The Netherlands has several hundred thousand inhabitants with a refugee background. Many of them do not find work easily. In collaboration with the Refugee Talent Hub foundation, ABN AMRO offered more than eighty people with a refugee background a job, with new goals for the next three years. Once inside, a new world opens up – not least for bank employees.

Please note: this article was translated using a translator app

Language barriers, trauma, cultural differences – employers are quick to reveal their prejudices when it comes to making jobs available to people with a refugee background. Chani Savelberg, Diversity and Inclusion Consultant at ABN AMRO, and Wilma Roozenboom, Director of Refugee Talent Hub, discuss these issues and challenge companies to look in the mirror themselves. Because aren't the obstacles secretly within ourselves? How open is the company culture? Do we have prejudices? And isn't the system also partly responsible for 'the distance to the labor market' that is attributed to refugees?

Create support

 Of course, refugees can do some things themselves to get a job: learn the language, build a network, have their diplomas valued. But there is also a responsibility on employers. Companies must want to change themselves, says Wilma. “That is why we support companies and organizations in creating support in the workplace. For example, we offer mentoring programs and workshops for HR personnel. In an extreme case, it can take up to a year before a company is ready to welcome someone with a refugee background as a colleague. Fortunately, it usually goes a lot faster.”

Look at the people and the talent

 People and therefore organizations must look at this group completely differently, Wilma argues. While we quickly think of a refugee as a person in need of help, it is actually often just a professional who has been forced to leave his or her country due to circumstances. And who longs to finally be addressed as an accountant or data analyst again. Wilma: “The term refugee refers to something that once happened to you, but it does not determine your identity. At Refugee Talent Hub we try to challenge companies to see the person and the talent and not - or at least not only - the refugee.”

Eighty status holders

 ABN AMRO started the Reboot program in 2017, in which the bank helps people with a refugee background find a job. Since the start, more than 80 'Rebooters' have started working at ABN AMRO, partly thanks to the Refugee Talent Hub network. The results are so positive that the bank is stepping up: ABN AMRO wants to help another sixty status holders find a job over the next three years. Refugees from Ukraine are also more than welcome to work at the bank. They do not officially require residence status and are therefore in addition to twenty placements per year.

Win win

 People sometimes see accepting refugees as an act of charity, Chani notes. But it is a win-win situation. “Of course it is our job to contribute to a better world based on our purpose 'Banking for better, for generations to come'. But we are talking about talent here, which simply makes us better as an organization. The knife cuts both ways.”

Looking beyond the resume

 ABN AMRO and Refugee Talent Hub organize an event every quarter to connect candidates and managers. For example, via a speed date or a pitch event. Personal contact is essential for this. “When working with refugees, you shouldn't want to check boxes, because then you won't get there,” says Chani. “These events offer us the opportunity to look beyond the CV and focus on the opportunities and possibilities.”

 The events have a high success rate. In the last round (spring 2022), eleven status holders came for an interview with ABN AMRO. Ten of them have been hired, as data analysts or engineers, for example. They also have access to mentoring programs and language lessons. In the meantime, bank employees also have new opportunities to contribute. They can sign up to help refugees with their CV or job interviews. The bank also provides information to other organizations that want to work with status holders - and with the continued shortage on the labor market, there are more and more of them.

Training program

 And those objections and prejudices? In practice, these quickly fade into the background. Wilma: “They disappear the moment you meet someone. One of those prejudices is the idea that all refugees are traumatized. Yes, that certainly applies to some. But that does not always have consequences for the work. And in addition, a job often has a healing effect. Trauma can be reduced by the rhythm and distraction that work offers.”

 ABN AMRO has started a training program together with Microsoft and Refugee Talent Hub. In a twenty-week process, people with a refugee background are prepared for a job as an IT specialist at the bank - including a letter of intent for a job. “The more people we place, the greater the enthusiasm,” says Chani. “Managers expect backpacks and obstacles, but the opposite is true. Employees with a refugee background bring a different perspective, we learn to look at ourselves differently. Then managers tell me: I didn't expect that I would learn so much from it. Isn't that beautiful?"

Source: ABN AMRO