Equal-Works

There are a number of engineers in refugee communities in the UK with valuable skills and experience who are currently unemployed or underemployed in work that does not take advantage of their skills.

Engineering is unlike other professions because it is largely unregulated. The majority of engineers in the UK are employed in the private sector. There is no clear route to requalification and the profession covers a wide range of specialisms. The key for agencies seeking to help refugee engineers into engineering jobs is therefore to work closely with engineering employers.

In 2003, RAISE ran a series of seminars for refugee engineers, recruitment agencies and employers to identify the barriers to employment on both sides. It became clear that one thing missing was a common data point. RAISE set up the online Refugee Engineers Database (RED), which is accessible by organisations working with refugee engineers. The Refugee Engineers Employment Steering Group drew on the experience of a number of organisations to guide its development. RED went online at the end of 2005.

In 2006, market research was commissioned to gather information on engineering employers’ recruitment practices, the specialisms to which they have difficulty recruiting suitable numbers of engineers and their attitudes towards employing refugees. It showed a general lack of understanding of refugee and asylum issues and permission to work status, but a willingness to work with refugee agencies if they could supply people with the right specialist experience to fill vacancies.

Ongoing operation of RED was transferred to Olmec during the summer of 2007, working with RAGU to provide support to ensure engineers are job-ready.

Please visit the Refugee Engineers' section of the Presto web site.