Lesvos job fair matches businesses to asylum seekers

DG HOME colleagues helped to organise a third job fair for asylum seekers in Lesvos, Greece on May 4.

These job fairs, co-organised with UNHCR, include mapping of potential candidates, tuition for target candidates on preparing their CVs, papers and also interview preparation. Information sessions are also held for participating companies and preparation for interviews.

165 recognised refugees visited the job fair in May, but also 50 asylum-seekers attended and received information and referrals to the Protection and Integration Desks.

Nine employers participated including hotels, construction and recycling companies, an upskilling organisation, the NGO METAdrasi for interpretation services, and a garden products company.

At the time of the job fair 29 participants received 43 job offers and METAdrasi identified 26 refugees who want to work as interpreters and will be referred for interpretation seminars.

A local company which offers furniture assembly upskilling identified 20 people interested in attending their classes and 120 people in total received support to prepare their CVs (90 on the day of the fair and 30 in previous days).

Such events also took place in Kos and Chios in the past months.

Asylum seekers have the right to work six months after they applied for asylum.