Refugee employment in Birmingham'Work is an opportunity to feed into Britain's rich culture and participate fully in a society that refugees are pleased - and, indeed, thankful - to be part of' The Guardian There are currently some 45,000 refugees living in Birmingham and Solihull. The limited information that exists about this group suggests that it suffers exceptionally high levels of unemployment and under-employment; indeed, research shows that the level of unemployment amongst the UK refugee population may be as high as 36% - nearly six times the national average. What is more, those refugees who do find work tend to be employed in low-skilled jobs, within a few industries, with poor terms and conditions. Although refugees have full employment rights, they face considerable challenges in finding work. These include – among others – language barriers, academic and professional qualifications that aren’t recognized in the UK, lack of work experience in the UK, poor knowledge of the UK labour market, and the challenge of entering an unfamiliar working culture. For more information on refugee employment and the challenges faced by refugee job-seekers, please visit the Employability Forum website here. |