Latest / The Diversity Career Podcast with Fexingo: Inclusion, Equity, and Underrepresented Professionals / How One Company Hires Refugees Through a Skills Passport
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, a few weeks ago I came across something that made me rethink how we talk about hiring refugees. There is a program — run by SAP, the German software giant, in partnership with the Tent Foundation — that essentially creates a 'skills passport' for refugees. Luna: A skills passport. I've heard the term before, but I'm not entirely sure what it means in practice. Is it literally a document? Lucas: It's a digital credential, yeah. A refugee registers their work history — maybe they were an accountant in Syria, or an IT project manager in Afghanistan — and the passport validates those skills through a standardized assessment, not through a translated diploma. Lucas: The idea is you remove the two biggest barriers refugees face: language fluency and credential recognition. SAP then matches those validated skills directly to open roles where German or English proficiency isn't critical. Luna: So it's not about charity. It's about saying, 'This person can do the job, here's the proof, let's skip the gatekeeping.' That feels more powerful than a traditional diversity hire label. Lucas: Exactly. And the numbers back it up. Since 2022, SAP has placed over 300 refugees through this pipeline. The one-year retention rate is 90 percent. That's higher than their average for non-refugee hires in the same roles. Luna: Wow. That retention figure alone should make any HR leader pay attention. What kinds of roles are we talking about? Lucas: Software testing, cloud operations, data entry, logistics coordination — roles where you can demonstrate competence through a task-based simulation rather than a multiple-choice test in German. The passport includes a recorded video interview where you explain a process in your own words. Luna: That makes sense. But I wonder — if you're a refugee who doesn't speak German at all, how do you navigate the wider workplace? Team meetings, company culture, all that. Lucas: It's a real concern. SAP pairs each hire with a 'buddy' who speaks their language or uses translation tools. They also offer subsidized language classes. But the core insight is that you don't need C1 German to run a data migration script. Lucas: The Tent Foundation, which co-designed this, is now trying to scale it beyond SAP. They've signed on a dozen other companies across Europe — including Unilever and IKEA — to pilot similar passports. Luna: So it's becoming an ecosystem. That's promising. But let me push back a little — SAP is a massive company with resources most firms don't have. Can a mid-sized business with 200 employees replicate this? Lucas: That's the million-dollar question. The Tent Foundation built a shared platform, so smaller companies don't have to design their own from scratch. They pay a subscription fee to access the vetted pool. It's almost like a specialized LinkedIn for refugee talent. Luna: So it scales horizontally. That makes more sense. One platform, many companies. And the assessment is standardized, so you're not reinventing the wheel every time. Lucas: Right. And what I find really elegant is that the passport doesn't expire. If a refugee moves cities or changes jobs within the network, their credential travels with them. It's portable proof of capability. Luna: That's actually a huge deal for career progression. Most refugees I've interviewed say they feel stuck in entry-level roles even if they had senior experience back home. The passport could help them climb faster. Lucas: Exactly. And there's a broader lesson here for all of us, not just for refugee hiring. The problem the passport solves — credential opacity — is everywhere. How many people have we dismissed because their degree was from a foreign university we didn't recognize? Luna: Or because their job title in another country didn't map cleanly to ours. I've seen hiring managers reject a 'senior officer' from India because they couldn't figure out what that meant in a U.S. context. Lucas: Yeah. The skills passport approach forces you to focus on what someone can actually do. That's a principle that could transform hiring for veterans, for people with non-linear career paths, for anyone who doesn't have the 'right' brand-name credential. Luna: So beyond SAP, are there any other companies you're watching in this space? Lucas: I'm keeping an eye on a U.K. startup called 'Passworks' that is trying to do something similar for the gig economy — letting delivery drivers and platform workers carry verified skill badges across apps. But the refugee passport is the most developed model I've seen. Lucas: One stat that stuck with me: the Tent Foundation says that refugees who go through the passport program are promoted at the same rate as other employees after two years. So the initial match isn't a ceiling. Luna: That's the real test of a diversity initiative, isn't it? Not just getting people in the door, but seeing them move up. If the promotion parity holds, that's a powerful signal. Lucas: Yeah. And I think the reason it works is that the passport doesn't just open the door — it gives the manager a concrete basis to assess future performance. They already have a baseline of what this person can do. Luna: I want to zoom out for a second. The political climate around refugees remains fraught in many countries. Does a program like this risk being seen as a PR stunt? Or is it genuinely shifting how companies think about talent? Lucas: It's a fair question. I think the retention and promotion data argue it's real. But there's also a self-interest angle for companies — labor shortages in tech and logistics are acute. Refugees are a willing, often overqualified, workforce. The passport just removes friction. Lucas: And SAP has been transparent about the challenges. Not every placement works out. Some refugees struggle with the cultural shift, even with support. But the 90 percent retention says most do. Luna: If today's episode helped you think about your own hiring practices or your own career path, I want to mention something. This show stays ad-free because of listener support. People who find it useful, who come back week after week, sometimes decide to chip in. Lucas: Yeah, and we really appreciate that. If you'd like to help keep these conversations going, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure at all — just a way to support what we do if it's been valuable to you. Luna: Alright, back to the skills passport. Lucas, one thing I'm curious about — what happens when a refugee uses the passport to get a job, but then wants to move to a different company that isn't on the platform? Lucas: That's the next frontier. Right now, the passport is only recognized within the network of partner companies. But the Tent Foundation is working on making the credential interoperable with mainstream job platforms like Indeed and LinkedIn. If they pull that off, it could be huge. Luna: So the passport becomes a portable asset, like a degree or a professional certification, but more granular and verified. That would be a genuine innovation. Lucas: Exactly. And it moves the conversation from 'we should hire refugees because it's the right thing to do' to 'we should hire refugees because they are demonstrably qualified and we have the data to prove it.' That's a shift with staying power. Luna: I think that's the note to end on. One concrete idea, backed by numbers, that challenges how we think about talent assessment. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna. Talk next time.