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In Refugees, Companies Find a Talent Pool -- and Training Challenges
Pay per view. I can get more later.
ETA: I got in through the author's Twitter feed!
In Refugees, Companies Find a Talent Pool—and Training Challenges
Employers offer translation services, help newcomers navigate new homes and lives
By Kelsey Gee
kelsey.gee@wsj.com
@kelseykgee
Updated Feb. 21, 2017 10:58 p.m. ET
In the break room at the Dakota Provisions LLC turkey plant in Huron, S.D., employees are just as likely to hear safety instructions in Thai or Burmese as in English. Well over half of the 1,050 employees are Karen, ethnic minorities from Myanmar who have fled their native country.
“Local kids want to head out to see the world after they graduate from high school,” said Mark “Smoky” Heuston, the company’s human-resources director. “The Karen people have already seen the world, and they’re happy to invest in the community and build a life here.”
Refugees have become an important source of labor in some thriving American communities like Huron, where unemployment is so low that workers are hard to come by. At the same time, many employers, especially in higher-skilled fields, find that putting asylum seekers to work poses a special set of challenges. Besides initial translation services, many refugees need help in résumé writing, American-style management techniques and tips for navigating their new lives when they are away from work.
The refugee workforce drew renewed attention last month after President Donald Trump’s executive order that suspended the U.S. refugee program for four months and temporarily restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries in a move he described as a measure to curb the risk of terrorists entering the country. In response, some big employers, such as Starbucks Corp., Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn and SAP SE, reaffirmed pledges or made new plans to train or hire refugees displaced by conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Employers offer translation services, help newcomers navigate new homes and lives
By Kelsey Gee
kelsey.gee@wsj.com
@kelseykgee
Updated Feb. 21, 2017 10:58 p.m. ET
In the break room at the Dakota Provisions LLC turkey plant in Huron, S.D., employees are just as likely to hear safety instructions in Thai or Burmese as in English. Well over half of the 1,050 employees are Karen, ethnic minorities from Myanmar who have fled their native country.
“Local kids want to head out to see the world after they graduate from high school,” said Mark “Smoky” Heuston, the company’s human-resources director. “The Karen people have already seen the world, and they’re happy to invest in the community and build a life here.”
Refugees have become an important source of labor in some thriving American communities like Huron, where unemployment is so low that workers are hard to come by. At the same time, many employers, especially in higher-skilled fields, find that putting asylum seekers to work poses a special set of challenges. Besides initial translation services, many refugees need help in résumé writing, American-style management techniques and tips for navigating their new lives when they are away from work.
The refugee workforce drew renewed attention last month after President Donald Trump’s executive order that suspended the U.S. refugee program for four months and temporarily restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries in a move he described as a measure to curb the risk of terrorists entering the country. In response, some big employers, such as Starbucks Corp., Microsoft Corp.’s LinkedIn and SAP SE, reaffirmed pledges or made new plans to train or hire refugees displaced by conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere.