It has joined Tent UK, a new coalition of over 60 major companies that is committed to helping refugees secure employment in the UK.

Randstad has been a longstanding member of the global Tent Partnership for Refugees – an international network of companies committed to helping refugees access labour markets. Recruiter visited Indeed’s refugee careers fair in October, where Tent Partnership for Refugees was one of the partners.

By joining Tent UK as a founding member, Randstad UK says it wants to “double down” on its refugee hiring programme in the UK.

Victoria Short (pictured), Randstad’s CEO in the UK, said: “Since the spring of 2022, Randstad has been supporting those affected by the war in Ukraine. Globally, we made a €250k (£214k) contribution to UNICEF and became a member of the global Tent Partnership for Refugees to help them integrate economically into their new host countries.

“We have committed to supporting Ukrainian refugees – women in particular – by recruiting people from within our organisation to act as their mentors… Despite the fact that they have often had high level, professional careers, they face many barriers to entering the domestic labour market. We have an opportunity not just to do what is right, but to make use of this invaluable talent pool.”

Although the UK has welcomed more than 500,000 refugees from countries, including Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Syria and most recently Ukraine – many have been unable to find formal employment. According to the government, while they have the legal right to work, refugees are 20% less likely to be employed than Brits, with this gap widening to 30% for refugee women.

“At a moment when UK employers face significant labour shortages, yet refugees across the country struggle to find decent employment, we see an extraordinary opportunity for our work,” said Gideon Maltz, CEO of Tent. 

Tent UK will offer participating companies a host of services free of charge, including the sharing of best practices and ideas from Tent’s global network of more than 400 major companies across a dozen countries, as well as tailored programmes and insights to the UK market context; regular convenings and workshops with other Tent UK member companies for peer-to-peer learning; and introductions to best-in-class partners across the UK that can source refugee talent based on the type of roles, the location and their past performance.

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