing common barriers like lack of connectivity, digital skills, and financial access. The ILO advocates for policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure decent work in digital platforms, while UNHCR focuses on protection, ethical business practices, and mitigating risks in the digital economy.

CHALLENGES IN THE DIGITAL LABOR MARKET FOR REFUGEES

Research in Uganda, as presented by BFA Global, reveals significant information gaps among refugees regarding available digital job platforms. Barriers to entry include the need for smartphones and laptops, limited access to finance, and a skills gap where educational systems often lag behind the demands of the future digital workforce. While some platforms find refugees can access work, especially with progressive ID requirements, broader adoption requires proactive information sharing and ecosystem support. In the broader digital economy, issues arise from unclear employment relationships, low average earnings on platforms (around $3/hour), and significant geographic pay inequalities, where workers in the Global North earn substantially more for the same work.

ADDRESSING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES

A critical aspect of refugee integration is skills development and recognition. While technical skills are important, soft skills like communication, critical thinking, judgment, self-advocacy, and consistency are paramount. Companies like Concat emphasize teaching clients and their own teams how to communicate effectively and manage expectations across different time zones. Appen seeks individuals with critical thinking and learning agility, viewing their roles as potential stepping stones to more permanent employment. The ILO highlights the difficulty in building crucial soft skills like consistency and creativity, which require sustained coaching and mindset shifts. There's a growing recognition of the employer's responsibility to provide ongoing training and upskilling opportunities, moving beyond just basic entry-level requirements.

ENSURING WORKER PROTECTION AND COMBATTING DIGITAL COLONIALISM

Worker protection in the platform economy is a complex issue, with low social protection coverage for digital workers globally. UNHCR and ILO are working to promote regulatory frameworks that clarify employment status and ensure decent work standards. Innovative approaches include partnerships for health insurance and collective bargaining for gig workers. To avoid 'digital colonialism,' where work is extracted at a premium without sufficient investment in host communities, companies must focus on fair pay structures—often above local living wages—and ethical employment frameworks. Empowering refugees with autonomy over their work, exploring co-ownership schemes, and ensuring benefits like paid time off and mental well-being support are crucial steps toward more equitable digital livelihoods.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Software & Apps

●Companies

●Organizations

●Concepts

●People Referenced

Common Questions

The Migration Summit 2023 is a month-long global convening organized by MIT React, Nama, and the Quran Foundation. Its goal is to build bridges between diverse communities of displaced learners, universities, companies, social enterprises, policymakers, and governments around key challenges and opportunities for refugee and migrant communities.

Topics

Worker Protection Migration Policy Fair Pay

Mentioned in this video

personJess Appen

Leads social impact and partnerships at Appen, a data partner for AI and model development.

personMichelle Hassan

Principal consultant leading refugee work at BFA Global and co-director for Job Tech Alliance.

companyBFA Global

A company where Michelle Hassan is a principal consultant leading refugee work.

personLaura Goodfriend

Founder of Concat, the first web development agency led by marginalized communities.

personJohn Warns

Acting Deputy Director of UNHCR's Innovation Service, leading the Digital Service Innovation program.

conceptProspects Project

A program funded by the Netherlands, operating in several countries to promote inclusion of refugees in the labor market, focusing on innovative job opportunities in the digital and gig economy.

organizationGaza Sky Geeks

An organization in Palestine that Appen has piloted a project with to provide work opportunities and training for marginalized groups.

organizationG20

Mentioned as having produced a paper highlighting the importance of correctly classifying the employment status of workers.

organizationGISC

An organization that produced guidelines, but they were not geared towards freelance or gig platforms.

organizationIAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals)

An organization based in the US that is currently looking into collaboration and guideline development for digital platforms.

organizationPartnership on AI

An organization thinking about collaboration and guideline development in the context of people working in the AI economy.

softwareNAMA