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Michigan welcomes office to help skilled immigrants get jobs

michigan.gov

Highly skilled immigrants in Michigan now have a new resource to help them find jobs. The national nonprofit organization Upwardly Global opened a new office in Detroit on Monday.

Upwardly Global says immigrants and refugees often have valuable job skills that are in high demand in the United States. But the group says they often still have trouble finding work because of cultural differences.

The new office is meant to help polish immigrants’ job searching skills and connect them with local employers.

“You have an awful lot of highly educated immigrants in this country who are not using the skills for which they were trained,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. “And we think there’s lots of opportunities in Detroit and we hope they find their way here.”

Upwardly Global CEO Nikki Cicerani says the group chose Michigan because the state has worked hard to attract immigrants in recent years.

“We really sensed that early on, and we said, wouldn’t it be wonderful to sort of really highlight the role that this population can play for the country, but doing it in a region where I think that they’re being seen as a true talent pool?” she told reporters after the office launch Monday morning.

Michigan State University donated space in its Detroit center on Woodward Avenue to house the new Upwardly Global office.

The organization also launched an internship program meant to connect foreign engineers with companies in Michigan.  

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