With the anticipation of more refugees arriving in the United States, it begs the question on how this will impact the job market and the talent scene. The U.S. will admit 85,000 refugees in the 2016 fiscal year, up from 70,000 last year; this total will rise to 100,000 in 2017. As refugees, they receive employment authorization upon arrival, which means they can begin to immediately impact the job market. But ultimately, how much impact does this unique talent pool really have?
While it is hard to say, many employers do love refugee workers. Why? “In most cases, they have lost everything prior to coming to the U.S.,” said Stacie Blake, director of government and community relations at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, or USCRI, an international non-governmental organization focused on people in forced or voluntary migration. “This is a last chance. There is no option of failing.”
The long trek to the U.S. and the need to succeed leads refugees to have certain qualities that make them desirable employees. “They’re flexible, they’re willing to come, they show up on time, they stay after if they need to, that they’re really devoted to the employer, and that they’re incredibly hardworking,” said Megan Bracy, associate director for community integration at USCRI. “Those, of course, are attributes that any employer would value.”