Research: Why Inclusive Hiring Must Include Refugees

Six ways companies of any size can engage this overlooked talent pool.

When companies seek to engage in more inclusive recruitment, they often overlook recruitment initiatives focused on refugees. The number of global refugees, asylum seekers, and others in need of international protection surpassed 50.3 million people at the end of 2023, per the U.N. Refugee Agency. The authors cite their findings from two of their studies: first, that managers who have never recruited from this group tend to not only undervalue the benefits of this talent pool, but also hold various misconceptions and biases around recruiting and hiring refugees; and second, that traditional recruitment processes prevent managers from tapping into non-traditional talent pools. From their studies based on conversations with managers, talent leaders, and job seekers from refugee backgrounds, the authors offer 6 ways companies can better recruit from this talent pool: scrutinize your hiring criteria, be proactive and creative with recruitment, reevaluate your selection processes, consider utilizing external support, reach out to industry peers, and think of inclusive recruitment beyond direct recruitment.

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  Betina Szkudlarek, PhD, is Professor of International Management at the University of Sydney Business School, Australia. Betina is a world-renowned expert on refugee workforce integration and cross-cultural management and a Strategic Sustainability and Growth Consultant with the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations. She has a strong corporate presence and wide experience in researching, consulting and training in various areas linked to diversity management and global leadership. Her research has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, BBC, and ABC, among others. Her work in the domain of refugee workforce integration and SDG impact has been recognised with multiple prizes, including the United Nations Award for Excellence in SDG Integration (UN PRME Global Forum, New York 2023).
  

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  Eun Su Lee, PhD, is Assistant Professor in Management at the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research focuses on migrants’ integration journeys in foreign countries and the role of stakeholders in facilitating such integrative efforts. Her work has been published in top-tier international journals such as Human Resource Management Journal and International Journal of Management Reviews. Eun Su has also won a number of international awards with Prof Szkudlarek; these prestigious awards include AIB Insights Award for Actionable Insights (Miami, 2022), NBS Research Impact on Practice Award and International HRM Scholarly Award (Seattle, 2022).
  

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