King drops in as Jewish charity helps 500 refugee professionals at Palace jobs fair
World Jewish Relief-backed initiative brings royal backing to refugee employment amid UK skills shortages
His Majesty The King made an unannounced appearance at a landmark refugee jobs fair at St James’s Palace on Monday, as more than 500 highly qualified refugee professionals met leading UK employers in a rare event hosted by the Royal Household.
The fair, organised by the Refugee Employment Network (REN) and supported by World Jewish Relief, brought together refugees with backgrounds in engineering, healthcare, finance and technology with major employers including EY, PwC, HSBC, NHS England, BBC Studios, Diageo and the Department for Work and Pensions.
World Jewish Relief, the Jewish community’s humanitarian agency, is one of the largest providers of refugee employment in the UK and runs the award-winning Specialist Training and Employment Programme (STEP). The King is Patron of World Jewish Relief.
The Palace event comes amid persistent labour shortages across key UK sectors and growing concern over refugee underemployment, with campaigners warning that vital skills are being lost.
According to data cited by organisers, 67 percent of refugees in the UK are underemployed despite holding qualifications for skilled roles. Half hold qualifications equivalent to A-level or above, while almost a quarter have a master’s degree or higher. Only around a third of displaced professionals are currently working in jobs that match their skills.
Hamed Amiri, a tech business partner at PwC UK and a former refugee, said access to work was transformative.
“Access to meaningful work gives refugees far more than a job; it offers dignity, purpose, and the chance to rebuild a life. I know this personally,” he said. “When businesses invest in refugee talent, they gain resilience, fresh perspective, and deep loyalty. Jobs fairs like this are where belief turns into opportunity, and where people are finally given the chance not just to survive, but to belong.”
Alongside employer stands, the fair included an advice and guidance room offering one-to-one CV support and professional accreditation advice. Refugees received guidance from bodies including the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the Engineering Council, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Jenny Walton, chief executive of the Refugee Employment Network, said refugee employment was both a moral and economic issue.
“At a time of skills shortages in the UK, we have a highly skilled, experienced, talented, and qualified global talent pool waiting for us, made of people who have been forcibly displaced,” she said.
“A good job can help someone do that. Refugee employment is a win-win for business, people, and community.”
World Jewish Relief director Janice Lopatkin said the organisation’s refugee employment work was rooted in both expertise and values.
“As one of the largest providers of refugee employment in the whole of the UK through our award-winning STEP programme, World Jewish Relief is proud to be a member of the Refugee Employment Network,” she said.
“We are extremely grateful to His Majesty, our Patron, for his leadership and committed support.”
Among those attending was Mohsin, who arrived in the UK in 2019 and was supported into work through World Jewish Relief’s STEP programme.
“In the UK, I have found a lot of people who want me to succeed and want me to do better,” he said. “This is very important as a person building their life in a new country.”
World Jewish Relief was founded in 1933 and helped rescue more than 65,000 Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Today, it supports refugees of all backgrounds affected by conflict and displacement, with employment a central pillar of its UK work.
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