Employment pathways, also known as labour mobility pathways or opportunities, are safe and regulated avenues that allow refugees to enter or stay in another country to work. Employment pathways provide refugees with the right to either permanent or temporary residence in the country where they are employed.
Employment pathways often take three different forms: (1) adapting an existing work visa framework so it can be accessed by refugees; (2) establishing a refugee-specific work visa; or (3) using or creating a broader humanitarian entry category that allows for refugee sponsorship by an employer.
Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB) is the first global organization of its kind whose mission is to build a world where displaced people can safely migrate for work, using their skills and professional experience to rebuild their lives with dignity and purpose. Founded in Australia, the organization is now present in several countries including the USA, Canada, the UK, and a number of European Union member countries.
From talent-sourcing to the recruitment and relocation phases, TBB provides comprehensive support throughout the process. With the help of national governments and the UN system, as well as of the private sector and a number of partner organizations, TBB matches candidates with employers based in safe destinations who are in need of qualified workers to fill their positions. Thereafter, TBB and its partners support the mobility and integration of candidates in their new destinations.
As of January 2022, TBB’s Talent Catalog had more than 65,000 potential candidates registered, covering more than 170 occupations in highly sought-after sectors such as healthcare, engineering and technology, to name a few. More than a thousand people from displaced backgrounds have secured labor mobility pathways at a global level through TBB and its partners. TBB has launched or is in the process of setting programs in place in a total of 7 countries, including the EU-funded ‘Displaced Talent for Europe’ pilot program.
Displaced Talent for Europe (DT4E) is a three-year pilot project aiming to facilitate and strengthen labor mobility schemes to match displaced talent in Jordan and Lebanon with employers in Belgium, Ireland, Portugal and the UK.
Launched in 2021 and funded by the European Union, the project is supported by TBB and partner organizations International Organization for Migration (IOM), Fedasil, Alto Comissariado para as Migracoes and Fragomen. DT4E aims to relocate 250 displaced candidates and their families over the next three years.
DT4E leverages government and employer support to overcome barriers to migration for displaced people while also addressing critical labor shortages by raising awareness of a previously untapped talent pool. By establishing project teams to facilitate the mobility and integration of candidates, it is paving the way for the expansion of labor mobility programs globally.
Ireland
As DT4E continues to expand into Europe, Ireland is the latest country to be implementing the pilot in the European Union after Portugal and Belgium. The pilot was launched in May 2023 and will seek to provide displaced talent access to the Irish labor market and open pathways for labor migration into the country, exploring partnerships with the public and private sectors and breaking ground for other EU countries set to implement their own DT4E chapters.
New resources
Updates on employment pathways

