Connecting the Dots – Part 2

This post on how we became the premier Atlanta recruiting agency is continued from last week…

The owner at Mr. Mister said he had paid up to $1500 to a local staffing agency to find staff members half as competent and eager to work as the refugees he had brought on his team.

I knew that if we could place more resettled refugees with local companies, it would be important to ask them to pay competitive fees for the service as to demonstrate value for the worker.

We officially launched a for-profit business a few days later and called it Amplio Recruiting, believing there are ample jobs available and ample good people to fill them. Learn more in part two next week on how we became Atlanta recruiting experts as we are staffing Atlanta companies with the talented refugee workforce.

As we introduced more refugees to businesses, we began to see the possibility of serving refugees and local companies in other cities around the country. Farmers in California, transport companies in Minnesota, and landscaping crews in New York began to contact us for help, even though we had very little knowledge on the service we were providing.

Though we had to turn down most of the calls for help coming from outside the Atlanta area (and continue to do so), we began to think about uniting the efforts of all the refugee resettlement agencies in the country in a way that would make it easier for companies to access the refugee workforce. We created a software application that allows refugees resettled anywhere in the US to answer a few questions and in turn provides the refugee with a formatted resume, ready to send to prospective employers. Additionally, the information provided by the refugee is securely saved in a publicly searchable database for companies around the country to access as they consider hiring refugees.

As of 6 months into this project, our business model has proven unsuccessful. Though we’ve placed several refugees in the Atlanta metro area into gainful employment, payment for these services has been met with much resistance. We remain confident, however, that as we continue to learn and attempt to solve this problem with innovative solutions, we will find a path forward that will allow agencies and businesses alike to celebrate the talented refugee workforce.

We are not certain where we go from here, but we do know the demand for great employees has never been stronger and we firmly believe refugees are the best solution.

We hope to change the often sleazy connotation that comes with being a staffing firm and seek to help unite the heroic employment efforts being made by resettlement agencies across the country.

We welcome any insight, ideas, criticism, or feedback as we desire to see every refugee find fulfilling employment in their new home.