The employment challenge for refugees in Spain: ‘I’m no longer afraid; this job has changed my life’

Kawthar Jadalhaq, a 33-year-old Palestinian architect, arrived in Spain in 2020 as an asylum seeker. Since then, she has lived in reception centers and with friends. She worked temporarily as a cashier and warehouse worker, and attended several interviews for positions related to her field of training, without success. She was rejected for not having perfect Spanish. “When I came here, everyone told me to forget about being an architect and to follow my own path,” she recalls. However, in May of last year, she joined the public engineering firm Ineco, where she carries out work related to building projects and is given the opportunity to communicate in English. She now has her own room and is even considering taking out a loan to buy a home. “I once thought I would end up on the streets, but I’m not afraid anymore; this job has changed my life,” she says.

Spain repeated its second-place position among the European Union countries that received the most asylum applications in 2024 — accounting for 18% of the total and a record high of 164,000 applications — according to Focus on Spanish Society, a publication issued by the NGO Funcas. Spanish law grants a work permit, the so-called “red card,” after six months from the date the application is formalized. Furthermore, if the decision is favorable, the person acquires permanent authorization to reside and work in the country.

However, the head of the State Secretariat for Migration, Pilar Cancela, warns that “people with international protection are one of the most vulnerable groups within the migrant population.” Therefore, the decision has been made to promote training and employment programs for this group, developed by the General Directorate of Humanitarian Assistance and the International Protection Reception System. In the last twelve months, 535 people have been hired through these initiatives.

Jaime Mendoza, a 34-year-old Colombian, was in his eighth semester of law school when he received a death threat due to his family’s ties to politics. “I wasn’t going to take the risk, so I filed a complaint and decided to come here,” he explains. He arrived in Spain in October 2019, but his savings weren’t enough to sustain him until he received his work permit, so he says he was forced to look for work illegally. Now he has the red card, and he realized that “many companies don’t know about this document and are afraid to hire.”

Meanwhile, Mendoza completed training courses with the help of the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR). This organization assisted him in his process and offered him a two-month internship at IKEA, where he was eventually hired. “I’ve always felt supported by the company, not like just another number,” he says, expressing his desire to pursue a career there. “I’d like to study something that leads me to human resources, which is what I like,” he says.

Centralized actions from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration have promoted initiatives in collaboration with private sector entities and companies to foster job inclusion. IKEA, Amazon, Agri-Food Cooperatives, the Huelva Young Farmers Association, and many others have become key partners in implementing job placement projects. Furthermore, databases with specific candidates, some of them highly qualified, have been launched with certain companies. This is the case with Ineco, where Kawthar works.

Carmen Benayas, head of Ineco’s PROA Program, which aims to incorporate people from the refugee community, explains that candidates apply like any other and go through the same selection process. “If you create positions for a specific group, in the end, they’re doomed to be temporary. And in this case, that’s not the case,” she explains. She adds that for the company — which has already integrated 20 professionals in this way — this type of initiative is fundamental. “Beyond bringing diversity, they bring experience in their country of origin, and we offer them career development; in addition, we provide them with support and mentoring from the very beginning.”

The State Secretariat for Migration points out that after just over a year of implementing these specific employment programs, the challenge is to expand them. “The results are clearly positive, but we will continue to strengthen our lines of action so that the maximum number of people in our international protection reception system can access a job, develop their life plans, and settle in our country,” Cancela affirms.

Insertion itineraries

Behind the official data is the coordinated work of various social organizations such as CEAR and Accem. These organizations are involved in developing individualized integration programs that include information, counseling, intervention, and follow-up with beneficiaries. Their actions include diagnosis, the development of basic skills (such as digital literacy, cultural contextualization, or language learning), social and labor guidance, and occupational training. Carmen Ruiz, CEAR’s Inclusion Coordinator, explains that immediate integration is not always the most appropriate path. “In many cases, they are first helped to train or acquire skills so they don’t end up in precarious jobs or in sectors where they ultimately don’t want to work,” she explains.

The support process was crucial for Gerardo Cedeño, a 38-year-old Venezuelan. He arrived in Spain in 2023 as an asylum seeker seeking better healthcare. After receiving a transplant of part of his right tibia, Cedeño requires special care and has some limitations. That didn’t stop him from trying to work during his first months in Barcelona: “I worked as a street vendor for a company, but it was basically like a scam,” he explains. After contacting the Migrant Assistance Service of Catalonia, he received comprehensive support from CEAR. “They explained to me what the labor market is like here, from the laws to the steps that locals normally take for granted; whereas when you arrive, you have to learn them,” he says.

With the help of counselors, Cedeño — who had only completed high school in his home country — took a vocational training course in international trade administration and finance. This led him to find a job as an administrator. But the organizations don’t limit themselves to serving the beneficiaries, Ruiz explains; they also play a crucial role in raising awareness and opening up the business community. “The first outreach sessions with the companies we contact are to explain what the documentation these individuals have consists of, what it gives them access to, what they are entitled to, and how it works,” she explains.

Relearn the trade

The outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022 forced 37-year-old Diana Tarasiuk to leave her country overnight, accompanied by her two children. She brought the bare essentials with her to Spain: “I took a backpack with documents and three pairs of scissors,” she says. She had to beg at the gate to bring the scissors in because, after 13 years as a hairdresser, she wasn’t willing to part with them.

To ensure refugees are employable, it’s crucial to acquire new skills or leverage existing ones, explains Germán Hurtado, head of Accem’s employment programs. While many arrive with training from their countries of origin, they often need to understand how their work is carried out in Spain. “Working in a more technologically advanced agricultural sector like ours isn’t the same as working in the same sector in North Africa, or moving from traditional fishing to working on a merchant ship in Galicia. These skills need to be recycled or validated,” Hurtado adds.

In Tarasiuk’s case, Accem provided her with a home, Spanish classes, and courses on her trade. “Hairdryer” and “brush” were some of the first words she incorporated into her vocabulary. After working in other people’s salons, she managed — with the help of her friends — to open her own. “I like working as my own boss, like in Ukraine,” she says. But she acknowledges that this new stage isn’t without its challenges: “People here have had their hairdressers for many years, although little by little I’m getting more clients, both Ukrainian and Spanish.”

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