Integrating Syrian refugee workers in global supply chains: creating opportunities for stable trade

Purpose This paper presents an empirical study of a Syrian refugee workforce in textile export from Jordan. The purpose of this study is to determine the challenges of integrating Syrian refugees into the local workforce and to consider the implications of these challenges for the global supply chain aiming to create stable trade. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via three face-to-face focus group interviews with refugee workers and managers at a clothing factory site in Al-Duleil, Zarqa. Data were analysed using the Gioia methodology. Findings Worker attitudes, factory environment, and government support are important factors for refugees' workforce participation. The success of integrating Syrian refugees into the Jordanian workforce was largely a matter of their attitudes, commitment and motivations for taking up manufacturing work. Misconceptions about the roles refugees will undertake were identified, which results in fewer people becoming self-sufficient through employment. Research limitations/implications This research contributes to understanding refugees' long-term integration in the host country by investigating refugee workers' and their managers' perspectives. Considering the views of multiple stakeholders enrichs the literature on refugees' integration. Social implications Understanding refugees' perspectives facilitates their integration in the host country which leads to improvement in their wellbeing and quality of life. More broadly, Jordan's approach to integrating refugees into the economy is seen as a development opportunity rather than a crisis to be handled. Originality/value Rather than focus on the procedures of integrating refugees in the host country, this study provides the voices of refugee migrant workers themselves, thereby offering a more complete picture of those factors shaping refugees' (dis)integration in local communities.