With the skills gap and culture change high on the agenda at next month’s UK Construction Week Birmingham (October 4th-6th), one exhibitor is pioneering a unique recruitment strategy which connects skilled refugees residing in hosting countries with job opportunities in the UK.

Displaced Talent is the latest initiative of Build A Career (Stand C216), recruitment specialists in diversity and inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

‘Displaced Talent’ are skilled refugees such as architects, engineers, IT professionals, administrative, electricians…etc who have been forced to flee their countries because of persecution, war or violence. In most cases these talented people reside in low and middle-income countries where they have no right to work and are locked out of international skilled migration systems.

Build A Career has formed a strategic alliance to unlock skilled migration pathways for talented refugees and have exclusive access to thousands of qualified candidates that can take on leading roles that you are struggling to fill. By engaging governments, refugee-serving organisations and local communities, they are creating safe, legal pathways that enable displaced talent to move for work, resume their careers, and rebuild their lives with dignity.

Still in its infancy, the project has already successfully placed several construction professionals:

Mohammed Daas. Mohammed left Syria to find a better life to support his family, leaving behind his mother and siblings as he is the sole breadwinner of the family. He is an Architect with 8 years of experience and resided in Lebanon where he was working at a very low salary. He successfully relocated to the UK and joined an Architectural practice.

Moayyad Ghanem. Moayyad, who is Palestinian and currently resides in Jordan, has recently successfully secured a job opportunity as a Senior Site Engineer with seven years’ experience and will be relocating to the UK with his wife and daughter towards the end of this year.

Nariman Alkaddour. Nariman, who is bilingual and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, joined Build A Career’s own team as the Displaced Talent Ambassador; with first-hand experience of the struggles of being displaced and with her unique insight she

shares her story and can help companies change the lives of other talented individuals as herself. Minister for Future Borders and Immigration, Kevin Foster MP, visited Nariman – who was the first to come through the mobility pilot – at Build A Career’s headquarters to learn more about the pilot visa and how we could improve it.

This year UKCW Birmingham is expecting around 25,000 attendees, will officially be opened by Channel 4 presenter George Clarke and features guest speaker Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands. Celebrating culture change in the construction industry with an exciting programme of debate and discussion from top speakers, the show will also shine a spotlight on over 6,000 products from more than 300 exciting exhibitors.

Visitors will also be able to find sections dedicated to Net Zero, Building Materials, Digitalisation, Infrastructure, Surface & Materials, Offsite Construction, and Skills & Careers.

Register for free here, UKCW Birmingham registrations