“Our systems are not set up to help immigrants and refugees integrate into the workforce.”
Jina Krause-Vilmar, Upwardly Global President and CEO, spoke with WorkingNation at the Jobs for the Future Horizons Conference in New Orleans.
“We have to change that because we have labor market shortages that are not just right now. This is our new normal.”
“We know that 85% of jobs are secured today through your social networks. For immigrants who are new to the country, their networks are very insular,” Jina Krause-Vilmar explained. “They’re in the Vietnamese community. They’re in the Sudanese community. They’re in the Somali community. That means the access to information, resources, and opportunities that they’re getting are consolidated and confined within that network.”
Building social capital outside of that insular community is important. “We work with employers to be able to set up spaces where their employees can come together with our community, and they can really start building some of those connections,” she says. “What we see is that informational interviews are critical in having people connect for long enough to where they’re able to bridge that trust deficit. That helps those individuals build enough of a relationship where that person is willing to give introductions, make recommendations, and network on behalf of the immigrant job seeker.”
Check out more of the #WorkingNationOverheard interview series to listen in on conversations and discussions about employment and education taking place at major conferences around the country.
You can find past installments at https://workingnation.org/overheard/