In 2019 Marcel Pierre Paul Binda came to Greece as a refugee from Cameroon. He did not work for three years. He did not know how to look for a job, where to ask, who to talk to, until last year a friend told him about center for the integration of refugees in the Greek labor market Adamacreated by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Caritas Ellas with the support of UNHCR. He entered the center, learned to use the Internet, compiled his resume. Today he works for the plastics company Flexopack. “When I arrived in Greece four years ago, the center didn’t exist – if it did, perhaps I wouldn’t have spent years without a job,” said Mr Binda during the Refugees in the Workplace: A Win-Win Opportunity for Refugees, Business and Society.

Event organized High Commission, took place on Monday at Technopolis and had a dual purpose. Firstly, during the event, the creation of the Adama Job Center online platform was announced, which was created to bring together refugees seeking work and employers. In 2022, the Adama Center offered services such as career coaching to 1,005 refugees. Through the centre, 150 refugees signed contracts with private sector companies in Greece, and 437 were interviewed for employment. “Our goal is, on the one hand, to improve the access of refugees to the Greek labor market, and on the other hand, to make it easier for employers to access a new potential workforce with which they can meet their labor needs and create a more inclusive work environment,” says the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Greece, Maria Clara Martin. This was the second purpose of the event: to reach out to the private sector, to explain to them why hiring refugees is in everyone’s interests. “Refugees do not leave behind their potential and skills,” he said, stressing that this is what the Greek government knows, hence the national strategy for their integration.

“These questions are close to my heart,” said Mr. George Tsunis, the U.S. ambassador to Greece, who deviated significantly from his planned speech and emphasized that we prefer to keep these people in the shadows – an enlightened society, he says, will make them part of it. “We should welcome them all,” the ambassador said, adding that he is the son of two immigrants. “They didn’t want to leave their homes,” he said of the refugees, “the least we can do is understand their ordeal and help them.” In addition to the fact that people should take care of each other, he noted that Greece’s serious labor shortage in sectors such as agriculture or tourism could be covered by refugees. In accordance with Jordi PasolaHead of UNHCR Private Sector Cooperation in Europe, UNHCR is already working with companies such as IKEA, Uniqlo, Vodafone and Uber, among others.

War is the trigger

Talking to K, Paulina Penlidis, of the Mitsis Hotels group, explains that they wanted to help both the local community and the efforts of the refugee authorities, prompted by the war in Ukraine. “In combination with the well-known need for human resources in the field of tourism, we came into contact with various organizations and structures of refugees, having managed to integrate not only Ukrainian refugees, but also refugees from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Palestine and other regions” he says. “We are not only happy but also proud that since March last year we have added more than 100 refugees to the Mitsis group family in various positions in our 19 hotels,” he says, emphasizing that this year they want to offer specialized training programs for refugees, but also include even more employees in your group. It is, as everyone repeated on Monday night, a win-win situation.