Upskilling programs provide smart start in new country

Overseas experience is often seen as a positive by employers, at least for those for whom the majority of studies and employment history have been in Australia. It’s often a different story for refugees. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, only around a quarter of refugees find employment in their first two years in Australia.

It’s a problem being tackled by a recently launched digital skills training program for refugees. Over the next 18 months, the five-month program will develop skills and find job opportunities for at least 65 participants. It will also play a part in chipping away at the shortage of workers in IT roles.

Each organisation will offer the benefits of its expertise or network: ServiceNow leads eight weeks of technical training and accreditation, Community Corporate provides soft skills training, and 12-week work placements with Woolworths or Accenture help participants gain valuable local experience.

“This program helps to unlock this untapped talent pool and meet the significant demand we see in our customers and partners for tech talent,” says Eric Swift, vice president and managing director for ServiceNow Australia and New Zealand.

For Shahad Almajidi, a refugee from Southern Iraq, programs like this are key to cracking a technology job in Australia. Since arriving in Australia in 2019, she’s taken a year of intensive English study, completed TAFE NSW courses in information technology and, most recently, web development. She’s also actively taken up opportunities provided through the Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre. It hasn’t been easy.

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“I applied for lots of jobs in IT or web development, but I didn’t hear back from a single one,” she says. “I thought my Cert 3 and diploma would help, but nearly all the technology jobs I looked at either asked for a bachelor’s degree or wanted experience working in tech.”

After recently completing the skills training, Almajidi began her work placement with Woolworths. The opportunity to put her newly developed IT skills to good use has left her feeling positive: “I’ve learnt so much and met so many amazing people. I feel like it has helped me create a great network of people like me, who have faced the same challenges, and who also want to work in the tech industry,” she says.

Almajidi’s story likely sounds familiar to Harriet Pope, project leader of Ikea’s Skills for Employment program. As part of Ikea’s global commitment to support 2500 refugees and asylum seekers with employment skills, Pope has been working on a similar project with Community Corporate, albeit in a different industry. To date, IKEA has provided paid work placements for 100 refugees in customer-facing roles in its Australian stores.