In recent years, Australia and its operating enterprises have not been active in recognizing the global issue regarding refugee resettlement and asylum seekers. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR)’s Global Trends report have highlighted that Australia needs to increase refugee support as well as develop programs that can significantly benefit the lives of migrants (UNCHR Global Trends, 2016 cited in Refugee Council of Australia, 2017, para. 1). Due to the lack of refugee support systems recently, past and current refugees face many barriers to this day, one of which is unemployment (Tahiri, 2017, p. 3). The Refugee Council of Australia (2017, p.71) reported that “participants often noted the high level of skills and qualifications that many people from refugee backgrounds bring to Australia and expressed frustration that they are unable to find suitable work that matches their previous skills and experience, with many also noting the lack of programs to support the recognition of skills and qualifications from overseas.” Although there are various papers that discuss the general employment issue, studies analysing the relationship between the professional qualifications of refugees and their employment opportunities in Australia are limited. This report aims to examine the employment opportunities of refugees, as well as the unemployment crisis regarding refugees before and after migrating to Australia. More specifically, it aims to determine if the professional qualifications of refugees match their current employment opportunities.
One of the main barriers as to why past and current refugees have a difficult time finding employment opportunities is due to the lack of recognition of prior qualifications and experiences from employers. Several small studies have compared past and current refugees’ qualifications and skills to current employment opportunities. O’Dwyer et al. (2015, p. 4) discusses that many qualified participants were employed in jobs that did not adhere to their qualifications and professional experience. Another study among a group of refugee men found that having their overseas skills/qualifications recognized decreased the chances of finding employment (Correa-Velez et al, 2015, p. 1). In addition, the recognition process remains expensive, with many refugee members indicating that the high fees were effectively preventing them from continuing their profession (Refugee Council of Australia, 2017, p. 70). Based on these findings, the employment system of Australia, in relation to refugees, fails to provide current employment opportunities that adhere to the qualifications and skills of refugees.
Another major problem that refugees experience when finding employment is that they end up taking low-skilled jobs or jobs outside of their area of expertise. Highly-qualified refugees enter low-income and low-skilled occupations, or “occupational skidding,” since humanitarian migrants cannot find jobs that match their skills and qualifications (Rioseco et al., 2017, para. 13-14). Studies also indicate that recent refugees are employed in labour markets, classified as the ‘secondary labour market’ which is composed of low-status and low-paid jobs such as cleaning services, caretaking, meat processing, transportation, security and building (Colic-Peisker, 2018, p. 222). Together, these evidences show the breach in the refugee employment process as well as the lack of support programs that cater to the employment of refugees. Therefore, we can conclude that there is a lack of recognition of qualifications and skills of refugees when searching for employment opportunities, resulting in refugees taking up jobs outside their area of expertise.
Figure 1 (Participant Employment Before and After Migration to Australia) illustrates the percentages of all employed and unemployed immigrants before and after migrating to Australia. There are 12 prominent jobs that represent immigrant employment in the figure. As can be seen in Figure 1, there is a relatively high percentage of unemployed immigrants, and a higher rate of unemployment after Australian migration. It is also worthwhile noting that labour jobs such as factory labour, child care, and aged care employment significantly increased after migration to Australia, while high-area jobs such as finance, science, and teacher jobs decreased after migration to Australia. This suggests that refugees find it difficult to attain jobs, especially in high-level areas such as engineering and business, which results in refugees resorting to low-income jobs. This can also be a result of a ‘systemic oppression’ which is due to racism and discrimination. It is hoped that by implementing programs that can support refugees in terms of employment and recognising the prior qualifications and skills of refugees, they may find it easier to attain jobs that fit their area of expertise.
Overall, the employment statistics displayed the high rate of unemployment as well as the different rates of various jobs in specific areas. Participants before migration to Australia have displayed high rates of unemployment, and participants after migration experienced a much higher rate. This is consistent with previous studies, which have shown that migrants have explained that finding a job had become more challenging than before due to the fact that there is a lack of recognition of prior qualifications (O’Dwyer et al, 205, p. 16). This is also consistent with another study that explains that despite their skills, participants explained that the recognition process has a high cost, and that there is a lack of programs that is responsible for assessing overseas qualifications (Tahiri, 2017, p. 13). In the future, studies should focus more on the prior qualifications of past and current refugees in Australia in relation to their current employment instead of job sector employment rates to assess the true explanation of the refugee unemployment rate.
The current study also revealed that the vast majority of participants recorded being employed in low-skilled areas such as childcare and factory labour. This finding is supported by a study by Colic-Peisker (2018, p. 220), which demonstrated that the majority of participants explained that they have, at some point, resulted to applying for low-area jobs due to the discrimination they experience at work. Furthermore, only a few participants recorded being in high-level areas like engineering, business, and law. This is consistent with Rioseco’s study (2017, para 16-19), which found that more than 40% of refugees reported working in labouring, whereas less than 10% recorded working in professional areas such as engineering, law, and medicine. Another study that supports this explains that 95% of refugees with high educational qualifications end up taking jobs in labour and childcare, and shows that there is a lack of assistance coming from job agencies to support refugees (Tahiri, 2017, p. 14). The abundance of evidence that discusses the many disadvantages of refugees in relation to employment should lead to an improvement in employment sectors and a development of programs that cater to assisting refugees with employment. High rates of occupational skidding have an overall negative impact on refugees due to the dissatisfaction of labour as well as a negative effect on their economic status as it does not provide them with employment opportunities that match their qualifications and skills.
The limitations of this research include the sample location. A study being conducted in another location, such as a different country, is recommended in future studies to compare the employment opportunities of different refugees. Another limitation is the method of study. A study using in-depth interviews can further give information on the employment process of refugees and give more depth on the recognition of prior qualifications.
Overall, the current study demonstrates that refugees enter low-income and low-area jobs that do not adhere to their area of expertise due to a barrier between refugees and the employment sector including the lack of recognition of prior qualifications and skills of refugees.