Five Reasons Why Hiring Refugees is Good for Your Business.

1. Refugees are talented, experienced professionals.

2. They diversify your business.

3. They have higher retention rates.

4. Consumers want to support businesses that hire refugees.

5. Refugees tend to have exceptional work ethics.

Refugees often arrive in the UK as accomplished professionals with distinguished careers in their home countries. But, often the stigma attached to their refugee status tends to eclipse their impressive CVs. As a result, refugees largely struggle to secure employment or are ushered towards low-skilled work.

Entrepreneur Mursal Hedayat experienced this first-hand when her family came to the UK from Afghanistan. Her mother, a civil engineer fluent in four languages, struggled to find work. But her story isn’t unique - compared to UK nationals, migrants are more likely to work in jobs for which they are overqualified.

For employers, there is a huge pool of untapped talent that could plug the growing skills gap - such as a wealth of language abilities. As an island of monoglots, Britain is struggling with a lack of foreign language skills. So much so that the government was unable to accurately translate its Brexit proposal! Hiring refugees can help to build a more diversified workplace, bringing a wealth of new experiences, viewpoints and skills to your business.

In today’s economy, career changes are more common than ever. Employers know that modern workers are less likely to stay in one job long-term, with the average person going through 5-7 career changes during their working life. For employers, the supply of loyal and talented staff is dwindling. In practice, employee turnover costs on average £30,000.

However, 73% of businesses reported that their refugee employees stayed in their roles longer than their general staff. Even in sectors that suffer from chronically high departure rates, refugees tend to stay longer.

According to TENT’s How Hiring Refugees Helps Brands report, 45% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company hiring refugees. Their report also found that British consumers across all age groups and political views supported this action.

Refugees encounter many barriers when looking for work in Britain. Often, they get rejected due to a lack of local work experience. This sends them into an unending loop – where they are unable to get experience because they don’t have experience.

At NEMI Teas, we’re dedicated to breaking this cycle by recruiting refugees into our business and giving them experience and reliable references. It’s a kickstart to enter the British workforce. We’ve seen that when someone takes a chance on them, migrants are motivated to excel because of what a job represents – a way to finally find their footing and integrate into British society.

We are so pleased that through our partnerships with Groundwork, The Hotel School and Thomas Franks, we can train refugees in hospitality skills before placing them in employment with various establishments across London.

Thank you to all those who continue to support our movement and have broadened their perspectives by hiring refugees so far.