Today, global hiring platform, Indeed and Tent UK - the national coalition of Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent) consisting of over 70 major companies committed to connecting refugees to jobs - are holding a job fair for refugees at the Kia Oval in London, in collaboration with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The event will provide hundreds of refugee jobseekers with the opportunity to connect with major employers recruiting for open vacancies.
Around 40 employers in sectors such as hospitality, retail, healthcare, energy and professional services - including Tent UK member companies ISS, Marriott International, Menzies Aviation - will be on site to meet with refugee jobseekers about job opportunities. They will conduct interviews for a range of roles such as sales assistant, housekeeper, chef, accountant, and mechanical engineer.
During the event, translation services will be provided in Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Pashto and Ukrainian, and jobseekers will be given tips on how to create CVs and cover letters for the UK job market.
Refugee jobseekers: A solution to labour shortages
The UK currently hosts over 600,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced people predominantly from Ukraine, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Syria. Despite having the right to work in the UK, refugees are around 30 percent less likely to be employed than British-born people. Refugees face numerous structural barriers to employment, such as lower language skills, a lack of social and professional networks, and lack of access to childcare.
Initiatives like this job fair aim to tackle some of these barriers, allowing employers with vacant positions to meet and hire refugee jobseekers.
Like many European countries, the UK labour market is facing talent shortages in a number of sectors such as healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing, with over 800,000 positions currently unfilled.
Clive Meyers, Director of Business Strategy at Indeed, commented: “Access to quality employment should be available to everyone, regardless of their background and where they come from. This is our ambition at Indeed and we aim to go far beyond simply connecting employers and candidates. It’s paramount to work to reduce the biases and barriers that too often prevent people from accessing the opportunities that suit their skills and needs. With this job fair, we are giving hundreds of refugees fair access to employment, to ensure their economic security and opportunities for advancement.”
Jen Stobart Tent UK Director said: “We are pleased to be partnering again with Indeed to organise this job fair seeking to bridge the gap between refugee jobseekers and employers – including many of the over 70 Tent UK member companies that we work with to hire refugees across the country and help them become job-ready. Securing meaningful employment is one of the most important milestones in a refugee’s integration journey and an opportunity for businesses who can fill open vacancies from a skilled, resilient, loyal, and often overlooked talent pool.”
Vicky Tennant, UNHCR’s Representative to the UK said: “After fleeing war, violence or persecution, the chance to work empowers refugees to actively contribute to society and to become part of a wider community—something they long for. This job fair provides a unique opportunity to address the challenges refugees often face in finding suitable and safe employment, connecting them directly with employers. It also allows employers to tap into the diverse skills, experiences, and perspectives refugees bring, and to help foster stronger and more cohesive communities through the workplace.”
The organisation of this job fair and others across Europe builds on Indeed's commitment made at the European Business Summit organised by Tent in June 2023 to train at least 15,000 refugees in Europe over the next three years. This initiative also aligns with a broader global goal to support 30 million jobseekers worldwide by 2030, who continue to face prejudices and barriers that prevent them from easily accessing employment.
Since 2022, Indeed has successfully organised several job fairs across Europe, in partnership with Tent and UNHCR. More refugee job fairs are planned in several European cities including Amsterdam, Dublin and Milan, and this event follows the jobs fair held in Paris and Berlin in November.
