As we reflect on Refugee Week 2024, we’re excited to share a special Q&A session with Ashley Clark, Central Recruitment Manager, Menzies Aviation and Veronica Rossini, Vice-President for Europe at the Tent Partnership for Refugees.

Together, Ashley and Veronica discuss how our partnership with Tent is making a meaningful impact by supporting refugees. From offering employment opportunities to creating an inclusive workplace. We are committed to helping refugees rebuild their lives and thrive in our community.

Ashley Clark, Central Recruitment Manager, Menzies Aviation

What motivated Menzies Aviation to partner with Tent Partnership for Refugees?
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2023 because of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. This crisis is the driving force behind Menzies’ decision to join forces with the Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent). We know that businesses have a critical role to play in helping refugees integrate economically into their new host communities and are committed to supporting refugees by breaking down the barriers they may face in finding work. Our partnership with Tent helps us deliver on this commitment.

Supporting refugees is not only the right thing to do, it also makes sound business sense. Giving refugees access to good employment opportunities at Menzies helps us to build a stronger workforce.

What does this partnership mean for the business? What are we committed to do?
We were pleased to become a member of Tent in December 2022, and in the summer of 2023 at the first-ever Tent European Business Summit, we shared our commitment to recruit refugees equivalent to 1% of our global workforce by 2026. Tent connects businesses with government agencies and organisations who work with people that have refugee status. With the support of Tent, we’ve been able to set up recruitment programmes and partnerships in Europe, UK, the US and Canada to recruit and support refugees into our business.

With more refugees being forcibly displaced for longer periods of time. We understand some of the barriers people face entering the workforce and believe that as a global employer we have a role to play in helping refugees and displaced people integrate economically in their new host communities.

How does this partnership align with our company’s values and mission?
Sustainability sits at the very heart of everything we do as a business, which is why we are proud to be a signatory of the UN Global Compact and making good progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Our partnership with Tent aligns particularly closely with SDG 8 (promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all) and SDG 10 (reduce inequality within and among countries).

Are there any specific initiatives or projects we are collaborating on with Tent?
We have utilized Tent’s expertise to develop comprehensive guidance for our managers to enhance their understanding of the refugee community and give them guidance on how to include refugees in their recruitment practices. We aim to develop our employees’ knowledge to provide refugees with an inclusive working environment and give them the best chance to succeed.

We are also in the process of developing a “Permission to Fly” training programme in partnership with Tent to give refugees the best chance in obtaining roles within the aviation sector. This will support refugees offering them guidance on how to apply for jobs, cv creation support and interview guidance.

We have also joined a number of local Tent coalitions including Tent U.S., Tent Espana, Tent Mexico, Tent UK, and Tent Canada to explore regional opportunities to help refugees enter the labour market in these five countries, through employment or job preparation.

What successes have we had to date?
With the support of Tent, we have been able to connect with numerous NGOs across our network and we are in the process of navigating and overcoming some of the boundaries that refugees have with obtaining roles within the aviation sector. We are laying the foundations to assist refugees to succeed in our sector and for us to achieve our goal of having 1% of our workforce to be from the refugee community.

During 2022, we successfully onboarded around 20 Ukrainian workers within our European operations who were displaced due to the conflict in Ukraine, providing them with additional support including local language training, to help them integrate into local communities and the workplace.

How will our work with Tent contribute to the long-term success and integration of refugees into our community?
Our people are at the forefront of everything we do and our partnership with Tent will allow us to not only address our labour requirements, but will allow us hire driven, talented and dedicated individuals from the refugee community who can add tremendous value to our growth. Tent’s expertise will enable us to offer the best possible journey for the refugees who join our business, with an opportunity to become ambassadors for our next cohort of new hires.

Veronica Rossini, Vice-President for Europe at the Tent Partnership for Refugees

Can you give an overview of the Tent Partnership for Refugees and its mission?
With more and more refugees displaced around the world, businesses have a critical role to play in helping refugees integrate economically in their new communities. The Tent Partnership for Refugees (Tent) was launched in 2016 by Hamdi Ulukaya, the CEO and founder of Chobani – a multibillion dollar food company in the U.S. – to mobilize global businesses to fill this gap. Today, Tent is a network of over 400 major companies committed to helping hundreds of thousands of refugees access local labour markets by helping them become job-ready and connecting them to work.

Can you share some success stories from other companies that have partnered with Tent?
There are dozens of success stories from companies who have taken this journey with us. Marriott International has hired over 1,400 refugees across dozens of hotels in Europe including the UK, Poland, and Germany through a dedicated refugee hiring programme. The company created an employee site in multiple languages, trained hiring managers and worked with its management teams across Europe to invest in and appoint dedicated refugee hiring champions.

In the UK, IKEA has for several years worked with local partners to develop a “retail basics” training course followed by paid placement, with the support of a buddy and access to employment benefits including language support. IKEA is scaling this to become a national programme with split responsibility across HR and DEI teams and is currently looking at how they can open up more highly skilled and senior level positions to refugees.

What are the primary needs and challenges faced by refugees that Tent aims to address?
There are many barriers to employment for refugees - from language barriers, lack of professional networks, transport, and childcare solutions to gaps in employment and education. Tent helps companies to be intentional and adapt their hiring and onboarding processes to address these barriers and level the playing field for candidates from refugee backgrounds to secure a job.

How are corporate partnerships like that with our business making a tangible difference to the lives of refugees?
Finding a job is a major milestone for a refugee as they successfully build a life in their new country and integrate into a new community. Refugees learn language and local customs more quickly on the job, can earn to provide for their families, and build community through work. With meaningful employment, refugees can rebuild their lives and provide for themselves and their families.

That is why bold commitments like that made by Menzies Aviation to recruit refugees equivalent to 1% of its global workforce by 2026 is so important. It is creating a fair chance for refugees to start and thrive within the business.

What are the benefits of integrating and supporting refugees in the workplace?
Hiring refugees is also good for business. It takes some upfront investment and intention for the companies leading that charge but there are tremendous long-term benefits. There is a huge opportunity for companies to tap into an overlooked talent pool of skilled and loyal workers - especially with labour shortages across many sectors in countries that welcome refugees. Tent’s own studies have shown that refugees stay at companies longer, companies hiring refugees are more attractive employers, and it drives consumer loyalty.

What are the long-term goals of Tent for its partnerships with businesses like ours?
We are so proud that Tent was named in this years’ TIME 100 Most Influential Companies list for our pioneering approach to mobilizing the world’s largest employers to connect refugees to jobs at scale. Our vision is a job for every refugee seeking work. As more businesses join this movement and experience the benefits of a diverse, resilient, and motivated workforce - this will ultimately translate into far more inclusive workplaces for all employees. Every single job creates a ripple of impact – on the refugees themselves, their families, future generations, and the increasing normalization of refugees being seen and included for the educated, skilled, and resilient individuals that they are.

For more information about the Tent Partnership for Refugees, visit: https://www.tent.org/