Iress expands partnership with Talent Beyond Boundaries to address tech skills gap
Iress has announced today that it has expanded its partnership with Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), a global not-for-profit that works with governments and businesses to give refugees and other displaced people access to skilled employment opportunities. The expansion of Iress’ partnership with TBB, through its social engagement division – Iress Impact, coincides with increasing pressure on businesses to find skilled employees, particularly in the technology sector.
Iress has partnered with TBB since 2017 and since then, Iress has hired and relocated six skilled refugees and their families to Australia and the UK through the TBB program, as well as provided financial support for TBB to enable people in more locations to access skilled migration pathways.
The expanded partnership will involve a fixed financial agreement of $750,000 over five years, in addition to pro-bono technical volunteering and communications and marketing support to further promote the benefits of TBB’s skilled migration program in Australia and around the world.
Iress CEO, Andrew Walsh, said, “Iress is a beneficiary, admirer and strong advocate of TBB. We were proud to be the first company to hire a refugee directly through TBB in 2019, and we hope many other organisations increasingly seek involvement with this valuable program.
“With talent shortages already an issue and expected to impact the future of the world’s largest economies in the coming years and the scale of the refugee crisis worsening, developing new and creative solutions to address these shortages and issues is both an economic and humanitarian imperative. By linking skilled refugees with countries and companies that need their skills, TBB is forging a sustainable solution for refugees and their families to rebuild their lives while boosting the global economy.
“Iress is excited to be able to provide more reliable and meaningful support to the work and efforts of TBB, which could be life changing for tens of thousands of refugees and their families, and fundamentally change how the world responds to refugee crises.”
Talent Beyond Boundaries CEO Steph Cousins said, “We are honoured to continue reaching and changing the lives of more refugees and their families thanks to our partnership with Iress. With the help of Iress and other corporate partners, TBB has been able to assist more than 750 refugees to achieve safety and security through skilled migration pathways since 2019.
“We have now registered more than 50,000 skilled workers in our online talent catalogue for prospective employers, including 3,000 tech professionals. With the support of Iress we aim to enable thousands of these talented professionals to use their skills to migrate to countries where their families can rebuild their lives.
“Iress has been an incredible partner and advocate from the very beginning, and their generous support has been instrumental in our global success. The financial contribution from Iress and further promotion around TBB’s program will have such a massive impact for TBB and the refugees we support.”
