Roles and responsibilities in the end-to-end refugee labour mobility process

Many actors collaborate in order to support displaced people to move safely for international employment. This article outlines common breakdowns of responsibilities between these different stakeholders, first breaking down actors by process step, and then responsibilities by actor. In practice, these roles may be fluid and should respond to the needs of the organizations involved. In all cases, high levels of communication and collaboration support effective end-to-end labour mobility processes.

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Responsibilities by Actors

In this section, “managing organization” will be used to describe responsibilities that can be carried out by “talent-facing organizations” or “employer-facing organizations” independently or collectively.

Role of candidates

Registration

• Register their interest in labour mobility with a talent-facing organization and share accurate details about their education, language, and work experience
• Attend intakes coordinated by the talent-facing organization and share detailed and accurate information about their background, including their displacement history, family, legal status, work experience and health records
• Continue working on their language and employment skills 
• Provide documentation when it is needed and available
• Research international employment opportunities and notify the talent-facing organization if they secure a job offer independently.

Recruitment

• Create CVs, with support from the talent-facing organization
• Confirm interest in employment opportunities 
• Prepare for and attend interviews with employers
  • If required by the employer, complete additional testing
• Continue working on their language and employment skills.

Job offer and visa processing

• Attend the Informed Decision-Making (IDM) session with facilitating partners and confirm whether they will accept the job offer extended by the employer
• Collect and fill out documents for visa applications
• Research their destination community and complete relevant integration planning steps.

Relocation and integration

• Notify managing organizations about any challenges during exit process and travel
• Follow local regulations and complete integration steps outlined by the managing organization
• Report for work on the agreed date
• Notify the managing organization about any issues related to workplace or integration
• Consider sharing their experiences with labour mobility publicly to inspire other candidates
• Support the monitoring and evaluation activities of managing organizations by providing information requested through surveys and other tools.

Role of employers

• Identify an appropriate role(s) to recruit and provide a detailed job description
• Consider candidates put forward by talent-facing organizations
• Share the expected steps in the recruitment process so that candidates can prepare accordingly
• Assess candidates’ skills and experience in line with standard selection criteria, ideally through remote interviews (with video)
• Provide interview feedback to facilitate continuous improvement
• Support visa applications for successful candidates, including any associated costs
• Support the integration of successful candidates
• Consider going public with their experiences hiring and working with displaced talent to encourage other employers to do the same.

Role of managing organizations

Employer-facing organizations

• Conduct outreach to and pitch employers, in order to inform them about refugee labour mobility and convince them to consider hiring displaced talent
• Collect detailed job descriptions from interested employers
• Share lists of suitable candidates with employers
• Facilitate interviews and communications with employers throughout the recruitment process
• Review job offers against the requirements
• Connect candidates and employers with legal service providers
• Provide ongoing updates on the timelines for recruitment and arrival, to both candidates and employers
• Coordinate travel arrangements for candidates
• Support the integration of candidates.

Talent-facing organizations

• Conduct outreach to candidates, inform them about labour mobility programs and encourage them to register their interest
• Conduct intakes with candidates to confirm their eligibility
• Identify suitable candidates based on job descriptions shared by employers
• Help prepare candidates for each round of recruitment, including CV preparation and interviews
• Facilitate interviews and communications with candidates throughout the recruitment process
• Support candidates to make an informed decision about their employment and migration in the case of a job offer 
• Support successful candidates with their visa applications
• Assist in the coordination of the relocation process, especially during exit procedures.

Role of service providers

Legal service providers

• Support employer-facing organizations to assess the eligibility of particular job offers and/or employers for international recruitment 
• Support talent-facing organizations to assess the visa eligibility of individual candidates
• Provide paid services to employers to support the complete international recruitment process, including interfacing with candidate(s) as needed to gather needed information
• Contribute expertise towards advocacy for the development and expansion of displaced talent mobility programs.

Capacity-building organizations

• Provide training and tools to candidates to support their success in international recruitment processes.

Loan providers

• Provide and service ethical loan products available to displaced talent for the purposes of facilitating their migration and integration.

Settlement service providers

• Coordinate with employer-facing organizations and employers to ensure comprehensive integration services are offered to displaced talent and their families upon their arrival in the destination country.

Role of  Governments

Source government

• Provide needed exit documentation to displaced talent with valid international job offers and visas.

Destination government

• Design and implement displaced talent mobility programs 
• Process displaced talent visa applications, offering accommodations as appropriate to candidates’ situations of displacement 
• Issue visas and international travel documents as necessary.

Role of intergovernmental organizations

UNHCR

• Collaborate with talent-facing organizations to support outreach to displaced talent
• Collaborate with talent-facing organizations to provide support to candidates in unique protection-related circumstances.

IOM

• Offer contracted services, including pre-departure medical screenings, pre-departure orientation trainings, and flights to displaced talent.