ABN AMRO offers work to refugees: “It’s all about seeing the human being in front of you”

Language barriers, trauma, cultural differences… Unfortunately, biases and preconceptions are legion among employers when it comes to taking on individuals with a refugee background. But the Refugee Talent Hub is holding up a mirror to the business community, asking whether the stumbling blocks might unconsciously lie with us instead. How open is our corporate culture? Are we prejudiced? And isn’t the system itself also responsible to some degree for the “poor job prospects” so often associated with refugees?

Creating a base of support

Obviously, there are things refugees can do to make a start, such as learning Dutch, building a network and having their diplomas assessed. But a certain responsibility also lies with employers. As Wilma Roozenboom, director of the Refugee Talent Hub, points out, businesses first have to want to change.

“That’s precisely why we’re supporting companies and organisations to create a base of support in the workplace by offering HR staff a number of mentoring programmes and workshops, for instance. In extreme cases, it can take up to a year before a given business is ready to welcome a person with a refugee background as a member of staff. Fortunately, though, it usually takes far less time than that.”

Wilma claims that people and their organisations need to adopt a completely new way of seeing this group. We tend to think of a refugee as a person in need, whereas more often than not, that person is actually a professional who has been forced by circumstances to leave their country. Indeed, they’re often yearning to be seen and related to as an accountant or data analyst again.

Wilma continues, “The term ‘refugee’ refers to something that’s happened to you at some point in the past, but it does not define your identity. At the Refugee Talent Hub, we try to challenge companies to see the individual and their talent, not – or at least not just – the refugee.”

Eighty rebooters

In 2017, ABN AMRO launched its Reboot programme, in which the bank helps people with a refugee background to find a job. Since then, over eighty rebooters have come to work at the bank, thanks in part to the Refugee Talent Hub’s network. The programme’s results are so positive that the bank is stepping it up a notch. ABN AMRO aims to help an additional sixty asylum status holders find work over the next three years. Refugees from Ukraine, too, are more than welcome to join the bank. And since they are not officially required to have a residence permit, our new Ukrainian recruits will be in addition to the twenty job placements each year.

Chani Savelberg, a diversity and inclusion consultant at ABN AMRO, points out that the idea of taking on refugees as an act of charity is quite common. But the truth is that it’s a win-win situation: “Obviously, it’s our duty to contribute to a better world in accordance with our purpose ‘Banking for better, for generations to come’,” Chani says. “But we’re talking about talent here, and talent simply makes us a better organisation. It’s a two-way street.”

Not about ticking boxes

ABN AMRO and the Refugee Talent Hub organise quarterly initiatives – such as a “speed-dating” event or a pitch day – to bring candidates and managers together. Face-to-face contact is a must, Chani stresses: “When working with refugees, it’s important to remember that it’s not about wanting to tick boxes. That’s just not how it works. These initiatives give us the chance to look beyond a candidate’s CV and focus on opportunities and possibilities.”

The events have a high success rate. In the last round, held in the spring of 2022, eleven status holders were invited to interviews at ABN AMRO. Ten of them have since been taken on – as data analysts and engineers, for example. Candidates can additionally take advantage of mentoring programmes and language lessons. Bank staff, too, can now contribute in new ways by signing up to help refugees with their CVs or prepare for interviews. ABN AMRO also provides information to other organisations looking to welcome refugees in the workplace. That number is growing, given the continuing shortage of labour in the Netherlands.

Training programme

And as for those objections and biases? On the job, those quickly fade into the background, Wilma explains: “The minute you actually meet a person, all those negatives fall away. One common preconception is that all refugees are traumatised. Of course, that’s certainly true of some. But trauma doesn’t necessarily always have repercussions for a person’s work. And don’t forget that a job can often be very therapeutic. In fact, the effects of trauma can be mitigated by the rhythm and fresh focus work provides.”

Further, ABN AMRO has joined forces with Microsoft and the Refugee Talent Hub to launch a training programme. Over twenty weeks, individuals with a refugee background are given a crash course to prepare them for a job as an IT specialist at the bank and are even offered a letter of intent for future employment.

“The more people we can place in work, the higher the enthusiasm,” says Chani. “Managers may be expecting problematic cases and stumbling blocks, but the exact opposite is true. Employees with a refugee background bring with them a different perspective, and we all learn to look at ourselves differently. After the fact, managers say to me, ‘I had no idea that I myself would learn so much from this initiative.’ How fantastic is that?”