On October 6, 2022, Upwardly Global convened its Employer Working Group, made up of over 60 corporations, to continue the important work of co-creating solutions to better support all vulnerable communities and integrating immigrant and refugee talent into our workforce. We called together employers and asked them to provide relevant, employer-specific information on the latest refugee crises.
Partners at Fragomen joined to share the latest on what employers can expect when screening and hiring Ukrainian job seekers from a legal and work authorization perspective. In Warsaw, Poland, Upwardly Global launched a pilot project to help connect companies with untapped Ukrainian talent. As many as 94% of Ukrainian refugees are women and children. Of those, 77% are either vocational-trained or higher, and 60% are college educated professionals. Under the Uniting for Ukraine program, the flow of Ukrainians into the U.S. is going smoothly, with approvals on average taking 3-4 weeks from sponsoring to entering. We are currently working on expanding this program by building a portal in Ukraine with resources for job seekers and employers.
On the Afghan crisis, the Upwardly Global Employer Engagement team shared with employers tips around successful integration of Afghan new hires, making them aware of the accommodations needed for cultural and religious practice in the workplace. Our new special report highlights Afghan newcomers’ $1.71 billion potential annual earnings and $227 million potential annual tax dollars in an effort to spur legislative or administrative action and ensure stability for over 36,000 Afghans in the U.S.
Lastly, we were thrilled to welcome Amazon and Deloitte, who shared their plans and models for how they are committing to hiring refugees as well as the accompanying infrastructure they are building internally to support this work. Amazon committed to hiring 5,000 refugees by the end of 2024, and Deloitte pledged a 3-year agreement to hire 250 refugees and train an additional 250 job seekers.
Please contact Kim@upwardlyglobal.org