The new job-matching platform intends to provide a user-friendly online tool enabling employers to identify suitable candidates for vacant positions and refugees to search and apply for those vacancies. © UNHCR
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Greece, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have launched a first-of-its kind online platform (adamajobcenter.crs.org) connecting refugees looking for a job in Greece with prospective employers country-wide.
Developed in response to needs expressed by refugees and asylum-seekers themselves, as well as to the growing needs in some sectors in the Greek labour market, this new job-matching platform intends to provide a user-friendly online tool enabling employers to identify suitable candidates for vacant positions and job-seekers to search and apply for those vacancies.
“What we have created is essentially a virtual space for refugees and employers to ‘meet’”, said UNHCR Representative in Greece, Maria Clara Martin. “Our aim is, on the one hand, to improve the accessibility of refugees to the Greek labour market and, on the other hand, to facilitate employers reach out to a new potential workforce, through which they could cover their employment needs and create more inclusive working environments. It’s a win-win situation.”, she added.
The initiative comes to support the work of Adama Centre in Athens, which provides in person and remote employability and social services to asylum-seekers and refugees in Greece. Adama Centre was established in late 2021 by CRS and Caritas Hellas, in partnership with UNHCR. Since then, it has helped almost 200 refugees to participate in job interviews, with more than half being successfully hired.
“Finding the right job is a pivotal moment for any of us, especially as we’re trying to settle in somewhere new,” said Jason Knapp, the CRS Greece Country Representative. “As this platform goes live, I am excited for the refugees and asylum seekers across Greece who will now be able to find that right-fit job, as well as the employers who will be able to access such a remarkable talent pool.”
The platform also includes a section with available trainings or workshops, with a view to centralize this kind of information and encourage private sector businesses and other agencies to offer tailor-made training opportunities to refugees to allow them enter the Greek labour market more equipped.
“One of the aspects of a dignified life is when we feel strong and safe enough to participate, to contribute, to work as creative members of the society we live in. The Adama platform gives to refugees and asylum-seekers in Greece, the opportunity to meet their expectations for decent working experiences”, according to Maria Alverti, Caritas Hellas director.
The platform will be gradually populated with job openings, candidate profiles and training programmes while it will be officially presented to private sector companies in an event at the beginning of December. It is part of the broader UNHCR programme in Greece to support refugee integration in accordance with Greece’s National Integration Strategy and in close cooperation with the Ministry of Asylum and Migration.
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